Today, dollar for dollar, is the 318 faster than the 340 ???

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If you have the money to build it the 400 would be my choice over the 383. However the 383 will walk the dog on the 400 in stock forum. And by this I mean a 68 or 69 383 versus a 72-73 400.
Here are some first hand facts of cars I owned that I'll share:
Pickup a little lighter and had headers. Almost 7 tenths faster so weigh out the odds and see what ya think. That 400 changed how I felt about 400's. Later my brother added a 750 holley DP/Weiand Action Plus intake and 3.55's to the Fury and ran a best of 14.7's