1988 Roller Cam 318 'entry-level' power potential?
I grabbed a super clean 1988 Chrysler 5th Avenue a couple months back as a back-up Mopar for my Duster while it's out of commission. Of course I can't leave it completely stock; I already gutted all the factory single exhaust from the manifolds back and made my own duals with side exits. Next step (more like project) is swapping out the atrocious 2.21:1 7 1/4" rear for an 8 1/4" rear with 3.07:1 gears out of a Jeep. After that I plan to "de-Lean Burn" the car and put in an old MSD box I got for free (yes I know it's overkill but I have it already) along with a ThermoQuad carb I put together with the best parts from a few cores I had lying around.
I know this subject has been beaten to death (upgrading stock 318s with 4-bbl, duals, etc.) but I'm wondering if anyone here has done this to one of the later roller-cam 318s like in my 5th Ave? Looking at the factory specs the torque rating jumped from 235 to 265 lb-ft just from the changeover to roller cam and 302 heads. 30 net lb-ft increase is pretty substantial IMO and I'm wondering if that additional torque would produce more HP than a similar stock-flat-tappet 318 after doing these "bolt-ons". One old article I read showed that a late '80s 318 with 4-bbl carb and 302 heads but factory flat-tappet cam (not roller) dyno'd at 186 HP; would it be a stretch to say the same setup but with the roller lifters might nudge the 200 HP mark? Not that it matters to me a whole lot, I'm still going to do the upgrades but it might be an interesting discussion...?
I know the cam profiles were the same for roller or flat tappet (teeny tiny) and I wouldn't expect this thing to pull much past 4500 RPM with that cam but still, I'm curious lol