1987 318 LA

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Go back and read (and comprehend) post 7.
“Go to junkyard, find magnum, take cam, spider, lifters, and hardware, send cam to Oregon cam grinders for his 218/224 grind”.
You need a core to have one reground. Thats why I said that. And it’ll be $250 or so instead of $450 for a new comp or similar. Use all the stock parts on the reground cam.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
Silv-O-Lite hypereutectic pistons. Are another ones I was looking at which are a flat top I am seeing on Summit.
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i'm not following you.

are Silver O Light UEM-1266C-020 what you currently have in there or what you're looking at as a replacement on a rebuild?

are you rebuilding the motor?

honestly, the information is so disjointed and scattershot i don't really know what the ask is at this point.
 
junkyardhero said:
i'm not following you.

are Silver O Light UEM-1266C-020 what you currently have in there or what you're looking at as a replacement on a rebuild?

are you rebuilding the motor?

honestly, the information is so disjointed and scattershot i don't really know what the ask is at this point.
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The Silver O Lights is what I am looking at putting into the engine? Yes I am rebuilding the engine.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
The Silver O Lights is what I am looking at putting into the engine? Yes I am rebuilding the engine.
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okay. now that we've established that you're rebuilding the engine.... here's the deal. you need compression because 318's came with dismal squeeze from the factory. add a big cam, a 4bbl intake and carb to that and you have something that's straight dogwater. it'll sound cool as hell but run like ***.

so compression-- you want the pistons at, or near zero deck. to achieve that, you cut the block or you get pistons.

those silvolites have stock compression height, and they're cast, so you get a nice stock piston and no bump in compression. that would mean decking the block to get there and find compression.

OR... you go with something like the KB167 which has a taller compression height. this will put the piston at zero, or near enough zero deck with out any expensive machine work. bonus is that it's an inherently better piston, but still quite affordable.

so, now you have compression and can run a more aggressive cam!
 
junkyardhero said:
okay. now that we've established that you're rebuilding the engine.... here's the deal. you need compression because 318's came with dismal squeeze from the factory. add a big cam, a 4bbl intake and carb to that and you have something that's straight dogwater. it'll sound cool as hell but run like ***.

so compression-- you want the pistons at, or near zero deck. to achieve that, you cut the block or you get pistons.

those silvolites have stock compression height, and they're cast, so you get a nice stock piston and no bump in compression. that would mean decking the block to get there and find compression.

OR... you go with something like the KB167 which has a taller compression height. this will put the piston at zero, or near enough zero deck with out any expensive machine work. bonus is that it's an inherently better piston, but still quite affordable.

so, now you have compression and can run a more aggressive cam!
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I actually would be okay with the bottom end being a stock crank, rods, pistons, and stock .390 hydraulic roller cam as long as it can handle the Weiand intake manifold, 600 cfm carb, and headers? It's to be like I said a fun daily driver. I know with manual transmission I won't lose much hp or torque from it.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
I be okay with the bottom end being a stock crank, pistons, and stock .390 hydraulic roller cam as long as it can handle the Weiand intake manifold, 600 cfm carb, and headers? It's to be like I said a fun daily driver. I know with manual transmission I won't lose much hp or torque from it.
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yep. it'll be fine.

plain white rice kinds of fine.

but you can still add a *small* cam to the stock compression bottom end and see a fairly sizeable gain.

which you should do because you're swapping the cam anyway.

same as the pistons: if you're going to swap the stockers for anything, why not throw a paltry amount of money toward a better piston that also gets you more compression? that's just value for money. and gives you room to upgrade down the line if you feel like it.
 
junkyardhero said:
yep. it'll be fine.

plain white rice kinds of fine.

but you can still add a *small* cam to the stock compression bottom end and see a fairly sizeable gain.

which you should do because you're swapping the cam anyway.

same as the pistons: if you're going to swap the stockers for anything, why not throw a paltry amount of money toward a better piston that also gets you more compression? that's just value for money. and gives you room to upgrade down the line if you feel like it.
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I'll definitely take that into consideration. .390 hydraulic roller cam I would at least have to say is better than at least a flat tappet cam.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
I'll definitely take that into consideration. .390 hydraulic roller cam I would at least have to say is better than at least a flat tappet cam.
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it's not any better, it's different.

i sure as **** wouldn't hem myself in on a engine build predicated around a stock sub 400 lift factory roller cam when there are countless options to go in a million different directions for the better.

don't get me wrong, i like roller cams. but people been running flat tappets since jesus was a private, so to count them out entirely is to be a fool.
 
junkyardhero said:
it's not any better, it's different.

i sure as **** wouldn't hem myself in on a engine build predicated around a stock sub 400 lift factory roller cam when there are countless options to go in a million different directions for the better.

don't get me wrong, i like roller cams. but people been running flat tappets since jesus was a private, so to count them out entirely is to be a fool.
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That's what I have always ran is flat tappet, but that 318 Magnum was my 1st hydraulic roller cam and then this 1987 318 LA would be my 2nd hydraulic roller cam engine.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
That's what I have always ran is flat tappet, but that 318 Magnum was my 1st hydraulic roller cam and then this 1987 318 LA would be my 2nd hydraulic roller cam engine.
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i understand completely.

i think that i may have missed the mark trying to adequately articulate my thought: if you don't already have a roller cam, it's stupid to get a factory .390 unit when you could have something so much better for basically the same monies.

if you already have a roller cam, then just get it regroud to a spec that will compliment what ever it is you decide to build compression wise.
 
In another month, you can get a black Friday deal on some speedmaster heads. That will be better than rebuilding the stock 302's, and the previously mentioned kb167, and Oregon cams will compliment them further
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
The 1st gen Dodge Dakota weigh 3700lbs, but I am gonna have to do 2nd gen(1997-2004) Dodge Dakota as it weighs 3,381lbs which is a little bit lighter.
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Wait what?

Identically equipped, yur saying the Second gen is lighter than the First and by a whopping 320 pounds?
Shoot, 3381 is less than my 68 Barracuda!

I've been shopping for the wrong generation.
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
I can't even find who got the stock 360 hydro roller cam.
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Screenshot_20250118-170012_Gallery.jpg



☆☆☆☆☆
 
TT5.9mag said:
The single best thing you can do to a 318 is put a good piston in it, and have the machine shop deck em to zero. That puts you above what most other people do with them. I’d use a roller cam but not the stock one. Find a magnum engine at the junkyard and take Cam, lifters, lifter spider, and hardware. Send the cam to Oregon for a regrind to his 218-224 cam and put it together with the 302 heads, performer intake, and a 600 carb of your choice. That’ll crush the stock HP/TQ rating. You’ll probably be close to 240-260 hp.
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This rat cheer ^^^^^^ If you don't get the compression up in a 318, while it can be peppy, it's never going to make an appreciable amount of power. A zero deck piston can work wonders, especially with the right heads.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Wait what?

Identically equipped, yur saying the Second gen is lighter than the First and by a whopping 320 pounds?
Shoot, 3381 is less than my 68 Barracuda!

I've been shopping for the wrong generation.
Click to expand...
That is what Google says. I know google sometimes gets their information wrong on things.
 

Screenshot_20251023-223602_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20251023-223842_Gallery.jpg


Magic >
'89 318 roller cam with the long snout to run the manual fuel pump.

My '89 Truck has the 318 roller cam with a 4 bbl and 302 heads, factory 9.2:1 cr flat top pistons.

Pulls great, Fun, Fun...


☆☆☆☆☆
 
Racingcowboy89 said:
That is what Google says. I know google sometimes gets their information wrong on things.
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Yes and ESPECIALLY AI crap. Lots of people here post that AI horse crap as gospel, but most of the time it's wrong.
 
Reading his first post, he said he wants to make a "huge difference" from stock. I love a good stock 318, but that was his exact quote.
 
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