hello guys. just got signed up because you guys seem to be on your game for these kinds a things.

alright here is my situation. one of my best friends just got a '90 toyota celica gt. he says that there is no possible way i will beat him in a race. so i have been inspired to build the dodge truck i have. i have an '83 150 with the 318 in it. i am goin for some extra power and if you guys have any secrets on makin trucks handle better that would be awesome.

please anything would be helpful. i know some stuff but this is my first time doin this.

 

Welcome from your neighbor to the east!

One easy upgrade is to pull all the valve stems out of his tires.

It really all depends on how far you want to go. Your truck weights a lot more than his Celica does. There is a lot that you can do but it's not cheap and will take some time.

How far do you really want to go?

 

i am planing on stripin it right down to get some of the extra weight down. ive done that with a few of my friends to help them lighten up there cars. so im gonna see what i can do there. and this is a 2WD truck so im a little lighter there. i know i cant beat him in the corners i just want to take them faster.

i have plenty of time and money is only based on how much time i want to spend on overtime. right now im pretty set. i want this to be my hotrod. but i dont have anything to work with other than the 318. but ive heard promising things.

and a few things i am doing for myself will help as well. i will be removing ethanol from my gasoline which is real easy actually, then add a mixture of biobutanol which is cleaner and a higher octane rating. and bioethers will be made after i get the biobutanol goin. which if anyone doesn't know ethers are like the octane boosters you buy of the shelf. all this is just some preventitive measures for the engine mostly. but science is my forte.

 

If you have the money Get a 380hp 360 magmum crate motor and a good 750cfm carb, along with a good converter Auto ?? 83 vintage 318 probably has 8 to 1 compression if your lucky. so you need some 10.5 to 1 pistons and lots of other work

 

one problem is i am kinda stuck with the motor i've got. there is one chance in a few days where i might be getting a 426 hemi out of an old gtx but the guy figured out that i want it real bad and now bumped up the price. but ive seen promising power from a 318.

and this is my day to day vehicle so it needs to run for the week and i have to do all the mods on weekends. and right now im stuck without a garage so swaps might be difficult right now.

 

Welcome to the forum.... Your 318 will make some hp but as everyone has said it will take some time and money.... Famous saying... "Just how fast can you afford to go??? " Speaking of fast be sire to check out the Mopar of the Month... See the sticky for the simple rules and cast your vote......

 

welcome to the forum
what kind of a budget do you have?

 

right now not a whole lot. im puttin in some ovettime at work to afford some small performance upgrades. just actually got my new K&N cold air intake. but i will be coming into some money my grandfather left me soon and he had the same truck. just give me what i should do and i'll make a list and let you know what i get done if ya want. pics will be up soon too.

i have a lot of time though and need something to work on. weekends are boring. and i scored the 426 as well but that's now for a new project.

 

Congrats on the Hemi... But let me clue you in ..... They aren't cheap either... Nothing, bolts, gaskets, parts.... Hemi is Mopar for $$$$$...
But they are a HEMI.... Nothing else like them......

 

yeah i know. there big bucks. yanked it out of a drag car sittin in a junk yard for 750 bucks. took forever to get him down from 1800. told him i found one for 800 somewhere else. looks like its been modified a few hundred bucks already.

the 318 just got is first set of pipes its seen in more than 10 years. 2 3/4 inch custom made.

 

You'll want to tear into the 318 for sure. cam, intake, carb, pulleys, ignition system (that's right, I said system). What do you have for a transmission and rear axle? you'll be surprised as to how much "performance gain" you can get by upgrading these.

 

sorry let a friend borrow my computer. i am switching out the auto that is in it with the transmission and axles from an old mopar race car. i measured everything up right and my friend is helpin me cause i really dont know a whole lot of what im doin. a guy from a local shop recommended it and showed me the car i should use for parts. im buying the whole car and its got a 340 im gonna use parts out of.

 

its been a while but my computer is back from the store.

alright over the past few weeks i have been working on some standard junk. went out and got some bosch platinum 4s, ran all new hoses and lines. a lot of them were just getting to old and dry cracking from sitting for so many years. needed a new radiator so i completely redid most of my cooling system and installed a new intercooler. as it helped with the races on the mountain.

i had to replace my headgasget and put a new water pump in it cause i over heated on a mountain run.

also am working on buying a supercharger for this engine. if anyone knows a specific supercharger i should buy please inform me. sorry about no pics by the way. i am looking into buying a camera but i don't have one right now.

 

Just an FYI: I'm pretty sure that you can't just bolt on a supercharger and go. There is valvetrain work that needs to be done and the compression of the motor needs to be either low or high (can't remember off the top of my head). Not to mention the tranny will need to be built up to handle all that extra power along with the rear axle.

 

Low, but it really depends on what the compression level and boost is.

 

Do yourself a favor and get rid of those Bosh plugs and put a set of Champion plugs in it..

 

X2 (I can't believe I missed that)! I ran those in an 89 wrangler with a 4.2L. Wrose plugs ever! stay with Champion.

 

yeah i know a lot of work needs to be done. i have an auto tranny in it now and i have a 4 speed manuel that will be put in it when i get a little beater. but like you said, it will be a lot of power. i have no clue what should be done but i have a lot of support on this build from a friend of mine and he helped his father put a supercharger into their drag truck. they are helping me with that. but i was just looking for some suggestions. as i am planing everything out. and the engine im working with has a low compression.

and ive never had problems with the Bosh plugs but i am willing to try them out. ill pick some up right when i get out of work.

thanks for all this help. this is one of the most active sites ive been on.

 

thanks by the way for the tip on the plugs. it ran great for a few then i started havein some power problems. discovered the head is warped so i just sent it out to be machined. while this is all apart already i am replacing the valves and valve spring from a set i grabbed off a 360 that was sittin in the junkyard. mine measured intake at 1.78" and exhaust at 1.50". the new ones are intake 1.88" and exhaust at 1.60". friend of mine recommended that when i told him i had to start tearin it apart.

now i need some help. i know i'm gonna start looking for thing in online builds but i'm also gonna ask here. my budget has opened up a little and i want to send out some parts for machining. any good ideas on what i should do? this is goin a little further than i planed but i'm gettin desperate. i ask cause this is my first build and you guys haven't let me down yet.

my friend just dropped a boat load of in his car and its to the point where im actually worried i might lose to a 90' toyota celica.

 

The larger valves will allow more flow which is good but I believe that it will drop your compression a little. Might not be too noticeable. You did pull both heads off and having work done to both right?

 

i drove it down to a local shop a great friend of mine is working at. he is checking how bad it is and sending out the parts. he just shipped the stuff off today. i thought he shipped em out two days ago but guess not. and yes both heads are goin out.

 

While you have the heads off measure how far down the piston is at T.D.C. If your putting 360 valves in the 318 head compression won't change, you might want to think about putting the 360 head on with a .050" surface milling. Bigger 360 ports and the right cam would help. You asked about supercharging, have a look at this.
http://www.paxtonauto.com/product.php?id=127

 

i would love to put the bigger head on now that you say that but i showed up a day before they were gonna crush a bunch of cars. unfortunetly it was in the to be crushed pile. all ive got left is an old 340.

did pick up a refurbished 750cfm carb and that will be installed when the truck gets back.

and those superchargers are awesome Coronet