I went down to check on my Barracuda today, and as a result I already know the first thing I would have done differently on my engine build and it hasn't even been fired up for the first time yet. I'm running a Comp Cams XE268H which I know will make decent power. When I was picking my cam, the machine shop mentioned that I could get a little more power by going with a roller cam, but it would cost several hundred dollars more. I figured the hydraulic flat tappet cam would make plenty of power so there was no need to pay extra for a roller cam. Turns out I should have gone with the roller.

The machine shop called this Tuesday and said my 318 is done. Whoo Hoo!!!!! I just need to drop off the intake manifold and valve covers, pay for it, and I can pick it up as soon as my dad gets back in town so I can borrow his truck. Total cost intake to oil pan was about $6500 - more than a "stock" type rebuild but less than the 408 stroker engine I'd been thinking about. Some of my friends think I spent too much for "just" a 318, especially a fairly mild one. However, I knew what I was spending on and I'm not unhappy with the total.

I'm pretty stubborn. When I decided to build a 318 instead of a stroked 360, I had certain ideas I didn't want to deviate from. The biggest issue to me are the cylinder heads - I want to run heads that are optimized for 318 cubic inches. A lot of people building a 318 just throw away the stock heads and run 340/360 heads complete with 2.02" intake valves. There is nothing wrong with this approach, and a 318 with 340/360 heads can make really good power. There are a few things I don't like about this approach though. First is the idea of throwing away a perfectly good set of cylinder heads.

I think the best Intake manifold available for a 340 or 360 is the Edebrock Performer RPM. The ports on this manifold are too big for 318 heads though, so the obvious choice for a 318 would be an Edebrock Performer. Well, not so fast... That's what I thought, but after talking to Ryan at Shady Dell Speed Shop I think there's a better choice. He recommended the Weiand Action Plus manifold as being "quite a bit better" than the Performer. I talked it over with my machinist and he agreed, so I went ahead and purchased one.

Small block Mopar cylinder heads can be divided into 2 broad categories (I'm ignoring the later Magnum heads) - small port (for the 273 and 318) and large port (for the 340 and 360). The small port heads also come with small valves (1.78" intake and 1.50" exhaust) and only flow about 135 cfm on the intake side. Compared to the even the worst large port heads (which flow around 190 cfm in stock form), this is quite a performance hit. Because of that, most people building a 318 for high performance just throw away the stock heads and substitute the larger 340/360 heads.

Back in the good old days, there were 2 types of pistons available - cast and forged. Cast pistons are inexpensive, quiet, and offer excellent oil control due to tight piston to wall clearances. They are also weak compared to forgings, and the quality of some brands was (is) fair at best. Forgings are strong, but expensive (especially for non-popular engines like the 318). They also require more piston to wall clearance, so they're noisy (at least until the engine warmed up) and oil control isn't as good as with cast pistons.