I buy every 318 I can get. Usually very cheap. 318 /390 builds mostly but I have stroked them to 408. Great blocks. You just need to know what you are doing and put the right parts on it.
I was guilty of passing over many 318 motors back in the 80s into the present. Really have considered building a 318 based stroker, iron heads of course. I have been stockpiling buildable V8 cores (many brands but wish I had more indoor storage space.
@@craighansen7594 Jamie and I certainly had that discussion, but with all the parts already purchased and the fact that I have the big block hot rod already made me stay the course.
A buddy of mine had a 68 notch with a 318. He bought it. Drove it a few times and then it just sat in his driveway for years while he drove his Satellite. We would get it running for a while and then something would Chrysler on us. This was back in the 80s. He didn’t pay squat for it and sold it for less. That car was otherwise very clean as well. I wonder where it is now.
"There is a good chance you are going to find bad news so be prepared for it" no truer words can be spoken! Love your videos - Thanks for all the hard work it takes to put these together
you have my undivided attention on this one Jamie. You know I am a little biased towards the Notches, lol. But love FB's too. My 68 had a 318 and it was also red engine color. It actually ran EXTREMELY well when we installed a mild crane cam, 4 barrel intake from an 80's police car, dual point distributor and headers. You would be very surprised at how well a little 318 can run, of course when you stroke them to a 390. Keep up the great work my friend.
Nice! We talked briefly about stroking this one after finding the damage, but ultimately concluded that he has already put a lot toward building at the 318 size and we should just stay there. I’m well aware of the 318’s potential, and I hope to convince some more people of that with this series. Thank you!
Whether a car is fast or not I always liked the old school look of gauges hose clamped to the steering column 👍🏻👍🏻 It’s awesome that he has all that paperwork with the car. The original owner probably told stories of when he owned it until the day he passed. What a nice car!
So many times I’ve done exactly this. Just a quick little freshen up and it turns into instant regret. Usually it’s a financial thing. The cost of this job you’re doing just quadrupled. As usual though, another great video!
My dad was a mechanic/auto machinist for 60+ years and I’ve only heard them referred to as freeze plugs. Kind of a moot point until you need them to blow out when the temp gets cold. I spent way more money than I should have on go fast magazines and one thing I’ve learned is you need brass freeze plugs. They’re where all the h p’s are at. I’m not a Mopar guy, I drive GM, but I enjoy your content. All about the presentation. 👍
Yeah, that’s not actually what they’re for though, and they often don’t even do that. If your block freezes, and the plugs *do* pop out… you’d better go looking for cracks. It’s all about the brass because it doesn’t rust to pieces. Haha. Thanks!
I feel your pain. I’ve been a tech for 23 years and currently am a foreman at a VW dealer. I currently have a ‘23 Taos head gasket replacement. Found out during the job the block had a stripped head bolt hole from the factory. Now it’s getting an engine. I have a ‘23 Jetta with a factory deformed clutch pressure plate that destroyed the transmission in another bay, and a ‘24 Atlas with under 6000 miles that decided to tear its engine apart in a third bay. I also have the top end of a Tiguan engine on my work bench that needs a cylinder head. Those heads are currently on a huge backorder so, there it sits. So glad I chose this career.
I’m sorry… but Volkswagen tech sounds like the deepest level of hell I could imagine. And I *almost* applied for a job at the Ford dealership. (Shudder)
@@DeadDodgeGarageNo need for apologies, you’re 100% correct. The cars aren’t bad to work on, but VW is making warranty an even bigger PIA than it normally is. I was a GM/Saturn tech for about ten years. Saturn was awesome, the rest of GM, not so much. I’d rather work on VW than GM.
My brother and I bought a 68 fastback Barracuda that came with a 383, 4 speed. We yanked out the 383 and put in a Vic Hubbard warmed up 440 in it, through the fender well headers. Changed the rear gears to 4:56. Car only weighed 3350 lbs, it was pretty quick.
Holy crap! The rare notchback! Awesome cars. The small roadrunner! The tail marker lights were designed by Carl Cameron, the designer of the '66-'67 Charger. True fact!
Traditionally I’ve been an E body ‘Cuda guy, but I have to say I really like that 68 notch. Very clean ride. Looking forward to seeing more of this one.
Started with the 318 block, checked for cracks, dipped, baked, blasted, squared the deck, bored .030, align honed with ARP main studs, balanced, Icon forged pistons/ring kit IC846.030KTD, Lunati Voodoo hydraulic cam kit 20200713LK, Scat cast steel 4 inch stroke crank, Eagle rods, Sealed Power Main bearings (set at .0025 oil clearance), sealed power N bearings (set at .002 clearance), Melling oil HV pump, Milodon windage tray, hi-flow water pump, Edelbrock double timing chain set, Trick flows 190 heads with 1.6 Harland Sharp rockers. The quench is .043. Edelbrock Air Gap intake gasket matched and a 780 Pro System carb with a 1 inch 4 hole spacer. Dyno: 535hp / 535TQ 🏁🏁
Great job Jamie. I learn more from your videos that most others on youtube and appreciate what you do. Really looking forward to seeing the completion of this one.
I have a '68 Barracuda Notch-Back 👍 Sublime green, 318/392 LA stroker - 495 crank HP 😃 I've owned it 9 years.... Did I mention the Alterkation suspension and gear vendors overdrive?!!!
It's still a really nice car . A friends brother had one in the mid '70's (yea , I'm old) . It was maroon , 318 ,auto , had the hood inserts and I really liked that car . At least when you finish with that one , he'll have a dependable car that will be right .
That is exactly what I'm currently restoring my 68 barracuda nochback it had all that trim as well however it won't be going back on. My 68 has a 318 727 trans and 3/4 Sure grip I'm not sure if any is factory to the car or swapped out from other owners, I never tried to read the plate codes. The car also has factory buckets with the console, and it was the same green interior green and vinyl the top was green too.
Great Video on this nice car. Hope you provide a updated video when you get the motor back from the machine shop and put it all back together for the owner! Love your video's. Best on RU-vid!
A LOT of deep diving in this one. I’ll probably never have a v8 (my dart will likely stay slanted), but I’m still riveted. Can’t wait for more. Fascinating. You’re a true font of moparticularities 😊👍👍
I've had 3 cams reground by Oregon Cams and a set of lifters reground, along with two sets of new lifters from them. Those guys are great. Haven't run any of them yet but everything checks out excellent.
@@DeadDodgeGarage How long did it take you to get your cam? I sent them two at once then another one after, it was a month turnaround each time. The last one had a chipped lobe from being banged and they did a great job at fixing it.
"Poop In A Group Cuda Coupe?" 😂 I like it. One thing I noticed: I've had oil pressure gauge issues in my 318 as well, and have used the aftermarket type I saw early in this vid. It's a pain in the ass to adjust the timing with that style, reaching the dizzy hold down bolt with that giant sender. I found a factory type replacement hose, just haven't put it on yet. Anyway, I'm surprised but not surprised that that engine didn't give up the ghost earlier, given what you found. One thing for sure is it wouldn't have run much longer. The mismatched heads are wild though. Never seen that before. Looking forward to upcoming vids on this one. Well done.
Haha. Nice. I didn't get a clip of this, but the large factory gauge-specific oil sending unit is mounted in a 45 degree adapter to kick it away from the distributor. Thanks!
I pulled a 318 out of a 73 d100 that ran alright but had a handful of cast iron chunks in the pan. It's amazing how these engines can run in such bad condition
Awesome car! Beautiful, I love everything about it! Even love the color, I've got a thing now for green mopar's, probably because most of the one's I had were green! 😊👍
Name for your band- "The Regulars", name of first album - "Poop in a Group" Interesting & informative video done well (as your usual). When I see your 79 300 in the background it's like looking at my old 79 Cordova. That was such a great, comfortable cruiser.
Excellent video Jamie! Tons of detail to sink into, well presented and entertaining. I would not want to be the owner of that car, but it looks like it it will be repaired properly, and my guess is that the 1/4 mile time will plummet once the issues are addressed and engine is reassembled and broken in. One of the great things about this video is that it largely applicable to any make and model, not just MOPAR. My GF has a '72 F100 with a 360 FE. Pulled it out of a field and got it running, quite well actually. Warmed up and at idle, it has only a few pounds of oil pressure, so a rebuild is forthcoming. This type of video is greatly helpful as I prep for my first rebuild. Doing a mild build on this is the way to go for sure. Keeps costs down, and I'm a big believer that if you want 12 second 1/4 mile times, the new stuff is just better anyhow as the engine, drivetrain, brakes and suspension are properly engineered. How are things with that beautiful '79 300??
Oh he’s alright, none of this was overly surprising and it will be fixed correctly now. Looking forward to seeing what the little 318 will do with some mild modifications. No movement on the 300 since getting the brakes done. Fuel system and tires are next!
Nice looking car, I've always preferred the fastbacks, to me it has to be a fastback to be a barracuda. Have you ever noticed the older the car the more variables seem to show up? Well when you get the engine back and put together I bet she is going to run sweet! Great job catching everything.
DAMN! This would have been the perfect October video because I have a 318 in my Fury for my winter project. I saw "HOT 318 BUILD" and I went WOO-HOO! now I'm just
I apologize profusely… I almost didn’t name it that did that reason. I did give cam specs and the basic formula - but it will be a while until we have results.
No apologies necessary, I thought it was sort of funny, in a typical working on old cars sort of way. The "simple" fun project opens a can of worms and you can't go back. Seriously looking forward to the rest of the videos, I'm sure I'm going to learn a whole lot more now thanks to what you do. Keep doing it!
pandora's box aside, it is for the best. if these things had not been found it would have evolved into an out of service event; yes this was unplanned but had not the little things nudged you into your path of action it would have been much, much worse. it has been enjoyed 56 years by so few, and it is lucky you are the one doing this, the right guy for the job. great channel, dodge whisperer.
Yep, exactly. And Mark totally got that too (obviously, as he responded here. Haha.) So much better to just find all of that and handle it correctly now. It’s going to be great when I’m done. Thanks!
Hey Al again love the show I had same issue with main caps on small block Chevy with blower on it !!! You can fix the loose cap issue !! Good machine shop can and keep the orignal caps. You stick the main caps one by one of course in press heat it up with torch. And pump press down in center of cap of course measure !!! And press past about 2 to 4 thousands past wht you need and leave it on press let it cool down with psi on it till it's cool and then release the press pressure and put cap back on block and torque down and so on you know the rest after it works
Well done, Jamie! It would have been easy for you to ignore the issues and gone ahead with the cam and intake swap. Instead, you demonstrated your integrity and conscientiousness. Again, well done.
This is exactly how all my projects go. A simple 2 day thing turns into weeks. At this point I would rethink my strategy. Keep up the good work. Love your videos. And they are freeze plugs. I don't care what anyone says.
The ramps on that cam appear to be pretty fast. 212/218 @ .050 is perfect for a daily driver engine of that size. I like it that the owner of this car is replacing the factory gauges with reproductions. He’s building the car tastefully. The performance modifications are nicely done because no car should be hobbled with a two barrel. I can’t imagine how awful the stock cam specs are!
Concerning that loose main cap, I have seen the sides of the block register peened to tighten a loose cap. It will have to be align honed afterwards. That might be cheaper and easier than getting another cap.
Brilliant! I figured welding and filing or otherwise machining the register might do the trick, but that makes good sense. I know one way or another it will have to be align honed. Thanks!
Been using Oregon cams for over 20 years. Can’t go wrong with them but I will say they take a little longer now as they are becoming more popular. I also recommend them all the time.
That’s what I call them right now. Lol. Except that when I call them that on video, I get called out - because that’s not actually what they are. So it’s not that they’re wrong… I just don’t want to hear it again.
Having grown up in the Great Lakes area of North America where they cast, machined, and built more engines than anywhere else in the world, they were called expansion plugs, or core plugs. Because they "plugged' the holes left by the sand 'cores' during the casting process. When a new classmate from 'down south' told us he was going to help his dad replace freeze plugs, most of us had no idea what he was talking about! But with the loss of manufacturing jobs and knowledge over the last 50 years, freeze plugs win out!
Your mystery box comment, will probably be the most quoted line from this video. Because your not just showus how to wrench, you're also demonstrating how to cope with surprises...with humor
Man that escalated quickly!! Funny story about the trust, a buddy of mine had a 383 in a Duster, you could visibly watch the crank move while reving the engine. It surprisingly had very low oil pressure too 😂
Hey I rebuilt a 68 318 cast iron water pump from a dart last year. It had the same pistons as that 318 and they set about .055 in the hole alot better than the rest of the la 318s.
I'm excited for this build! My FM3 pink Duster has the numbers matching 318 in it. I was planning on swapping a 340 intoo it which may still happen but a hot 318 sounds like a good mind game as well
BTW if you leave a can of Mountain Dew in your cup holder at 70 below zero it explodes and freezes to the headliner. Bonus, it all cleans up with the snow brush if you don’t warm up the car.
Very timely video for me as usual…I’ve got the untouched 318 out of my 70 fury and was considering doing a build on it but wasn’t sure doing that on a 318 would be worthwhile.
My guess would be that the car was not bought from stock at a dealer. Factory ordered and had to wait a couple of months to get it. By ordering the SS trim package, the dealer might have searched for a bit, then finally broke down and placed an order. The factory rushed it together in July and got it out to the dealer by October. It must have felt like an eternity for the buyer to wait 4 months for a car he probably scraped life savings together for. Couldn't afford a big block and took the 318 in an H car to help cut costs, but still get a V8.
Geez , that sucks for your buddy but it will have a nice fresh engine soon and be better then ever! No wonder it sounded so constipated on start up! lol
My first (legal) car was a 68 Barracuda coupe with a 318. It was fairly quick. I was 16 at the time so what did I know about quick? But that being said, I had a lot of fun with mine until the sure grip rear got away from me and it hit a tall curb sideways and promptly flipped onto its side. I latter traded it to a friend for a 67 Mustang with a 289 Hi-Po. As my friend was driving the Cuda away I noticed that the body had shifted ever so slightly to the right and was crab walking down the street so I think I made a good trade? Still wish I had either one of those cars now. Anyway, looking forward to see the continuation of this build. Thanks...🤓
My machine shop didn't put those galley plugs in my 2 360 marine engines. Cam plate on one engine for whatever reason did not cover those holes. It immediately spun every bearing. Other motor only had 10 lbs. Oil pressure. Amazing you had decent pressure. Learned a hard and expensive lesson. Like you say,check everything.😮 2 different heads was another. Compression from side to side was not quite equal. That is not good. Block is definitely a little wonky,cam bearings told that story. Car is awesome.
Hey Al again the thrust issue !!!! You basicaly said it !! It's like it had stick trans behind it !!! Sometimes the torque converter balloons outwards and push the crank hard enough to destroy the thrust bearing !!!! Was wondering what other side of thrust bearing looked like to just to see if. The bearing issue was more from main caps walking or if it is from auto trans. Problem anyways great show as always keep it up !!!! And hey if you find yourself in newyork in long island stop by my shop !!!! I got a hemi dart not real !!! I'm building with best friend among a bunh of other cool cars you can check out unfortunately I had to sell my 70 duster with 440 but another Mopar will be replacing it soon
