Sure he has.... he is a retired "master mechanic" remember? :rolleyes:
He seems to enjoy dumping crap on others for not running a 340 without sharing any of his own engine builds or cars. To get 275hp out of a 318 to match a 340 factory output is downright impossible without those extra 22CI..... :lol:
He would have a stroke if he new how much HP guys over here are pulling out of an NA 265CI 6cyl.
To the OP - I ran a comp XE250H in a stock 318 with an edelbrock performer manifold, 625cfm carter AFB & headers and got some good gains over stock, didn't loose any bottom end either (ran with 2.92 gears). A year or so later I swaped the heads for ported closed chamber 318 truck heads with comp 901 springs - picked up noticeably across the board and let it spin up another 500rpm or so. Was a good budget engine for a daily driver.