Here is the replacement 318 block I'm sending to Dan. Granted, not as exciting to look at as a blown Hemi, but it keeps me in the Mopar hobby, at least. She was cast back in the good old days of 1970, when an extra pound or so of cast iron on a block was looked at as providing additional strength and a margin for design error, rather than a weight penalty. The head bolt holes are blind, rather than going through into the water jacket, like the later 318 blocks do. Blind holes generally equal more strength, which is why the old blocks don't suffer the cracking problem around these holes.
Gone to the dark side with an LS3 powered '57 Chevy 210
She was cast back in the good old days of 1970, when an extra pound or so of cast iron on a block was looked at as providing additional strength and a margin for design error, rather than a weight penalty. The head bolt holes are blind, rather than going through into the water jacket, like the later 318 blocks do. Blind holes generally equal more strength, which is why the old blocks don't suffer the cracking problem around these holes.
