New Automobile!

[MurphysLaw88GT]

it has an 83/4

[Prince Valiant]

Thats the car, we picked it up late one night in Saukville, that thing was a tire smoker!!!

HA! the story's I could tell about that car. Clayton (the former owner) going to love hearing about this...

Was a very quick car for being just a 318 too...headers and some decent timing really woke that thing up. Sadly, we never took it to the track to get a time...but that car, even with the two barrel beat my buddies 4 barrel 350 powered impala (proof that on older cars, headers/exhaust>intake/carb as first mods). That thing was a decent race for my daytona shelbyZ back when it was just a computer mod and running mid 15's....later on, with more mods the Z would kill it.

That car was also more than a match for a 455 pontiac bonneville my brother owned shortly...it was always close, but the better gearing, quicker revving freeer breathing exhaust of the coronet always got it out ahead to stay...as speeds climbed the 455 would eventually reel the coronet in. What hurt the 455 was that it was choked off with a single exhaust for some reason (duals were standard). The 455 kicked the bucket before we ever got anything underway.

Clay had planned to build a hotter 360 for it, but joined the military and lost interest...that's how I came to his block. It's still just sitting there, machined, waiting for new internals such as a 4.00 crank, .040 over pistons, etc...it'll definintely be the next engine for the valiant IF i keep it..

[MurphysLaw88GT]

btw adam, i was at fred englehart's show in elkton mn. this weekend. it was probably the LARGEST assembley of hemi superstock cars ANYWHERE!!! it was awesome. more than 25 1968 hemi dart/barracudas were there, along with other superrstock dodge/plymouth cars. even some superstock buicks, ponchos, chevies etc.took 50 some pics. need you to help post. i met lots of old racers, arnie the farmer beswick, butch leal, dandy d1ck landie, akron arlen vanke etc. all nice guys. got a wikked hemi poster autographed to hell...iwant these pics up soon!!!

[MurphysLaw88GT]

i have a awesome pix of a sweet lineup of a few sox and martin cars

[68RR440]

What year Valiant do you have? I had a 66 2 door post, it was a drag car project I bought cheap off a guy, I had too many cars already, so I gave the car away, for free, along with a 66 Barracuda to John W, the owner of the 65 Dart Convert of recent Culvers fame. That all happened last summer.

[68RR440]

btw adam, i was at fred englehart's show in elkton mn. this weekend. it was probably the LARGEST assembley of hemi superstock cars ANYWHERE!!! it was awesome. more than 25 1968 hemi dart/barracudas were there, along with other superrstock dodge/plymouth cars. even some superstock buicks, ponchos, chevies etc.took 50 some pics. need you to help post. i met lots of old racers, arnie the farmer beswick, butch leal, dandy d1ck landie, akron arlen vanke etc. all nice guys. got a wikked hemi poster autographed to hell...iwant these pics up soon!!!

Send them to me, or go to photobucket.com, open a free account, upload them and post them from there, I just want to see them .
My dream car is a Hemi Dart, since I was a little kid...
Check these pics out...

[MurphysLaw88GT]

btw, somebody was using an old unrestored 4 speed Hemi GTX as a tow rig, i got some shots with the trailer HOOKED UP!!!!!had old montana plates. this place was rediculus

[Prince Valiant]

correct...8 3/4's until 72, the first year 8 1/4 started appearing. Many coronet's with 318's used 3.23 gears, unfortunately open diff's too.

Easy rear to work on...you can change the gears in under 30 minutes with a rear like that with some practice.

If I were you, I'd be tempted to do cheap, effective mods for the time being...

1. New electronic ignition...the MP performance distributer and orange box iginition with a Accel hi-po coil, and get the intial timing at around 12 degrees BTDC. (180 bucks for the kit, 35 bucks for the coil)

2. Headers and dual exhaust...the headers themselves are 110 bucks. I might have some used ones you could have for 20. They REALLY wake up a 318/360, and improve the gas mileage. To have exhaust bent is normally ~ 150 bucks cash at an exhaust shop.

3&4 Do at the same time...intake, carb, camshaft. The stock 318 cam is only slightly wilder than a broomstick, seriously. Specing at 240 degrees total duration, with only .373 lift at the valve, it's a chore for a 318 to make power past 4000rpm. A cheap swap meet eddy performer intake (25 bucks usually) with the small summit cam (260 duration, .420 lift, 80 bucks for cam and lifters), and 600cfm holley carb (new, 250 bucks)

5. Don't HAVE to do, but is recomended...go to a swap meet and find some 1985 or later 318 heads...they a)have hardened seats, b)Modern heart shaped combustion chamber with less volume for more compression, c) Institute a "swirl port" design, b) Flow slightly better stock. Have someone like C&S enlarge the valves to 1.88, open the throat for the lager valves with minor bowl blending, good three angle valve job, and new springs (speced for the cam) and they'll flow MUCH better than stock...total cost ~600 bucks. You'll have more compression, better flowing heads to go with the hotter (but still mild) cam, carb, headers, ignition.

With the above mods, you shouldn't need to change your gears or torque converter to appreciate the full benifits of the mods. A car with the set-up I describe, 3.23 gears, 904 auto, in a B-body such as yours should easily run high 14's in the low 90's...switch to more aggressive gears, and that ET could hit mid 14's.

Not only would it be a very stout yet mild-ish 318 (really, one of THE most underbuilt engines ever), it'd be very fuel efficient too....my first 360 in the valiant had most of the above, with just a wilder cam (268 dur/.450 lift), 2.94 gears, 883 manual w/ the .73 OD 4th gear not only ran 14.2's all day at the track, but returned 24-26mpg on trips up north (it could cruise at 70mph at only ~1800 with the effective 2.14 final gearing). Almost wish I could return the car to that point again....

[Prince Valiant]

BTW, my valiant is a 1976. 4 door, gold. Bought it with a 318 (two barrel, single exhaust), 833 OD manual trans, 2.94 gearing.

It went a best of 16.9@79mph bone stock...

It's undergone many changes...now sporting a nice 360, 833 NON-OD trans, 3.90 gearing. Gone a best of 12.9@106. At this moment, with it's current cam, I'd guess maybe mid high 13's, high 90's...next spring, I'm going back to a cam similar to the cam I had when it was running high 12's...wiped that one, went to one I had laying around.

[MurphysLaw88GT]

prolly leave it stock untill the 383.i will save money for the 383/trans rebuild. the 318 has 34,000 miles on it, so it has some life left. eventually i will sell the 318/904 auto

[Prince Valiant]

prolly leave it stock untill the 383.i will save money for the 383/trans rebuild. the 318 has 34,000 miles on it, so it has some life left. eventually i will sell the 318/904 auto

That's fine...I'm the guy that normally goes against the grain a bit when it comes to these things anyways.

ALTHOUGH, one thing to consider is that if you went with just a rebuilt 360 you'd probably end up with ~ 372ci vs 388 of a rebuilt 383, so just 16 less ci's (so nearly the same torque as the small big block), ~100 lbs less weight, less complexity AND cost of the swap (360 uses all the same accessories as the current 318, even bolts to the same tranny...only 1 thing is different, the left side mount...and even your current mount can work with that).

The down side is that the 360 heads, stock for stock aren't as good as the 383's, so barring any head work, the 383 should make more power more easily.

Either way, let me know...glad to talk you through builds that are mild all the way to wild and streetable...

[MurphysLaw88GT]

im doing a 68 superbee clone because my freind wanted to turn this car into one, he is dead, so i will turn it into one. the downside, if you notice, the car is hardtop. in 68, superbee/roadrunner were only 2dr post cars. even so, i will still proceed, i really dont care, but i bet i will catch flak from people at shows.

[MurphysLaw88GT]

ALTHOUGH, one thing to consider is that if you went with just a rebuilt 360 you'd probably end up with ~ 372ci vs 388 of a rebuilt 383, so just 16 less ci's (so nearly the same torque as the small big block), ~100 lbs less weight, less complexity AND cost of the swap (360 uses all the same accessories as the current 318, even bolts to the same tranny...only 1 thing is different, the left side mount...and even your current mount can work with that).

^^^i have thought about this also, way more weight for a little more cubes. i should maybe just do a 440 and keep the 383 on the side. also, do i make it a 4 speed car sinmce i have all the nessicary swap stuff sans the "hump", or stay auto. 4 speeds are fun but autos are usually faster& way more consistent

[Prince Valiant]

4 speeds are WAY more fun...the hump can be purchased through year one iirc. You really can't go wrong either way...

[MurphysLaw88GT]

yeah, colins roadrunner is where i fell in love with the 833, and mopars in general...

[MurphysLaw88GT]

although....a 383 can be made into a stout piece

[purpl72olds]

especially with a 400 crank! see clinton (remember the blue challenger!) although it now has a 456 low deck.

[MurphysLaw88GT]

you seemed to have read my mind turkey

[Prince Valiant]

especially with a 400 crank! see clinton (remember the blue challenger!) although it now has a 456 low deck.

You mean 440? The 400 and 383 share the same crank with same stroke and journal sizes, so a 383 w/ a 400 crank yields 383 ci's...the 440 crank, although short for a large block at 3.75 inches, is significantly larger than the 383/400's 3.39 inch stroke...that's shorter than a 350 chevy Combining the 400 w/ 440 crank yields the 452, while far less popular 383/440 crank combo yields 432 w/ .030 overbore (standard bore yeilds 426ci of course)

You are correct...the 383 can be a very stout engine. With the huge bore, small stroke you have the recipe for an engine that can be built to REV...maybe not quite like a honda s2000, but certainly like an older civic si, lol. Even the stock rods, caps, crank, etc won't hesitate to spin 7000+ if the airflow capability is there (heads and cam)...but the oiling system needs improvement if you plan regular trips over 6500 rpm. The biggest thing is that the oil pick-up is inadequate for high high rpm's...but other area's can be improved as well.

The great thing about a big bore, of course, is that big valves work in there with no probs...and big valves generally mean large ports, which means high flow. Short stroke means that for a given engine rpm, the piston is traveling slower...and it's likely that you'll have a great rod/stroke ratio (which the 383/400 does with it being 1.92) meaining less sidewall thrust, and greater dwell ATDC. The 400 is everything the 383 is, only with an even bigger bore (4.34 vs 4.25) and for all intents and purpose looks exactly like a 383 (same deck height, etc).

I DO have large block headers...but I may be needing them soon enough yet

[MurphysLaw88GT]

the stock rockers are 1.5:1 correct?i like shaft mount design. i am planning to do roller lifter conversion also