Basic 318 Mods

318WR hit the nail on the head: if you're starting with dog ****, no amount of sugar is gonna make it ice cream. comprehensive diagnostic to start. always.

from there, i personally think that a dual plane with a reasonable 4bbl carb and headers is a viable path-- despite some naysayers. is it a world beater with the 2bbl cam? no. but it's a reasonably priced path to something that's decent and all of that will directly attribute to any build going forward.

if you're going small cam, get the 340 repop. you're not building a race motor, it won't suck out too much compression, it doesn't have enough lift to need special springs or machine work, it doesn't have enough duration to need a converter or gears. even with a 2bbl it makes for a ripper. 340 repop cam in a 318 is a solid combo and it's cheap as chips. i'll say it till i'm blue in the face

everybody is really over thinking it. it doens't need to be perfectly optimized, it just has to be a decent cruiser.