Adopted

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DusterDaddy

DusterDaddy

sledgehammer mechanic
FABO Gold Member
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Location
Holmdel, NJ
I Purchased/Adopted this Freshened/mild top end build 318 from a automotive shop that builds performance and race cars in South Central PA.

The Proprietor of the shop pulled this motor out of a near complete restoration of a Dodge Demon. As I undersatand it, the owner of the Demon was in the position where he had to sell the car.

The person who bought the Demon wanted the owner of the automotive shop to put a big block in the Demon, and as part of his compensation, the shop owner got to keep the fresh 318.

This all he could tell me about the motor:

No idea who put it together. Already tried.

I measured the lobe lift. I believe it is a Hemi grind cam. Lift is around .480 with stock rockers. Probably a little lumpy idle.

Carb is a Holley 80457 600cfm. Intake is an Edelbrock Performer.

I'd like to know more about this Super clean looking nicely done 318 that's going to have a new home in my 74 Duster Project
 

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I don,t think so. I brought it by our local speed/performance shop and he went over the whole motor.
I can't believe he would miss something like that!

I'd like others to weigh in on the picture though.

I'll uncover the motor tonight and get some better pics of those exhaust ports.
 
Well, it's not the original engine to the Demon, it's a late build '73 model year engine cast April 22, 1974. (Not that it matters).
It doesn't look fresh on the bottom end to me with the slight scuffing on the bottom of the cylinders and the varnish on the pistons, rods, and crank.
The heads look to be 360 heads (because of the gasket size) and would benefit from a good port match/cleanup. If it has 360 heads on it and the pistons are stock, it will have probably 7:1 compression if there isn't been some shaving of the heads and /or block.
I would do a leak down test on it, but it looks okay to me.
It probably won't be a powerhouse though, but it would sound good!
 
Dartnut said:
Well, it's not the original engine to the Demon, it's a late build '73 model year engine cast April 22, 1974. (Not that it matters).
It doesn't look fresh on the bottom end to me with the slight scuffing on the bottom of the cylinders and the varnish on the pistons, rods, and crank.
The heads look to be 360 heads (because of the gasket size) and would benefit from a good port match/cleanup. If it has 360 heads on it and the pistons are stock, it will have probably 7:1 compression if there isn't been some shaving of the heads and /or block.
I would do a leak down test on it, but it looks okay to me.
It probably won't be a powerhouse though, but it would sound good!
Click to expand...

I did find the casting number for the heads from when I was asking the seller questions before I bought it #3769973 with oversized valves.
 
They are 318 heads with 1.88/1.6 valves, casting # is 3769973 , I'm told these heads are 75-76 assembly years with 63 to 69 cc chambers and hardened seats.
 
Ok. Gotta ask, are pics before or after it was gone over? It looks clean, but I have to agree with some of the above comments about how "fresh" it is. Exhaust port does look cracked to me. A buddy of mine actually trolls the machine shops for stuff like this all the time and picks up quite a bit from no pay customers. Stock bore I assume? If this is the case you appear to have a stock 74 with stock heads. Aluminum intake is a plus, cam is a plus, but I am not so sure on the carb as it look a bit out of place. Thoughts on what you want to do with it?
 
The pics are from the seller, After the work was done.

I want a stock motor that looks sort of stock ( that aluminum intake is getting painted ) and has some more balls than stock.
I think the cam and the 1.88/1.6 valves with the performer intake and small Holley will get me that....

The car is going to be Sunday Cruiser, she'll never see the track, EVER
We want it to look cool, sound cool, and to be fun to drive.

And best yet, it's not going in the car till the body is done so I have time to address that head id its cracked.
 
Perfect. Obviously you got it at a good price and you got what you want. Treat it right and that motor will run longer than you and I.
 
Dartn440 said:
Perfect. Obviously you got it at a good price and you got what you want. Treat it right and that motor will run longer than you and I.
Click to expand...

I think so, I paid $400 for it, carb to pan. Just need the dizzy. Thinking about one of those HEI types.
 
That port isn't cracked at all.

That's just a casting line, where the two molds were mated. You can see it in the milling, at the port mating surface. Look at the other port to the right of the pic. Same deal. A crack that big would have gone way deeper and would have shown visible in the port mating surface, where it was milled. That is a normal thing to see.

The 302 heads that I did had some of that, only the other way around and I ended up cleaning the mold line garbage with a carbide. The line doesn't look like it's inhibiting anything. Leave it.

The bottom end does look fresh. Depending on how the parts were cleaned, the varnish is something I've seen before on a few engines. All that matters is the machine work. The varnish won't hurt anything.

You can still see the cam lube on the lifters and some of the parkerizing/ phosphate manganese on the cam itself.

Be sure to run breakin oil on that motor for at least another 1000 miles and be nice to it.

Nice find!
 
Agree with the above two posts. Looks like ball hone/ ring and bearing rebuild with a cam tossed in to me. Pull a few rod and main caps off and check the bearings to confirm the "freshness" of it. Probably not a bad idea to degree the cam while its out. I'd also put in brass freeze plugs too.
 
They are intake ports in the picture, not exhausts... Geezzz... :)
Looks like a re ring and bearing.. I too would be looking at those valve springs to make sure you have the correct pressures for that cam.
 
Since I'm not a mechanic, but I'm willing to try anything once, what would I need to disassemble to get at a part number off of the cam?
 
That motor was posted in the classified ads for a while and folks had a lot of interest in it. Can't beat it for that price. I would recommend tearing it down or at least pull the pan and check the bearings before you put it in the car. JMO.
 
Degreeing the cam requires pulling the timing cover and a new gasket set. For what you are doing, I'd suggest leaving it alone. There are things you can do to get more power out of it, like setting the cam degree a few advanced, confirming bore size, head volume, compression distance, overall initial compression, to tune the rest, but for what you're doing On your budget Duster, put it in with a twenty dollar jug of Lucas SAE30 break in oil on a Wix filter and fire it up.
 
DaveBonds said:
Degreeing the cam requires pulling the timing cover and a new gasket set. For what you are doing, I'd suggest leaving it alone. There are things you can do to get more power out of it, like setting the cam degree a few advanced, confirming bore size, head volume, compression distance, overall initial compression, to tune the rest, but for what you're doing On your budget Duster, put it in with a twenty dollar jug of Lucas SAE30 break in oil on a Wix filter and fire it up.
Click to expand...

Hey Dave,
Do you think there is a concern with the valve springs as mentioned here?
Although I'm a novice, I have good instinct when it comes to people and purchases. To me the motor looks like it was put together with pride.
My intended use for the car is a weekend cruiser with a stock converter and a rebuilt stock 904.
I think I've got a good start here....
 
My take on this is that its a 400 dollar motor, the good deal part go's out the window once you start tearing into it. Next thing you know you see things that make you wanna start over because you like many might not have the experience and or experienced eyes to know what you are looking at and what if any negative effect on longevity it may or may not have. Example would be you see a line grooved on the a rod or main bearing, nothing to fuss over in a case like this...but the inexperienced worry wart will now be pulling the crank for a re grind and its a dmino effect from there.

Those 973 heads i see very rarely, mostly on van 318's from the early 80's and sometimes late 80's and they are open chamber. fwiw 302 heads didnt come on every 318 from 84' to magnum years, they used whatever head was next in the line.
Also, if 1.88/1.60 valves were installed, hope they ported them afterward...because they probably flow less than small valve stock heads!
Those piston are cast replace or stock cast.
The cam still has moly on it 'so its not even broke in' is my first thought.

My advice is aside from making sure the oil pump is good and, just run it in and enjoy your 400 dollars worth, because chances are everything ive mentioned is probably going on with this motor, the marginal crank journals, low comp cast slugs, big valve poor flowing heads from not properly blending them and some vibration around 2800-3300 rpm from a 1974 balance job.
 
The motor has not been fired up yet since the work has been done.
I originally posted this in lost and found to see if anyone had more detail about this motor, but FABO administrators moved the thread when it turned into others throwing out their opinion, which is fine with me.
It's still a good deal no matter what to me! Even if I had a rebuild-able motor in the car, which I did not, there are over $400 worth of usable parts on this motor, such as a new cam, valve job, Performer intake, and 600 cfm Holley. It's clean and fresh, the block was cast in 1974, and to me it's a worthy and upgraded replacement of the original 318 that the car rolled out of the factory with.....
My Buddy DaveBonds has a sweet 318 in his Scamp. Now this motor isn't as well put together as his 318, but the result he achieved is what I'm after, a retro-stock look with some embellishments. Dave has some nice truck manifolds on his and the whole motor, valve covers and intake are corporate blue under a Chrysler factory air cleaner assembly.
Maybe if Dave feels like like it he'll post a pic of what I'm talking about...
 
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