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

318willrun said
No time like the present !!! IF an engine performs it's intended purpose, it's a good engine regardless if you put your stamped approval on it or not !!!

Wait. WAIT....... something just dawned on me..... for real. Do you own a machine shop?? Honest question. I'm seeing a pattern here... many folks that own machine shops cannot stand low dollar builds by others because it means less traffic through their doors.

I do not own a machine shop, nor am I am engine builder. I’ve been around this hobby since 1995 and I’ve done a ton of different things. I can tell you what local shop costs are though, and it eats into your 3k budget pretty hard. I don’t do a core rebuild without grinding the crank. I won’t do it. I want straight, round bearing surfaces. I won’t build an engine that hasn’t had the decks cleaned up at a minimum and I’d prefer they are square decked. There is no reason to skimp there. Most every core I’ve ever seen needs to be bored. The day has long past of the berry hone and run it. The shop I use has a new hone and they use a profilometer on every block so they know what they have. Ring seal matters. I almost never tell anyone to rebuild OE rods. It’s a waste of money. Even if you buy the best bolt ARP offers, it’s still a 3/8 bolt and nut. A decent aftermarket rod comes with a better design and a 7/16 capscrew. So you either rebuild OE rods and end up with something that is still OE or you spend a few more dollars and get a decent rod. A balance job is a must. That’s just a must. The factory balance is bad. Real bad. And you have to set the rod and main clearances. You do that with a line hone and honing the rods. Otherwise you just try and shuffle bearings and spend way too much time fiddling while Rome is burning. That is the minimum required to rebuild a core. We haven’t even bought a decent piston and I don’t use KB pistons. Or a cam. Not some cheap summit cam. But a cam that matches the converter, induction, gearing and intended usage. Don’t forget rings. Even the obsolete moly ring set is pushing 200 dollars for a good set. Add in rod and main bearings. A timing set. Lifters too. Do you see the budget is long past dead? Yeah, you can duct tape and bailing wore something together, but as I’ve said before that is penny wise and pound foolish.