300 horses aren't hard to get out of an old 318 engine.

Here's an article I wrote about some good upgrades for the venerable V8 we all love and hate.

http://voices.yahoo.com/performance-...28.html?cat=27

 

And if you do the same thing to a 360 it gives you even more ponies. Great article though, And with the price of fuel it a win win. I read peoples treads here that they want 500-600 Hp out of a street car. Why??????? They alway say stuff like its going to be a daily driver not to exceed 50 mph.What?? then why do you need 500-600HP?? Am I missing something?

 

LOL and they want to build it for 2500 bucks, 500 true HP with 550 on torque is a handfull on the street without being tubbed. Last car I built with that much HP was for my brother-inlaw. That thing was all over the road like a melting butter stick. I like to drive my cars

 

Haha, yes! My buddy got a new Charger with the big Hemi and it’s rated at 425 horse – when he leans on the skinny pedal, that car MOVES. I don’t think people understand just how powerful 400 horses is.

When you can take a completely stock 318 and stick a 256 or 262 cam in it, 1.88/1.60 valves, a 4bbl and intake, then slap on headers and see a REAL WORLD 330 horsepower, it gives me hope and it also tells me there is NO reason to have an eight-second street car.

12s or 13s are great.

 

Well said!!!!

 

Thanks, bernardotom!

 

I used 1.92 chevy valves in my 318 build along with 1.60 ex valves in a set of 360 heads. workd great. Don't know the hp but it pushes the old powerwagon pretty good. Hey I even used the 360 intake fron the mid eighties van and the original Q-jet carb.
I used magnum pistons and shaved the deck a bit to end up with 9 to 1 comp. Also used ford 5.0 valve springs the worked perfect. So, there are ways to save some money.

 

Just my opinion,
but having Drag Raced for most of the 80's and 90's, and having formerly driven my low 10 second(10.20's) Drag Car back & Forth to the track which was relatively close by...and those were at 4500ft elevation, the thing would dip 9's at even 2200ft elevation on a FOOT Launch, thats right....with NO TRANS BRAKE...
I think people these days lose perspective on just how fast anything in the 12's or even 13's ACTUALLY IS... on a consistent basis.... for ACTUAL Street Driving, which I do NOT consider mine was.
Heck, IMO...even most low 14 second stuff is tearing your head off and can put a smile on even the ardent Drag Racers face ?

No matter, said my peace, it's just in these days of magazines/internet etc all espousing the vitues of so-called "Street" Cars going these stoopidly insane E.T.'s, hard not to blame people I guess for believing THAT stuff is really streetable...which IMO..it just ain't !

I sometimes get too long winded, part of being an old fart I guess...
but,
it's all power to weight, and if you've got anywhere near 350-400Hp, in anything under or around 3500 lbs W/Driver like A-Bodys, properly geared & tired, Man...THAT.... is a real GIANT Killer Street Ride you should be proud of.
just my thoughts, no wars wanted.

 

Good points!

Like a lot of stuff out there, people easily get the mentality that if it isn’t the best, it is completely useless. Of course, the 318 ain’t the best street/strip engine there ever was, so that makes it a paper weight.

Boo!

That just isn’t so. I think it’s funny that some people knock it for the cubes (or lack thereof), but these same people would have to admit that a 302 Ford hauls a little butt. Well then, that argument is invalid, right?

With a .030 bore job, the 318 grows to 322. Of course, that’s no 440, but it isn’t the tiniest mill on the planet, either.

Also, I find that the LARGE majority of folks who complain that the 318 is a dog don’t address the actual problem with the 318, which are the heads. Your average wrench-turner slaps on an Edelbrock Performer and 4bbl and wonders why he doesn’t have a 12-second ride.

 

i have been running 318's for years and they are an underestimated motor!
first off they can handle 7000rpm on stock parts maybe a little valve float.
thought i rarely hit 7000 6500 is more the average and the motor will keep winding up no problem.I find that the motors are very rugged and can be thrashed mercilessly and will still come back for more.
My combo now is 318 with ported 360 heads stock valve sizes though,edel intake, carb comp cams duel energy cam kit, the next cam will be a VooDoo cam from lunati.
the motor provides great torque for a small cu. and massive acceleration i have at least 300hp. probably more around 350hp.
the heads flow so efficiently the motor breathes very well. large valves will kill lower end but your mopar doesn't need the largest valves to make power or large intake ports these are ford and chevy only.
I feel the doge boys planted Sacred Geometry into the brand and it is a way different design than that of ford and chevy. do both work? yes. but they work differently i have learned in the past year that most cams are knock offs of chevy cams and these don't work as efficient as a cam ground for mopar. mopar has longer rods which changes the geometry of the cam profile to work with the longer rod's.

 

Yes! Those 360 heads have 1.88/160 valves stock, I believe, and that's exactly what you want for a nice 318. Thanks for the input, Gorts!

 

We tried this on the Engine Dyno with a 318, as a sponsor to a Demo-Derby Car.
A young fella re-ringed his 1977 318, swapped Pistons bank to bank to reduce friction, a few " tricks", etc., etc., but otherwise stock low-pop Pistons, 2 BBL cam(mistake #2)etc.
Come Dyno-Day,we had some problems with the Thermoquad leaking fuel and no parts once installed.
so in the meanwhile as his friend went out hunting another Thermo.. to at least get the day started, and do the Cam Break-in(new lifters on OLD cam) & initial setup, we installed the dirty old factory 2 BBL Intake & Carb he had with him.
Long Story short...
Factory 2 BBL Carb, and 2 BBL Camshaft = 205 H.P.
Add 4 BBL & Intake = 214 H.P.
Add Factory 340-4 BBL Camshaft = 266 H.P.

That was OUR results..yours may vary, but we concluded 2 things
1.) 318's do NOT respond well to a simple 4 BBL addition WITHOUT adding a 4 BBL Camshaft
2.) Parts for Thermoquads are tough, working with them..even tougher ! (good carb once dialed though)

 

like i typed in a other thread the first thing to do to a 318 to gain power is headers and duels.

 

WOW, those are solid results! Just think what that 'teen would pump out with some bigger valves.

 

hmmm, about how many horses would my 318 have with its setup?

 

i think it started with 180

 

Kinda depends on the year. In '68, they came from the factory with 230 hp and 340 tq. Not bad! Add a hundy to that, and you have yourself a strong street V8.

 

mine is a 1974 Charger