Making power out of the 318

carmart1975 said
the 318 i have is in very good condition just needs a good clean up like a hone, the rods are good and the crack has a Little surface rust i already have new rings and bearings for it i would just get the cam bearings done and i would need to by a oil pan and a front timing cover and the heads would need a full redo because they have like dried up sluge or carbon from the 360 they came off of and i would half to get new pistons because the owner before me droped one and cracked a peace off

What you're saying is: you're starting from scratch.
A set of stock replacement pistons is $250-300. Hoping for a re-hone to get the job done is wishful thinking IMO. The cost difference between "just a hone" and "bore and hone" is about the same as a set of pistons. The alternative is to get it "Just honed" then wonder why it rattles so loud (piston-wall clearance), or get it "Just honed" and find out it needs bored and honed again - either way is money wasted by trying to skip the bore step. Pistons plus a bore-hone is going to run you near a grand. Heads can easily cost that EACH, so there goes your whole budget and you don't even have a timing cover!?

You'd be money ahead to find a recently running motor - I posted a link to at least one, and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them in southern CA. A magnum would be preferable mostly because an EFI motor isn't going to have as much bore wear as you'll see on a tired and abused LA motor. If you find a COMPLETE engine that was recently running, you'll have a lot less work to do. If it were me, I'd be looking for a whole freaking car that's got a busted axle or other minor issue that makes it cheap. Then you can sell off parts to recoup some costs and get a k-frame/engine/trans/driveline for pretty darn cheap, all things considered.