318 upgrades

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That cam (Summits') will go to 5G with the right componets. Good intake, headers, larger carb. I have a similar Crane in my 318 now. The stock '79 - 318 with 3.21's ran 15.14 @ 89 untuned. (Or not very well tuned,LOL)
 
I'm not sure how much head work I want to get into, but that cam looks like a nice upgrade. I already have a holly 600cfm carb that is going on and an older 4 edelbrock intake but I might look for something better
 
Yeah, you have two or three ways to go here.

The cheapest is to use the intake and carb and buy that summit cam. you will be giving up a lot in performance but saving a few bucks.

The second option is to get the MP cam/upgrade springs and valve seals (I'd do valve seals no matter what).
The third option is to add a little milling for compression and some cheap shims to adjust the pushrod length. The cleanup on the heads would be nice if you can do it yourself, but labor costs money! LOL
I can make the shims for ya, if ya like. I just need to know what you take off the heads and how thick your stock gasket is compared to how thick the new gasket is (or we can determine that later based on compression).

I think "we" can make this happen pretty cheap.
$190 cam + lifters
??? head milling
??? springs
??? valve seals


I like the idea of running the MP cam because I like to rev. That thing will allow that 318 to have a very wide power band.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone esp dave, I just grabbed those springs off of ebay and I'm going to check my gasket set to see if it came with the seals. Other then that I think I'm set for what I want to do now.

The other other thing I might do is try to find a better intake but I have to check the one I have first and compare it to some others to see if its worth it or not.
 
This is the article that got me started when I decided to get serious about reworking my 318:

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/articles/mopar/0667em_mopar_318_engine/index.html

I do not fully agree with everything they did because their only goal was to get 400+ hp from the engine and that meant completely ignoring <2000 rpm as a sacrifice. I was fortunate to get a set of excellent 340 heads with only ~3 months of run time on them since rebuild and the smaller chamber size means they do not need the kind of machining that the 360 heads would require for better compression. (All my machinist recommended was a new set of stem seals.)

You will find that Edelbrock has several intake manifolds that are identified as being compatible for a 318, provided you have 340 or 360 heads on top (larger ports).

I will probably go with the Lunati 60401 camshaft (0.454"/0.475" lift, 1000-5500rpm) instead because it does not require stronger springs than stock and provides lots of lift. You will probably find that anything opening the valves >0.480" mandates a new set of springs. Summit has the kit for $179, including lifters or $119 for just the camshaft.

Just the same, the article is a very good one because it specifically tries to keep the costs down. If you find 360 heads and their large chamber size, you may also want to swap the suggested KB167 pistons for KB399 because they are domed and could alleviate the costs of machining the heads and the nuisance of port matching. Beware the compression increase, however, so that it does not get too high.

One further point I will pass along from my veteran machinist is that he strongly recommends that the top piston ring and the two solid parts of the oil ring assembly have their installed gap increased from 0.016" to 0.020" to avoid butting together due to the high heat in a hypereutectic application.

Good luck!
 
If you're buying a re-build kit for the engine, specify the 67-69 piston. These come closest to the deck, are flat tops with 4 valve reliefs in them. They'll give you the highest compression with any head you choose.
 
Jamakin said:
Thanks for all the help everyone esp dave, I just grabbed those springs off of ebay and I'm going to check my gasket set to see if it came with the seals. Other then that I think I'm set for what I want to do now.

The other other thing I might do is try to find a better intake but I have to check the one I have first and compare it to some others to see if its worth it or not.
Click to expand...


Sounds good, man!
You're gonna love that thing. The head milling is not a requirement.
If you have the tools accessible to do a little cleanup on the ports and bowls, that would be cool...but again not required.

What r u runnin for ignition? The stock chrysler elecrtonic works good.
 
I have three boxes, a chrome box that was in the truck with the 318, a orange box of unknown condition, and currently in the car with the slant is a box that is sort of a goldish color. I'll probably get it running with the box thats in the car just becuase i know it works then play around with the other two

I've heard that you can do a lot with the stock box so thats the plan, use it for what I can then if i need to upgrade later i will.
 
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