Hello,

   Mopar Muscle Magazine is great and I hope this forum is a help. I'm building a new engine for my van (I use it for light duty work, hauling my quad into the desert, driving around town, and want to dust off the occasional mustang or rice burner). The engine is almost exactly the same one that was built in the November 2003 issue, "Cheap & Easy: 357 Horsepower 318".



   The engine is a 10/70 date code 318 bored .030 over with TRW flat top pistons, mildly ported 360 heads (will port match with manifold), cam is 224/230 @ .050 duration Comp Cams Specialty cam with .470/.480 lift and 110 degree separation (it's as close as I could come to the article's cam with a kind-of ready made cam), True double roller timing set, Hi-vol  oil pump, windage tray, Hedman Hedders,

and a Thermo-Quad carb.

   The van is the shortest full size 1978 1/2 ton van and has 3/4 ton rear springs, 1 ton front springs,  31" on/off road tires and the rear is a 9 1/4 with 3.55 gears. Transmission is an A-727 and was worked over with a Trans-Go TF2 kit and some work done to the governor and a 2500 stall converter.

   My dilemma is I can't figure out which intake to get. This van sees spirited street use 99% of the time and maybe an occasional pass at the local drags just for shock value. I don't mind if it's a little grumpy in the cold. (besides, it doesn't get very cold here in vegas!) This van is light, if I had to guess, I'd say somewhere around 3500 to 3700 lbs. Even the crossmember is part of the unitbody, you cant unbolt it!! I will take it to the truck stop and have it weighed to get an exact weight.

   I think manifolds like the Edelbrock performer, The MP dual plane alum., or the Weiand Action Plus might be a little too mild and not much improvment over stock, just lighter.



   The Edelbrock Performer RPM and the Weiand Stealth are a little more like what I'm looking for, a little more top end while still some bottom end torque.

   Then there's the Edelbrock Torker or the Weiand X-CELerator which are mild single plane manifolds and might be just what I'm looking for.

 I am taking the magazines engine idea and taking it one step farther. I want the most power I can get from this combination yet still have some bottom end torque and I

wouldn't mind suprising a few camaros while I'm at it. Does anybody have any ideas about this? Any knowledgeable help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Just a suggestion. My friend has a 1980's something RAM. He's got a 318 in it with 340 heads and some other crap done to it that i cant remember right now. The point of the story is, is that he uses an Edlebrock air gap manifold and he seems to have good grunt. See we do a lot of slow moving rockcrawling off-road up here and low end torque is what plays that game.

He seems to get massive low end torque. He's got a 727 and the stock rear gears on a 9 1/4 rear. I've seen him smoke lotsof cars on the street and then turn around and do a first gear pull a really big tree blocking the trail.

The only thing is u are running a way better engine combination than him so his manifold might be a little to mild...

Maybe put a six pack on it...that'd at least look cool.

Use the Performer RPM it will give you loads of low end and is good up to 6200+ .   

Thanks Goatheat, I think you're right. Seems to be the best all around. I'm not too sure about the single planes, I don't know how much bottom end I'd be losing with them.

       I have read every message that has been posted in this Mopar Muscle forum and you have answered a good number of them. You seem pretty knowledgable about Mopars. How did you come to know about them? I know them because I grew up with a father that has raced off and on since the 50's and I have always been around them and worked on them but I don't know everything, obviously. I have always been limited financially and pretty much worked with stockers but now I'm a little older and am getting into the building of the engines a little more and just having fun. It's good to have someone like you who is willing to share info and make this sport more enjoyable to the beginner and veteran alike, Thank you,

........Robert (WARLOCK)  

Thank you Robert! I'm an old fart who has been around Dodges and Plymouths for ??? well along time. I don't think any one knows every thing  about Mopars thats why this is such cool place we all have a lot of people to draw from.  

Curious;  Where the Goatheat name come from?  

Hi friends. Just a question :  Can i set a 360 intake manifold in my 318 ?  My car is a Dodge Coronet,727, the tranny has 3.23 gears - if i remember correctly - .
The carb i plan to install is a  new Thermoquad .
Please, tell me some advice in this upgrade.
Thanks in advance.
 Rich.  

360 manifold will fit 318 heads, but the ports won't match very well.

There are 318-port matched aftermarket manifolds out there that will work better. Alot harder to find & more expensive tho...  

The $189. edelbrock performer 318/360 comes with the 318 small ports
[there narrowed down and can be ported to the 340-360 port size]
All the race mail order catalogs have them.