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

The most money I have in an engine, including the price of the engine, in my cars today is 1450, and it has aluminum heads. I think 3k would be "unlimited shopping"... LOL

How much of that stuff did you get second hand, from a deal, have already, traded for, robbed off anther car ........
Take that $1550 you saved and you could go find a $400 340 that needed one sleeve and spend $150 on that and you could have bought those cheaper 340 pistons. You still have $1000 for a Pentastar shaped air cleaner and a foot print gas pedal.