Author Topic: 318 motors (Read 4232 times)

ExCloud · « **on:** February 13, 2006 - 11:44:56 AM »

Is it possible to Rebuild a 318 motor to have as much power or more power then a 383 or a 440? i do not know much about the 318 motors, but I know where I can get one for like $150 and was thinking of purchasing it for later use maybe.

ESGEE · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2006 - 12:01:00 PM »

Lookout for smogged 318, if you got a good old rebuilt 318 with 340 heads and a good cam and some preformer intake and carb then you got a little fisty devil(done this myself), sure can race an tired 383, but never a good 383 or 440

Street_Challenged73 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2006 - 02:22:20 PM »

I know you can pull 400 hp at the crank off 318's relatively cheap, but I'd put my efforts towards finding a 340 to build instead. The 340's are monsters for a small block engine, even the '73-'74 cast crank, low compression ones pulled a fair number at the beginning the big fuel crunch.

ExCloud · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2006 - 02:54:57 PM »

We already have a balanced and blue printed 340 motor no transmition though out at the farm. have not been out there in a while though hehe

71383bee · « **Reply #4 on:** February 13, 2006 - 06:04:11 PM »

318's can be found anywhere. If your going to spend the cash and want a small block look for a 360 which are also very common. A 340 would be an excellent find, but they are getting rare and expensive.

For 100 i picked up a mildly built 400 so I would keep looking if I where you.

highspeeddirt · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2006 - 09:03:52 PM »

September 2004 issue of Mopar muscle, they did a 318 build in which they got 400hp with no"major" mods. The guy that built mine used that for reference, but had a few differerent things done which I'm gonna ask some questions about in another post, as not to high jack this post.

Anyway, They bored it .040, put in KB flat top pistons and zero decked the block. They used the later model closed chambered Magnum heads with 1.92/1.625 inch valves. Single plane intake, w/750 demon carb. The cam was a Comp Cam 280H with 230 degrees duration at .050, and .480 lift, but with the Magnum heads 1.6 rockers the lift went to .512 inch lift. Used tti 1 5/8-1 3/4 stepped headers. They got 400hp at 6150 rpm. They played with a 100hp shot of nitrous and got 509Hp at 6000 rpm. Hope this helps some! And I Hope mine performs like that!

HSD

Chryco Psycho · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2006 - 10:39:54 PM »

the 360 is as common to find & will have more torque due to the increased stroke , if you spend the same $ on both the 318 & 360 the 360 will win

ESGEE · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2006 - 07:53:58 AM »

but since a 383 isent far from there is flooded with cheap parts and easy to find everywhere. Sure i can understand to hot a 318 and have it look allmost stock but burens rubber like hell since it got allot of funny stuff in it(do it myself) but put big money in a 318 make no sense when there is 360 and 383 at good money out there wicj have more to give....

moparnut · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2006 - 09:03:15 AM »

The sky is the limit,the only limit is how much money you want to put into an engine.You can stomp on a stock 383 or 440 with a radically built 318 but you will get more bang for your buck with a larger displacement.No replacement for displacement as stated many times.There was a BUILT /6 in one of the mopar mags a couple of years ago running a 9 second 1/4,with a 6 pak setup,or was it 2 4's,cant remember but the point is you can do it if with $$$.Heck twin turbo a 318 and spank a hemi,just take's time and mucho dinero.

Pistol Gripper · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2006 - 09:19:00 AM »

I plan on building a monster 318 some day, why ? It's just so much fun spanking the tar out of mustangs & camaros then popping the hood and showing them a lil ole 318 that just whooped them.

P.G.

71383bee · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2006 - 12:11:23 PM »

Don At FBO is doing that now with his iron headed 318 65 cuda. I think he's in the 10's now with no laughing gas. Needless to say how impressive that is.

It can be done, but like stated above it depends on what you have now, what level you want and most importantly how much $ you want to spend.

zerfetzen · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2006 - 11:14:48 AM »

I'm just learning myself, and I vastly prefer the 440, but currently have a 318. Here's some interesting info according to www.musclecarclub.com when considering Barracudas, and keeping in mind that their horsepower ratings were estimates, not hard numbers:

1968
318: 230 bhp
340: 275 bhp
383: 300 bhp

1969
340: 275 bhp
383: 330 bhp

1970
340: 275 bhp
383: 335 bhp

1971
318: 230 bhp
340: 275 bhp
383: 300 bhp

1972-1973
318: 150 bhp
340: 240 bhp

So depeding on year, here are the hp ranges:
318: 150-230
340: 240-275
383: 300-335

Only talking bone stock, and assuming the numbers were accurate (which I'm sure they weren't), a good 318 was only 10hp from a crappy 340, or 70hp from a crappy 383. It seems to me that with minor mods (taller intake, upgrade the carter 2bbl to a healthy 4bbl, bolt on some headers, it'd be pretty easy to smear the road with a base model with bigger inches. Like the others say, if you modify the 318 more, the sky's the limit, but so are your pockets. Just a thought.

71383bee · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2006 - 09:42:17 PM »

There is a very specific flaw in listing advertised horsepower in that some of those numbers are gross and some are net. No to mention that the older 318's were built when 87 octane gas was unheard of and 9:1 compression or better was the norm.

Basically your comparison isn't quite accurate. Labelling a 340 as crappy is a little bit presumptuos considering there are a lot of differences between the two. It takes quite a bit of work to make an older iron headed 318 hold it's own to a 340 IMO. There are some drastic differences in the port sizes and head design as well as the different sizes in intake ports on the intake manifolds. Not to mention the 340's had monster compression numbers compared to the 318 and a well tuned 340 car would give a big block car a run for it's money. Hell that is why the 340 Swingers and dusters were such respected cars. There is a bit more to it than a 318 with a 4Bbl on it.

An old trick I have heard is to use the older 273 heads on the 318 which suposedly had a better port design and adjustable rockers for a power improvement, but those heads are gettting hard to come by. Thankfully now there are a large number of more modern head designs that can improve a 318. Specifically the late model 302 heads and the newer magnum heads have been proven to be very successful power adders to the 318. From there it's about decent compression and a well chosen cam.

Street_Challenged73 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 18, 2006 - 11:07:01 PM »

Quote from: 71383bee on February 18, 2006 - 09:42:17 PM

There is a very specific flaw in listing advertised horsepower in that some of those numbers are gross and some are net. No to mention that the older 318's were built when 87 octane gas was unheard of and 9:1 compression or better was the norm.

Basically your comparison isn't quite accurate. Labelling a 340 as crappy is a little bit presumptuos considering there are a lot of differences between the two. It takes quite a bit of work to make an older iron headed 318 hold it's own to a 340 IMO. There are some drastic differences in the port sizes and head design as well as the different sizes in intake ports on the intake manifolds. Not to mention the 340's had monster compression numbers compared to the 318 and a well tuned 340 car would give a big block car a run for it's money. Hell that is why the 340 Swingers and dusters were such respected cars. There is a bit more to it than a 318 with a 4Bbl on it.

An old trick I have heard is to use the older 273 heads on the 318 which suposedly had a better port design and adjustable rockers for a power improvement, but those heads are gettting hard to come by. Thankfully now there are a large number of more modern head designs that can improve a 318. Specifically the late model 302 heads and the newer magnum heads have been proven to be very successful power adders to the 318. From there it's about decent compression and a well chosen cam.

The attitude you expressed towards 340s wasn't a good vibe for me either. I have both a '69 318 with the 230hp rating and a '73 340 (currently stock) that was rated at 240hp. (should have near 500hp when I'm finished with it.) I had the 318 in a Charger and it wasn't anything special. I've also been in stock 340 cars ('72-'73 lower compression engines) and they win hands down. You can always build whatever you'd like and have great results depending on your skill and funding, but I like the 340 and 360's because you can build immense power from them, on a budget, and have a lighter engine than a big block.

zerfetzen · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2006 - 12:10:15 AM »

I think there was a little miscommunication. I never expressed a negative attitude toward 340's, and I didn't call them crappy. I love 'em. I said a crappy 340 (listed at 240bhp) compared to a good one (275bhp), meaning only the differences from the years listed above. They're a great motor and I'd rather have one than a 318. Just the same, according to the numbers given, which I said probably have problems with their accuracy, the lower horse (crappy) 340 is practically on par with a good 318 (230bhp), compared to a 318 from a crappy year (150 bhp). Please note, it wasn't my comparison, but I cited the source, and said there are probably problems with the numbers, unless you meant that the mild build I suggested wouldn't hit 300hp, but I think it will. It just seemed like my post was taken wrong, and I wanted to point that out. Hat's off to 340's and 383's...but also to built 318's.

Author Topic: 318 motors (Read 4232 times)

ExCloud

318 motors

ESGEE

Re: 318 motors

Street_Challenged73

Re: 318 motors

ExCloud

Re: 318 motors

71383bee

Re: 318 motors

highspeeddirt

Re: 318 motors

Chryco Psycho

Re: 318 motors

ESGEE

Re: 318 motors

moparnut

Re: 318 motors

Pistol Gripper

Re: 318 motors

71383bee

Re: 318 motors

zerfetzen

Re: 318 motors

71383bee

Re: 318 motors

Street_Challenged73

Re: 318 motors

zerfetzen

Re: 318 motors