Big horsepower 318 builds

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I don’t see anyone saying it can’t be done.
I think what it boils down to is..... when it comes to actually laying down your $$$ and building it......it would appear(by the shear lack of abundant 500hp 318 builds) that most people opt to get those extra hp that you get from the added cubes....... and not spending any more for it.

It’s just economics.
Same reason 440’s are more popular than 413’s, and 400’s are more sought after than 361’s.

I’d love to see someone step up and do a legit, dyno tested/verified 500hp build with a stock stroke 318.
Show everyone exactly what it takes.

The fairly high effort enginemasters build came up 23hp shy.
 
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Other than pistons the part list would be similar is pistons at this level gonna change the cost all that much.

I would say if your looking to build 500 hp with any v8 by any make or size it's gonna be around 280-320 ish cfm heads, 235-245 ish cam with .500-.600 ish lift, 10-12.5 ish cr and 750-950 carb plus the appropriate intake and headers etc...
 
The only “up side” to starting with a 318 is whatever the price difference is between a core 318 short block and a core 360 short block.

And if you can’t find an off the shelf piston for the 318 that fulfills someone’s particular requirements, and have to get customs........ you’ll be starting out with a price deficit(because it’s not a problem at all finding off the shelf 360 pistons for that build).

I would say if your looking to build 500 hp with any v8 by any make or size it's gonna be around 280-320 ish cfm heads, 235-245 ish cam with .500-.600 ish lift, 10-12.5 ish cr and 750-950 carb plus the appropriate intake and headers etc...
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Sounds like a piece of cake.
I’m sure some FABO member would happily donate a 318 block and crank for you to utilize that plan with.
 
Just got ahold of a buddy and got the low down on his 318 powered A body. +.030 318 14/1 compression with W2 heads, Enderle injection on methanol,5500 stall, glide,4.88 in a 9". 2750# with driver. It ran 9.95 @135.

Al Bouska.jpg
 
yeah....if a Chevy guy said he had a 327 or 302 or even a 283 that hauled ***, no one would question him (well, some might). But a 318 gets no respect...and it should. The problem is it always lived in the shadow of the 340 and later 360....and I gotta say, it appears every 340 and every 360 ever built is still available.

My own small block project got out of hand but I gave a lot of thought to a 318...maybe someday I'll revisit that.

In today's world of 3500HP twin turbo 596" engines...there's a lot of enjoyment to be had in a relatively small engine that runs well.
 
heads, intake, and cam is what makes the HP! bore and stroke decide at what rpm it gonna happen at, mostly stroke! just lot easyer with more ci and ci will help driverbility as well...DWB
 
toolmanmike said:
How about a discussion about a naturally aspirated, no nitrous, stock stroke, 318 on gas or alcohol. I have read quite a few posts lately about 500+ horse teens that I find hard to believe.
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Just my thoughts..
How many honest 500 hp 340 engines are there you actually know of dyno tested/proved?
We know of many 340s @400-480 or so.
Some at 500 ish.
W/318 It can be done, you just have to get another 18ish hp somewhere ,up there, to make up for the 3.93 bore.
Possible, yes. A ton of them? Show me where.
 
gregcon said:
yeah....if a Chevy guy said he had a 327 or 302 or even a 283 that hauled ***, no one would question him (well, some might). But a 318 gets no respect...and it should. The problem is it always lived in the shadow of the 340 and later 360....and I gotta say, it appears every 340 and every 360 ever built is still available.

My own small block project got out of hand but I gave a lot of thought to a 318...maybe someday I'll revisit that.

In today's world of 3500HP twin turbo 596" engines...there's a lot of enjoyment to be had in a relatively small engine that runs well.
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283 ,valley cyl head, 55 chevy full sheet metal...10's.
They touch the clouds in rpms.
 
Look at it this way; the 340 is only 22 CI larger than the 318. I think it all boils down to heads. Get a 318 to breath, and I see no reason why 400 - 425 streetable HP could not be easily achieved. The jump to 500 HP might make it far less streetable, but with the right internals and good heads, it should be doable.
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
Just my thoughts..
How many honest 500 hp 340 engines are there you actually know of dyno tested/proved?
We know of many 340s @400-480 or so.
Some at 500 ish.
W/318 It can be done, you just have to get another 18ish hp somewhere ,up there, to make up for the 3.93 bore.
Possible, yes. A ton of them? Show me where.
Click to expand...

Well maybe a lot of them out there compared to 318s. How bout that?
 
toolmanmike said:
Just got ahold of a buddy and got the low down on his 318 powered A body. +.030 318 10/1 compression with W2 heads, Enderle injection on methanol,5500 stall, glide,4.88 in a 9". 2750# with driver. It ran 9.95 @135.

View attachment 1715577594
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I assume no alternator and it gets towed back to the starting line? I mean extremely dedicated car?... I would assume that with injected methanol 318...
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
isn't it funny how I after talking 500hp 318s 475-480hp seems easy
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Well, I don't know about "easy" but Most every single dyno test on a stock 340 was in the 325-350 range. 150 more isn't a stretch with a pair of ported W2s and other good parts.
 
I think if i was to attempt this i would look at a pair of the later closed chamber W2 heads with the high 40ish cc chambers to get some compression into a stock stroke 318 with a flat top piston. Mildly ported heads with a 2.02 valve so they arent too big and a solid roller.
 
toolmanmike said:
Just got ahold of a buddy and got the low down on his 318 powered A body. +.030 318 10/1 compression with W2 heads, Enderle injection on methanol,5500 stall, glide,4.88 in a 9". 2750# with driver. It ran 9.95 @135.
Click to expand...

That's around 535 HP, about 1.66 HP per CI with only 10-1 compression. If I was going to the effort to make that kind of power with a 318 on alcohol I would've added about three of four points of compression to take advantage of the fuel.
 
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