I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief right now. I finally found an engine core and made most of the final decisions on how it's going to be built. All I have left to do is pick out a cam shaft. Good machine shops are hard to find, so they're busy, but in about 5 weeks I should have one really sweet running..... 318 Mopar. Yep, after much thought and soul searching, I decided to go with a 318 instead of a stroked 360. This really isn't a change of heart though, it's more of a triumph of rational planning over "golly-gee-whiz-ism."
I had originally planned on a mild but strong 318 for the Barracuda. Part of the reason was I thought I was going to have to run stock exhaust manifolds which would choke off a bigger engine anyway. A lot of the reason had to do with having a strong running but well balanced car, though. All else being equal, a small engine generating less power per revolution should get a little better gas mileage and run a little cooler. Then I found headers that would fit the Barracuda, and one of the reasons for building a 318 disappeared. My machinist mentioned that 360 cores are a lot easier to find than 318 cores (especially 318's with 302 head castings) and all reason went out the window.
Hmmm, if I'm going to run a bigger engine any way, might as well stroke it to 408. After all, the 408 crankshaft costs the same as the stock stroker... Hmmm, if I'm going to spend extra money for a forged crankshaft, might as well spend a little extra for some nice H-beam rods, and how about some fancy forged pistons... Hmmm, since I'm spending all this money on a fancy short block, I may as well buy some fancy ported aluminum cylinder heads. Hmmm, why not make it really cool and run a Six Pack set up... Hmmm...
It was just spinning out of control, and the more I thought about actually putting it (the 408) in the Barracuda, the less excited I got about the whole thing. I don't think I would be happy with the Barracuda running the 408, and I don't think I'd be happy with the 408 given the limitations imposed by the Barracuda. Monday I decided to find a 318 no matter what, so I did a lot of calling around and found one. It even has the cylinder heads I want. I picked it up on my lunch break today and dropped it off at the machine shop.
I think I'll be a lot happier with the Barracuda this way. It should get decent mileage but still have enough power to be fun. It will make a nice road car for driving my family to Bishop this fall. The 408 would be too loud, too hot, and too thirsty. Conversely, the road race suspension on the Barracuda would limit the 408's straight line potential. Barracuda <--> 408: NOT a match made in heaven. As for the 408? I'm still building it, too. I'm going to put it in a Dart Swinger though, set up for drag racing.