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Joker13

Joker13

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my 68 Barracuda 318 from what I can tell by the papers was built in the early 80s. The guy had if 30+ years, thne I bought it.
Here is what I found:

.030 over
Fireball cam
says "stroker crank" but I am not sure that is true. Did people do strokers in 318s?
No info on heads etc
thermoquad carb, on single plane Holly eliminator
904 w/ B&M shift kit
Blaster II coil
2000 stall speed
2" hooker comp headers
8 3/4 posi 3.23

It is kind of a dog off the line and he said it ran high 13s. I was thinking rear gears are why its slow getting moving. I do some highway driving, not much. I think its around 3k RPM at speedo floating 65-70.
I have also wondered about the carb, but I had that rebuilt.

Should I look into rear to get more punch? I am not looking to go crazy. Low 13 would be ok, high 12 better, but i still would like to hit the highway now and then.
 
2000 stall is very mild, a 2800 would be an improvement. What is your timing set at? Initial, mechanical and at what rpm does it come in? Tire size? 2" exhaust isn't that great, 2.5-3" would allow a lot better breathing ability and accomodate more cubic inches if you wish in the future. 3.23 is a pretty good all around gear ratio, not exactly a drag racing gear or cruising 75 on the turnpike, more in between. A 4" crank and pistons kit will stroke the 318 to 390.
 
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Not knowing about the heads is a serious unknown considering you have a goal in mind...

The intake is a dog with the gear you have. It would probably like a dual plane. Secondly is your TQ. I myself am learning about them but what I do know is if it ain't in the ballpark it will seem like a pig. Do you have someone in your wheelhouse you can borrow a carburetor from?

You gotta start somewhere but what you need to do is verify engine condition with a compression, leakdown, and vacuum gauge. Lifetime investments IMO if you want to turn your own wrenches...

JW
 
SLOPAR72 said:
Not knowing about the heads is a serious unknown considering you have a goal in mind...

The intake is a dog with the gear you have. It would probably like a dual plane. Secondly is your TQ. I myself am learning about them but what I do know is if it ain't in the ballpark it will seem like a pig. Do you have someone in your wheelhouse you can borrow a carburetor from?

You gotta start somewhere but what you need to do is verify engine condition with a compression, leakdown, and vacuum gauge. Lifetime investments IMO if you want to turn your own wrenches...

JW
Click to expand...

The TQ has been quite a debatable variable. Seems some love them, some despise them, and a few say they can be ok. My cuz said he has a Holly, but not sure size or condition. Dual plane and carb would be a good place to start after checking out the other things.
 
racerdan80 said:
2000 stall is very mild, a 2800 would be an improvement. What is your timing set at? Initial, mechanical and at what rpm does it come in? Tire size? 2" exhaust isn't that great, 2.5-3" would allow a lot better breathing ability and accomodate more cubic inches if you wish in the future. 3.23 is a pretty good all around gear ratio, not exactly a drag racing gear or cruising 75 on the turnpike, more in between. A 4" crank and pistons kit will stroke the 318 to 390.
Click to expand...
I thought that sounded low, it think it is at 2800. I remember checking that out back in the fall. Not sure of timing setting. All I remember seeing about the crank is that somewhere on a sheet or receipt it was listed as stroker, but I do not remember seeing a size. Don;t recall tires size offhand.
 
Anything taller than a 26" tire with uour gears may be nice cruising on the highway but will bog your motor down on off the line acceleration with your current setup. Initial and total mechanical timing are very important for your torque off idle and can have a big effect
 
racerdan80 said:
Anything taller than a 26" tire with uour gears may be nice cruising on the highway but will bog your motor down on off the line acceleration with your current setup. Initial and total mechanical timing are very important for your torque off idle and can have a big effect
Click to expand...
I have a killer speed shop nearby. I think I'll see about the timing and check back in.
 
Curious to see what your car would run in the quarter right now as is. E.t and mph. If it ran high 13's for a 318 with 3.23 gears that's actually pretty respectable. Still think that 2" exhaust system is too small and there is probably a lot of tuning left to be discovered that can make a difference
 
racerdan80 said:
Curious to see what your car would run in the quarter right now as is. E.t and mph. If it ran high 13's for a 318 with 3.23 gears that's actually pretty respectable. Still think that 2" exhaust system is too small and there is probably a lot of tuning left to be discovered that can make a difference
Click to expand...

I am planning to put splitters in on the pipes too. Yeah. since you have mentioned it, that 2" exhaust is now bugging me. I have a couple people in mind for the tuning and the carb. I will post on here if I make a run down the track soon.
 
That Fireball cam is an old school grind that requires a converter in the 3000 rpm range.
What I have found after messing with a few of them over the years, is that early ones are indexed from the factory to be split overlap when dot to dot.
Some, and I assume them to be later versions, are indexed to be 4 degrees advanced dot to dot. I have one in 440 that is set that way.
That 4 degrees will make a big difference in the way the engine is able to climb on top of a tight converter
 
whitepunkonnitro said:
That Fireball cam is an old school grind that requires a converter in the 3000 rpm range.
What I have found after messing with a few of them over the years, is that early ones are indexed from the factory to be split overlap when dot to dot.
Some, and I assume them to be later versions, are indexed to be 4 degrees advanced dot to dot. I have one in 440 that is set that way.
That 4 degrees will make a big difference in the way the engine is able to climb on top of a tight converter
Click to expand...

Great info. Car is mostly old school, built in early 80s- 82 I Believe.
 
On the exhaust you could just change the collectors and go to a larger size exhaust system. How large is the collector on the header size? If you do increase your exhaust system, I would tune your carb then after as it will make your tune a little bit lean.
 
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