found an engine on craiglist. a 1990 318 block. i'm assuming its a hyd roller block. since its a fuel injection engine. which is what i want. 125$. planning on reusing the hyd roller lifters from my old engine. new cam, intake, and carb....
If you decide to switch the cam do yourself a favor and get the Comp 264HR-12 cam.It has the long snout for the mechanical fuel pump and is GREAT.The duration is 210/220 with .480/.480 lift.The LSA is 112.I have used this cam in two 89 360's and let me tell ya it is an awsome cam for a truck!Get the 901-16 springs and you'll be set.Oh yeah,they also have a smaller version which is 262HR-12 that I believe is for 318's.
just to update, finally got the engine fully disassembled. here is a picture of the crank. still gotta look up the serial number but i'm pretty sure its cast iron. looks like it will have to be reground and get over sized bearings.
block was greasy and dirty. so i brought it to a do it yourself car wash and pressure washed it. then brought it into work and hot tanked it. didnt get a picture of it cause i had to leave work early. will post a picture of a clean block and freshly ground crank soon.
so my boss and i talked a lot about what i want to do with this 318. he looked up parts....ran some numbers......wont be easy to get the 10:1 compression ratio i want unfortunately. soooooo.......he talked to a friend of his who has a 4000$ 450HP LA318 engine. my boss's friend told me to rebuild it stock.
we mic'd the block, cylinder walls have almost 0 taper to them. so they are in really great shape. we discussed it more and came to the conclusion that we will cam it, install bigger valves, port the heads, gasket match, and thats it. basically all top end work. we wont bore it because its not needed and boring it out to the .030 pistons i do have, really wont add all that much compression anyway.
we ran the numbers on a program he has. with the stock valves (not the bigger size like i am wanting) it came out to be almost 300 HP @5000 rpm with almost 400 ft. lbs of torque @1500 rpm. pure torque right out of the gate. which is what i am aiming for.
we also discussed intake and decided that the edelbrock performer is the way to go. unfortunately, i sold mine thinking i was going to go with the rpm air gap. my boss is a stubborn dude and wouldnt listen to me when i said the air gap does work with 318 heads. "because edelbrock says its for a 360/340 engine". but in his defense, the cam he wants to use matches the performer intake better than it matches the rpm air gap intake. so there is that.
gotta figure out if i need oversized crank bearings before i buy a master rebuild kit. bringing the crank down to the shop to see if it needs to be turned....then its just buying parts after that.
thinking we are going to throw a 600cfm holley on it. sorry for the book fellas, just excited that my truck might be on the road here soon. excited
the cam is a 268 with .480" of lift and 110 LSA. cant remember the rest of the specs. i want to say .050 duration is a 210/220. which is what comp cams recommended, and eggman, and my boss. so apparently its a great choice for a cam. boss said it'd be perfect for this build.
That cam should be good for a bit of lope and some good power. I would still use the Air Gap, the Performer is basically a stock 4bbl intake in aluminum and will choke the gains from the cam and head work. You can order pistons that will give you 10:1 if you want, but you will more than likely need to run 93 oct on it then.
i was planning on building an engine for 93 octane. would have to get domed pistons to get the compression i want. but i have 2 sets of pistons now. one stock size and one set .030 over. both flat top. so to save the expense i'll just use the parts i have now. i'm thinking at a later date i'll get a 360 magnum engine and build that up slowly over time. the 360 magnum has a 9:1 compression ratio stock with dished pistons. throw some flat tops in that and the compression ratio should go up nicely. so for now, a torquey cheap 318 build should be ok for a play truck. who knows, maybe i'll be perfectly happy with my slightly built up 318.
good to hear. more pics and such coming as i go. i'm thinking a high temp clear powder coat finish on the block, black intake and timing cover, red valve covers.....or high temp black on the block, clear finish on timing cover and intake, red valve covers. i have a black and red theme going on my truck. figured some clear coated metal finishes would be cool too. ?????
Clear everything many times! I made the mistake of not doing mine the first time around and its kinda dull now.
Personally, I like bright colors on a motor as it helps chase down any issues if they arise!
Also, a more polished look can be made by putting in your freeze plugs after paint instead of some block that some hack shop dumped paint on to try to make it look new.
i started working at a powder coating shop a few months ago. so anything that will be colored or cleared will be powder coated. that shit is nearly permanent. best way to get it off is with a blow torch......seriously.
you guys have a part number for some thin head gaskets and intake gaskets that will delete the crossover? i'm looking for a re-ring kit but thinking the intake and head gaskets wont be what i want.
crank is good. gonna polish it and then really see what it is. might need to go up to .001 sized bearings for the rod journals. so far so good. no picture of the block though. it rusted up pretty good over the weekend. so nothing fancy there......looking at rusted metal. i doubt i'll be clear coating that. probably make the block black
Careful with going too thing on the gaskets. Too thin without super tight tolerances on the desk and head could make the gasket not seat the best with the materials the super thin gaskets are made of. Felpros are ok but nothing special. Im a big fanof the cometics. Make sure you get one the doesnt have too large of an openong of the cylinder. Many measure 4.160 but if you could get one below 4.1, that would be best and give a slight bump in compression.
If you're going to deck the block and heads, dont forget to have the intake done as well as it will be a biotch to get it lined up. I would hold off on bying the head and intake gaskets until the machine work is done and you can take some measures to see how thick or thin you can go.
thanks angus. i'm not decking the block which is why i was thinking some thinner head gaskets. we are gonna rebuild it stock so there wont be much machine work.
If you're not decking, I definitely would not run a super thing gasket then because the chances of it being perfectly flat on the deck and cylinder head are not good. You'll want something that will have a little "give" to it so make up for the minute differences. It may measure out flat when the head is not on it but when it's torqued down, thats when the block or head will bend a little. Same concept to when your hone/bore out your cylinders, much better results can be found when done with a torque plate.
decking means that the top of the piston is equal to the surface of the block at top dead center. you do this to raise compression.
that is some good advice angus. our plan was to work the heads, of course i wouldve gotten them resurfaced. but the block could be tweaked a little too.
BUT! i have a new plan. no more 318 block. 318 block is going to be rebuilt and sold as a stock engine for 600-700$. my boss came across a 360 (not sure yet if its an LA or magnum block, it came out of a ramcharger so i'm guessing LA)
the bottom end is rebuilt, crank is freshly turned. it's bored over with new pistons and rings. even has brackets, water pump, etc etc...... the guy who rebuilt it builds monster truck engines, so its going to be built properly. he rebuilt it for a guy that never came back.....so now its just taking up space in his shop and wants it gone. it needs cam, heads, and intake. 800$. when i mentioned i dont have 800$ to drop on the block.....my boss told me not to worry about it. so i'll have a fresh 360 short block starting tomorrow.
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