There were no 318/5.2 trucks in 2004. By then, the options were the V6, the 4.7 and the 5.7 Hemi.
Magnum Exhaust Manifolds in an A Body
- Thread starter dustoff440
- Start date
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'Mad Max'
Member
very interesting thoughts about manifolds - thanks to everyone posting up the great points of view.
Sounds like the bottom line is there likely isn't much difference between regular and "HP" manifolds, at least not so much that anyone would really notice, with the exception being real racing where an engine is really being pushed hard and/or money is involved. That is a really interesting point, and it's one that is difficult to describe because, lets face it, most conversations about muscle cars revolve around 'power!' but not much around just a nice warm driver, and that is what I'm building - fun enough to enjoy the 'V8 thing', but not powerful enough to get busted all the time for chirping tires - just a nice 'reminder' of the musclecar era without the anxiety
.
I've also noticed it is getting difficult to find a machine shop to discuss a 'stock' engine rebuild - most seem to want to go for maximum power (for sure when considering cams), but fortunately one of my local machine shops takes the time to listen and understands that some folks just want a nice stock-ish rebuild.
As far as 'truck' cams, I can say that the cam I got from Comp for my 360 is juuust right - it's right on the edge of loping and should have real good midrange improvement - it's their #20-745-9; 212-218 (264/270), .480/.480, 114* LSA, with matching springs, on otherwise all-stock mag heads. With my otherwise stock mag 360 it seems to work really well for my 'truck' application. With the Demon tho I want a big more cam - I want that nice muscle car lope but I don't want the big overlap and have a bunch of unburnt fuel dripping out the exhaust pipes, so for my 318 I'll be looking at something with a higher LSA like the one in the 360.
This pretty much sums it all up, the bottom line being there isn't a huge difference between 318 manifolds and headers...at least not enough that I personally will care. This is the results tally from the Motor Trend LA 360 crate motor exhaust manifold comparison. Yep I'll use my nice, simple, quiet, good-fitting 318 manifolds I already have
Exhaust on a Mopar 300hp Crate Engine - Tech Articles - Mopar Muscle Magazine
Sounds like the bottom line is there likely isn't much difference between regular and "HP" manifolds, at least not so much that anyone would really notice, with the exception being real racing where an engine is really being pushed hard and/or money is involved. That is a really interesting point, and it's one that is difficult to describe because, lets face it, most conversations about muscle cars revolve around 'power!' but not much around just a nice warm driver, and that is what I'm building - fun enough to enjoy the 'V8 thing', but not powerful enough to get busted all the time for chirping tires - just a nice 'reminder' of the musclecar era without the anxiety
.I've also noticed it is getting difficult to find a machine shop to discuss a 'stock' engine rebuild - most seem to want to go for maximum power (for sure when considering cams), but fortunately one of my local machine shops takes the time to listen and understands that some folks just want a nice stock-ish rebuild.
As far as 'truck' cams, I can say that the cam I got from Comp for my 360 is juuust right - it's right on the edge of loping and should have real good midrange improvement - it's their #20-745-9; 212-218 (264/270), .480/.480, 114* LSA, with matching springs, on otherwise all-stock mag heads. With my otherwise stock mag 360 it seems to work really well for my 'truck' application. With the Demon tho I want a big more cam - I want that nice muscle car lope but I don't want the big overlap and have a bunch of unburnt fuel dripping out the exhaust pipes, so for my 318 I'll be looking at something with a higher LSA like the one in the 360.
This pretty much sums it all up, the bottom line being there isn't a huge difference between 318 manifolds and headers...at least not enough that I personally will care. This is the results tally from the Motor Trend LA 360 crate motor exhaust manifold comparison. Yep I'll use my nice, simple, quiet, good-fitting 318 manifolds I already have
Exhaust on a Mopar 300hp Crate Engine - Tech Articles - Mopar Muscle Magazine
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