273 or 318 ?

273 or 318 ?

  • 273

    Votes: 16 36.4%

  • 318

    Votes: 28 63.6%
  • Total voters
    44
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318willrun said:
I mean, nobody tries to go faster by shrinking bore size, right ??? To the tune of 45 cubic inches ????
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I almost edited your poll to include either/or. For a mild street car or a early A, either one is a good choice.
 
318 all day. Took a 68 318 block and put it in 273-4 clothing (heads, induction, cam, exhaust...just the 318 short block) and it was more fun than the 273-4 ever was in my '65 S. The 273-4 would break the wheels, but the 318 would smoke them with a 3.23 SG. And that was without the compression bump the 273-4 had. It had 45 inches on it! Thats ~17% more motor.
 
Oldiron440 said:
Hey if it wasn't for my ten year old grandson I would be in the Caribbean...
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So they have MoPars there and is there a law on CID?
Are there schools any good?

Oldiron440 said:
No pants needed, shorts would be a must..
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At least for men…. I’m not interested in another’s personal stick shifter…
 
pishta said:
318 all day. Took a 68 318 block and put it in 273-4 clothing (heads, induction, cam, exhaust...just the 318 short block) and it was more fun than the 273-4 ever was in my '65 S. The 273-4 would break the wheels, but the 318 would smoke them with a 3.23 SG. And that was without the compression bump the 273-4 had. It had 45 inches on it! Thats ~17% more motor.
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Ya ya ya. And a 340 is *** bigger and a 360 is *** bigger than that. And a 408 stroker has more power and a 440 is bigger yet and why stop at a Hemi.
 
That’s right!

Go to the top size so no one can goat you into the bigger is better thing. That’ll silence them!
LMAO
 
I have one of each but I had to vote for the mighty 273.

engine 296.jpg
 
273. No surprise here. Just something about them. Ran many cars with a stock Commando in the 66 Formula S and the killer 273 in the 64 Barracuda. They would take anything near their size and run with HP engines 100 cubes bigger. And get mid 20's mpg. Could I do the same thing with a 318? Sure, but it was too much fun with the 273. How fast do you want to go? 140 mph fast enough? That's where I'd quit, not the 273. Fry the tires through 1st, second, and halfway through 3rd? Yes, with 4.10 gears. No, I don't need a 318. I don't need a 340, got one on a stand. I don't need a 360, sold them all years ago. Even my brothers 67 Fastback 273 would hit 140 mph with a 2 barrel short block and a 340 TQ on a stock Commando intake. Not theoretical. Just great memories from the past.
 
Never had a problem with 318's, but back when I was building my 273, you could get 10.5 TRW forged pistons since the 273 had a high compression option. No such luck for the 318 that was so dependable you could not give them away, no one needed one. Looks like it is different today. I used to scrap 360's for the heads and use them on 273's and 318's. It all boils down to what do you want? What do you have? And how to get there with the money you have. No real bad choices.
 
I LOVE 318s. My grandfather is hardcore 360 but the first small block mopar I ever drove is in my 86 W150 and everyone said it'd be a pooch. Lemme tell ya, that sucker RAN even back with the 2 barrel, one day when I was in community college my friends and I ran to get something to eat during lunch break. Myself and a friend rode in my W150 and the other 4 rode in my friends aftermarket turbo'd BMW... when we were cruising back to the college we got to the "25 to 55" speed limit change road and I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw my friend absolutely hammering on it to try and pass me, when I saw him I put my foot to the carpet and when I tell ya the 318 kicked down a gear and SCREAMED at 6,500 and I held him off from passing (mind you this was still with factory 2 barrel equipment and stock exhaust manifolds). Everyone, including myself, were stunned at how well this little 318 ran. That is the key moment when I fell in love with 318s. I know some may think that is a highly made-up story but I have picture proof of my friends standing around my other friends BMW questioning how good it was after I beat him LOL

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Vote for 273
The first Engine I rebuilt when I was 15
Was a 273 in my first car a 67 Barracuda
It would scream to the moon!
284/484 purple shaft, Holley strip Dominator, T-quad., Headers with Cherry Bombs...lol
904 factory hi-stall, 8.75 - 3.91
It has a blown 426 Hemi in the rear now.
I sold it to Bob Riggle he added it to his Hemi under glass wheel standers.
 
Professor Fate said:
A 340...?
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good catch, I wondered who would trip on it first.....
Well, by the bore she was a was 340,
but everything else was 318, which in 69 was also same as 273;
eg; heads, cam, intake, 2bbl carb, were all off a 69 Satellite, which had taken the 340stuff.
So in the end, I called it a high compression big-bore 318, cuz nobody would believe me if I opened the hood and called it a big-bore 273, even tho that was exactly what it looked like.
I installed it into a '65 V100 wagon, in about 1975, with fenderwell headers and dual exhaust.
what a hoot she was.
 
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Darter6 said:
I understand the low deck 170 and the high deck 225. My why was what the heck did they need a 198 ?
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This from Wika:
The 198 was introduced in the North American market for model year 1970 as a more powerful base-model engine than the previous 170 engine. The increased displacement gave improved vehicle performance and lower manufacturing cost, for it was achieved with the tall RG block also used with the 225 engine by installing a crankshaft with 3.64 in (92.5 mm) stroke and connecting rods 7.006 in (178.0 mm) long, for an actual displacement of 198.3 cu in (3.2 L). Manufacturing costs were reduced by eliminating using two different blocks for the two different available sizes of slant-6 engine. The 198 engine was available through the 1974 model year.

So bottom line, they would not need 2 different blocks. Just a new crank and rods. They could then charge you extra for the larger 225 over a base 198.
 
Plus don't forget, the in-coming 1970 A-bodies were some 300 or more pounds heavier than the out-going 1969 models.
From 170 to 198 is an increase of ~14%, about equal to the increase in weight from, say 2700 to 3150. I don't think they had much of a choice; if the 170s had made it into the newer heavier cars, how long would it have taken before Chrysler would begin losing sales? I mean 3150/170 is an abysmal ratio of 18.5 pounds per cubic inch.
 
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