Hey everyone. I've got a 1973 Duster with a 318 and an a999 (904). Everything needs to be rebuilt and I'm on a VERY tight budget. Before I get to the question, let me answer a few I'm sure will come up.
1) I do not want to swap in a 340 or a 360 or anything else, as the car came with the 318 thats in it
2) I am capable of turning wrenches and can do alot of work myself.

That being said, I'm looking for a detailed book on how to rebuild the 318 and the 904. I know with Fords and Chevys (hack cough) there is an abundance of literature out there for the beginning builder but I haven't found anything for the Chrysler/dodge/Plymouth engines.
Basically I'm new to rebuilding engines. I've replaced just about everything at one time or another, but the actual rebuild is new to me so I'm hoping for a "How To" that some of you may have used.

 

With your past experance do you think a factory service manual would be the answer .

 

Your off to a good start by looking for a book. Look around they are out there, here is a link to one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SB-Mo...=p4506.c0.m245

Engin rebuilding is not too hard, but I would have to say from experiance, rebuilding tranys is a bit more difficult but by no means impossible. If order of rebuild is not important start with engin, you may lean a few things there that will carry over to the trany's concepts.

 

Outlaw: I'm going to get the factory service manual for a great many reasons. Believe me, along the way I'm sure I'll be on here A LOT. This car is a basket case. If you don't know what that is, good for you! :-)

Silvermopar: It's funny you mention tranny's. I've rebuilt two of them (both Ford overdrive tranny's so harder than the 904) and my Dad builds C4's for race applications. We're looking into everything we can do to the 904 to make it stronger and perform better. As for the engine, like I said, I know the basics. I know the components. It's the "right combination" of parts that I will just have to learn from experience. I do have some gear heads in my neck of the woods that I can talk to about it though, and although not many of them are mopar guys, the basic concepts are all the same.
Thanks for the suggestion on the book. I'll get it ordered. Let me know if you know of any others that would be helpful.

 

I will be going through some of my books in the shop in the next week ,if I find something I will email it to you. I havent looked at some of that stuff for 10-20 years.I switched to Big Block and just set all my 318s and 340s in the storage area of the shop. The 318 I had in my 69 Charger ran like a clock.

OutlawCuda

 

i bought the service manuals on CD
that is the way to go in my opinion

 

Outlaw, that would be great. Send me a PM if you find anything I may be interested in.

67, I'm with you, other than the fact that my shop doesn't have a computer and I don't have a working printer in the house. I want something I can reference while I'm working. It's funny, by trade I'm a nerd. I run the tech support department for a national internet provider... and I don't have a working printer in my house or a computer in my shop... :-)