318 head swap...step by step info?

-
6

65Valiant310

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
822
Reaction score
4
First swap on my 318- my 79' heads to a set of rebuilt 302 swirl ports. Is there a step by step guide on removal/reinstall?
I am curious how to adjust the valves, etc.

thanks
 
Was going to use a stock set of rockers, unless the 273 adjustables are recommended (still reading up on that)
 
65Valiant310 said:
Was going to use a stock set of rockers, unless the 273 adjustables are recommended (still reading up on that)
Click to expand...

If you use a hydraulic cam, you'll need different length pushrods. The 273 pushrods, so far as I know, were all for mechanical cams.
 
Buy the service manual. FACTORY CHRYSLER SERVICE MANUAL. Not Haynes or any other bullshit.
 
Gonna want to clean the bolt holes in the block before re- assembly. A cheap tap and compressed air work well.
 
thanks all
silly question...how to tell if its a hydraulic or mechanical cam?
 
I think what he was saying, if you use 273 rockers, you will have to use a mechanical cam. The Mechanical cams where used up till mid late 60's..? Not exactly sure on years, Your 360 I'm sure has a hydraulic cam. Here is my suggestion for your dilemma. I had the same problem that happened to you, on my stock 68 318 truck. I went down to car quest and bought 2 rockers. (the intake and exhaust rockers are different). I replaced the 2 and it worked for years until i sold it. Or you can replace all 16. They actually had them on the shelf. I payed 6-7$ a piece, so your looking at 100-112$, but you will have all new original style rockers. They are fairly easy to replace, no adjusting, just put the rockers on and torque the bolts down. Hopes this help's
 
65Valiant310 said:
thanks all
silly question...how to tell if its a hydraulic or mechanical cam?
Click to expand...

Look at the lifters. If they have nothing inside them and just a solid cupped area for push rod to sit in then its a solid mechanical litter. If they have a snap in clip with a plunger inside then its a hydraulic lifter. If its a stock cam I can pretty much gaurentee its hydraulic.
 
As long as you haven't had the heads shaved or block decked a lot, or you're running some oddball combo, stock length over the counter pushrods should be fine. If you're running an adjustable valve train, then maybe you'd need custom length.

If so, buy or rent an adjustable length pushrod, mock up your valvetrain, and google or use the search function here to find a good tech article-it's not terribly difficult, and I know I've seen people detailing it out on threads here recently
 
Dapper Dan Dodge Man said:
I think what he was saying, if you use 273 rockers, you will have to use a mechanical cam. The Mechanical cams where used up till mid late 60's..? Not exactly sure on years, Your 360 I'm sure has a hydraulic cam. Here is my suggestion for your dilemma. I had the same problem that happened to you, on my stock 68 318 truck. I went down to car quest and bought 2 rockers. (the intake and exhaust rockers are different). I replaced the 2 and it worked for years until i sold it. Or you can replace all 16. They actually had them on the shelf. I payed 6-7$ a piece, so your looking at 100-112$, but you will have all new original style rockers. They are fairly easy to replace, no adjusting, just put the rockers on and torque the bolts down. Hopes this help's
Click to expand...

Not true. You can use the adjustable rockers with a hydraulic cam, the rockers don't care as long as they're adjusted properly.

The push rods will probably have to be a different length than the stock 273 push rods though, because those were for solid lifters. And you won't be able to use pushrods for a non-adjustable rocker set, because those have ball-ball ends. The adjustables use ball-cup.

As already suggested, just buy a pushrod length checker. I got Comp's 7709-1, its the correct length for pretty much all mopar small blocks. Then you can figure out how long the pushrods need to be (measure all 16 of them!!!), and see if you can order off the shelf push rods or if you need to have them made.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-7709-1/overview/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top