318/XE262/#302 heads and what stall converter/rear end

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solracmopar

solracmopar

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Hi all, I recently upgraded my stock 318 with #302 heads, milled down .30, valves cut back, 3 angle valve job and all the ports matched with some minor bowl work done. In addition I installed the Comp XE262. Other than that I'm running a set of Dougs headers, Eddie performer intake and a 600cfm carb. I'm running a stock 904 tranny and have no idea what my rear end is. Whatever they ran in 73 darts with /6 set ups..

Once all together I've noticed the drive-ability is lets say off.. It idles rough and I'm finding it I have to double peddle or put the car in neutral at stop lights. Not sure if this is from the cam/stock stall converter combo? Since this is my first real engine upgrade and I'm not sure what to expect so any feedback from you mopar pros would be greatly appreciated. While I'm at it I was hoping to get any feed back on what rear end to run.
 
Vacuum leaks? Do you have a square bore plate under the carb?

What is the initial timing?

There is NO reason that set up should require two footing it to stay running in gear.

If you timed it using the factory 318 mopar settings, throw them away. Set the initial in the 14-18 range and reset the idle/mixture screws.

I'd put a TRUE 2500 converter in it and it should run pretty good. The more gear the better depending on rear tire size. A street car that sees no highway or limited highway use can be geared higher.
 
crackedback said:
Vacuum leaks? Do you have a square bore plate under the carb?

What is the initial timing?

There is NO reason that set up should require two footing it to stay running in gear.

If you timed it using the factory 318 mopar settings, throw them away. Set the initial in the 14-18 range and reset the idle/mixture screws.

I'd put a TRUE 2500 converter in it and it should run pretty good. The more gear the better depending on rear tire size. A street car that sees no highway or limited highway use can be geared higher.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have a square wooden bore plate under the carb. Thinking of running a pcv valve from one of the valve covers back to the carb. Right now I have 1 breather on each valve cover.

Timing wise I'm at .35 advanced. When you say reset idle/mixture screws, just adjust them till it evens out?

This is the only 2500 converter I've found - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hup-27-25hd Any good? Thanks!
 
35 total timing?

If so DO NOT do it that way... Total timing method is a ROTTEN way to time a street car.

Put a timing light on it at idle and see what you have. If it's not on the range I mentioned, set it there and reset the carb. Get a vacuum gauge to set the carb, highest vacuum, leanest point on mix screws.

You may have to bust into the distributor to hit your total number.
 
Honestly I don't know much about total timing. Tomorrow I'll take your advice and put the timing light on at idle and see what I have. I'll make sure to get it around the 14-18 range, reset the screws and see where I'm at.
 
I have almost the exact same combo in my 73 Scamp. My converter stalls at about 2500. I have 3.91 gears. The gears are great at the strip and stoplight to stoplight but it revs pretty high at freeway speeds. I do have a little bit of a lope at idle but it sounds good.
 
Make sure before you drive it with the new initial, confirm your total timing is not out of range. Do not just stop at some rpm, you need to rev it until it stops advancing. Some of the Mopar distributors don't stop advancing until 4K.
 
crackedback said:
Make sure before you drive it with the new initial, confirm your total timing is not out of range. Do not just stop at some rpm, you need to rev it until it stops advancing. Some of the Mopar distributors don't stop advancing until 4K.
Click to expand...

I set the timing like you said and it ran much better. No stalling out in gear. Im wondering if anyone on here whos running a similar set up to mine is running a bigger cam? I'm now debating going bigger to match up with the #302 heads. Thanks
 
Thats a good cam for the 318

The carb needs to be tune--even remove the air secondary door--least lighten the weights so it open quicker. A holley DP would be better for HP but I like how the carter/eddy carbs idle smoother with less tuning. You seem not so in to tuning so I say stay with the eddy carb--you could upgrade the the thunder carbs that have an easy to adjust air door for the secondary. Most likely its holding the power back right now

You gotta find out the gears, if its 2.73 it never be too quick no matter what cam. 3.23 are a good around gear and 3.91 will be better yet but yeah the little engine will rev on the freeways

3.91 gears and no air door on the secondaries and the accelerator pump tuned right, it be one quick little ride. Again a 750 holley DP would be better yet but more of a handful for U
 
dodge freak said:
Thats a good cam for the 318

The carb needs to be tune--even remove the air secondary door--least lighten the weights so it open quicker. A holley DP would be better for HP but I like how the carter/eddy carbs idle smoother with less tuning. You seem not so in to tuning so I say stay with the eddy carb--you could upgrade the the thunder carbs that have an easy to adjust air door for the secondary. Most likely its holding the power back right now

You gotta find out the gears, if its 2.73 it never be too quick no matter what cam. 3.23 are a good around gear and 3.91 will be better yet but yeah the little engine will rev on the freeways

3.91 gears and no air door on the secondaries and the accelerator pump tuned right, it be one quick little ride. Again a 750 holley DP would be better yet but more of a handful for U
Click to expand...

Sounds like I have some digging around to do with my gears. My guess is I'm running 2.73 but how do I tell?

I'll probably just stuck with the XE262. Need to find out what seized my motor first. That answer I should have by Monday.. Fingers crossed.
 
The rear axle is most likely a 7 1/4" axle with 2.76 or 2.94 gears. The engine you have now, once running correctly, will destroy that axle in short order. I would spend money upgrading that before spending $$$ on a converter.

With that cam you should be able to get a smooth or at least steady idle at 800-900 RPM. Take the time to get it set up and tuned right. Your basic package should have good power, good street manners, and get 20 MPG.

Here's my advice:

READ AND UNDERSTAND the manual that came with your carb (Edelbrock 1406?). Everything you need to know is in there in plain english.

Make sure your distributor is functioning correctly. That is, both mechanical and vacuum advance work.

Make sure you don't have any vacuum leaks (sounds like you may).

PCV is a good thing, run it.

Your heads were cut .030, why? To raise compression? How much material was removed from the intake mounting face?

Are you running rubber intake end seals or RTV?

What is your lifter preload? Since the heads were cut .030, did you order .030 shorter pushrods?
 
Those are good points Chief.

I would do the rear before a converter, or both if affordable. 3.55 would be real nice for all around drive-ability, either 8 1/4" rear or 8 3/4"...probably the latter because he might want to keep the small bolt pattern to match the front small bolt KH discs.

Also, if he shimmed the rocker shafts the pushrod length should be ok.
 
C130 Chief said:
The rear axle is most likely a 7 1/4" axle with 2.76 or 2.94 gears. The engine you have now, once running correctly, will destroy that axle in short order. I would spend money upgrading that before spending $$$ on a converter.

With that cam you should be able to get a smooth or at least steady idle at 800-900 RPM. Take the time to get it set up and tuned right. Your basic package should have good power, good street manners, and get 20 MPG.

Here's my advice:

READ AND UNDERSTAND the manual that came with your carb (Edelbrock 1406?). Everything you need to know is in there in plain english.

Make sure your distributor is functioning correctly. That is, both mechanical and vacuum advance work.

Make sure you don't have any vacuum leaks (sounds like you may).

PCV is a good thing, run it.

Your heads were cut .030, why? To raise compression? How much material was removed from the intake mounting face?

Are you running rubber intake end seals or RTV?

What is your lifter preload? Since the heads were cut .030, did you order .030 shorter pushrods?
Click to expand...

First off thanks for the solid advice Chief. I'm in the middle of tearing the motor/tranny out of the car. Engine seized up less than a mile away from my house 2 days ago. No telling where but I do know its coming from the bottom end. Even after pulling the heads back off I get nothing when trying to turn the harmonic balancer. I considered running the bigger cam cause obviously the motor will be getting gone thru and figured now'd be the time. But if your saying to stick with the XE262 for smooth idle I might just stay there.

My Eddie is a #1405. Need to read the manual fer sure.
I was running RTV on the intake ends.
Plan on running the PCV when I get her all together.
Had the machine shop cut the heads to gain more compression. Think I'm right at 56cc now. Pushrods were the same stock.

My obvious question regarding rear axle is where do I get one?? How much can I expect to pay?
 

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Looks like it might of been my tranny that locked up, not the motor. I'll find out for sure tomorrow. Bearings and bottom end look good. Did find a messed up lifter. Trying to figure out why its only 1 tho. The lobe on my cam is shot as well. Which means I'll be buying a new cam after-all.
 

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Ouch :(

To answer your question about similar setups, I think I've responded to you before but mine is similar with the xe268 cam.

318, .030 over, stock pistons, 920 heads (stock should be slightly more comp that 302s but not much, mine are cut .015), pretty much the same head work, stock converter rebuilt and stall raised to max, they said 2000-2400 rpm I think. Stock rear is a 7-1/4 SG with 3.21 gears.

Runs pretty good since I did the cam and heads...I almost wish I'd gone a step bigger on the cam, I think it would be good especially once I swap for 3.55 gears (changing to an 8-1/4 axle).

I think anything less than 3.21 gear would be doggy with a cam in this range, and given that we should only be getting around 8.5:1 compression.
 
dodge freak said:
That doesn't look good. That engine needs a good cleaning, hopefully the cam lobe isn't in bedded in the piston skirts
Click to expand...

The motor is being completely disassembled and gone thru. New bearings and rings at a minimum. The cam is wiped so I ended up going with the Lunati/ Voodoo 262/268, Lift .475/.494

Since its all tore apart I'm now considering installing a stall converter from Hughes. Possibly a 2500?
 
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