85 ramcharger 318 performance

[kiernan61]

Hello, I am new to this site and feeling my way around. I own an 85 ramcharger and a 2000 quad-cab pickup 2500 series. I have performance questions about both. Mostly on the 85 ramcharger. I want to get better performance out of the ramcharger, it has a 318 in it, I am wondering if I should rebuild that motor and put new cams, heads, manifold, and carburator etc... or just look into getting a 360 crate motor for it. how much can I get out of the 318? any suggestions

[Warlock_rsw]

Hi Kiernan61

I got more poop from my 318 by putting on a set of 340 or 360 heads on (202 ones if you can find them )
purple shaft cam
dual plain intake manifold
carter 850 carb
hope this helps you out
but if you go to a 360 block remember there balanced externally so you will hav to have your torqueconvertor done or have the flywheel for the 360 pending if it,s a automatic or standard

[speeddragon190]

i am fairly confident that you can get 300-350 reliable hp out of a 318. i'm rebuilding the original 318 out of my 72, putting carter TQ on it w/ a stock dual plane intake & a factory 275hp 340 hyd. cam, along w/ headers & raising the compression to 9.5 or 10:1. i think the 318 is more reliable & longer-lasting than the 360.

[kiernan61]

Thanks guys!

[six pack]

There is no substitute for cubic inches.

Installing big port heads(340-360) on a 318 will hurt low end torque as will a big cam, this is fine for a light car but not for a truck.

You would be better off spending your money on the 360 conversion.

My 2¢:)

[speeddragon190]

that is true, that's why i'm using the original heads & not going wild on the cam. i wanted to at first, but my truck weighs 3700 lbs, so i need that low end. you will even more because you ramcharger weighs even more, probably like 4200 or 4400.

[Jcturner03]

i have only owned one other dodge and that was actually a chrysler product. it was a fifth avenue and it had the 318. these engine are great engines and can take a beating .i would recommend rebuilding your 318 maybe bore .30 over. i was reading an article recently in mopar magazine and it said that the right bore and parts and you can take a junk 318 and break 400 hp and 375 lb/ft of torq. but thats just my 2 cents.
hope this helps.
Sincerly,
John T.

[oldschoolmuscle]

anything you can do with a 340-360 can be acomplished fairly easy with a 318, if you just throw on some 360 heads on the stock 318 its goin to kill your compresion, like 8-1 or even lower, you could always go with a stroker crank and get 390cid out of a 318 bored .030 over and a 4in crank. good luck and keep us posted on whatever you do.

[Banfiadh]

I had a 73 power wagon (about 4500lbs) with a 318 running a 340 cam, single plane intake (what was on it when I got it) and a 600 CFM 1405 Edelbrock. Running an NP 445 4 speed, a divorced NP 205 transfer case with the stock 4.10s, I could burn the stock tires (31 inch) pretty easy, as well as reach a clocked 140 mph. Of course, it wasnt super quick off the line, but it was sure fun dusting off the little jap sports cars.

[Moparfreak1980]

the 318 is a good engine lots of potential just need the money to do it the 360 or 340 are good engines as well but not as reliable you should be able to do anything to one you can to either the 340 or 360 but it depends on funds if you have any mopar mags look at them they have stroker engines in them that you can build try one of them on it good luck on this