What should i do?

[SirDan]

I'm currently a senior in college and don't have much money, so keep that in mind. Being that its winter I'm out of school for a bit and I'm not driving the car due to the salty roads. I want the car to have more hp. I allready have parts and a few different options I'm just not sure what to do. I can do all the work myself.

I all ready have:
dual 2" exhaust
flowtech headers
edelbrock ld4b intake manifold
340 cam
Bunch of carbs laying around i could rebuild.

Ive been hounding my dad for his low mileage 360 he has in the garage but he just wont give it up. He did say i could have the 318 he has though. I don't know anything about the motor. My hopes would be to just hone it, new rings and new bearings and slap my parts on.

Another option i thought about was throwing my stuff on the motor i have in the car. The motor in the car is a 73 318 with an estimated 200k+ miles on it. When i compression tested it the readings were around 110-130 psi. Also for some reason a few of the rocker arms are newer than the rest which scares me a bit. I mean who knows what this things been through.

Another option there is would be to just buy a 360 block and work with that but, thats going to be costly.

Also i have all the parts to put a 4 speed in and will be doing that. I have a 340 flywheel so i would need to either balance a 360 or get another flywheel so that makes the 360 option even more expensive.

I'm just wondering what everyones opinions are on what to do. Remember I'm trying to do this cheap.

 

[jefflock]

Considering the mileage on the motor I would do only external modifications only. Such as the exhaust and the intake along with a rebuilt carb. Save your money so you can rebuild a 360. Then you can build it the way you want it.

 

[RTom]

I agree with Jeff, save your money. I got in a little over my head with my Dart with things I had planned for it ( built 340 etc. ) and had to sell it to pay tuition. Make sure you have all your ducks in a row. Throw your stuff on your 318 and have some fun with it. Once you have enough money set aside, build a bada$$ 360 just the way you want it ( it will be nice too when you know you didn't have to take any short cuts due to lack of $$ ).

PS...good luck with the schooling!

 

[cosgig]

Yea man, I would stick with the motor in the car. At least you know something about it. I wouldn't worry about the replacement rockers, if it needed them, it got them. That wouldn't worry me. With good compression and some newer parts inside, that would lead me to believe that maybe its a little fresher than the 200K estimate. It'll save you the trouble of swapping engines for one of the same displacement, and if something happens to it, you always got a spare. Save yourself the work of swapping until you get the motor you really want done and ready!!! JMO, and good luck with the project!! Geof

 

[SirDan]

I actually talked to my dad about the 318 in the garage. I had the motor confused with another. He told me its a 77 318 with low miles that ran fine when pulled. I also started opening it up, its clean as hell inside. I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw my stuff onto it. Its going to be a while before i have any funds to build my dream motor so this isn't going to be a total waste of time.

 

[PanGasket]

I actually talked to my dad about the 318 in the garage. I had the motor confused with another. He told me its a 77 318 with low miles that ran fine when pulled. I also started opening it up, its clean as hell inside. I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw my stuff onto it. Its going to be a while before i have any funds to build my dream motor so this isn't going to be a total waste of time.

Sounds like a good plan, I'd rebuild one of your nice lil 4bbl and put the intake on and freshen up the gaskets on it and maybe toss in a nice little bumpstick and it should make a pretty decent screamer, now if you had some 302 heads, you'd be set for a pretty fun motor8)

 

[64ragtop]

They're never a waste of time if ya learn something, even from your mistakes! I have learned a lot from mine!! Just don't be afraid to ask questions. The only foolish question is the one you don't ask....

ATB BC