best head for 318 street car

[rumblefish360]

Rumble, my .02. 1.88/1.60 ,in 318 heads,bowl work ,good valve job.Similar cam(210/218@ .050,112 l/c.,ran 13.20's @102 . Nice post.....

Thanks. Not sure if the OE poster is concerned with mileage or not. If he was, ya, I guess a 210 @ 050 would be fine and still run well. He could go as far as a 228 @ 050 with the 3.55's and still get to work without a big gas guzzler, though, LOL, I wouldn't sell stock in OPEC just yet.

 

[rumblefish360]

Heads like the RHS would be a big step up, but they cost more money. Better port, chamber, new castings. Figure how much it will cost to refurb a set of old castings and see where you land.

I agree with Cracked on this a lot! I went the OE head route due to the fact is you have them. Talk to the machinist. Look at the big picture in cost.
IMM can quote you a price shipped to your door and you can weigh it from there.

I used to deal with an old machinist for a long time. He mills both my heads for $35 bucks down .060 and we have lunch watching I love Lucy. :cheers:
Other guys I have met say "It's a hundred a head for .030."
I'm saying how much of a cut are you taking!?!?!?!?!? :thumbdow:
His son does my valve seats and guides etc... cost, peanuts. So sometimes, I forget my great deals and forget others pay a good bit more sometimes.

I just dont see a big worth in swapping heads you don't have in favor of a set, brand new at that, which has a merit worthy of purchase unto itself, always a justifiable thing to do and even more in what I think your trying to say here for your build.

I tend to error on the side of caution and a lean wallet. I'm a bit from the poor boy school of hot rodding.

 

[steveh]

What is your cruising speed to work?
At what rpm are you steadily moving at?

Rob,

Route to work is 50% city 50% highway. 40mph city and 60/65 mph highway.

Went from 2.76 open 7 1/4 to 3.55 8 3/4 still runnin 14 inch 60 series tire. need to install new speedo gear...no tach but I'd guess based on sound it bout 2700 or so highway.

sounds like you and abodybomber are in agreement...keep the stockheads...get some bowl work and 360 valves. I'm no engine builder so any additional details would be greatly appreciated. What exactly should I ask for at the machine shop and roughly how much should I expect to pay...assuming all new valves etc....thx you guys are awesome

 

[68cuda78]

steveh , I seen a article in Mopar Muscle mag and they built a bad street 318 using a basic stock bottom end with windage tray. They used EQ heads with no port work, air gap intake and 750 carb and it made 402 horse and had a great torque curve which is what you want for street. Thats a badd little 318 . The piston were KB 106 I think with valve notches and zero deck for 9.8 to 1 compression. The cam was a custom grind XE275XL 231/237 at .50 .525 lift on a 108 lobe seperation. It actually has a higher lift because of the 1.6 rockers on the EQ heads.

 

[rumblefish360]

Your not rebuilding the engine are you?

If your going to meep the stock heads and do the a I've work, you'll need to know where the piston sits in the hole and the cc amount of the heads when all is said and done with them. M owing the flow numbers help but are not a must though a great addition to actually know. This with the head gasket thickness to be used will give you your compression ratio.

In a 50/50 driver setting, the cam you choose can be a little conserveitive for help in mileage and street manors or a little aggressive for more power with little care on mileage.
The difference is t so large as to worry.

Here is a cam that can do 14's in your set up without issue and idle smooth.
Crane cams 272/284 (216/228 @.050) .454-.480-112 IIRC, this cams power range is from 12 or 1500-5500 RPM's. no need for a converter change.

You can pick up a little more power with the Comp cam equal with less centerline for more of a chop at idle, the Lunati equal has more lift adding a few more HP.
All perform in the same ball park.

Going a more aggressive route, add 10*'s to 12*'s duration to each side of the split cam. This will still be a good driver, in a drivers range that should not have the wife complaining.

 

[rumblefish360]

I like your suggested build but do not know if he is rebuilding it all, in the market for new heads or willing to spring for a higher stall converter with the cam going over [email protected].

 

[Norway-dart]

Whats important regarding head question on a 318 is port size or cross section area. You need all the ram effect you my get to wake up the 318. Its too easy to pick a too big head. I think the eq or x or j or 302 all are a good start, and if you invest some dollars, You take it to a porting shop and pay them to get the port to the correct size. (File or epoxy) The hard deal is to make the port flow a high number on the correct port size! If you put your engine data into pipemax by larry meaux(http://maxracesoftware.com/pipemax36xp2.htm) it will give you the correct port size. Thats what I think