Streetmaster 318???

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slipyoke

slipyoke

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Hey guys im new to A-Bodies and new to the mopar crowd. Im a X jeeper thats trying his hand at hoarse power. SO i have a 76 duster with a 318 that my grandpa passed on to me and she is in perfect stock shape. Now as i understand that year of 318 is detuned so im trying to add some hoarse power to her. I came up on a streetmaster 318 intake man part #37744463 now should i hold on to it or find somthing better. I also have a 1405 edlbrock carb to through on her too?

I am a big ol newb so anyhelp would be awesome guys. thanks
 
Typical and proven performance hop-ups to a 318 include dual exhaust, 4-bbl. carb, and cam/lifters/valvesprings for starters. I'd personally recommend first getting dual exhaust off the stock manifolds (crossover does help too but it's arguable at this level of HP). Then swap on a good dual-plane intake such as the Edelbrock Performer and a 4-bbl. carb such as your 1405 which is a 500 cfm model. Then if you want to go further I'd recommend first getting some good replacement cylinder heads (such as the #302 casting heads from the late 80's) because the ones on your engine are pretty awful flow-wise. Combine that with a good cam (Lunati Voodoo series is great, I have one in my Duster) and some higher-compression pistons (if you want to go that far) and you'll have a screamer. Really with classic American performance you can go as far with the engine as you want; you could build a 400 HP 318 for not too much money, but then again a 360 is an easier choice. I have a 1970 Duster with a 318 and so far it has an iron 4-bbl. intake off a 360, a Carter Thermo-Quad carb, and Lunati Voodoo 256/262 cam with Comp 901 valvesprings. It's still kind of sluggish though because it still has the tiny single exhaust and stock torque converter with 2.76:1 rear end gears (plus my secondaries aren't working right which definitely doesn't help).
 
Here is a 318 combo that I am building right now on a budget. I have it together and just need to drop it in the dart. I may have $1200 into it. You can build a decent daily driver for pretty cheap if you are willing to turn a wrench. My advice would be to look for a set of Magnum heads from a Dodge/Jeep 318-360. They will bolt right up to your LA block and have closed chambers, bigger valves flow so much better. I pulled my set myself for $75 for the local wrecking yard. If you go with a moderate cam like me you can run chevrolet springs and retainers on them for much less than the mopar performace replacments. You will need the conversion pushrods through mopar performace. Here are the links on a couple of my posts.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=65469
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=66298
 
The streetmaster 318 is a decent intake, its a single plane but because of the small ports in maintains port velocity pretty well. The edelbrock performer, and especially the performer rpm or rpm airgap are better manifolds, but if you can get the streetmaster for a decent price ( I got mine for about $100) its a good intake.

The 1405 is ok, but 500cfm is a little on the small side I think. It'll work fine for street use, but it'll be a touch small at high rev. I have a 625 cfm carter AFB on my 318 with my streetmaster intake and it works well, I had to jet it down a little (2 sizes on the primaries and 1 on the secondaries) but it pulls hard and is pretty responsive considering my freeway gears and stock 904 transmission. Only other mods I have are a set of 1 3/4" hooker super comps (this 318 is in my challenger). Overkill for the 318, but they're for the 340 that will go into it later.

With the carb, intake and headers though the 318 is a whole different animal than it was stock, feels much stronger and more responsive than with the manifolds and stock 2 barrel. A cam would be a big help too, but with a new engine going in mine I'm skipping it.
 
Took for granted the 1405 was a 500 cfm, its actually a manual choke 600 CFM Edelbrock Performer. A good carb for a street driven 318!
 
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