Basic 318 Mods

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Dan the man

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Wish me luck as I'm going to be checking out a couple of duster's next week. I'm only asking these questions as a quide, both are 318 cars but one is a 2 barrel. Once the car is home I'm going to check it out completely and if everything checks out okay I'd like to do a 4 barrel swap and was wondering what size carb and intake manifold to use. I thought about a better coil and module. A curve kit and a good dual exhaust system. The car will be a cruiser only and probably the engine will never see more than 4500 rpm's. I'm open to a stall converter and a different gear ratio. Maybe even a mild cam.
 
If it won't see over 4500rpm then don't even waste the money on upgrades, not like you're actually buying one anyhow.
 
Dan the man said:
Wish me luck as I'm going to be checking out a couple of duster's next week. I'm only asking these questions as a quide, both are 318 cars but one is a 2 barrel. Once the car is home I'm going to check it out completely and if everything checks out okay I'd like to do a 4 barrel swap and was wondering what size carb and intake manifold to use. I thought about a better coil and module. A curve kit and a good dual exhaust system. The car will be a cruiser only and probably the engine will never see more than 4500 rpm's. I'm open to a stall converter and a different gear ratio. Maybe even a mild cam.
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My guess is you want to hear go with 500 cfm carb which would be just fine. 600/650 leaves room to grow. Either will work.
 
Kegan B said:
If it won't see over 4500rpm then don't even waste the money on upgrades, not like you're actually buying one anyhow.
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I'm buying one. Just because it won't see high rpm's doesn't mean that I shouldn't do some things to it. I'm sure that 318willrun will chime in. A mild stall converter and different gears is pretty much the popular mods to do
 
Dan, dusters are my favorite A body cars and i'm glad you're looking. Just make sure you find the ''right'' car for you and your skills. Meaning don't let pressure from a web site cloud your judgement. There will always be another car that comes available. Good luck!
 
Dan the man said:
I'm buying one. Just because it won't see high rpm's doesn't mean that I shouldn't do some things to it. I'm sure that 318willrun will chime in. A mild stall converter and different gears is pretty much the popular mods to do
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Don't bite Dan. Pick yourself up a decent car and then hit the board up with your questions. Lot's of decent guys and gals here to help you along.
 
shiver me timbers! matey dan is leaving the port in search of treasure!

buying new: eddy performer, and a carter/edelbrock AFB 500 or 600. stone axe simple.

buying used: pretty much any dual plane alum. intake-- weiand action, performer, offy, and a carter/eddy afb or a holley 1850 nothing bigger than 650

going absolute miser? factory 4bbl intake with a afb or 1850 OR 2bbl to 4bbl adapter.

remember, to sort out your throttle linkage and trans kickdown and take that cost into consideration.
 
Dan the man said:
I'm buying one. Just because it won't see high rpm's doesn't mean that I shouldn't do some things to it. I'm sure that 318willrun will chime in. A mild stall converter and different gears is pretty much the popular mods to do
Click to expand...
There's really no downside to a 4bbl it's 2bbl 99% of the time until you need that extra bit of power for passing/merging/fun.
 
Dan the man said:
Wish me luck as I'm going to be checking out a couple of duster's next week. I'm only asking these questions as a quide, both are 318 cars but one is a 2 barrel. Once the car is home I'm going to check it out completely and if everything checks out okay I'd like to do a 4 barrel swap and was wondering what size carb and intake manifold to use. I thought about a better coil and module. A curve kit and a good dual exhaust system. The car will be a cruiser only and probably the engine will never see more than 4500 rpm's. I'm open to a stall converter and a different gear ratio. Maybe even a mild cam.
Click to expand...
Best of luck.
Dan the man said:
I'm buying one. Just because it won't see high rpm's doesn't mean that I shouldn't do some things to it. I'm sure that 318willrun will chime in. A mild stall converter and different gears is pretty much the popular mods to do
Click to expand...
Don’t worry about gears and a converter yet.
If your cam and gears don’t match, your going to need a converter or if the cam is big, a converter is needed.

As YOU described the car, not over 4500 rpm, I’d leave gear and converters alone. The unit upgrades I’d entertain and have done as a basic hop up and are a suggestion for you are;

Carb - 600 AVS-II & a Performer intake.
(I use a Lokar set up for the trans kick down and throttle cable. Quicker and easier than locating a factory set up.)
Chrome ignition box or equal.
Dual exhaust @ 2-1/4 inch
273 said:
There's really no downside to a 4bbl it's 2bbl 99% of the time until you need that extra bit of power for passing/merging/fun.
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Bingo!
 
Dan the man said:
Wish me luck as I'm going to be checking out a couple of duster's next week. I'm only asking these questions as a quide, both are 318 cars but one is a 2 barrel. Once the car is home I'm going to check it out completely and if everything checks out okay I'd like to do a 4 barrel swap and was wondering what size carb and intake manifold to use. I thought about a better coil and module. A curve kit and a good dual exhaust system. The car will be a cruiser only and probably the engine will never see more than 4500 rpm's. I'm open to a stall converter and a different gear ratio. Maybe even a mild cam.
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A curve kit is worthless if you just slap in some springs and limit the curve. There should be more to it than that.

Until you pick a gear and a converter (anything under 3k stall and I wouldn’t bother. You can do almost that with a stock converter.

If you try and dance on the head of a pin without a serious commitment to who you are and what makes you happy then all this is a waste of time.

If you can handle a 3.55 gear and a good 3k stall converter your world opens up.

If you want to run a 2.xx gear leave it dead stock and be happy.
 
Just my opinion...

If you're buying a car that has not actually been daily driven (the vast majority of these cars haven't, and sellers often aren't honest), then I think you're jumping the gun with the engine stuff. I was like that with my car, and instead found myself needing to put it all on pause to work through a dirty fuel tank, bad wheel bearings, electrical issues, leaking steering box etc. I would suggest putting at least 1000 miles on it keeping it totally stock to see truly where it's at. It almost certainly will need sorting. After that, go ahead chase some mph
 
If all you are interested in is a "cruiser", then I would forget about gears and convertor swaps, unless you end up with something like a 2.45 rear gear. Anything from 2.94 to 3.55 is fine for a street cruiser, and if you are going to put a 4 bbl on, find a good Edelbrock performer or Wieand action plus with 600 cfm Avs with electric choke and a good free flowing dual exhaust system. Headers are optional, but again for a cruiser, not really a good investment.
Pretty much the same suggestions as others have made.
Make sure you have the throttle pressure or kick down linkage properly sorted after the intake swap or you could burn up the transmission.
Just my .02.
 
:(

IMG_5750.jpeg
 
i wouldnt worry so much bout mods just yet, drive the car, spend time with the car, get to know it! see what the car needs and do that, then when its solid you can start up grading, but for a cruizer, i wouldnt do much more than up keep!!
 
yep i agree

buy it and drive it for a at least a year until you know what you want and have the upgrade planned.

the best years driving is the one done on the standard set up in a standard car.

When you start your upgrades its usually followed by a drought on the improvement front for 3-6 years, as you plough in more and more cash buying more and more of the "Good Stuff" and going slower than ever
its noiser
it certainly sounds the part
it goes like stink at wide open throttle
but driving it......well..... you do that at quarter to half throttle most of the time
that's the hard bit it will be cantankerous and awkward, popping, farting stalling and not working right unless the ambient temperature is 70 or there is an R in the month

yes you learn a lot but there are cheaper ways to learn

get some nice headers first and rejet what carb you have to suit.

Dave
 
Headers, timing curve and higher initial timing, hotter coil.
leave the carburetor for last... even then I wouldn't mess with changing it out till I had some better valve springs and something like a 340 cam.
Toss a cheap cut tq convertor in it, 3.55 or 3.91 gears even before that.

Simple.
If you want real power increases beyond the 20 hp range... address the heads.
 
Drive it and see what the car needs first, it will need something.

And do not buy any performance parts that cannot be used for larger engine upgrade.
 
Dan the man said:
Wish me luck as I'm going to be checking out a couple of duster's next week. I'm only asking these questions as a quide, both are 318 cars but one is a 2 barrel. Once the car is home I'm going to check it out completely and if everything checks out okay I'd like to do a 4 barrel swap and was wondering what size carb and intake manifold to use. I thought about a better coil and module. A curve kit and a good dual exhaust system. The car will be a cruiser only and probably the engine will never see more than 4500 rpm's. I'm open to a stall converter and a different gear ratio. Maybe even a mild cam.
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Like many here have said: drive it for a while to see how it can be improved. The teen in my Swinger is the stock 2 barrel. It runs so well from cold start to highway cruise that I am having a hard time pulling the trigger on the LD4B and 650 AVS2 that I have waiting in the basement. I cruise hours to a car show and get almost 20 mpg. It doesn't burn tires for a city block but I'm not into that any more.
 
sireland67 said:
Drive it and see what the car needs first, it will need something.

And do not buy any performance parts that cannot be used for larger engine upgrade.
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If he's was gonna swap to larger engine might as well buy one with the larger engine in the 1st place. For some reason his dream seems to mildly hop up a 318 A Body.
 
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