Thread: 318 engine

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Hey guys, im getting ready to start working on the plymouth now that its starting to cool off a little, ive been keeping an eye out for someone selling an engine that i could rebuild for the project. I was thinking 318, were not looking for anything insane just a little more powerful and comfortable to drive around in. A guy by me is selling one he said is out of a 74 satellite, thinking it might be a good start. What do u guys think? anything to check for when i go to look at it? ive always done chevy so i dont know a whole lot about mopar engines. We just dont wanna go with another sbc like everything else, it would be easier but id love it to be atleast a little more unique.

heres the link, not a whole lot of details. Mopar 318 Builder Dodge Plymouth

My first "hot rod" had a 318 that had over 200,000 miles. I opened it up and it was like new. The 318 is bulletproof, in my opinion. Mopars can be little more expensive to build, but not crazy. I will keep an eye out.

Being a Mopar guy since forever, I agree too, they are more to build. The upside is the 273,318,340 and 360 have many interchangeable parts. If you want to make your hot rod a really good driver, then the SB Mopar is a good choice.

I have had two.A 318 which I agree you can't kill and a 340 that I was pretty successful running in a bracket drag race car for three yrs.A SBM and a 727A is a good set-up.

Quote from ad:

".....Motor is all complete and currently sitting in a '74 Satellite. Will need to be gone through most likely, but car was running until previous owner claimed the cam went flat on him. Valve covers have been pulled off and has been sitting like that for a while. Great for a 390 stroker or a stock rebuild....."

From the sounds of it you are buying a core engine, so the price he's asking is not really out of line.

Chances are this one will need a complete rebuild, personally I would go ahead and get it (and hopefully and brackets and accessories you can), but before I put a lot of money in it I would go ahead and price a rebuild kit for it and talk to a couple of machine shops to get an idea on what labor will run. Then I would price a good reman long block and see which way would be the better way to go (you can use this engine as a trade in core and probably come out ahead if you go the reman route).

By the way what is the plan for the rest of the drivetrain? If you're planning on a transmission and rear end swap, you might want to pass on this and look for a complete doner car/truck rather than buying the stuff a piece at a time.

Just my 2 cents. By the way I'm down the road from oyu in the Sierra Vista area.

318 was an econo motor back in the day. The 340 was the motor to have. As said the 318 will run forever.

Yea im planning to change the tranny, and rear end also but with the way money is it just seems easier to buy it a piece at a time. I was planning on building the 318 myself ive build engines before but only sbc 350s, so im not expert by any means but im in no rush to get this project done anways so with enough time i think i could get it done. The donor car this is a good point too ill have to keep an eye out. A 318 just sounds like a decent all around engine that would work well for us and it sounds like most of u guys agree. Yea that is pretty close i used to drive back and forth between here and sierra vista quite a big, not that far at all.

Originally Posted by Mike P

Quote from ad:

".....Motor is all complete and currently sitting in a '74 Satellite. Will need to be gone through most likely, but car was running until previous owner claimed the cam went flat on him. Valve covers have been pulled off and has been sitting like that for a while. Great for a 390 stroker or a stock rebuild....."

From the sounds of it you are buying a core engine, so the price he's asking is not really out of line.

Chances are this one will need a complete rebuild, personally I would go ahead and get it (and hopefully and brackets and accessories you can), but before I put a lot of money in it I would go ahead and price a rebuild kit for it and talk to a couple of machine shops to get an idea on what labor will run. Then I would price a good reman long block and see which way would be the better way to go (you can use this engine as a trade in core and probably come out ahead if you go the reman route).

By the way what is the plan for the rest of the drivetrain? If you're planning on a transmission and rear end swap, you might want to pass on this and look for a complete doner car/truck rather than buying the stuff a piece at a time.

Just my 2 cents. By the way I'm down the road from oyu in the Sierra Vista area.

The 318 is a great little motor, I built a couple back in the day.
The thing to remember with dodge's or mopar/chrysler is some of the small blocks
came with steel cranks. So if it's a steel crank used a hard bearing. If it's a soft crank
use something like clevite bearings they are a tri metal and softer.
I made the mistake of puting a soft bearing on a steel crank and spun the rods.
I was only doing what my machine shop told me too. When I lived in Florida I
met a nephew of Big Daddy's and asked him to ask Don what I did wrong and he said that was it.
Kurt

i picked it up yesterday, its filthy but for 60 bucks and just down the street it was worth it to us. Im going to tear it down to just the block and take it to a local shop and have it cleaned and have them to check to see if everything is straight, what things should i tell them to check so i can see if the engine is even worth building?

It would be best to have everything checked for cracks before you start spending money on anything else... As for the rest of the engine work, probably going to depend on what pieces you are putting in it and what level of performance you're after as to what all needs to be done. For sure, a crack check and measuring the cylinders should be first, then some careful planning as to what you want for the new innards!

cool that was what i was planning on starting with, we got the engine really cheap and they said it was running fine before but u cant always trust the sellers. Its got that normal engine crud all over it so hopefully i can find somewhere to clean it and check for cracks.