Today, dollar for dollar, is the 318 faster than the 340 ???

would you agree ?

  • yep, the 318 wins if buying and building for under 3k

    Votes: 48 41.7%

  • Nope, the 340 always has and always will beat the 318

    Votes: 57 49.6%

  • Actually, never thought about it like this... Good Point !

    Votes: 10 8.7%
  • Total voters
    115
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318willrun said:
I will be pulling a LA 318 roller motor out of our truck here in the future. Somewhere something will be done with it...... I have a 318 mag on the stand as well.... I have a duster that I haven't started in about 9 months.... I wonder what kind of screamer I could make out of one of them.... I have 360 heads... I have magnum heads..... I have intakes, including a dual quad intake, RPM, chinese, Stealth.... Hmmmm......
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318.... set of speedmaster heads..... stock eliminator cam.... 8" converter.... 4.30 gears.... 3000 lb A-body..... Makes a guy wonder.....
 
I will say, though, a lot of interest. About a 100 votes cast in this one....
 
Gary's Garage on YouTube has a pretty strong case for a 318 think he is running like 10.8 or something in his cuda.
 
448Scamp said:
Certainly less than 3k. That’s all it takes to make that teener a world beater.
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Well, you need heads, Edelbrocks roughly $1500- $1600 a set. There's half the budget assuming the 318 itself is free ... I am just trying to figure the actual cost. I do not believe porting 318 heads will get it done (300 plus horsepower) mainly because its not the same casting as the 340-360. I am starting to think this rationally I mean on one hand if you get a good 340 you are basically one hundred horsepower up on the 318 right out of the box, you could squeeze more with minor tweaks (mild head porting etc.) what more would you need the "re ring" and bearing kit and possibly a cam of choice. On the other hand, you get your 318 for free but then you are scrounging up parts like heads and intake/exhaust manifolds (assuming the 318 is a stock 2 barrel deal.) and doing machine work... that money spends fast especially these days...I think this scenario is still questionable, id have to see it done ( 340 hp out of a 318) then ask the guy/gal what they have in it money wise. It definitely seems like alot of labor converting a 318 to 340 HP specs
 
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I think a 5.2 magnum with stock heads and a 380 crate motor cam will get you 340hp out of a 318 . Use magnum heads, big cam, headers and get a 4bbl intake
 
jammied said:
I think a 5.2 magnum with stock heads and a 380 crate motor cam will get you 340hp out of a 318 . Use magnum heads, big cam, headers and get a 4bbl intake[/QUOT

Makes sense if the Magnum is a good flowing head. I am not familiar with magnum, heads. I did some quick reading and found out the heads are the same between 5.2 and 5.9. I would think it is the bigger 360 type casting that they modified for the magnum. Considering this, it makes sense that the 5.2 Magnum more then likely runs circles around the LA 318.
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ok, back to the $$$ say you dump 3 grand into a 318, you'll never be able to sell it for that at the end of the day its still a boat anchor ... :)
 
318willrun said:
318.... set of speedmaster heads..... stock eliminator cam.... 8" converter.... 4.30 gears.... 3000 lb A-body..... Makes a guy wonder.....
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Schneider makes a small block version of the Mini Express cam.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Why?
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1) machining of blocks more accurate
2) roller cam provision without retro-fit costs
3) cylinder bores hardly wear, due to efi
4) better piston and ring package
5) literally hundreds available in salvage yards
They are THE perfect platform for the budget builder, most of them can be refreshed with a ball hone and a bearing job, its difficult to find many LA 318s that dont need machine work anymore
 
So, what I'm seeing is, the 318 guys are drifting over to the 5.2 magnum as the base for their build? I guess that's ok, but its like calling a Ford 5.0 a 302...there are distinct differences and horsepower ratings between, say a 71 maverick with a 302, and an 88 mustang GT with a 5.0 HO engine.
 
Out of the box or truck the 5.2 magnum has more compression and heads that have routinely supported 400hp with just bolt on parts like cam,headers ect..
 
replicaracer43 said:
1) machining of blocks more accurate
2) roller cam provision without retro-fit costs
3) cylinder bores hardly wear, due to efi
4) better piston and ring package
5) literally hundreds available in salvage yards
They are THE perfect platform for the budget builder, most of them can be refreshed with a ball hone and a bearing job, its difficult to find many LA 318s that dont need machine work anymore
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Ok I'll go along with the better ring package. That for sure is a plus. The EFI thing a maybe, because carburetors aren't dead......yet. Some people still run um. Machining more accurate? I've never seen any evidence of it, but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
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