318 LA roller block questions

[Icetech]

Hello guys.. I'm technically a B-body owner but this forum is amazing so here i am Just a quick question or 2

I just picked up a 318 of FB (have never run a small block before though it would be fun to play with) What i ended up with was a '85 LA with the spider mounts in the valley but a flat tappet cam in it. It was a truck motor, i did some research and couldn't find much other than this is possible to find now and then.

I was mainly wondering if there is any reason to avoid using this before i start dumping money into parts? Plan is to get heads/cam/intake setup for this year to get the car working and sorted (hasn't moved since 1978, going through every bolt) Then hopefully a 390 next year.
P.S. I don't plan on a massive cam as it will be a street car to have fun in and beat on, not heading to the strip.. Any issues using factory roller lifters upto around .525? thanks guys.

 

[273]

Hello guys.. I'm technically a B-body owner but this forum is amazing so here i am Just a quick question or 2

I just picked up a 318 of FB (have never run a small block before though it would be fun to play with) What i ended up with was a '85 LA with the spider mounts in the valley but a flat tappet cam in it. It was a truck motor, i did some research and couldn't find much other than this is possible to find now and then.

I was mainly wondering if there is any reason to avoid using this before i start dumping money into parts? Plan is to get heads/cam/intake setup for this year to get the car working and sorted (hasn't moved since 1978, going through every bolt) Then hopefully a 390 next year.
P.S. I don't plan on a massive cam as it will be a street car to have fun in and beat on, not heading to the strip.. Any issues using factory roller lifters upto around .525? thanks guys.

Other than people gonna tell you to start with a 360, no your good to go.

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

Use it if you want to use a hyd roller.
Then build it like you would a 340 for intended purpose.

All the parts will fall together once you know which direction you're going.
Cam lift required ,which head suits best, Valve lengths, stems size ,induction type etc

 

[YY1]

Good news-

That will be a 9.2:1 motor.

 

[Icetech]

Other than people gonna tell you to start with a 360, no your good to go.

OMG.. that has been pretty much everyone i talk to... i mention a 390 and i seem insane!! gotta be a 408.

 

[Icetech]

Use it if you want to use a hyd roller.
Then build it like you would a 340 for intended purpose.

All the parts will fall together once you know which direction you're going.
Cam lift required ,which head suits best, Valve lengths, stems size ,induction type etc

Yeah.. been reading for days about heads and just sooo many horror stories out there about almost every brand. Kinda want TFs's at this point.
Just wanted to make sure there is nothing weird about that year block is all

 

[273]

Yeah.. been reading for days about heads and just sooo many horror stories out there about almost every brand. Kinda want TFs's at this point.
Just wanted to make sure there is nothing weird about that year block is all

Other than roller should be same as all other LA 318

 

[Jadaharabi]

That would be a great 318 block ro build. It's setup for the roller cam and used the oil thru the block to the rocker arms. You can use any head you want, la or magnum. I say you got it, build it.
Btw you can test the block to see if it has the meat in the cylinders to go 4 inches. If so you can use the 360 stroker piston and the 340 4in crank for a 402.

 

[Icetech]

That would be a great 318 block ro build. It's setup for the roller cam and used the oil thru the block to the rocker arms. You can use any head you want, la or magnum. I say you got it, build it.
Btw you can test the block to see if it has the meat in the cylinders to go 4 inches. If so you can use the 360 stroker piston and the 340 4in crank for a 402.

I hadn't heard of a 402.. rather play safe at 390 honestly The last motor i built was 25 years ago and it amazes me how many different stroker combinations people run now.

 

[Jadaharabi]

Stock bore 360 (4 inch) with a stroker (4 inch) is a 402.
You play it safe by having the cylinders Sonic tested. To see if they can safely go 4 inches. Which is the stock 360 bore size.
Indy Cylinder Head built these motors for a few years. I don't think the new owners do now tho.

 

[273]

Stock bore 360 (4 inch) with a stroker (4 inch) is a 402.

A thing I noticed over the years Any 4" bore you can figure the displacement quick by taking the crank number get rid of the decimal and add 2 4.00=402, 3.00=302, 3.58=360 etc..

 

[replicaracer43]

First thing to do is look for cracks in the deck surface. Those blocks are paper thin and normally cracked

 

[rumblefish360]

So did another place build these 318 - 402’s.

After you sonic check it, then you’ll know how far it can be bored out to. The TF heads are the best OOTB Street Strip head you can get right now.

What car will this be in?
Cars weight?

 

[glockr]

Build it as a 318 like Ma Mopar intended. Gawd, if I never hear someone bring up "stroker motors" for the rest of my life it will still be too soon.

 

[273]

Build it as a 318 like Ma Mopar intended. Gawd, if I never hear someone bring up "stroker motors" for the rest of my life it will still be too soon.

I kind of get them if you want bigger than 440, but we have 318/340/360/383/400/413/426/440 pretty much every 20 cid increment from 318 to 440. But each to their own.

 

[dirty white boy]

So did another place build these 318 - 402’s.

After you sonic check it, then you’ll know how far it can be bored out to. The TF heads are the best OOTB Street Strip head you can get right now.

What car will this be in?
Cars weight?

hensley outta tenn,.. Hensley Performance

stock replacement roller lifters are priced good but youll need spider and dog bones, if it had stock roller cam you coulda got it re ground and been a cheap roller motor build! should have 302 heads witch some love and others love to hate, but is a fine head for a mild 318 or truck motor, but nothing a stroker build would need!!! id rather have strong truly round 3.91 bores than thin weak 4 inch bores erry day of the week and twice on sundays!!

 

[rumblefish360]

Thanks and agreed

 

[360duster]

good little motors. nothing wrong with the factory hydraulic roller setup.....oregon camshaft can supply a regrinded cam, i put grind #1341 in a 5.2 Mag, it´s running great.

Michael

 

[George Jets]

Here is an '85 roller short block with the roller cam. 9.2:1 cr with the factory flat top pistons.
Too bad it still doesn't have the factory roller cam and lifters yet, they do well with the Edelbrock 1406 4bbl for performance just as they are with the 302 heads. Can use the Mr. Gasket .028 ths. head gaskets with the stock layout for a little more compression.

Same goes for the '89 - '91 roller TBI 318, with the 302 heads. Only thing is you need the cam end adapter to run the manual fuel pump eccentric. Other than that great with the 4 bbl setup, not a lot of goofing around to get it going.

 

[RustyRatRod]

OMG.. that has been pretty much everyone i talk to... i mention a 390 and i seem insane!! gotta be a 408.

It can be very powerful with the 318 stock stroke if done right. Of course, there's always the 392 thing. But as for the block, it's fine for what you want to do. Stock hydraulic lifters will live just fine. I'd recommend a decent set of adjustable rockers, though.

 

[Icetech]

First thing to do is look for cracks in the deck surface. Those blocks are paper thin and normally cracked

Hadn't read that anywhere.. will be sure to give it a better look now when i pull the heads.

 

[Icetech]

So did another place build these 318 - 402’s.

After you sonic check it, then you’ll know how far it can be bored out to. The TF heads are the best OOTB Street Strip head you can get right now.

What car will this be in?
Cars weight?

62 belvedere with a Poly it was 3050# so i figure with a alum headed LA i should stay under 3000..

 

[Icetech]

It can be very powerful with the 318 stock stroke if done right. Of course, there's always the 392 thing. But as for the block, it's fine for what you want to do. Stock hydraulic lifters will live just fine. I'd recommend a decent set of adjustable rockers, though.

yeah, did a lot of reading and pretty much settled on PRW's until someone talks me out of that also... i swear no matter what brand of an item you look at someone has a horror story.

 

[Icetech]

Here is an '85 roller short block with the roller cam. 9.2:1 cr with the factory flat top pistons.
Too bad it still doesn't have the factory roller cam and lifters yet, they do well with the Edelbrock 1406 4bbl for performance just as they are with the 302 heads. Can use the Mr. Gasket .028 ths. head gaskets with the stock layout for a little more compression.



Same goes for the '89 - '91 roller TBI 318, with the 302 heads. Only thing is you need the cam end adapter to run the manual fuel pump eccentric. Other than that great with the 4 bbl setup, not a lot of goofing around to get it going.

Yeah.. one thing i wanted was a mechanical pump which luckily this motor has.. i just need to find a spider and get some lifters and i assume any LA roller cam will work (for now probably a mild voodoo)
I'm just happy the motor is pretty clean inside, i ran a scope in the bores and mild carbon on the pistons and crosshatches on the cylinders..

Compared to my poly... Now this is a dirty motor

 

[RustyRatRod]

yeah, did a lot of reading and pretty much settled on PRW's until someone talks me out of that also... i swear no matter what brand of an item you look at someone has a horror story.

That is unfortunately true.