Recipe 1 - Stealth 2bbl
This is one where you need to avoid the temptation to go low buck - this needs to be a completely scienced out package. The goal is to build a stock looking 2 barrel engine that runs stronger than most street 4 barrels. Here are my thoughts on how to do it:
 

• Block: Use a stock 318 block. Earlier blocks may be better as they supposedly have thicker cylinder walls. Fill the water jacket in the lower block to the bottom of the freeze plug holes with a good block filler. This will help stiffen the bores. Take it to a quality machine shop and have it parallel decked, line honed, bored and honed with torque plates.
• Crankshaft: This is one case where less is more. Some early 318 truck engines came with forged crankshafts. For this application, we want the garden variety cast crank. It is plenty strong for this application, and more importantly it is lighter, which means more power. If you really want to go all out, you could send it to a specialty crankshaft shop and have the rod journal throws indexed and equalized. Otherwise, just have you machine shop check it for straightness and bearing clearance.
• Rods: Another case of less is more. Early 318's had light weight rods. Later 318's used the beefier 340/360 style rods. The heavier duty rods are usually preferred for performance applications, but we need all the help we can get. Use the earlier, lighter rods. Just makes sure to replace the stock rod bolts with ARP bolts and polish the beams. After that, have then blueprinted.
• Pistons and rings: Here is where we start to spend our money. Stock pistons are low cost, but are heavier than custom forgings and use 5/64" rings. Get a nice set of Ross racing pistons. They are lighter than stock and use low drag 1/16" rings. While you're at it, have the skirts coated with a low friction coating and the crowns coated with ceramic. We want about 9.75:1 compression, you'll need to tell them your head cc's and gasket thickness when ordering.
• Cylinder heads: High swirl 318 (casting #308). Have the intake valves enlarged to 2.02, pocket port them (better yet, have them ported by a shop that has experience with these heads), and match the intake runners to the port openings on an intake manifold gasket.
• Cam: Use as much cam as you can get away with, without making it sound too racy. Lift over .500 is wasted so don't bother.
• Intake manifold: Most factory 2 barrel intake manifolds are dual plane manifolds - each bank of cylinders is fed by a single hole! Some 318's (and 273's) came with single plane 2 barrel manifolds, which is the one we want for this application. At the minimum, match the runners to an intake gasket and enlarge the throttle bores to match the new carb (see next item). Even better, send it to one of the shops specializing in 2 barrel circle track engines for a thorough massaging.
• Carburetor: Use the 2 barrel carb off of a 383 or 440. It will flow more than the smaller unit that is stock on the 318. It will probably require a lot of tuning. Again, a better alternative may be to contact a shop specializing in 2 barrel racing engines.
• Exhaust: Using headers is tempting, but that would totally blow your cover. Use stock exhaust manifolds feeding a dual exhaust system. Port the manifolds as much as you dare (don't want them to crack from the heat) and have them extrude honed.
• Misc: A vacuum pump system is worth up to 15 HP. On this application it would be perfect. You could use the factory charcoal canister as the dump bucket for the vacuum system, and the vacuum pump would be mistaken for a smog pump by most people.
• Car: You would want to put this in the lightest car you could find. For Mopars, that means an A Body. Beyond that, anything you can do to further lighten the car woill be a huge help. Just don't make it look non-stock.

Well, there you go, a recipe for a stealth 318. If you like it (or not), leave a blurb in my guest book. Next time I'll give a recipe for performance with economy.