318 build #2 "cost minded" for the '74 Duster
I think its the same with me. 1/8 was for the junior dragsters...:) eh well maybe I'm old, anyway racing was fun back in the day...back when the stands were full of spectators, even at small local events. I'm looking forward to 318 WR putting up some real numbers with this build . I sense he's a guy with something to prove, you know "318s get no love " and whatnot.
Its all good.
I set out to that but I had to sell the Duster I was screwing with. I had a little fun. Slow going but it was with the idea to March down in time slips a little at a time and show what different things can be done and why certain things were done.
I started with a low compression ‘79 - 318 in a ‘74 Duster a long was back. I may yet do that again on my YouTube channel for fun.
I don’t think 318WR has a sh#%in thing to prove but what he is doing is having fun while showing the world. He has a nice following on his UT-channel by having fun.
The not so loved 318 is labeled with the basic “Grocery Getter/People Mover” moniker and is a well earned title but the engine gets over looked and for good reason. Back in the day….
(Enter back in the day dreamin music when we were young and remember. Below is mostly for the younger crowd.)
340’s were easy to get and the 318 was littering the streets in daily drivers.
(Heck! The one I got in my ‘79 Magnum has detailed records by the original owner I purchased the car from where he stopped recording miles at 323,000 or so.
He did that in 10 years of ownership. I asked how and said he hated flying as you don’t see the USA that way. So twice a year he packed up the two kids and went somewhere new.
He stated he didn’t see Mexico or Alaska. But everything in between. The story drones on from there until I got it.)
Oh- wait-drifting here.. back to what I was saying…
Since the 340 was earning its reputation as a high winding giant killer in the A body cars, there was no reason to use less cubes. A few of us used what we had on hand. The 318. It is a challenge to make smaller to faster. That is one reason why I think he sticks with it plus he has it on hand.
It’s in the owners court what to do with what ever budget they have. So, if you don’t have a lot of money to say, start with a $700-$1,000 cost of JUST a 340 block, your not alone. Besides, a grand in parts to a long way and if your wise, I can really pick up your 318 very well.
While the 318 built with the same parts will never be a 340, sometimes you just gotta work with what ya got. Sometimes you do it because you want to.
