350 Hp 318?

[AJ/FormS]

I must have missed where OP said he wanted to spend money.

In that case..hellcrate.

It was a long time in before it was mentioned that his budget wasn't that tight.
In Post #34, the grip was relaxed.......a bit.
Up to that point nobody asked, and I for one was way off track and assuming OP was young and well, young. Young guys usually are in a crunch. Triply so after they get married,eh?

 

[BudW]

I didn’t have much cash after college.
Did have some spending money after got married (helps to marry someone who makes more than you).
Cash got tight again after we adapted twins (who are not far from being 11, now).
Now at 51 years young.
BudW

 

[AJ/FormS]

Krikey, I'm a 3rd going on 4th time grandpa,at 64. Thank goodness my 3 kiddos are all growed up. As far as my earning power is concerned, I peaked at age 57, the year I made the highest ever income, and the government just loved me. I think it was about $55,000. I make less than half that now...........so money is again getting tight.
But it's all good cuz Jesus is about to return,and people will be throwing their gold into the streets,or something like that,lol.

 

[Rifleshooter]

I admit that I should've clarified on my budget and capabilities of this build. That was my mistake. Aside from that, yes AJ I'm not your average college age kid, I went into a VoTech program while still in high school and got sufficient traiming to just go straight into the work force as soon as I graduated. I don't have an excellent income but I'm good with saving money and therefore it may take a while to buy whats needed but I can in fact afford it.

 

[XfbodyX]

Hi,

You could also achieve your 350hp goal without hurting your bank account using still available nos mopar iron heads that already have hardened exhaust seats. With a little time in the heads and small domed pistons such as the kb399 and a small solid cam.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Keith Black KB Performance Pistons KB399-030

The tops of these pistons would have to be machined off to adjust either or both; the compression ratio, and squish. Thus they could be used instead of shaving the heads or decks, and could be used in either open or closed chambers.
At zero deck in a 58cc chamber; they come in at 9.87Scr and .039Q; With a .006 pop-up, we get about 10.15/.033Q; with an .028 gasket and pistons down .006, we get about 10.21 /.034Q

The pop-up (Q-pad) on these is .140, so you could machine them to fit into an open chamber head. I'm not fond of using open chamber heads, but it could be done

IMO, the KB 167s even down in the hole,and a closed chamber head, and Q adjusted with head gasket or decking, is a better solution,albeit probably a little more expensive. It's a design that will keep on giving back for thousands of miles.

 

[XfbodyX]

The tops of these pistons would have to be machined off to adjust either or both; the compression ratio, and squish.

Im at work now, maybe I should be a bit more specific in the details because other then smoothing off the sharp edges of the the pistons I mentioned they needed no machining.

I could post the build list if anyone would like the info, its very simple and basic and we have had two good summers of daily driving and also running with some bracket cars on the weekends.

 

[Rifleshooter]

I'd like to see the list you have and the outcome of torque on hp of it if you don't mind.

 

[moper]

Is it possible to get 350 horsepower out of an LA 318 engine? If so how?

Yes. Rebuild it with pistons that will give you a realistic 9.5:1 static compression. I'd also run a windage tray. The heads need a quality 5-angle cutter type performance valve job, and I'd go with the 1.88/1.60 performance valves. EQ Magnums would be a good upgrade here too but get a little more complicated if you don't have magnum valvetrain parts so for simplicity's sake I'll stick with the LA 318 heads. Run a Performer 340/360 intake. Ignore the port mismatch - you won't lose anything with running it. Install a hydraulic performance flat tappet cam in the 225/230* @ .050 cam, and a carb in the 650cfm area. you'll need at least cheap long tube headers, and a good ignition. Should make your number. You don't need really racey parts. You need high quality machining and well matched parts. It should idle all day under 900rpm, and pull right off idle.

 

[moper]

I like the 5.2 Magnum idea too. Re-use the lifters, get the conversion 4bbl intake, run a conversion performance camshaft and headers. You will have close to your 350hp. Somewhere between 325-350.

 

[kkritsilas]

The only thing needed to use the Engine Quest heads (or the Magnum heads for that matter) is new pushrods of the correct length and the oiling holes if you buy heads with the included valves and springs/retainers/locks. You can even run the LA pattern intake manifolds if you choose the "B" version of the heads.

The EngineQuest heads are supposed to flow better than the Magnum heads right out of the box, and don't have the cracking problems of the Magnum heads (one of the main reasons they were brought out).

Kostas

 

[XfbodyX]

Not sure about the summit snafu but the mfg. and several other outlets have the correct specs being a .200 dome and thats what mine measure as well. Summit shows .140


They are a 6cc .200 domed piston.



Its just a simple, domed piston (pic).

 

[XfbodyX]

Im not sure why some are not receptive to 318 builds. Of course there are many other options in everything in life. FABO is probably the most 318 build friendly site ive seen but alot of repetitive.

Not that a matching numbers 318 car will ever make a difference or sell for more I decided to use to org. motor trans just for kicks and make a stealthy 318.

I had a leg go dead this week, hurt to walk and could not sit so while the shots took there sweet time to work I screwed this short block together. I wish me and my wife got as good as me and my machinist do, I tell him how much and he cuts things. Not a race shop but just as good as work at half the prices.

These are the KB 399 that are the -6 cc domes, a 11cc difference from the +5 cc (valve relief) KB167. As I posted these are domed pistons, the quench pad is on the top side and is zero deck as they are not quench pad pistons like some of the KB-s.

 

[XfbodyX]

Since new mopar castings are so cheap and have hardened ex seats already im just gonna toss in 1.88 vs the 1.78 and use my mill to step cut them so I wont have to grind so much by hand. Not really much room to get a angle cutter in a small valve head, at least I dont have one and they are kinda costly.

When all said and done it should run as good as a low comp 72 340, but I might be surprised its a light bobweight and ive a good cam and intake for it and look like a smogger 318.

 

[Oldiron440]

There is nothing wrong with a 318!
But in the world of stroker kits more is better unless you want fuel mileage.
I like the polished rods, it looks like you have a great short block going there.

 

[Oldiron440]

In the last two years I have seen a stock 289 Ford a stock 283 Chevy and a stock 318 on the engine dyno. All three made a little over 200 hp and 300 ft lb of torque. I was surprised by the torque and how low the rpm range was. The 289 and 283 had small 4v carbs on stock intake manifolds and the mopar was a 2v but it had over 20 CID more than the other two. The torque curves for all three were long and flat.

More compression and better flowing heads will increase torque and horse power without sacrificing drivability. About the problem I can see is detonation with a mild build.
You should start your own thread on this 318.

 

[Oldiron440]

I've been thinking about this today and if your going to port your heads it would be nice to show the work and results. Even a mild amount of work can produce 30 horsepower over stock heads.

 

[XfbodyX]

I do have a semi accurate bench and ive got base numbers before I started. I suppose I could start a build thread as not to confuse this one although its pretty jacked as it is.

Ive a nifty solid cam for this lil motor and I was wanting to flow a couple intakes after I did the cut for the 1.88 intakes and one before I clean the steps out of the bowl just for kicks, because part of me is wondering what a stepped bowl cut might do for breaking up reversion since most try to stop it at the head/intake match or even the anti reversion plate under the carb?

Im not too worried about detetination? as you mentioned because of my two places 35 miles apart one is 3500 and the other is 4000 ft above sea level so I factor all that in.

 

[BudW]

I have nothing against 318’s and have a pair (2-bbls) I use both daily.

I like the polished rods,

I saw they looked different from this picture – but couldn’t see enough of them to know what was different. I was thinking they were aftermarket new connecting rods . . . maybe. Something is different about them.

I have always have down played the engine appearance. When I swapped out the 318 for a stock ’68 340 in my ’67 Satellite, I had painted the engine red (the same color as the 318 - that came out).

With A/C, the 340 fits in place and everything looked right (except for the one side engine mount). Only the 340 exhaust manifolds and air cleaner looked different than the original 318.

I liked the unsilenced air cleaner the best (made the best sound) – but had several factory air cleaners on it “for testing purposes”.


I do agree with Oldiron440 on having a separate post for different engine builds.


Unrelated. I kept the ’67 318 closed chamber heads (been on garage shelf for last 35 years) and had been considering if they might do me any good. The combustion chambers on these heads, look somewhat like the ’67 (only) 440 heads. They flow about the same as any other 318 head – good to raise compression ratio up on a low compression engine a point or two.
BudW

 

[Oldiron440]

I'm excited that you're willing to show at least basic head porting. This something that was done quite often before you could plunk down big bucks for new heads, and it's cheap power .