Steve Dulcich on building a budget 318

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Homemade tunnel ram

Yup.. see the trick is you keep that 2bbl intake which creates a venturi effect.. It's all about velocity and filling the cylinders.

BTW... someone posted that you can't have a 318 thread without it turning into arguing.. i thought this thread was pretty civil :(
 
I'll quote myself just to launch into a memory from when I was fifteen years old. I had just moved to eastern Ontario and made friends with an older kid that had a Olds Cutlass with a 265. Yep an actual 265 V8. Sounded great but wouldn't spin the tires on wet grass. His father was a talented mechanic that helped out some local roundy racers and had a 305 SBC laying in his shop. We swapped it in one weekend and wow I though the 40 cubes plus the same stroke as the vaunted 350 would surely be an amazing power bump. Nope thing was pretty much the exact same--and we wanted what all kids want--to burn rubber. No rubber burning here. It sucked just as bad as that little 265. Actually I think the 265 sounded better at high rpm. About a year after that my buddy is offered a GM target master 350 out of his bosses Caprice because the car was going to scrap--the engine had maybe a year or two of small town running around. He decides to swap it at his fathers urging. Now I'm reading all the car mags/rags and I'm thinking OK the last time 40 cubes did absolutely nothing so this time with the same stroke as a 305--is a 45 cube jump on bore size alone going to amount to much? I figured this would be a repeat. Well after the swap we couldn't believe it. The Cutlass could burn the tires at will, get sideways, and the passing gear would burn the tires from a roll. The car was actually decently fast. I couldn't believe it. Now I've been a Mopar guy since I was born I guess so did I jump right to a 360 after the above experience? Nope, my first V8 car had a 318 and I dumped a 4bl intake/carb, electronic distr, screened gaskets (remember those) electronic dist, headers etc........ Did it wake it up? Barely. It sounded fierce but I dreaded meeting a 5.0L Mustang which there were seemingly dozens of them around. After farting around with that 318 'till it had a rod knock from revving the **** out of it everytime I drove it...Did I learn? Nope. Remember I'm 17 at the time and ZERO $$$ at the time the wreckers did not have any 360's and they charged 1$/cube so I scraped together $318.00 and went and comp checked a 318 in a Mirada (pumped 120psi) and off I went. Surely I thought the healthy 318 would be an improvement. Nope it was exactly the same as the first hunk of junk. After many a stoplight embarassment I realized I was going to need some machine shop intervention. Only problem was the 2 race shops in the area were mega $$$$ from where I was sitting. So I bought all the Mopar engine books I could and then entered an apprentice ship program and got my foot in the door of a machine shop. The rest is history but my first 360 build was an amazing performer for an investment of $749 for cam/lifters, t-chain, rings, bearings, gaskets, ARP rod bolts. Burned the tires at will and I turned it 6500-6700rpm many many times. I figure it made around 320hp/375tq. The rest as they say is history or His-Story. J.Rob

That is all well and fine if your major goal is just "burning" tires. My goal was to have a fast car that could handle and get good mpg as a daily driver. I prefer not to burn tires. I did have the luxury of a 4 speed. Burning tires was merely an adjustment in rpm at clutch release. So starting with a 64 Barracuda and a 273, and also being financially challenged, I pulled the 273 and had a set of forged 10.5:1 pistons fitted along with 284* duration solid cam. From there it became my test mule for the next 10 years and 150,000 miles to try all kinds of combinations, culminating with "71" 340 intake and TQ, "72" 340 heads milled to NHRA min spec, a used 340 cam and lifters on the same original short block. I've had 340's, 360's, 318's and 383's. The 273 is still in the Barracuda with a ready to go 340 on the engine stand... Not everybody wants a 360 or stroker. Not everybody is a drag racer. Most any small block can perform well with decent heads and the right combination. A 360 is the only small block I do not, and will not, have saved in the basement.
 
That is all well and fine if your major goal is just "burning" tires. My goal was to have a fast car that could handle and get good mpg as a daily driver. I prefer not to burn tires. I did have the luxury of a 4 speed. Burning tires was merely an adjustment in rpm at clutch release. So starting with a 64 Barracuda and a 273, and also being financially challenged, I pulled the 273 and had a set of forged 10.5:1 pistons fitted along with 284* duration solid cam. From there it became my test mule for the next 10 years and 150,000 miles to try all kinds of combinations, culminating with "71" 340 intake and TQ, "72" 340 heads milled to NHRA min spec, a used 340 cam and lifters on the same original short block. I've had 340's, 360's, 318's and 383's. The 273 is still in the Barracuda with a ready to go 340 on the engine stand... Not everybody wants a 360 or stroker. Not everybody is a drag racer. Most any small block can perform well with decent heads and the right combination. A 360 is the only small block I do not, and will not, have saved in the basement.

applause gif.gif


Not everybody wants, needs, or can use "maximum horsepower".
 
That is all well and fine if your major goal is just "burning" tires. My goal was to have a fast car that could handle and get good mpg as a daily driver. I prefer not to burn tires. I did have the luxury of a 4 speed. Burning tires was merely an adjustment in rpm at clutch release. So starting with a 64 Barracuda and a 273, and also being financially challenged, I pulled the 273 and had a set of forged 10.5:1 pistons fitted along with 284* duration solid cam. From there it became my test mule for the next 10 years and 150,000 miles to try all kinds of combinations, culminating with "71" 340 intake and TQ, "72" 340 heads milled to NHRA min spec, a used 340 cam and lifters on the same original short block. I've had 340's, 360's, 318's and 383's. The 273 is still in the Barracuda with a ready to go 340 on the engine stand... Not everybody wants a 360 or stroker. Not everybody is a drag racer. Most any small block can perform well with decent heads and the right combination. A 360 is the only small block I do not, and will not, have saved in the basement.
Agreed. I've had some real gas sucking pigs of 360s..that couldn't get out of their own way over the years
 
BTW... someone posted that you can't have a 318 thread without it turning into arguing.. i thought this thread was pretty civil :(

The real problem is two fold with;

1: Those seeking help not getting it but only condemnation and scowls of non helpful posts.

2: Thin skin crybabies.

There is also those that have appalling reading/comprehension skills and a low powered brain that can not simply understand the actually issue at hand.
 
I'm gonna call a .480 lift cam pretty big for a "cheap" 318 build.

I ran the Mopar 284/484 in my 9.5:1 383. and was told I should have used the next smaller by almost everyone.
(which would have been the 280/480, IIRC)
I have a 340 with the 284/484 cam and ran it at the strip for a number of years. It was great in a 340. Just a little lumpy and pulled over 325 at the rear wheels on a chassis dyno. I am restoring the Cuda now and going with a 340 with the 280/480. On first fire, it sounds excellent, but need to get the car completed to know how it runs. The original 340 for the Formula S is in a corner just waiting for the other engines to blow. But that will never happen!
 
Yup.. see the trick is you keep that 2bbl intake which creates a venturi effect.. It's all about velocity and filling the cylinders.

BTW... someone posted that you can't have a 318 thread without it turning into arguing.. i thought this thread was pretty civil :(
So far it has been.
 
That is all well and fine if your major goal is just "burning" tires. My goal was to have a fast car that could handle and get good mpg as a daily driver. I prefer not to burn tires. I did have the luxury of a 4 speed. Burning tires was merely an adjustment in rpm at clutch release. So starting with a 64 Barracuda and a 273, and also being financially challenged, I pulled the 273 and had a set of forged 10.5:1 pistons fitted along with 284* duration solid cam. From there it became my test mule for the next 10 years and 150,000 miles to try all kinds of combinations, culminating with "71" 340 intake and TQ, "72" 340 heads milled to NHRA min spec, a used 340 cam and lifters on the same original short block. I've had 340's, 360's, 318's and 383's. The 273 is still in the Barracuda with a ready to go 340 on the engine stand... Not everybody wants a 360 or stroker. Not everybody is a drag racer. Most any small block can perform well with decent heads and the right combination. A 360 is the only small block I do not, and will not, have saved in the basement.
It seems a lot here build what I call "full throttle blip burnout machine" something you only can go full throttle seconds at a time or other you be at crazy speeds for the street and to be able to spin the tires at will.

Some might want a more balanced driving experience at normal road speeds especially if you setup for twisty back roads you don't want the pedal so finicky you end up wrong end into a tree.
One funnest cars I had was an old Honda Prelude wasn't overly powerful but peppy as hell could do 7800 rpm shifts had something like 4.88 gears, an was real fun at reasonable into road speeds even the 4.6l Crown Vic cab I drove was fun beating the **** out of them driving drunks home at fairly high intown speeds trying to clear out the town after the bars closed or chasing down runners through parks fields school yards hitting them with a drivers doors as they tried to run :)

One thing people seem to overlook is where and how wide the powerband is, to me it seems like you like a 273 for similar reasons I liked the Honda, rpm, for a relatively modest hp you probably have a wide and high top end to your powerband probably and if you had a 360 or larger be more like a truck's powerband.

I wouldn't mind one day build like a gutted early A 4 gear road carver that does 7000+ rpm shifts at reasonable road speeds, maybe a 170 /6 or 273 :)
 
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It seems a lot here build what I call "full throttle blip burnout machine" something you only can go full throttle seconds at a time or other you be at crazy speeds for the street and to be able to spin the tires at will.

Some might want a more balanced driving experience at normal road speeds especially if you setup for twisty back roads you don't want the pedal so finicky you end up wrong end into a tree.
One funnest cars I had was an old Honda Prelude wasn't overly powerful but peppy as hell could do 7800 rpm shifts had something like 4.88 gears, an was real fun at reasonable into road speeds even the 4.6l Crown Vic cab I drove was fun beating the **** out of them driving drunks home at fairly high intown speeds trying to clear out the town after the bars closed or chasing down runners through parks fields school yards hitting them with a drivers doors as they tried to run :)

One thing people seem to overlook is where and how wide the powerband is, to me it seems like you like a 273 for similar reasons I liked the Honda, rpm, for a relatively modest hp you probably have a wide and high top end to your powerband probably and if you had a 360 or larger be more like a truck's powerband.

I wouldn't mind one day build like a gutted early A 4 gear road carver that does 7000+ rpm shifts at reasonable road speeds, maybe a 170 /6 or 273 :)
Yeah, not everyone needs or even wants 600 plus HP.
 
That's me... if i can make 350-400 i'm fine.. i drive 6 miles to work on backroads, so i'm building car that will do 65mph tops most of the time and just be fun to get to 60 quickly :) small block with 4.57s will do that fine
 
That's me... if i can make 350-400 i'm fine.. i drive 6 miles to work on backroads, so i'm building car that will do 65mph tops most of the time and just be fun to get to 60 quickly :) small block with 4.57s will do that fine
Guys will never get it, and it beats anything I've ever seen. A flat 300HP in a light A body with a good setup in the car can see 12.90s. I've done it. It had 4.10 gears, but I've done it. That car was a hoot and a half to drive on the street, too. Even with the 3.23s swapped back in for the street, it did burnouts on command.
 
Guys will never get it, and it beats anything I've ever seen. A flat 300HP in a light A body with a good setup in the car can see 12.90s. I've done it. It had 4.10 gears, but I've done it. That car was a hoot and a half to drive on the street, too. Even with the 3.23s swapped back in for the street, it did burnouts on command.

From the time i was like 14-19 i hung with chevelle nuts (although i had mopars) and my buddys car was a 72 SS with a bone stock 396 and 4.56s.. for just blasting around the street sooo much fun.. I have no desire to be doing 100+mph on 2 lane roads anymore, just gimme that seat of the pants kick :)

I do have 3 race tracks within 90 mins of me but no truck or trailer.. maybe one day when the house is paid off
 
That's me... if i can make 350-400 i'm fine.. i drive 6 miles to work on backroads, so i'm building car that will do 65mph tops most of the time and just be fun to get to 60 quickly :) small block with 4.57s will do that fine
If you look at most sports cars, super cars before the last ten years they generally didn't make the crazy hp they do today and the ones that were praised had the most balanced road experience at all different driving conditions not necessarily the most powerful. But that takes a lot of fine tuning to get it the way you want it and some seem to want a car that like the Taz spinning through town.
 
Yeah, not everyone needs or even wants 600 plus HP.
A lot of people enjoy the car hobby in many different ways, some have multiple cars to enjoy different aspects of it, it's what makes the hobby so interesting.
 
That's me... if i can make 350-400 i'm fine.. i drive 6 miles to work on backroads, so i'm building car that will do 65mph tops most of the time and just be fun to get to 60 quickly :) small block with 4.57s will do that fine

That’s actually a real fun zone of power in an A body, if not heavy… This is what I normally do for myself.
 
A lot of people enjoy the car hobby in many different ways, some have multiple cars to enjoy different aspects of it, it's what makes the hobby so interesting.
Exactly. Look at me. I have a warmed up slant 6 in a Valiant. If that engine is 200HP I'd be surprised. But it's FUN and I like it.
 
Exactly. Look at me. I have a warmed up slant 6 in a Valiant. If that engine is 200HP I'd be surprised. But it's FUN and I like it.

Why is a slant 6 like a puppy that you instantly love and will always be happy to see... just such a weird love for that motor (speaking for myself)
 
Why is a slant 6 like a puppy that you instantly love and will always be happy to see... just such a weird love for that motor (speaking for myself)
You tell me! I knew of their legendary greatness long before, but after meeting and befriending Bruce (RIP) I just kinda fell in love with them. I think part of it is because they are extremely archaic in their design. It's just really cool to see them run.
 
You tell me! I knew of their legendary greatness long before, but after meeting and befriending Bruce (RIP) I just kinda fell in love with them. I think part of it is because they are extremely archaic in their design. It's just really cool to see them run.
I think for me it was that my first car was a /6... 1967 coronet in 1986. It was sitting on flat tires in front of a house with michigan rust holes and through the body panels (big holes) i asked what they wanted for it and the lady laughed and told me to take it.. I put in a $11 timing chain (at the time you could buy a chain without gears) and drove the piss outa that car.. about as reliable as you could get .
 
Exactly. Look at me. I have a warmed up slant 6 in a Valiant. If that engine is 200HP I'd be surprised. But it's FUN and I like it.
My Uncle use to tell me stories of a local hopped up /6 that would smoke a lot of the cars in the street races around here in the early 70's, cause he could hook up and go.

My 1st car was to be a mild hopped up /6 4 gear 68 Dart GT, but got stolen before I could finish it.
 
My Uncle use to tell me stories of a local hopped up /6 that would smoke a lot of the cars in the street races around in the early 70's, cause he could hook up and go.

My 1st car was to be a mild hopped up /6 4 gear 68 Dart GT, but got stolen before I could finish it.

Yeah i never got the thing about making a ton of power but not being able to get traction, i would prefer the other way around. I also don't understand burnouts though, i only see money going up in smoke.. literally
 
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