Why are 318's low HP and torque?

Chryslerkid said

Hmmm. I see. So a little of everything and I could really wake up my little 318 huh? Well I am building a mostly stock 318 right now. I currently have a street master four barrel intake manifold with a 650 Carter, stock exhaust manifolds... What else would be easy to do without breaking the bank to wake up my 318? Do you guys have pics of your 318 setups to give me some ideas?

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Stock compression height is 1.720. You can get some stock replacement 4 eyebrow type pistons with a 1.741 compression height. That might not sound like much, but it makes a difference. Get some Magnum heads or 302 heads and get them down to 55cc, have the block bluprinted to 9.6 (which is the factory spec, they're always high) use the .021 thickness head gasket and you have a 9.1 motor. Just right for idling around stuck in traffic in the summer and will never spark knock. Cheaper than setting up a quench motor. Those pistons only cost about 100-125 bucks, whereas the KB167 quench type pistons are around 400. Even if you choose to save money and not blueprint the block deck, you're still gonna have respectable compression considering the stock 318 blueprints in the 7s compression wise. You'll have enough to support a 325 HP 318 with smart parts choices.