Honestly...how good was the 318...mpg / durability / hp

In 1989, I bought a 74 Dart Swinger with a 318 for $400. Ran great and was a very nice car with all the doodads when it was new. It was pretty rusty though. I patched the rear shackle mounts when they came through the trunk floor by bolting a piece of 4 x 4 to each frame rail and using lag bolts to mount the spring mounts to...lol. The 318 got a timing chain and gears when I noticed lumps falling out the oil pan drain plug...which turned out to be plastic pieces from the timing gear. I probably put 40-50K miles on the car before it got so rusty that I needed to do something else. I bought a nice 74 Duster body and pulled the drivetrain out of the Mutant Ninja Dart. While the 318 was out and on a stand, I put valve stem seals in it and all new freeze plugs, steam cleaned it and gave it a coat of blue paint. It lived on in the Duster and my wife & I probably put another 50K miles on it. It went to FL twice, the Nats twice and all over NC, SC, TN, plus it was my daily driver for about 4 years. No telling how many miles it had when I sold the Duster to @345man2 to fund my 64 Belvedere wagon build. Every 318 I've ever had were good motors that got decent gas mileage for a V8.

:thumbsup: