Big horsepower 318 builds
So quick question.
There's a few "brand x" 5.3 builds up on YouTube by our beloved Richard holdener. In his usual style he gets a junkyard engine and tops it with heads cam and intake to get to a desired power level.
In one of them he's getting 500+ with a pretty mild BTR hydraulic roller. Granted he's running some pretty nice heads and a well matched intake.
But the cams are pretty small. Like less than 230 deg if I recall correctly.
I know it's not a totally apples to apples comparison but it seems like the 5.2 318 could do similar things. Is it just down to heads cam and intake or is there more to it? Could a well sorted out set of heads and a nicely matched intake get close? What heads would you choose to start with?
That seems a lot of power for such a small cam.
What you are saying is what is true of any engine. Heads, induction and camshaft.
There are 300 inch comp eliminator motors that make 800 horse or thereabouts. Mopar short deck W8 deals.
Really the only variables are bore and stroke as to the limiters to the output.
To me, the big limiter with the 318 is bore size, it’s friggin tiny. It’s a block of wood under the gas pedal.
I think that enginemasters mill that I bought could make 550 with the right parts, using the same heads.
More compression, better intake, and a serious roller. That intake was a knockoff dual plane used on the dyno. Definately lots of room for improvement there, just for starters.
Had I kept the car, would have been interesting to try, but wife said no to a cage in that car, so I was already pretty much needing one already when I sold.