Valvebounce
Well-Known Member
Hey team,
New user here.
I thought before I made my 1st post, I'd give the small block tech forum a good read. I've just read almost all of the threads that relate to me going right back to the 1st post. (Took a lot of reading too!)
Anyway, I was given a 318 small block for free a few years ago. (Saved it from going to the tip) The guy who gave it to me (A friend of my dads) had taken the heads, water pump, fuel pump and lifters off it. So it sat in the shed for a while gathering dust. then one day Dad mentioned that he'd found a place on the net, (in the US) that does REALLY cheap overhaul kits for mopars. (I'm in New Zealand btw) Since he was heading over to LA for a holiday, I said hey Lets get a kit for that old shortblock and save on postage.
So we pulled the motor down, and found that it was already .040 over, and despite being pretty dirty the pistons and bores were mint. After the crank was pulled and mic'd, we found it was only going to need a polish and it could be reused.
On one of the frost plugs in the front of the block, there was the remnants of an engine reconditioners tag too. Judging by the state of the bores and pistons, I'd not only say it didn't do much work since it was done, but that the rings may have never even bedded in right from the get go.
The cam bearings were still mint enough to not warrant replacing.
so a rings, bearings, and gasket kit (With moly top hastings rings) was only $112 (usd) You wouldn't even be able to buy the gasket set here for that price. (also bear in mind that it takes $1.37 of my money to get $1 of yours.)
As for the heads, there is a pair of 675's sitting on another old 318 over in the corner of the workshop. I've not pulled them off yet, but I'm told they have had 1.88's, and 1.6's fitted to them. Before you say lose the 675's, I have to say that there isn't much else available here. The last set of "J"s I saw for sale, the guy wanted $500 for. And they needed rebuilding!
So here's the plan for my build,
Zero deck the block. (try and get a bit of squish happening)
Use the 675 heads. (hopefully they'll just need a good 3 angle valve job)
Chose a cam like an XE268. (most likely I'll get the cam out of it reground to a similar spec, and some hardly used lifters refaced to suit)
Probably fit some used internal valvesprings inside the original ones. (depending on the machining costs to accomodate them)
Then make some custom pushrods to suit the ground cam and decked block/shaved head. (and maybe lash caps, if they're called for to keep the rocker geometry happy)
I picked up a brand new (standard) sealed power oil pump for $60.(NZD) (I'm going to strip this and check it out before fitting it as per another of Moper's tips)
Just run the .040 cast pistons that came with the motor, and reuse the timing chain. (It's in great shape, and can't have done many kms)
Then have the heads skimmed to bring the CR up to around the 10:1 mark.
Since my budget doesn't extend to having the rotating assembly balanced, or arp rod bolts, or even having the big ends resized, It's not going to be able to rev to any earth shattering RPMs. Plus the 675's will be a limiting factor here too. I read the article that mopar muscle did where they rebuilt a 318 on a really tight budget. And thought I may use a crosswind inlet. But after reading the negative things about them here I'm not so sure. I read Moper's post saying that going from a cross wind to an edelbrock meant he needed to go up 3 jet sizes due to the increased flow over the crosswind. (That was the death knell for me)
So bearing in mind the paramters of this engine combo, which manifold would you reccommend? Even with the slightly larger valves, I'm hoping to get some decent port velocity, and get some decent torque without the revs.
I'll be running a cheap $99 (Aussie dollars) electronic dizzy off Ebay Au. Just because for that price it isn't worth farting about with a 30 year old standard dizzy, and MSD boxes are just too far out of my price range. (Much as I'd love to run one)
Other things that might be worth mentioning, Here we can buy pump gas with a 98 octane, so the higher CR shouldn't be an issue. And after the motor has a few kms on it, I also have a brand new tunable nitrous oxide plate kit under my bed that may find it's way onto it.
Your thoughts please?
Bart.
PS, sorry about the essay, but after reading so many posts, I wanted to explain exactly what I'm up to clearly. (and I do ramble a bit)
New user here.
I thought before I made my 1st post, I'd give the small block tech forum a good read. I've just read almost all of the threads that relate to me going right back to the 1st post. (Took a lot of reading too!)
Anyway, I was given a 318 small block for free a few years ago. (Saved it from going to the tip) The guy who gave it to me (A friend of my dads) had taken the heads, water pump, fuel pump and lifters off it. So it sat in the shed for a while gathering dust. then one day Dad mentioned that he'd found a place on the net, (in the US) that does REALLY cheap overhaul kits for mopars. (I'm in New Zealand btw) Since he was heading over to LA for a holiday, I said hey Lets get a kit for that old shortblock and save on postage.
So we pulled the motor down, and found that it was already .040 over, and despite being pretty dirty the pistons and bores were mint. After the crank was pulled and mic'd, we found it was only going to need a polish and it could be reused.
On one of the frost plugs in the front of the block, there was the remnants of an engine reconditioners tag too. Judging by the state of the bores and pistons, I'd not only say it didn't do much work since it was done, but that the rings may have never even bedded in right from the get go.
The cam bearings were still mint enough to not warrant replacing.
so a rings, bearings, and gasket kit (With moly top hastings rings) was only $112 (usd) You wouldn't even be able to buy the gasket set here for that price. (also bear in mind that it takes $1.37 of my money to get $1 of yours.)
As for the heads, there is a pair of 675's sitting on another old 318 over in the corner of the workshop. I've not pulled them off yet, but I'm told they have had 1.88's, and 1.6's fitted to them. Before you say lose the 675's, I have to say that there isn't much else available here. The last set of "J"s I saw for sale, the guy wanted $500 for. And they needed rebuilding!
So here's the plan for my build,
Zero deck the block. (try and get a bit of squish happening)
Use the 675 heads. (hopefully they'll just need a good 3 angle valve job)
Chose a cam like an XE268. (most likely I'll get the cam out of it reground to a similar spec, and some hardly used lifters refaced to suit)
Probably fit some used internal valvesprings inside the original ones. (depending on the machining costs to accomodate them)
Then make some custom pushrods to suit the ground cam and decked block/shaved head. (and maybe lash caps, if they're called for to keep the rocker geometry happy)
I picked up a brand new (standard) sealed power oil pump for $60.(NZD) (I'm going to strip this and check it out before fitting it as per another of Moper's tips)
Just run the .040 cast pistons that came with the motor, and reuse the timing chain. (It's in great shape, and can't have done many kms)
Then have the heads skimmed to bring the CR up to around the 10:1 mark.
Since my budget doesn't extend to having the rotating assembly balanced, or arp rod bolts, or even having the big ends resized, It's not going to be able to rev to any earth shattering RPMs. Plus the 675's will be a limiting factor here too. I read the article that mopar muscle did where they rebuilt a 318 on a really tight budget. And thought I may use a crosswind inlet. But after reading the negative things about them here I'm not so sure. I read Moper's post saying that going from a cross wind to an edelbrock meant he needed to go up 3 jet sizes due to the increased flow over the crosswind. (That was the death knell for me)
So bearing in mind the paramters of this engine combo, which manifold would you reccommend? Even with the slightly larger valves, I'm hoping to get some decent port velocity, and get some decent torque without the revs.
I'll be running a cheap $99 (Aussie dollars) electronic dizzy off Ebay Au. Just because for that price it isn't worth farting about with a 30 year old standard dizzy, and MSD boxes are just too far out of my price range. (Much as I'd love to run one)
Other things that might be worth mentioning, Here we can buy pump gas with a 98 octane, so the higher CR shouldn't be an issue. And after the motor has a few kms on it, I also have a brand new tunable nitrous oxide plate kit under my bed that may find it's way onto it.
Your thoughts please?
Bart.
PS, sorry about the essay, but after reading so many posts, I wanted to explain exactly what I'm up to clearly. (and I do ramble a bit)
It's be good to get one up on the jappa's.
