318 help..

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Biffelina

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Hi! I’m new here and this is my first post.
I’m from sweden so my english isn’t the best.. But just bare with me 😛

I have recently bought a 1972 dodge dart and this is my first mopar, actually it’s my first V8 ever..
The engine that’s already in the car is a 89 318 with 360 heads, edlebrook aluminium intake and a e 600 edlebrook carb. And basically it’s weak. It barely spin the tires when you step on it..

When I bought the car I got a spare engine.This one is a 318 from 69 and I would like to rebuild this engine so that I can switch them later. The end goal is to keep the one with the most hp.

The purpose of this project is to build a fun street car engine to drive around town with. Being able to step on it on the straight run would be a huge plus as well.
What I mean is, I’m not really trying to build any Serious racing engine, I just want something fun to drive.

The 69 has a .030 overbore and looks okay. I want to get around 300hp at the tires, is this even possible?
I want to change the Pistons to highcomp. And I would like to change the cam..
But I don’t know what I should get?
As you can see I’m in need of some advice and I would really appreciate if someone could send me some links on stuff you recommend.
I was planning on reusing the aluminium intake and carb (from the old engine) but I have another one at home and I wonder if that one is better. The one I’ve got is an old Holly 650 spredebore carb, What do you think? which one should I use?
 
Sure 300 hp is well within reach , pistons , good heads , headers and a cam will get you there . Which ede intake do you have
 
Put in a set of 10.5 pistons for a 318, then with the 360 heads you will be at 9.2 compression. Then build from there....
 
jerry6 said:
Sure 300 hp is well within reach , pistons , good heads , headers and a cam will get you there . Which ede intake do you have
Click to expand...


ooh i forgot to mention that it does have headers on it now. some cheep ones.

i have no ide?.. how do i see what kind of eb intake i have?

can a use the stock heads? or is the 360 better??


if someone could make a list or give me some links to the parts that I need it would help me big time!

I dont know what to search for on summit racnigs website?..

i am a total novis at this stuff.. especially in English..
 
If the distributor hasn't had the advance curve set up that will give you a very noticeable power increase!
 
Do a search for articles written by Steve Dulich; he's written 5; that I know of; articles on building a 400 plus HP 318. First one that comes to mind is "Cheep as dirt". As I remember, the short block was pretty much the same thru all the builds, using KB 167 Hyper eutectic pistons at zero deck at .030 or .040 over bore, balance the rotating assembly. The major difference between the builds were cylinder heads and cam shafts. He ranged between heavily ported 302 castings with big valves, Eddy aluminum, ported Magnum heads, 360 castings with big valves and lite pocket clean up and a major cut on the chamber side to reduce combustion chamber volume. Don't remember cams. Lighten up on compression, they all were 10 to 1 or over, lighten up on cam shaft a little from what he used, that would give you in the neighborhood of 350hp at the crank which works out to just a lick over 300 hp at the tires you are looking for.

Search back issues of "Hot Rod, "Car Craft", "Popular Hotrodding" for the stories.

Good luck!
 
Sounds like you are either; down on compression, a too early stall, and/or hi-way gears.
I'd start with a compression test, a stall test and figure out what gears you have.
The 89 should be a roller cam engine, and that would be a bonus.
 
Find some local guys with v8 experience(mopars a plus)that have cars that run well.Hang out with them and ask them to take a look at yours.

First thing to do is make sure yours is in good working order.A compression test is a good place to start as well as checking the ignition timing.Things like plugs,wires,distributor cap and rotor if needed.If you get a good running healthy engine then you can fine tune for performance and look at upgrades as needed.

I would personally rather have a holley 650 spread bore than an edelbrock 600.You would have to have an intake manifold that accepts the spread bore carb.Either one can run well but properly set up the Holley makes more power hands down.

Welcome to the forum and ask away.
 
My 67 273 2brl w/ 276 gear will spin a tire.
If your car originally had a slant 6 in it, Throttle cable / throttle travel may be part of the problem.
I don't know how the fuel there compares with the fuel here but... tuning to factory specs with our corn liquor for fuel doesn't work.
 
the 1406 Eddy is lean out of the box & a strip kit is required. degree the cam and dial in the dist subsystems in order: initial/total at 35/springs then plug in/adj the can
 
krazykuda said:
Put in a set of 10.5 pistons for a 318, then with the 360 heads you will be at 9.2 compression. Then build from there....
Click to expand...

Don't worry about your English, it's plenty good. I am always surprised at what you Euro guys go through to have an American car.
Typically 360 heads on a 318 will lower the compression from the stock 318. Either a piston swap or different heads will get the compression up. Or, mill the 360 heads if you have limited resources and a mild port job will help a lot. (pocket porting). A thinner head gasket will also help a little. Don't over cam. Keep the headers, doesn't matter much if they are cheap for what you want to do. Check the gear ratio in the rear axle. If it's in the 2.xx range, it will be sluggish from a standing start and you don't have a lot of torque to work with right now.

Keep posting your progress and decisions.
 
Your English is good, better than a lot of people from here. Like KosmicKuda said, you are probably losing some compression with those heads.

Your intake should have the name on it somewhere. It's usually somewhere around the thermostat. The Edelbrock Performer is a good intake for a street 318. If it's an Edelbrock, and is not very tall, it's probably a Performer.

You can use the 360 heads, but you will need to increase the compression. You can do that with pistons, decking the block, milling some off the heads, or a thinner head gasket (or all of the above).

Find out what kind of heads the other set is. If they are the 302 heads, they are a good head for a 318, and would probably be the better choice for your goals.
 
Yes, he's loosing compression with those heads...

However the increased flow is offsetting some of that...

But if he puts in 10.5 pistons like I recommended above, it will be at 9.2 with the 360 heads...

That way he doesn't have to mill the crap out of the heads to get the compression and then have to use custom fit push rods/adjustable rocker arms, and deal with milling the intake to fit...
 
Those 3 or 4 400 hp 318 builds out there are pretty much 10:1cr, comp 275 or 285 cam, air gap & 750 carb, headers and heads that flow over 200 cfms
 
Why do you want that much power ?
9:1cr, comp 268 cam, 650 carb and performer intake port matched and stock 360 heads will probably give you 85% of that horsepower but be way more street friendly.

And don't forget about gear a 318 is about 10% smaller than a 360 so you need abut 10% more gear to even things up.
 
Police 318's came with 360 heads. They're likely 596heads ( 596 being the last three numbers of the seven under the valve cover) you have headers so make sure someone plugged the little smog holes under each exhaust port. Ask me how I know.....
krazykuda's advice ×2
Also ×2 on rearend gearing - check it.
 
Well first of i just want to say, thank you guys for all the feedback!

The car can do a burnout, but to be able to do so I have to stand on the brake pedal for it to spin the tires.. ;)
it does have line lock though :) but it don’t start spining when you just floor it from a standing start.. or is this to much to ask for???

the thing is because the engine that’s in the car still runs I do not want to mess with it to much, I still want to drive the car to some events and stuff. that’s why I want to build this "new" engine separately so i can switch them later ;)
the first thing I want to do is to make shore that my 318 heads are okay

I did see this number on the heads, is these 302 or is it just the stock ones? or is there some other numbers that I should look at?




if its 302 then they are going to be on my new 318 build
but if they are stock I'm going to put them on the car for now, and put the 360 heads on the new build.


if the 360 heads lowers the compression I need new pistons right? will these fit?
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/uem-kb167-030/overview/


I found them in an article that JBurch said that I should read :)



on the intake it just says edelbrock ld4b is this a performer?




why I want around 300hp? well, because it’s a nice round number..
Im happy with 290 or whatever, its just a number that I'm aiming for ;)

how do I see what kind of a cam that’s in it now?
is it some numbers that I should see there?

And here is a picture of the block, its going to be hemi orange later ;)




thanks again guys!! appreciating all the help!!
 
LD4B Intake is a really good intake, perfect for your build.
 
Honestly, my money would be spent on rear end gears, and tuning the engine you have.
Check what gears are in there now.
3.55 to 4.10 will make it seem like a new motor.
 
Nothing wrong with the OP's english! Hell, it's better than some others on this forum who speak only english!
 
Rearend gear's ! ??? Rearend gears!!?? What are the rearend gears???????!!!!..???.????????????

put your 10 speed bicycle in 10th gear and try and take off fast .
 
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