Basic 318 Mods

Dan the man said
My main goal is to have a car that has good throttle response and low to midrange torque,

It's basically gonna be where it is stock might be minor gains here.

Dan the man said
have the ability to get out of its own way and to have some stop light to stop light fun once in awhile.

The trick is how far can you take it without majorly sacrificing the first goal

Dan the man said
Idle quality is not a issue but to have a good torque cam means a smooth Idle, I wouldn't mind a little rumble at the pipes. From the research I've done looks like the engine will mainly be off Idle to like 4,500 - 4,800 rpm's. I may be wrong here but aren't most torque cams have a max duration at 0.050" of 204* / 216*?

This is the main thing everything hangs on, bad choices on 4bbl headers even heads isn't overly gonna ruin driveability compared to what a wrong cam can. But really everything you want is on the mild side less chance of going severely wrong. I'd pick a cam on at least 110 lsa in the 205-210 duration .450-.500 lift. But if you want more pep than that go with heads not more cam. The less stall and gear the less cam you should go if 3.55+ (taller tires more gear) and 2800+ stall is in the cards you could go with more cam, a deep first gear can also work.

Problem is these are your compromises to figure out you might have to try a few different cams carbs etc.. To figure it out. There's a big difference between AJ and 318willrun idea how to make a 318 go and each works for them. Your gonna have to find yours.