318 Build

66VALIANT said
I need help gettin some power out of a late 80s 318 . i know some of you guys are gonna say 360 or 340 but im not goin that route i have a 9in flywheel if i put a 10 a half then i need a bell housing and all that other junk. i got a 87 318 stock bore im gettin some 318 magnum heads and a crosswind intake i want to know what cam to get and what company i need oil through lifters and what size pushrods do i get.should i get some new pistons CHeap im not buyin kb pistons this cars been down for 3 years i wanna drive it already and im on a budget i wouldnt be usin magnum heads if they werent free,also where can i get valve springs and what kind. ill be runnin a stock ignition with the orange box. any type of plugs i should use. im gonna use a high volume pump and double roller timing chain any certain brands, i want cheap but durable its not a race car just want to whup up on some chevys and fords oh do i need shorter head bolts thats what i heard also what kinda carb . the car is a 66 plymouth valiant 4 speed 3.55 sure grip also what kinda hp am i lookin at. Thanks guys sorry bout all the questions

You are in luck I have built or helped build 5 Magnum series of engines over the years. You have a great game plan if you keep the project in perspective and don't go crazy with the wrong mismatched parts. As far as your gameplan, I beleive that you can build your 318 to get a crapload of usable, drivable torque. The magnum heads will flow more than you need stock. If you want to spice it up a little do a very mild cleanup in the bowls with a grinding stone, it might get you an extra 25 HP.

I would get a Hughes Racing Engines HEH1523AL cam with the recommended 1110 valvesprings,they will work perfectly with the stock valves and retainers, no cutting down the retainer seats needed if you use the stock 1.6 rockers, Use the 5001 Oil-through Lifters and and a new set of hollow pushrods, 5470MC , these are cut-to-fit. FOr the intake I would use an Edelbrock Performer RPM for magnums and a Performer 600 cfm electric choke carb (hint: I bought mine on ebay for $100). Your ingnition is perfect, just use some Autolite 3923 plugs. For pistons, use the standard rebuilders special that will give you about 9.5 to 1 compression. With this combo, you will not really need headers, but they always help.

I built this combo 3 times, it will make about 300 hp at the rear wheels (360 flywheel) with about the same amount of torque. This combo in a heavier Dodge Dakota ran a 13.80, your car should be able to run a 13.50 since its so light. The kicker is that this will idle nicely and the power range will be about 1500 to 5000 rpm, but will pull to 6000 without too much drop-off. The torque peak will be about 290 lbft at 3200 rpm, but you will have at least 250 lbft (350 flywheel) from about 2000 to 4900 rpm (at the rear wheels). My engine really only had a slight peak, it was more like a straight line. The dyno guy was blown away because he used to deal with Mustangs and could not beleive a 318 truck was producing these numbers.