318 value

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junkyardhero said:
money and hassle. straight up.

you have a 318 2V car now think about what you need to get a BB in there:
mounts- 150~250
transmission- let's say you get lucky and score a $500 cast off
exhaust- what's the cheapest headers gonna run? maybe you scoop a used set for $500?

then: do you need a better radiator? does the power booster fit? power steering? gonna need to get that oil pan that fits and make sure your steering linkage is right. brakes up to the task?

so you're easily 1500 into it before a motor and other assorted sundries.
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I disagree.
 
I'd rather compromise on fitment and cost then performance and driveability, even though cost debatable.
Most seem to pick the latter to compromise which seems to be a poor compromise since most on here over fret about performance and driveability.
 
Dan the man said:
I didn't mean for it to sound like that. That's what I'll do
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Dan,

This isn't meant to be an attack on you, but rather an opportunity for me to share with you something I learned in Days Gone By...

About 40 years ago, when I was 18 or 19 years old, I was talking-up all of the things I was going to do with my car, when my "car mentor" (a gruff, no-nonsense, but wise and patient fellow) looked at me over the top of his glasses and said, "It's hard to build a reputation based on things you're going to do."
 
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Mean416 said:
A 340 manifold isn't all that great.

These days you have some good intake options and that wouldn't be the deciding factor for me.

In fact, I wouldn't even consider buying a 318 unless it was really something special. If you're buying an engine just be patient and get a 360. Might cost you $200 more up front but from there on you'll be playing with 20 ft lbs more, pretty much across the rpm range, almost regardless of what mods you make from then on.
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Red x time
I'm so freaking tired of 318 based threads that say "just get a 360". Nothing at all wrong with the 318. Especially for a street car.
 
volaredon said:
Red x time
I'm so freaking tired of 318 based threads that say "just get a 360". Nothing at all wrong with the 318. Especially for a street car.
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People we are all funny!
Guy gets a 360 and people say he should get a 340.
Guy has a 383 car, the "people" he should have a 440.
Guy has a 440 and people say he should have a hemi.
BUT, the guy has a slant and all they say is get a V8!!!!! :poke: :BangHead: :rofl::steering:
 
Because they come asking about a 318. Not a 360. Now if there's terminal damage to the 318 like a hole in the block, cracked cylinder or something else that would render their 318 unusable and they have to find another core to start with them MAYBE id consider a 360. But again as built 360s are pooches. Dished pistons, huge chambers in the heads, weeny cam... You'd have to put some flat tops in at least, maybe some head work and a cam at minimum to make THOSE run worth a shyt. So they might as well save the money they'd spend buying another engine and put that money they save by NOT buying that 360 into building a better 318. No worries about internal/external balance either, which is more money having to be spent on that 360....
 
volaredon said:
Because they come asking about a 318. Not a 360.
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I agree as long the OP seems like he understands the general pro's and con's of building a 318 and not asking it to do something really beyond it's capabilities. Problem some people don't have really great understand hp, torque, rpm, powerbands, displacement, gearing and how it interconnects they don't realize their shooting themselves in the foot by some of their compromises.
volaredon said:
Now if there's terminal damage to the 318 like a hole in the block, cracked cylinder or something else that would render their 318 unusable and they have to find another core to start with them MAYBE id consider a 360. But again as built 360s are pooches. Dished pistons, huge chambers in the heads, weeny cam... You'd have to put some flat tops in at least, maybe some head work and a cam at minimum to make THOSE run worth a shyt. So they might as well save the money they'd spend buying another engine and put that money they save by NOT buying that 360 into building a better 318. No worries about internal/external balance either, which is more money having to be spent on that 360....
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I don't know about these reasons, but I understand why people push 360 (displacement) it generally makes more sense especially in a street car especially one the gonna run higher gears, low stall and operate in the lower rpm powerbands, but if the OP don't care then there's little reason for a 10 page argument for them to build something they don't even if it makes no sense to the average person.
 
Compared to a typical 318 for me anyway a 360 doesn't do anything more besides cost more (sometimes way more) at the pump
 
volaredon said:
Compared to a typical 318 for me anyway a 360 doesn't do anything more besides cost more (sometimes way more) at the pump
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We all have are different wants desires compromises were willing to make which makes a lot of this a personal decision that's why I try to give people information to help them decide for themselves.
 
I admit IF a guy has a real 340 car, it needs a 340 motor. But if you think about all the costs that go into restoring (building) any old car, spending an extra $1000 or so for a 340 core motor to go in most any old Mopar be it born with a 318, slant... makes sense in the long run. But people will always say: I will NEVER sell this car(yea right) and the 318 is fine enough or I just can't afford that or...... add up what a guy spends even if he does all the work himself...$1000 is a pimple on an elephants ***. I have built plenty of 318 Dusters simply because that suited me fine and when it sells, the next guy can do whatever.

I have a bud back in Mo. that is a pro mechanic and over the last 3 decades or so has built many a 360, restored and built # cars, drag cars, etc. I mean all bored maybe stroked. He loves BBs and hates the 360. He will say darn near every one runs HOT!!! I don't know and don't care. Maybe while all these guys want the sillye lectric fans!!>>> :BangHead:
 
That running hot is what you get, when you bore everything that you touch to 60-0ver, whether it needs it to clean up, or not. I only ever bore a given engine as much as I have to in order to clean things up. If that means 20-over, that's all I go.
 
Volare don you are missing the point I'm trying to make.

Old Dan the man is asking about buying a 318 engine. Saying it's compelling because of some 340 intake. I'm saying, NO, not at all, in no shape or form whatsoever, NO. This is NOT a reason to buy a 318.

Am I insulting the 318? HELL NO! 318 are good engines. Great potential. ALMOST as much as an equivalent LARGER engine.

And if you're CURRENTLY SHOPPING for a small block engine, I say, at least start off ahead and consider a larger variant.

So, volare don, you keep on getting butt hurt by everyone who doesn't see things exactly as you do. But I will keep providing information to whomever is reading this BS.

Here, I'll make it very basic: For any two engines, built otherwise IDENTICALLY, the one with the larger displacement will make more power. Period. Every. Single. Time.

Some people will read this and say gosh that guy is just hating on the 318. The 318 don't get no respect. Blah blah blah. YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT.
 
Goodie for you.
340s have been scarce around here since the 80s at least. (South Chicago area)
 
volaredon said:
Goodie for you.
340s have been scarce around here since the 80s at least. (South Chicago area)
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maybe it's location, but there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them here in socal or within a days drive.

and they seem to pop up here almost weekly, in various states of exploded view to complete.

it seems as if you beat the bushes and waive some cash around all of a sudden the parts you were looking for seem to materialize.
 
Plenty of 340s still around. I have one waiting in the wings for a build.

You just have to be willing to pay.

If you're really super budget, get a 318 magnum. VERY common and very cheap. If you can afford a couple hundred more, a 360 magnum can be had. I just did exactly this and purchased a 360 mag off of FB.

.
 
Well I was at this point a couple of years ago with one of my projects.
I bought a truck, and it doesn't even have a V8. It's a /6.
I could have had a v8. I have a couple of them here even. Magnums even. And my son has a 440 I could have gotten quite easily.
But then I'd have needed a different trans, different mounts, different exhaust, different radiator and more. Things id need for the V8 but didn't (still don't) have. So I guess I committed the ultimate sin. I went looking for a super 6 manifold stack, and I found 1 right away, put it on a truck my kid had. Then I literally fell into a 2nd one, but it came with a catch. For less than many are asking for just a super 6 manifold I found one with the rest of a basket case /6 in pieces at a swap meet.
The catch was that I couldn't buy just the super 6 manifold he had that I wanted, without the rest of whatever he had of this /6 engine. He wouldn't sell anything separately. All or nothing.
My original engine ran, and ran like a sewing machine.
But hey I had most of another motor now. So I built it, and figured why not. And I'd never take this truck down the race track so it would work.
And work with the rest of what I ALREADY HAVE.
Then I sold that original motor, and it went right into another car with just a cleaning.
Like I'm trying to say, about the 318 bashers
I worked with what I had. Ok if you're buying another engine I guess buying it just for a manifold might be crazy.
I built the /6 that fell into my lap, and put the money that I would have spent on the parts that weren't compatible with a V8 into a head shave, block shave, reground cam, bigger valves, made lotsa cast iron dust and some noise with a die grinder for a weekend porting the head, etc and built a better /6. Also I got my money back that the super 6 and basket case motor cost me (plus a few$) for my old motor.
I'm just so tired of the gazillions of people that come into a "how can I improve my 318" post with "cast it aside and get something different" answers that are so common. They didn't ask "what do I replace the 318 with" at all. But that seems the only answer many want to offer.
 
volaredon said:
I'm just so tired of the gazillions of people that come into a "how can I improve my 318" post with "cast it aside and get something different" answers that are so common. They didn't ask "what do I replace the 318 with" at all. But that seems the only answer many want to offer.
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Especially when 90% of them just want to add a 4bbl and mild cam to a already decent running 318, and get a bunch can't done cause of X and Y, mainly cid and cr. Even though everyone and their bother has done it one or another.

My first hop up was a 318 dodge truck, I apparently did it all the wrong way 360 heads and 4bbl intake Q jet and 340 cam, not one thought about compression, stock exhaust gears and stall, worked great, notice no downsides, more power than before and had no problem hauling cargo.
 
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