Is building a stroked 318 better than a stroked 340/360?

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68 HEMI GTS said:
Torque storm is hardly a serious supercharger. And if it’s something that’s going to make real boost power a factory Chrysler block shouldn’t even be on the build sheet. IMO
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I agree about the torque storm, they’re entry level at best. I’ve never pushed too hard on a factory block but I’ve put 20psi through a couple of em and not had a problem. One LA 318 and a few magnums. The magnums seem to fair a bit better than the LA blocks.
 
I built a 340 X Block steel stock 3.31 since I had one.
Built a stock 340 steel crank for the A/C car I was going to build (sits waiting)
And a street strip 340 / 422 six with 3rd.
I I would have had none. I would have built the 2002 360 mag I have away 3/4 ton work van I axed.
If going stroker get a 360 roller from truck or van is better than 318. And have roller cam reground
 
68 HEMI GTS said:
Torque storm is hardly a serious supercharger. And if it’s something that’s going to make real boost power a factory Chrysler block shouldn’t even be on the build sheet. IMO
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Better put on your flame proof suit because you are about to get flamed. Hard.
 
Just a thought.

If you stroke the 318, you would need to put money into a set of real heads. Otherwise I wonder if you will see any real benefits from stroking it. PowerNation did a stroked 360 and left the heads alone just to see what it did and going off memory seems like it was maybe 30 HP?

I say put the money towards a decent cam and a rebuild, then run what you have. I bet with boost the thing will be plenty of fun.

But I've never done it, just an armchair cowboy tossing an idea out there. So take it for what it's worth (which is not much).
 
I would go with a 360. There is no replacement for displacement. But that is me. You may not care about the extra 42 cubic inches between a 318 and a 360, and 42 more cubic inches will be about 63 HP at about 1.5 HP per CI. If you don't care about the extra CI, then go with the 318. I think it would be a hoot to tell people my car had a 318 and then lay down 100 feet of rubber in the burnout and run a 12.00.
 
DionR said:
Just a thought.

If you stroke the 318, you would need to put money into a set of real heads. Otherwise I wonder if you will see any real benefits from stroking it. PowerNation did a stroked 360 and left the heads alone just to see what it did and going off memory seems like it was maybe 30 HP?
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The stroker added about 2 points of compression which at least counts for 1/2 that gain.
DionR said:
I say put the money towards a decent cam and a rebuild, then run what you have. I bet with boost the thing will be plenty of fun.

But I've never done it, just an armchair cowboy tossing an idea out there. So take it for what it's worth (which is not much).
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Not a bad idea.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Better put on your flame proof suit because you are about to get flamed. Hard.
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For what? I’ve driven stock 318’s a lot of miles. They’re good engines. Just a small bore 340 with anemic factory breathing. Once I start buying aftermarket parts though things need to make sense. Bore size is to important to overlook when you start bolting on good flowing heads. Kind of the same with a big block. If I have a 383 block sitting next to a 400 block I’m going to build the 400 every time.
 
68 HEMI GTS said:
For what? I’ve driven stock 318’s a lot of miles. They’re good engines. Just a small bore 340 with anemic factory breathing. Once I start buying aftermarket parts though things need to make sense. Bore size is to important to overlook when you start bolting on good flowing heads. Kind of the same with a big block. If I have a 383 block sitting next to a 400 block I’m going to build the 400 every time.
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You said if you are making real boost power a factory lock shouldnt even be on the build sheet, or something close to that.

I agree fully but there are some rude folks here that think that is stupid because you can take a production 360 block and put 4000 horsepower through it for decades and it will live.
 
harrisonm said:
I would go with a 360. There is no replacement for displacement. But that is me. You may not care about the extra 42 cubic inches between a 318 and a 360, and 42 more cubic inches will be about 63 HP at about 1.5 HP per CI. If you don't care about the extra CI, then go with the 318. I think it would be a hoot to tell people my car had a 318 and then lay down 100 feet of rubber in the burnout and run a 12.00.
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Doesn’t quite work that way, if I built a 1.5 hp/cid 273 409 hp and swap the bottom end for a 408 I don’t gain 203 hp for 612 hp. If there is a gain don’t think anyone has prove it’s a linear gain.
 
Selling a ‘73-340 because it has a cast crank is crazy unless you’re looking to consistently make over 600 hp in a racing condition. Since the cast crank has proven itself very well for street AND racing duties save all out efforts, I feel that is a bad move. Sorry.

If the state of the block is of concern because it came with a cast crank, that’s double trouble nuts of about 20lbs. of horse **** in a sandwich baggie.

The cast crank is the main reason to get rid of an engine, but it's not about the strength (or maybe it is). My reason is not about how strong the crank is going to handle horse power, but more of usability. The last 11 cast crank 340.360,400 and 440 engines I have sold all had damaged mains on the cranks. It's to the point that even if the engine is a runner, I sell it as a core because cast cranks seem to have excessive wear and damage, regardless of the motors usage. Around here, regrinding a crank and polish is $325 service. Why would I do that when I can get a brand new crank or about $100 more? Even the new cranks are cast, but it's new. I can sell the engines to rebuild/resto shops for those that want a stock stroke. For no difference in cost, I can but pretty much get a stroked set up. As or using the 318, why no love? The block isn't going to be used in competition racing. what's so big about making more inches with a 360? Did ya all forget that I was going throw a puffer on the wee engine? Big displacement is for drag cars and bragging when the hood is up. When my neighbor can make 600hp on an NA Honda, bigger is not best of everything. The point of this build is an engine with bolt on parts and to make vroom vroom sounds while the blowoff valve is engaged. To me, a 318 is just a small 340 with broomstick cam and truck cylinder heads. By the time I buy and build a stock 340 block, it's easily over $1100. I'm just here to see if it's feasible. I could still find a 360 or even order one. Just wanted to hear some ideas on how much fun it would be to wake up a little sleeping giant.
 
dirty white boy said:
only issue would be the 318s thinner weaker main caps,.. sooner or later thats gonna be a problem spot when you get to making big power...but its a easy fix just throw on set of 340 caps or buy new caps and line bore them,...kinda needs to be done when planning big power any ways....DWB
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that's one of my concerns is that the 318 is weaker at some point than the other blocks. Thank you for bringing that up. maybe someone can chime in that that is a weak point that needs to be addressed.
 
srduster340 said:
I say build the 318. Terry Brighton racing built a 318 stroker with Trick Flow heads, air gap, Lunati 243/251 VooDoo hydraulic roller cam. Made 535/535. Pretty much equal to 360 strokers give or take a few.
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That's kind of what kind of combo I was looking at using.
 
273 said:
Doesn’t quite work that way, if I built a 1.5 hp/cid 273 409 hp and swap the bottom end for a 408 I don’t gain 203 hp for 612 hp. If there is a gain don’t think anyone has prove it’s a linear gain.
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It’s rough math and it works. 318 X 1.5 & 350 D 1.5 & etc….
That’s where he gets it from, nothing else. Your reply is blind.
migsBIG said:
Selling a ‘73-340 because it has a cast crank is crazy unless you’re looking to consistently make over 600 hp in a racing condition. Since the cast crank has proven itself very well for street AND racing duties save all out efforts, I feel that is a bad move. Sorry.

If the state of the block is of concern because it came with a cast crank, that’s double trouble nuts of about 20lbs. of horse **** in a sandwich baggie.

The cast crank is the main reason to get rid of an engine, but it's not about the strength (or maybe it is). My reason is not about how strong the crank is going to handle horse power, but more of usability. The last 11 cast crank 340.360,400 and 440 engines I have sold all had damaged mains on the cranks. It's to the point that even if the engine is a runner, I sell it as a core because cast cranks seem to have excessive wear and damage, regardless of the motors usage. Around here, regrinding a crank and polish is $325 service. Why would I do that when I can get a brand new crank or about $100 more? Even the new cranks are cast, but it's new. I can sell the engines to rebuild/resto shops for those that want a stock stroke. For no difference in cost, I can but pretty much get a stroked set up. As or using the 318, why no love? The block isn't going to be used in competition racing. what's so big about making more inches with a 360? Did ya all forget that I was going throw a puffer on the wee engine? Big displacement is for drag cars and bragging when the hood is up. When my neighbor can make 600hp on an NA Honda, bigger is not best of everything. The point of this build is an engine with bolt on parts and to make vroom vroom sounds while the blowoff valve is engaged. To me, a 318 is just a small 340 with broomstick cam and truck cylinder heads. By the time I buy and build a stock 340 block, it's easily over $1100. I'm just here to see if it's feasible. I could still find a 360 or even order one. Just wanted to hear some ideas on how much fun it would be to wake up a little sleeping giant.
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While not all of this applies to me since you writen out what I said, IDK what happened to the quote tags… LOL.

Let me get this straight, you sold engine blocks because the cast crank damaged the block. Correct?
 
Why must I suddenly allow cookies on this site to use the edit feature? Or check to see who gave thumbs up? That’s a load of ****!
 
Rumblefishy360, I deal with scrap yards in the hood where they destroy motor homes and salvage vehicles and that’s where I get my core engines. The cranks in anything that is cast is usually bad. Because these are crack shacks and rarely in good condition (unless there was a lab inside) are really in decent condition. The majority of engines I get it that were cooked, ran hot, rat piss in the cylinders, milkshake style lubricant and knocking louder than preacher at a sun era door, too many variables to deal with. Also, storing engines is an issuer for me so I have a spot at the yards where they pile the cores I’m interested in. When people come to buy cores, they meet me there, pick out what they need and load it up. I make money and they yard gets more money than scrap costs. Like insaid, I’m just trying to decide if it’s justified to use a 318 since I have a couple 1971 and 1973 date engines here.
All is good. I’m in no rush to build, so if a decent 360 block shows up, I could use it. But please let me know, if you were building a 318
And stuffing a little hairdryer on it, what would you do to make it fun.
 
273 said:
Doesn’t quite work that way, if I built a 1.5 hp/cid 273 409 hp and swap the bottom end for a 408 I don’t gain 203 hp for 612 hp. If there is a gain don’t think anyone has prove it’s a linear gain.
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I won't argue that, but that was not what I meant. I guess I might not have said it very clearly though. What I meant was that if you built a 318 up to where it was 1.5 HP per CI you'd have 477 HP. If you built a 360 up to yield 1.5 HP per CI you'd have 540 HP. A difference of 63 HP. 1.5 HP per CI is doable in a small block Mopar. Can you imagine a 477HP 318 in a 4 door Valiant? Talk about a Sleeper.
 
migsBIG said:
Rumblefishy360, I deal with scrap yards in the hood where they destroy motor homes and salvage vehicles and that’s where I get my core engines. The cranks in anything that is cast is usually bad. Because these are crack shacks and rarely in good condition (unless there was a lab inside) are really in decent condition. The majority of engines I get it that were cooked, ran hot, rat piss in the cylinders, milkshake style lubricant and knocking louder than preacher at a sun era door, too many variables to deal with. Also, storing engines is an issuer for me so I have a spot at the yards where they pile the cores I’m interested in. When people come to buy cores, they meet me there, pick out what they need and load it up. I make money and they yard gets more money than scrap costs. Like insaid, I’m just trying to decide if it’s justified to use a 318 since I have a couple 1971 and 1973 date engines here.
All is good. I’m in no rush to build, so if a decent 360 block shows up, I could use it. But please let me know, if you were building a 318
And stuffing a little hairdryer on it, what would you do to make it fun.
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Well, I’m quite confused by your reply since it didn’t directly answer my question. It also contradicts what you said earlier.
To me it all made no sense except that “What would I do” part and if it is on the cheap,;

Stock short block 318, 340/360 heads, single plane intake, header, camshaft (specs dependent on a number of things)
Hang the hairdryer and the install the associated part for fuel and ignition that are needed with a pressurized engine.
 
harrisonm said:
I won't argue that, but that was not what I meant. I guess I might not have said it very clearly though. What I meant was that if you built a 318 up to where it was 1.5 HP per CI you'd have 477 HP. If you built a 360 up to yield 1.5 HP per CI you'd have 540 HP. A difference of 63 HP. 1.5 HP per CI is doable in a small block Mopar. Can you imagine a 477HP 318 in a 4 door Valiant? Talk about a Sleeper.
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I see, I get what you meant now, I thought you were saying a 360 is always going make about 63 hp over a 318, makes sense now.
 
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