Hello all!! I have an 86 W-150 pickup with a non-stock engine that I use as a toy and for when I need to do "truck things". I bought it for $200 with a dead 360 and auto trans. A former co-worker sold me an "assemble it yourself" 318, less the intake and carb (too good of a deal to pass up).

Let me fill you in on the engine a bit: from what I was told, it's a '74 out of an RV. Block has been bored .030 over, decked, new cam bearings, crank re-ground, has Kieth Black pistons, comp extreme energy cam with matching springs, crower lifters, double roller timing set, cheapo Summit Racing headers into a 3" exhaust, and a stock 2bbl intake and carb (from my '87 the parts truck).

Last time I started it up, it appeared to have a small intake leak (burning coolant). Since it's not a daily driver, I was going to pull the intake and replace it with an aluminum 4bbl setup. What I'm looking for here is help deciding on what intake/carb. setup to use.

I use it mostly for towing, so low and mid range torque are a must.

Any and all help here would be appreciated

Thanks,
Dave

 

Dave -

Kinda have to know the specs on the cam and comp ratio to figure where it's power band is going to be.

Any decent dual plane manifold from Edelbrock or Holley and a 600 CFM 4 barrel carb should do it.

Welcome aboard!

Archer

 

How's this 318 run? Just wondering.

Cause if it runs okay, I'd leave it as a 2bbl in all honesty.

But if you're destined to swap stuff over.... May as well throw some 360 heads on with an alum intake and a 600 ish cfm carb.

Was there a cam change? Or does it still have the torque cam in it?

 

Archer - I believe the comp cam P/N is 20-220-3, so you could just go on their website for the specs (I don't know which ones you prefer looking at).

Blue 68 - The engine seems to be running a little lean and is sometimes hard to get going once it's warm. It seems to run better with 91 instead of 87.

In all honesty, I don't trust this carb and choke setup. I'd like to go to something with an electric choke so I can start it, go inside, and come out in a few minutes to an engine that's not revving at 3k-4k. This fast idle, heat spring setup just doesn't sit well with me.

Thanks guys.

 

Dave -

That's a low rpm / high torque cam.

Recommendations stay the same and you might even lower of the carb cfm.

With a decent Holley, doubt you'll even need a choke, but don't expect that engine to start up and drive away like a modern car.

Archer

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'll keep my progress posted (this will likely be my summer project so don't expect an update anytime soon)

-Dave

 

in the last 25 years, i've rebuilt alot of sb chevys (sorry guys, new to mopar and havn't got into 1,....... yet) for pulling and towing "truck stuff", reckers, buses, boat & trailer pullers, camper haulers, horse trailers, ect. and i found an intake/ 4 brl combo that works on "any" engine combo for "truck stuff". from bone stock cams to the wildest loppiest cams out there. an edelbrock performer with a holley 390cfm 4 brl (list# 8007) with the black secondary spring installed. secs won't start to open til around 2500-3000rpm (depends on air filter). 1st thing you will notice is throttle response (smaller venturi and throttle bore diameter)and then you'll notice better gas mileage over most 2 brls (smaller jets and secondony metering plates). i know less air/fuel = less power, but you will not see a power loss til 4700 rpm. the 390 will start running out of breath around 4700 rpm, how often are you planning on pulling 3000+ lbs at 4700 rpm? may have to play w/ primary jets, because factory jets are really small, maybe go ahead and bump them up 2#s at first. the problem is finding those 390s cheap these days. summits got them over $300 now. you might get lucky at a flea market, yard sale or swap meet and pick 1 up for cheap if they don't know what they are selling. the last time i used this was on a chevy 355,(8.2:1CR, crowers smallest cam(can't remember #), stock 882 heads, 3.42 gear, 700r4 tranny, 29in. tires) in a 83 1/2 ton longbed chevy. the custormer said he was getting up to 23 mpg as a dailly driver and used it on weekends pulling lawn equipment . i was always happy with this on work trucks, works every time. goodluck, rick

 

If it has 318 heads, using an intake sized for 340/360 intake ports (ie Performer RPM) will give a port miss-match that will hurt flow. Better to use an intake sized for the 318 intake ports like a non-RPM Performer or a Weiand Action Plus.

Mopar 318 Intake Manifold Selection

Cheers,
Ken