My experience with 318s is very limited , but here is my 318 story : Stock engine, 78000 miles, good oil pressure , no smoke. I put in a Summit 1789 272 454 cam and lifters. Did a quick bowl blend and put on new valve guide seals and Comp 901 springs . Fel pro 1008 head gaskets, so actually a little compression than stock. Ld4B intake, 650 dp. Headers wth 2.5 exhaust. Recurved distributor. Timing is about 20 initial , 35 total. At 700 rpm idle it has no discernable lope. In a Duster with 3.23s, stock convertor and 275/60 Cooper Cobra's, made four passes with a best of 14.39 at 96 . Then I installed a PTC 9.5 convertor with about 3500 flash and some 275/60 ET Steet SS. Best so far is 13.89 at 97. Was shifting at 5500 but seems to like it when I stretch it out more , so the plan is to try 5800 the next time at the track. Planning on going back this Fall and hopefully tune/drive a couple of tenths off. Who knows ? Long story short... I really like my 272 454 cam but , when I bought mine , the price was 99$ for cam and lifters on sale. At the current pricing, I might consider something else. It worked fine with a stock convertor , a little soft on the bottom maybe, but enough to spin regular ol' street tires . Really liked the 9.5 convertor. I think the 1798 cam mentioned by the OP would feel pretty sluggish with a stock convertor . And there is a question of how high do you want to rev your stock bottom end. I'm at the point of nervousness now thinking about my stock cast pistons, original bearings, etc . I'm afraid that if I had the cam the OP is considering in my car, I might be tempted to extend my shift points out to KABLAM!!!
