Here are some photos

before '72 a 318 made 250 ish hp - after the small blocks were all around 140-150

a 360 dosen't make as much power as the 318 you already have
so the 318 you already have has more bone stock but performance parts for the poly 318 are pretty much non existant

the best bang for the buck would be a 383 compleate with the trans and manifolds
you could probably scoop that cheeper than a bare 340 block

the low deck 383 / 400 fit nicely and with aluminum heads , intake and water pump it will probably weigh less than an all iron small block

440 source . com heads would probably be close enough in price compared to redoing the steel heads to make them worth while though they're not so much a performance head as an aluminum copy of the steel heads

I've been told the valves and springs that come in those heads aren't anything special either

you also have to note that many 440 headers won't actually fit a 383 / 400 eventhough they say they do as the ports are lower and the headers can or will interfear with the sides of the engine block

They are not particularly expensive. When I did my Max Wedge clone I dropped the 426 MW right into the 313 ploy brackets with the Schuhmacher mounts. Was going to buy new mounts anyway and the extra was minor. They don't quite fit V8 for V8 small block to big block and even 318 vrs 360 so the Schumacher fix all the minor variations and are good mounts themselves. I have cleaned the brackets off and stole a set from a wrecked BB car and bolted them to the engine positioned the motor the required offset, (Mopar motors are NOT in the middle.) and tacked the brackets then removed the motor and finish welded. In the early days 1970s I used to change crossmembers but now that seems foolish. Now I just get the Schuhmachers
don

Don wrote:

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They are not particularly expensive. When I did my Max Wedge clone I dropped the 426 MW right into the 313 ploy brackets with the Schuhmacher mounts. Was going to buy new mounts anyway and the extra was minor. They don't quite fit V8 for V8 small block to big block and even 318 vrs 360 so the Schumacher fix all the minor variations and are good mounts themselves. I have cleaned the brackets off and stole a set from a wrecked BB car and bolted them to the engine positioned the motor the required offset, (Mopar motors are NOT in the middle.) and tacked the brackets then removed the motor and finish welded. In the early days 1970s I used to change crossmembers but now that seems foolish. Now I just get the Schuhmachers
don

-- Edited by Don on Thursday 11th of September 2014 07:09:53 AM

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 I'm with Don on this one, use the right mounts,put it in once and be done with it. Each time it goes in or out with my luck and lack of coordination. something gets marked or damaged.

They make life easy, don't complicate it .

Just my opinion

TMJ 

Unbelievable some times you just get lucky, The person that sold me the car gave me a number of a mopar enthusiast and after talking to him he told me he has a A318 poly block magnafluxed freshly bored .060 over, new pistons, good crank and a new cam shaft at a more than reasonable price. Cid would be around 330. With the poly heads a quad intake and carb,  updated ignition it should be more than adequate for the car.

Well I must fess up. .090" (4 inch bore) is 333cubes in a Poly. I have one about 1/2 done in the shop. I have a severely reworked four barrel intake and have been slowly reworking the heads into the 500HP zone. I was asked recently to participate in a Poly build for Engine Masters by the mag I write for from time to time. Because they were doing a stroker I passed as on a engine with limited head flow the last thing you want are crazy cubes. They were going for 408 cubes. Had they been thinking 333 I would have been in like dirt. Cylinder heads when modified can support that. Since the Engine master pro rate the results in a manner that is fair to all regardless of size a good build with carefully picked parts might have a chance. In 1957 and 58 there were 260HP and 290 HP version available in the Furys. The 260 was a 4 bbl and the 290 had 2 x4bbl. All the rest of the motor regardless of what someone might tell you was the same. Even the cam part number was unchanged. 260 HP were very common in boats. Boats also had a chrome kit. My brother who was pres Antique Classic boats had a Greavette with one of those. On my old website (search Dons Dodges) there is still a pic of it on the Rideau river. There is also a pic of my 58 Dodge with a 260hp. It was the first car I put on the road. My first engine build. the first car I dragged at the drag strip. There are several shops still into this stuff. Gary Pavlovich who is a friend of mine is one the Poly gurus and probably the most well known. Gary got 405 HP on the dyno with one of his streetable builds. So now you know it. The rest of the story. I have had a 56 303 I rebuilt when I worked at Wilsons in Belleville in the late 60s. I have had a 64 Ply 2 dr post 313 I raced and drove for years. Eventually I sold it to Mike Gordon in Napanee and it is still there somewhere I have been told. However that said , if I had a 60s anything B body it would get 440. Least expensive engine to build on the planet and POWER is grotesque when done right. Like just for example a 560 Hp can still be done for about $4500. And torque on the build is mind blowing. A B body mid 60s with anything 440 is gold in your pocket everytime. So it isn't I don't like polys. I just think $ wise it is very wise to pop a 440 in the hole of that wonderful body style you scored.
don

Yes exactly. A very powerful reliable motor for a very reasonable cost. I ran 11.49 at 119.11 (now wait a second fellows, this wasn't a 3400 pound BB Camaro)) at a race weight of 4150 lbs. Unlightened 74 Charger. A fellow at pacific trans built one and put it in a 69 Dart Sport and wrote to tell me he ran 10.29 @ 127 mph. The lighter weight giving the better time. Using the hydraulic cam it is a great street engine as well. My nephew or Gary Wager drove it most of the time but on its last outing before I sold the chassis it ran 11.51 with me driving. My nephew weighed 200lbs. I weighed then 306 lbs so race weight was 4250lbs. The engine bild was used in the actural stunt car for Fast and Furious /(Had a fake blower as opposed to the one they showed, hood open in the film with the blower) Marty Algrimm of California was responsible for that one and he told me last year the engine is still running! Even had some video of it being loaded on a car carrier. I originally wrote the series of articles for Chrysler Power Magazine in the 1990s whom I have worked for off and on for many years. He actually refers to it in this months issue. Biggest drawback is it doesn't cost enough and works too well. However I ran some 23 cams in test , many intakes and pistons etc to get to the point of this kind of performance of an inexpensive engine. It is also repeatable. If you follow the instructions and don't get talked into something else it will perform exactly as that every single time. Haven't done one in awhile but should be doable easily for under $5000. On the original build I consulted with other using similar set ups. Bill Bagshaw of Pro Parts who had explored the 6 pack piston based idea about the same time. He encouraged me to push forward with the idea. Still have his hand written note. Vic Edelbrock who expressed an interest in what I was doing to his intake and asked for paper patterns so they could possible modify the mold slightly. Racer Brown Cams, Jim Dowling, who was a big help with some very very serious flat tappet cams that were probably 20 years ahead of their time and Frank Lupo of  Lupo's Dynamic Converters who is my "Secret weapon" even today. Torque is mind boggling and power for $ spent wonderful. On a good bite day we could carry the wheels up to a foot up through first gear. Usually though about 6 to 8 inches. Short times were 1.52 and were very consistant. Once at Luskville my nephew Richard Peck ran five 11.56s in succession during competition.  I eventully sold the engine to a mud bogger (Sammy Morgan )and it won Big Block Champion of the year. The first one cost me out of pocket $1890.00 carbs to oil pan but that was a long time ago. (1990) . I grin everytime I think of it. Everyone swore we had a stroker or at least a roller cam or were cheating someway. Somehow the concept of research, trial and error, science and hard work never entered their minds.  
don

-- Edited by Don on Tuesday 16th of September 2014 12:16:31 PM

-- Edited by Don on Tuesday 16th of September 2014 12:22:51 PM

Don wrote:

---

Yes exactly. A very powerful reliable motor for a very reasonable cost. I ran 11.49 at 119.11 (now wait a second fellows, this wasn't a 3400 pound BB Camaro)) at a race weight of 4150 lbs. Unlightened 74 Charger. A fellow at pacific trans built one and put it in a 69 Dart Sport and wrote to tell me he ran 10.29 @ 127 mph. The lighter weight giving the better time. Using the hydraulic cam it is a great street engine as well. My nephew or Gary Wager drove it most of the time but on its last outing before I sold the chassis it ran 11.51 with me driving. My nephew weighed 200lbs. I weighed then 306 lbs so race weight was 4250lbs. The engine bild was used in the actural stunt car for Fast and Furious /(Had a fake blower as opposed to the one they showed, hood open in the film with the blower) Marty Algrimm of California was responsible for that one and he told me last year the engine is still running! Even had some video of it being loaded on a car carrier. I originally wrote the series of articles for Chrysler Power Magazine in the 1990s whom I have worked for off and on for many years. He actually refers to it in this months issue. Biggest drawback is it doesn't cost enough and works too well. However I ran some 23 cams in test , many intakes and pistons etc to get to the point of this kind of performance of an inexpensive engine. It is also repeatable. If you follow the instructions and don't get talked into something else it will perform exactly as that every single time. Haven't done one in awhile but should be doable easily for under $5000. On the original build I consulted with other using similar set ups. Bill Bagshaw of Pro Parts who had explored the 6 pack piston based idea about the same time. He encouraged me to push forward with the idea. Still have his hand written note. Vic Edelbrock who expressed an interest in what I was doing to his intake and asked for paper patterns so they could possible modify the mold slightly. Racer Brown Cams, Jim Dowling, who was a big help with some very very serious flat tappet cams that were probably 20 years ahead of their time and Frank Lupo of  Lupo's Dynamic Converters who is my "Secret weapon" even today. Torque is mind boggling and power for $ spent wonderful. On a good bite day we could carry the wheels up to a foot up through first gear. Usually though about 6 to 8 inches. Short times were 1.52 and were very consistant. Once at Luskville my nephew Richard Peck ran five 11.56s in succession during competition.  I eventully sold the engine to a mud bogger (Sammy Morgan )and it won Big Block Champion of the year. The first one cost me out of pocket $1890.00 carbs to oil pan but that was a long time ago. (1990) . I grin everytime I think of it. Everyone swore we had a stroker or at least a roller cam or were cheating someway. Somehow the concept of research, trial and error, science and hard work never entered their minds.  
don

 

I have to find where I put that book.  If I build the motor I was going to go with a lightweight Probe piston since they are the same price as the old 6 pack pistons, weigh a couple hundred grams less, and use 1/16" rings.  I haven't seen one of those tunnel rams you built the custom top for in many years though.  Other than that, I think the build should be easy and reasonably inexpensive.

I have done a couple with KB hypers as well although not every machine shop seems to understand how to use them.

Summit currently sells the six pack internals for $749. Pistons rings frost plug lit, gaskets oil pump cam bearing and rod bearings and mains. That a timing chain set and cam will get you the complete short block. Nothing wrong with the probes or the keith blacks BUT there is nothing wrong with the sic packs either and it wont go any faster. Tisn't the piston weight holding it back. it is the weight of the car. I just priced one out for a friend Looks like $2000 will cover the complete short block parts and machine work and balance. Maybe 2200 to 2300with taxes and such. Got a written quote on the machine and balance.

don