400 Hp ( Street 318 ) Build !

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RustyRatRod said:
Why limit it to factory heads? Slap some Trick Flows on it. 400....

My thing is, I always question articles like this because they have sponsors to answer to. I want independent, non biased testing.
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Bingo, exactly, maybe once I become independently rich in retirement....
 
I’d go the lazy mans route and use some mildly reworked 1.88/1.60 360 heads and KB pistons.

Less porting...... less milling.
 
That should still work really well.
 
Again my opinion but I think the mystique and tall tales surrounding 60s and early 70s muscle cars make them seem faster everytime these tales are told. It seems like every time stories are told about whatever your fav is like the 426 street Hemi for instance it gets faster. I mean these were solid 13 second cars from the factory with the exception of specially tuned "ringers" that the factory dropped off for the automotive press to test. All the car makers did that. Now you hear people telling stories about the 426 street Hemi being 10 second cars off the showroom floor. Sheesh.

Now where am I going with this history lesson. I'm a gonna tell ya. I think the HP and speeds have been so hyped up that somebody who really doesnt know, gets their hands on lets say a nice 1970 340 duster. It's got some basic tweaks like electronic ignition, a little more radical cam than stock, but something that idles fair, over all mostly stock. Runs decent, lets say a solid low 14 second car. Gets its *** beat by newer Camaro SS, Challenger HellCats, and Shelby GT500s. According to all the hype about this stuff over the years, Mr Duster owner thinks it should be faster. After all his grandpappy had one new and it was a 12 second car.

The young 340 duster owner isnt thinking about the fact that technology has moved on in 50 years since his car was concidered new, and cutting edge. Up goes the compression, and installed is the big assed cam, headers, dominator intake and carb, hole cut in the hood. Maybe add that 100 shot of nitrous. Gut the thing with a claw hammer. After all weight is the enemy of speed. No traction control, no problem, time for a minitub, no ABS, time for some aftermarket brakes all just to get it to stop.

Now hes as fast or faster as the latest cutting edge modern muscle, but he sure isnt as comfortable. Rattley loud interior, no A/C or heat because it was shitcanned because weight slows ya down doncha know. Ya its fast in the quarter mile, but with them skinnies on the front, drag shocks and no front swaybar, it cant turn for ****. Without electronic engine management EFI and computer managed VVT systems it idles like a coffee can full of rocks, is cantankerous at best, and gets shitty mileage all to beat something that new, that can run as almost as fast with the windows up and the A/C on.

Personally again my opinion, I want my stuff quick and fun while being able to handle and stop. but I dont make any illusions about beating a hellcat with my old junque. Just not gonna happen, and I am ok with that. I dont need a 10 second race car with licence plates to have fun on the street. I think with this stuff a lot of the fun is restoring it, driving it, and being seen in it.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
Yeah, no kiddin. Keep buyin lotto tickets. lol
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I’ll start buying tickets right away....
What’s a day at the dyno $$$ wise?

yellow rose said:
That’s coming soon aint it? You’ve been ready to retire for 5 years now. Hope it’s soon.
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Less than 6 months, most probably though the exact date is unknown.

What’s a day at the dyno $$$ wise?
 
rumblefish360 said:
I’ll start buying tickets right away....
What’s a day at the dyno $$$ wise?


Less than 6 months, most probably though the exact date is unknown.

What’s a day at the dyno $$$ wise?
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I'm not sure. The guy I use for machine work even has one and I've never asked him. I guess you see how high up on my list of priorities "THAT" is. LMAO
 
Ask him one day when you’d there for something.
This should be interesting.
 
dartfreak75 said:
And I see a thermoquad setting on top of it!! :D
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Thermoquad is a hog man. It's a big bore carb. I always did and still do like the theory behind them as well as the AVS. I messed around with several Thermoquads in the past. At one time I had about a half dozen of them had three of them on vehicles. I could never get them quite right though. There didn't seem to be good Parts availability at the time. I'm talkin early 90s mid 90s. They always fell on there face in the transition, always good off the idle and once the engine caught up it was a beast but I couldn't get the transition tuned right. The lag in the transition would have been a race loser every time. That's just my experience and I didn't have the ideal combination either so there was more than one issue causing my trouble.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Again my opinion but I think the mystique and tall tales surrounding 60s and early 70s muscle cars make them seem faster everytime these tales are told. It seems like every time stories are told about whatever your fav is like the 426 street Hemi for instance it gets faster. I mean these were solid 13 second cars from the factory with the exception of specially tuned "ringers" that the factory dropped off for the automotive press to test. All the car makers did that. Now you hear people telling stories about the 426 street Hemi being 10 second cars off the showroom floor. Sheesh.

Now where am I going with this history lesson. I'm a gonna tell ya. I think the HP and speeds have been so hyped up that somebody who really doesnt know, gets their hands on lets say a nice 1970 340 duster. It's got some basic tweaks like electronic ignition, a little more radical cam than stock, but something that idles fair, over all mostly stock. Runs decent, lets say a solid low 14 second car. Gets its *** beat by newer Camaro SS, Challenger HellCats, and Shelby GT500s. According to all the hype about this stuff over the years, Mr Duster owner thinks it should be faster. After all his grandpappy had one new and it was a 12 second car.

The young 340 duster owner isnt thinking about the fact that technology has moved on in 50 years since his car was concidered new, and cutting edge. Up goes the compression, and installed is the big assed cam, headers, dominator intake and carb, hole cut in the hood. Maybe add that 100 shot of nitrous. Gut the thing with a claw hammer. After all weight is the enemy of speed. No traction control, no problem, time for a minitub, no ABS, time for some aftermarket brakes all just to get it to stop.

Now hes as fast or faster as the latest cutting edge modern muscle, but he sure isnt as comfortable. Rattley loud interior, no A/C or heat because it was shitcanned because weight slows ya down doncha know. Ya its fast in the quarter mile, but with them skinnies on the front, drag shocks and no front swaybar, it cant turn for ****. Without electronic engine management EFI and computer managed VVT systems it idles like a coffee can full of rocks, is cantankerous at best, and gets shitty mileage all to beat something that new that can run as almost as fast with the windows up and the A/C on.

Personally again my opinion, I want my stuff quick and fun while being able to handle and stop. but I dont make any illusions about beating a hellcat with my old junque. Just not gonna happen, and I am ok with that. I dont need a 10 second race car with licence plates to have fun on the street. I think with this stuff a lot of the fun is restoring it, driving it, and being seen in it.
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My 69 will remain essentially 69 at least something like "period Correct" . No Serpentine no drilled and slotted brembos however I may give in to the electric fan. Sorry. not a done deal on that.
I don't care about the cam "sound" that just seems so completely irrelevant to me. It's got to run , it's got to work where I'm using it whether it's Road America or the the stoplight drag race. I'll be keeping my heater too . I want a roll hoop, but I'm keeping my headliner too. I don't know how right now but it's going to happen. I hope . I don't care. whatever. I'll live in it if I have to.
 
400hp street 318?......really well here's some real world not dyno hp no's>

no's match '71 340 Cuda 727, good running motor.
stock CR prob 10:1 if I was lucky with .039 gskts, stock 2.02 heads
.484/284 purple hyd.
ally int, can't remember which one, was 1980!
750DP, small tube hdrs
3.55's/8x26" slicks, B&M super holeshot converter
car hooked, high 13.2's 101+ in 3550-ish lbs = 302fwhp.
_____________

added a Holley strip Dom, 850DP, 2" open spacer
MP .590"/271@.050 solid ft cam
4.30's/28" tyres and a 4200 stall TA
1.3/4" long tube race hdrs
12.40's@108 = 367fwhp

I didn't have those 250cfm? 302 heads of course, but how much hp would they have been worth on my combo over stock J's....30>45hp, more?...do more modern cam profiles really make that much more hp?.
 
Frankly, I’d love to see someone follow the recipe(or close to it)from one of those 400hp mild 318 articles, and have it tested. Then stick it in a car and see how it does at the track.

My image of a legitimate 400hp 318 always seems a lot “racier” than what was done in those articles.
 
PRH said:
The unofficial story I heard was the heads had tons of work done to them, and the dyno session actually got cut short because they started leaking in a few ports.

In other words....... an interesting proof of concept....... but not at all a realistic approach if you’re looking for any type of reliability.

The question for me would be..... if you replaced the heads with something more conservatively ported(as in reliable)....... how much different with the power be?
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Dulcich told me the heads were ported to within an inch of their life and the Dr.J pushed the shortside too hard and they sprung water leaks. The engine in that config never made it into any vehicle. You heard correct. J.Rob
 
My 318 has less compression, 9.4-1 but it does have more cam, and edelbrock heads, but not that racier, 89 octane fuel, street car, drove to and raced at the track, i am not sure how much power it takes to run 11.70s in a 3000 pound car.

I am going to be building another one next year with more compression, so it will interesting to see how it runs.
 
ValiantRacing said:
My 318 has less compression, 9.4-1 but it does have more cam, and edelbrock heads, but not that racier, 89 octane fuel, street car, drove to and raced at the track, i am not sure how much power it takes to run 11.70s in a 3000 pound car.

I am going to be building another one next year with more compression, so it will interesting to see how it runs.
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Run a small dome piston like the Keith black and get the compression up there. You’re still run on 93.
 
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toolmanmike said:
What does that piston look like?
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Screenshot_20201207-205526_Drive.jpg
 
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