Best cam for the street both power & sound

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273 said:
And for some reason he's dead against hopping up a 318 beside duals and tune, he says you can't put a cam in cause of under 3,000 rpm performance with stock stall and gears fine but then he recommends a aftermarket stall and deeper gears but even after installing those stall and gears your still not allowed to run a cam or even a 4bbl according to him. And I've tried to even work within his formulas to come up with a reasonable cam upgrade and he won't, even if it works within his formulas, to him it's impossible to improve upon stock 318 cam even though he thinks that a 318 sucks in the 1st place.

I believe that everyone should be able to express their own opinions but it bothers me cause most of these 318 guy are generally New here and New to performance and generally just want a 4bbl and mild cam and him and the rest of the anti 318ers and cr and velocity police come in and confuse the hell out of these OPs.
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273 said:
Thing I don't get he doesn't like or even think 318 can even be made to perform (torque) why is he's really given advice on them. I'd rather him just say they suck get a 360 and move on.

Most don't think /6 is the wises performance platform but most don't go down there and pester them and generally don't see the big block guys bother the small block guys.
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This makes me want to show the 318 some more love lol! I knew they were considered underdogs but i didn't know they were this hated lol
 
Could be worse. You could have a Slant Six

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RighteousWrenching144 said:
This makes me want to show the 318 some more love lol! I knew they were considered underdogs but i didn't know they were this hated lol
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I don't hate 318, I don't believe them really to be under dogs either, but to make 318 perform as well as a 360 at whatever level 250/300/400 hp etc.. The 318 or any other smaller displacement is gonna need more rpm deeper gears higher stall to perform similar. A 360 can make 360 daily driver hp no problem and a 318 can do so to but it's gonna be a bit more racier engine and need slightly more stall and deeper to perform as well and probably get similar mileage.
 
buy one of the 360's the cost in building it is no different. or, more correctly, not different enough to matter.

caveat: no matter what get the best condition and most complete motor you can, regardless of CID. you'll be miles ahead there.
 
And by more rpm, stall and gear, I mean, a 318 vs a similar hp 360 gonna need to run 300-600 rpms higher and similar with stall speed rpm and run about a half a ratio deeper.

So say around 9:1 360 with 650 carb, air gap, headers and xe268h makes around 350-360 hp @ 5000-5200 rpms with a 2000-2500 stall and 3.23-3.55 gears, a similar performing 318 is 1st is gonna need similar heads and is gonna make peak power more like 5500 rpms and need a stall more like 2800-3000 rpms and 3.73-3.91 gears. So a 318 is fine if you willing to run more rpm gear and stall for a given level of performance or except less power and performance for a similar level of driveability eg.. 318 with 300 hp or 360 with 350 hp and run 3.23-3.55 gears and 2000-2500 rpm stall.
 
RighteousWrenching144 said:
So yall think the 5.9 is a better option?
I am supposed to go look at some engines this week. Guy om facebook marketplace has like (5) 318's and (4) 360's for 200 each
They are fairly decent cores but do you all think i could get decent millage out of a 360? In comparison with the 318? Or is the power of the 5.9 worth it over the 5.2?
I just want a good hopped up daily driver not a full blown 11s drag car lol
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if they're the same price and similar condition, always go for the bigger motor. with one caveat.....if one is a roller cam motor, go for the roller motor....if you can find a roller cam LA 318 (M bodies 85-89, trucks 85-91) or roller cam 360 (trucks (87-91) that can get by with a rering, go for those. the roller 318s have decent closed chamber heads (302's) the 360's have better 308 heads. the big bonus is the roller cam, which if in good shape can be reground and reused. I'd also take a magnum 318 or 360 if they are similar price for the better heads and roller cam. see my response back on page 2, I did both, and my reringed '85 short block, magnum headed 318 with a reground roller cam made as much power as my reringed flat tappet 360 with the same intake, carb, and headers, but did so while also getting SIGNIFICANTLY better mileage (IIRC, since it's been 20 years, the 360 would struggle to get mid-upper teens, the 318 would get low 20's on the highway with 3.55's and a 42RH that I had swapped in after about a year running around with the 998 lockup tranny....
 
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Here's a few video's and articles for mild 318 and 360, I'm sure people are getting tired of them but I think there a good starting place for someone trying to figure out a mild combo.

This one is just cam header and 4bbl on a stock low cr longblock 318.

https://www.motortrend.com/articles/mopp-0312-318-long-block-bolt-ons/

This one is a complete performance LA 318 build but really it's basically a 5.2l magnum (cause they use stock magnum heads) higher cr with a 4bbl cam and headers

https://www.motortrend.com/articles/ccrp-0401-mopar-318-engine/

These are a mild 360 stock low cr 2bbl to a decent performer cam 4bbl and headers and the other is a 5.9l magnum stock vs aftermarket one. Everything done any of these engine is applicable to whatever you pick, the 360 mods done to a 318 are gonna have similar effect just possible the hp & definitely the torque numbers will be different and at a higher rpms. But still a general idea what to expect.



 
RighteousWrenching144 said:
This makes me want to show the 318 some more love lol! I knew they were considered underdogs but i didn't know they were this hated lol
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Not hated just not worth dumping $$$ into to make power. A 318, to me is something I'd run while I was rebuilding my 340 and that is because it is a direct bolt in, same flywheel can be used etc. no balance issues...
 
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michiganpat said:
if they're the same price and similar condition, always go for the bigger motor.
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Why? What IF you're looking for some FORM of fuel mileage along with your snappy V8? The 360 will not deliver as good as a 318.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Why? What IF you're looking for some FORM of fuel mileage along with your snappy V8? The 360 will not deliver as good as a 318.
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ok, IF it's a weekend toy that you only plan on putting say, 4000 miles a season on, why not? 4000 miles at 15mpg is 267 gallons, at 20 it's 200 gallons. at $3.50/gallon, that's about $235 extra in gas a season...how many more smiles per gallon will you get with say, an extra 50HP/50tq a 360 will give over a 318 for about the same HP? now if you plan on putting some serious miles on it, then you may want to pay more attention to fuel economy.
 
A fun thing to do if you can find good info is, look up MPG of say a 1970 318 Swinger then compare it to a Swinger 340. Could even look up a 69 318 Satellite and compare it to a 383 Roadrunner etc. Rumour is The Dart Swinger 340 in 1970 got 13 or 14 MPG as a new car ...unacceptable wouldn't you say...?
 
michiganpat said:
ok, IF it's a weekend toy that you only plan on putting say, 4000 miles a season on, why not? 4000 miles at 15mpg is 267 gallons, at 20 it's 200 gallons. at $3.50/gallon, that's about $235 extra in gas a season...how many more smiles per gallon will you get with say, an extra 50HP/50tq a 360 will give over a 318 for about the same HP? now if you plan on putting some serious miles on it, then you may want to pay more attention to fuel economy.
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I gave you the reason why not. If you want some semblance of mileage. That's why not. You argued my point for me. Thanks.
 
Just checking in. Wow! 5 pages and no answer. There will be no real answer after 55 pages! :lol:
 
toolmanmike said:
Just checking in. Wow! 5 pages and no answer. There will be no real answer after 55 pages! :lol:
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I think I responded with "Summit K 6901" however I was waiting for a argument and contradiction...that Summit cam supposedly comes in close to the stock 69-later 340 cam from what I hear...is the the best? its a matter of opinion I think "Best "has to be defined. Alot of old timers tell me the stock 340 engine was a special engine...
 
Dartswinger70 said:
I think I responded with "Summit K 6901" however I was waiting for a argument and contradiction...that Summit cam supposedly comes in close to the stock 69-later 340 cam from what I hear...is the the best? its a matter of opinion I think "Best "has to be defined. Alot of old timers tell me the stock 340 engine was a special engine...
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And the OP has a 318. He needs to be mindful that a stock teen can't use much of a cam without modifications.
 
toolmanmike said:
And the OP has a 318. He needs to be mindful that a stock teen can't use much of a cam without modifications.
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I agree. I ran that 6901 in a stock teen with stock heads etc and 600 Holley it was fun to a point it didn't rev much or should I say the power band was reached pretty quick. I have read that, the best cam for a stock 318 is the stock cam...and I d bet its true. But its like .399 lift or something like that its below .400
 
Dartswinger70 said:
I agree. I ran that 6901 in a stock teen with stock heads etc and 600 Holley it was fun to a point it didn't rev much or should I say the power band was reached pretty quick. I have read that, the best cam for a stock 318 is the stock cam...and I d bet its true. But its like .399 lift or something like that its below .400
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That 6901 is a perfect cam for a stock 318. It's pretty mild.
 
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