My 77 Aspen RT Project So Far.

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So this is my project so far, Just kinda wanted to show everyone what I have. See if anyone has any parts they wouldn't mind selling me, And to tell the story so far.
Its a 77 318 2bbl 3 speed auto. I assume its the 904 but I could be wrong,
Bucket interior and center console. I picked this up in St Cloud MN. sometime December 2018. Body seems clean for the most part, The pass door has a good hole in it but I think that's the worst part of the car. Me: I'm leaving for the U.S Army in less then 4 months, I'm 17yo worked enough to have money put away for the propose of this car. I'm proud to say none of this is daddy's money lol. Basically. I quit my job after I joined the army and now all my free time goes to this car, And my girlfriend. My goal is to make it run and drive reliably enough to make a 5 hour round trip to my senior prom. What I have done so far.
new cooper cobra 225/70/14 tires, New Cap/Rotor, Plugs, Wires, I have Amsoil Dominator 10w30 waiting to go in. I have a 340 edelbrock intake just bought a new holley 600cfm 4bbl that's in the mail, Tachometer, New hard line/rubber line's, New plastic fuel cell mounted in the trunk, Going to have my girlfriend paint a tiger on the hood, In the midst of converting it to True Dual exhaust with 2 magnaflow mufflers, And Bought collectors plates,
Missing parts I'm looking for, 76-77 grille, Center console lid, (Or at least the locks) and I have to find which fuse is the ignition wire.
Thanks Guys! tell me what you think, Ill keep updating

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a little more on the car, The Guy I got it from said It was at a scrap yard in fargo for the last 20 years, Not sure why, But it does run and drive, A could things I've got to do Is check the brakes, Open the passenger door, And Unstick a valve. -X
 

XfbodyX

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Looks like a good project.

I have some good used dash bezels and ive also a nos driver grill priced really fair in the for sale section.

Question on your rear stripes, are they sharp edged corners or are the soft curves like in this pic?

stripe (2).JPG
 

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Huh Their more sharped edge, I never knew they did them differently. ill post a pic tomorrow.
 

XfbodyX

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They shouldnt be round, I figure this car had some made up or the owner modified them.
 

BudW

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You have a nice project!
I’m going to guess it is a non-A/C car?

There is a greater than 99% chance you have a A904 transmission (less than 1% of having the A727) – but there is nothing wrong with that. The A904 is lighter and more than capable of living behind a very strong performing small block.

You also have a 99% chance of having the 7¼” differential – which I would be more concerned about. The 7¼” differential works fine for /6 and 318 2-bbls. It will work with a moderately modified 318 4-bbl or 360 2-bbl – but wouldn’t want to push it much more than that. If you do have plans on a high horsepower car, you might want to locate an FMJ 8¼” differential (or an older B-body 8¾” differential) and at least have under the garage workbench, so when the 7¼” blows up, you at least will be back on the road with minimal downtime. For what you are suggesting in your original post, the 7¼” will work fine.

I am interested in knowing what differential gear ratio you currently have.
If a 3.2 or 3.5 to 1, then the car should be a blast to drive. If it has a 2.9 to 1, then there is room for improvement. If it has a 2.7. 2.4 or 2.2 to 1, I would highly recommend replacing the differential gear set before performing your projected 4-bbl changeover. Differential gears will make a much bigger impact than anything else will as far as performance goes (as well as the width of the grin when driving). Ask if not sure now to determine what differential gear ratio you have.

As far as converting your 318 2-bbl to a 4-bbl. The 318 is a great long lasting and low-end torque engine, but it doesn’t do well with what seams to be simple 4-bbl modifications. Now 340 and 360 engines do respond very well to performance modifications, the 318 – not so much. If wanting a performance car, replacing with a 360 engine might be a lot more cost effective.

318’s has small intake and exhaust ports – which can’t flow air but at low engine speeds. The 340 and 360’s have much larger intake and exhaust ports and were made for higher RPM’s. Even with a 4-bbl, it is hard to get a 318 to rev higher than 4k, or so, RPM’s. To get a 318 to flow more air, you would need better cylinder heads, intake and exhaust manifolds/headers, camshaft and pistons (to get compression ratio to where it will need to be at). To do all of that, you might as well find a 360 engine – which most likely will have all those components already present and will have 42 more cubic inches to boot.

Your “340 Edelbrock” intake could be one of a few different types. The Edelbrock Performer 2176/3776 (3776 is same as 2176 except it has an EGR valve provision) works great for most small blocks (small port 318 and big port 340/360’s) for the manifold has a cast-in lip that adapts to the small port 318’s that can easily be removed for the large port 340/360’s.
Edelbrock 2176.PNG

Edelbrock Performer 2176/3776 - which is what I recommend for all but for higher performing small blocks. This one will give you the best street drivability (in my opinion).

Performer 2176.3776.png

Green represents 318 port size (not to scale). Orange is the tab to grind out if using a large port (340/360) cylinder head (on the above mentioned Performer (2176/3776).
Otherwise, installing a large port intake onto a small port (273 or 318) cylinder head can be an issue/concern.

One last thing, before you convert to a 4-bbl, try to have all parts available to you first – or otherwise it can be a drawn-out affair.
Parts needed will be:
- 4-bbl transmission kickdown linkage. 4-bbl A904 linkage can be hard to find – so I highly recommend getting a cable system. Lokar and Mancini Racing are two great sources.
- Throttle cable is about ¾” longer than the 2-bbl throttle cable is. Do not use a 2-bbl cable on a 4-bbl! The cable being too short and with engine cranked in a powerstall or on hard takeoff, can pull the cable out of position which can/will leave throttle stuck mid to full open position. Not good! Look for a ATP Y-160 or Pioneer CA-8422 cable.
- Air cleaner. If you live up north, finding a 4-bbl air cleaner with the hot air provision helps with cold weather drivability. If you only plan on driving car above freezing, then this might not matter to you.
Also, having a car that uses the (semi-pressurized) outside air can increase fuel mileage if you plan on driving on highway much.
- Heater hose fitting size (either 5/8” or 1/2”) and bypass hose fitting size (pre ’70 (small) or post ’70 (large)) is another thing to look at. Sometimes it is not worth reusing old rusty fittings.
- Your brackets should all work if you do not have A/C. If you do have A/C, it may or might not be affected on your car. No A/C then nothing to worry about, there.
- If you have a computer hanging off the air cleaner (aka: Lean Burn, Spark Control Computer and various other names), you might have some extra steps in your changeover. If there is no computer attached to air cleaner – then nothing to worry about.

If your heater, bypass and radiator hoses “appear” to be over ten years old, you might want to replace those, while there.

Hopefully this helps you,
BudW
 

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Thanks Really appreciate the knowledge. I didn't think much of the throttle cable length, While it did past through my mind, I think I'm going to rob another car/truck for one just because I hate waiting shipping time.
 

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Im pretty sure it is the larger port size, im not cencered enough about it to do anything. But i definitely will look for a lip that gas could get stuck in. Im expecting it actually. I know the intake is a torker model, But it doesnt say much else besides the pat number.

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BudW

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I can’t tell which intake it is from your picture, but I included a few pictures of Edelbrock small block intakes (might not be a complete list) that might help you determine what you do have.
Edelbrock Performer 2176.PNG

Performer 2176 (3776 is similar except has EGR port provision)

Edelbrock Performer RMP 7176.PNG

Performer RPM (7176)

Edelbrock Performer RPM airgap 7576.PNG

Performer RPM Airgap (7576)

Edelbrock LD4B.jpg

LD4B


At this point, I’m going to be very careful about what will be said for I fear I’m walking on a tightrope at this point.

To begin with, what is your end plans on this vehicle?
Will it be driving at the track (only), driven full time on the streets (and so forth)?
Are you looking for a certain horsepower number or just a fun car to drive?

The intake pictured (post # 8) does not have a divorced choke provision. That means you will need to either setup a manual choke (which can be a pain to operate, each and every time you start the car) or an electric choke attached to side of carburetor.
The carburetor shown does not have choke mechanism attached to it. If car will be driven daily or mostly for in-down driven – I would highly recommend using an OE (Original Equipment) designed choke or an electric choke attached to carburetor. Even for a full-time race car, having a working automatic choke is well worthwhile.

The intake pictured does not have a provision for EGR valve. If you reside in a non-emissions state (or city), then no worries. If you live in California, then this will not work. I don’t think Minnesota is an emissions state, but don’t take my word for that.

The carburetor might need an adaptor to be attached for throttle to work correctly. I can’t see that side of carburetor to know for sure. If needed, throttle adaptors are not that expensive – but just another thing to acquire. If you were to take a picture of other side of intake/carburetor, I could tell you if you are good to go, or if an adaptor is needed.



Most “street driven” cars need to produce most power down low (in RPM range), which makes the Edelbrock Performer (not the Performer RPM, which is different) a wonderful intake for street usage (or equivalent from other brands). It even works better than the heavy cast iron OE 4-bbl versions.

In my opinion, any other design intake (designed for higher RPM’s than the Performer series) hurts “street use” drivability - which is generally from 750 to 3000 RPM range.

I fear the intake you have might be rated from 3000 to 6000 RPM range (possibly) which might be a problem – for a 318, no matter which intake you use, just can’t turn more than 4000 to 4500 due to small cylinder head port size and camshaft usage.
Again, if this intake is one that I think it is, I fear car might be worse for street drivability than you will be or might be expecting . . .



A trick I use on determining 273/318 vs. 340/360 cylinder heads and intakes is:
I take my hand and open it up. Bend in the little finger so three fingers are facing forward. Place those three fingers into (either intake or cylinder head) intake port. If my three fingers will fit (barely) into a intake or cylinder head with fingers upright or inline, then you have a 340/340.
If there is NO POSSIBLE way for three fingers to fit into the intake port without major physical harm to myself, then you have a 273/318 head (or intake).
Now that is my fingers - but I suspect this might work with most of us.
BudW
 

Oldiron440

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The Toquer intake is a single plane open plenum manifold for high RPM power. Better suited for a built 340 or 360 that will turn some rpm but not a stock 318.
 
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Got my new Holley 600cfm in the mail today. Going to start putting everything together

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GregG48213

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76-77 grille
1976 & '77 Aspens had the front signals/park lamps mounted in the bumper. If you go back to a stock grille, you'll have to figure out where to mount the signal lights; as your front bumper has been changed at some point.
 
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