The "Throw Away 318"

89on35s said
For a couple years now, I have been deep into building an aluminum headed 360 for my Duster. Long story short after 5 minutes of cam break in there is a hole in the oil pan and undetermined damage in the crank case. Maybe I’ll figure it out this winter.

So, what do I do now? I can’t go all summer without my Duster! That is not an option for me. I had an old 78 318 sitting in the corner with no purpose in life. The old “Throw away 318”! I think it used to be good! Don’t really remember. It hadn’t been in a running vehicle forever! Hell let’s do it!

So, up on the engine stand she goes for a quick scrub up. I didn’t even paint it. It got a Summit K-6901 cam kit 218/228 @50, 441/441 lift on a 114 LSA. It got a Edelbrock Performer 318/360 intake because that’s what works with my AC compressor brackets. It got a Melling HV oil pump with matching distributor drive shaft and a new oil pickup and pan because I didn’t have any car stuff that wasn’t for a 360. Between what I had and what I bought I dropped about 500 bucks on the old “Throw away 318” just hoping for the best.

Well I put it together, dropped it into the car and man, I am super impressed with it for what it is! It doesn’t have great hot idling oil pressure but still has about 10lbs at 800 rpm (180* temp).

With the 4.10 rear gear and the 2.70 first gear in the A-500 it is a blast to drive around town It’s certainly better than the old wore out 360 with the wrong cam that that I had last year. I have been very nice to it so far, but It seems like it might run out of steam at RPMs over 5000. With the tiny valves that’s probably no surprise. I will drive it like it is for this year and maybe next year. Not sure on the fate of the whole 360 program now that this is so much fun and such a sweetheart to cruise. I will take it to the track and see what times it runs, and I am curious as to what kind of fuel economy it might get. It runs about 2100rpms at 65mph with the OD on. I picked up a NOS cheater plate and the parts to go with it a while back. Maybe I will try a 100 shot on this motor, Not sure yet!

I am very interested in what this engine might do with new rings and bearings, home head clean up and the ever-controversial swapping of the pistons side to side like Uncle Tony suggests. It would be a fun side by side comparison. I guess I’ll see how the motor works out in the long run. I have 800kms (500 miles) on it so far and things seem good. I did notice some oil by the breather on the drivers side valve cover, I hope there isn’t too much blow by pressuring up the crank case. I’m going to look into that tomorrow.

Cley
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Right away I thought," did you forget to torque a rod cap. My brother did that on a Volvo P1800 years ago when someone arrived with a box of browns. Knocked the rod out the side of the block. Pieces on the floor. Dad helped after that. They took the block and pieces to a welding shop where they brazed the pieces back in place. It was a low stress area so no worries. New rod and grind the rod journals.
I worked at a service station in a small town. The farm boys with F150 trucks with the 400 engine would come in and ask me to put an oil pump in. The oil light would flicker at warm idle at stop signs. I would check the oil pump and none had appreciable wear. The rod and main bearings wear copper all the way around. These engines all had about 100k miles, so I would poke at the timing chain from below and naturaly they were done. So I would do up an estimate and phone them for authorization. Now the Cleveland Ford engines are known for a poor oil system, which explains the bearings.Cam bearings were probably showing wear also, but a bearing rollin and new double roller timing set and they ran like new. Every owner complained because I did not put an oil pump in. I said they should drive it for a few days and if they still thought I should put an oil pump in that if they paid for the pump, I would install it for no labor cost. Never had to remove the oilpan to put a pump in. With your 10PSI oil pressure, I would be concerned about worn bearings. If the bearings are worn too much oil gets flung off the bearings. It may flood the rings and burn oil or with windage get oil up to the breather.