Hi I have a 318 I built and have came to a fork in the road and Im trying to decide which way to go with it. Now what I have is a 318 bored 30 over with 8.5-1 style pistons. Which means they are quite a ways below the deck as all 318's are. What im trying to figure out is what would be the best thing to do to it and these are the option I have came up with and if you have one better let me know. By the way it has a 274 energy cam in it .488 lift

!. Put 318 heads on it. Milled down to ? with 1.88 intake valves installed.

2.Remove the pistons and put in flat top 9.2-1 pistons with the 318 heads I mentined above

3.Put dome pistons 10.3-1 with the 318 heads above

4.Put 360 heads 1.88 milled down with one of the pistons I mentioned above

5.Put 360 heads milled and 2.02 installed with one of the pistons I mentioned

6 Edelbrock 2.02 heads with one of the pistons mentioned

Also I have the Edelbrock heads already on it. I do have a couple sits of 318 and 360 heads. What would be the best way to build it from what I mentioned? Also if you have another route to take Im all ears. I am not wanting to stroke it though. I do however want to make as much Hp and torque as possible from what I have aready avaliable beside the pistons and machine work.

 

5 or 6 and 3 without the 318 heads. 318 heads will make more tq at lower rpm but lose hp

 

If this is in a truck, go with the combo that will produce the most torque for yourself. HP really means nothing when it comes to a truck that hauls, at least thats my opinion.

 

Thanks guys. 1966 your saying use one of the 2.02 head combos with the dome pistons. What would be the benefits between the two head choices? Also if I use the dome piston with the 360 heads and 1.88 valves this would make more tq as 78d200 recommends right? So this would be better for a truck. If I use one of the 360 head combos how much milling should I do to them? Is there a formula I should use to figure all of this out for the best combo? I have heard of a program that one could buy from summit and it sits up any engine you want to build before you buy the parts for around $40. Not sure if this works but maybe you know. Thanks and sorry for all the quistions just want this thing to run great.

 

the 360 heads will flow better due to the larger runners. i do not know allot about the eddy heads but i think it safe to say that they will out flow the other heads.
comp cams has a program you can download free. it has different head/compression ratios/intake choices/cam choices and a few other things it show HP and TQ figures. i do not know how close it is. but its free and kinda fun to tinker with.
if you choose the higher comp ratio and put the 360 head on you will loose comp ratio. how much I'm not sure off the top of my head but their is a mathematical way to find out.

 

Anyone use the KB399 pistons with 360 heads

 

I do not know if you have all these heads laying around but with the money you are looking at spending you could put together a mild 360 and would out torque the 318 easily. I like the 318 don't get me wrong, but just giving you one more idea.