Got the new 318 fired up and running and something seems wrong. It has absolutely no power, sucks gas like a pig, idles kinda rough, and is hard as hell to start when cold. It's a stock piston Magnum 318 with a Summit K6900 cam. It also drags the starter at anything more than 2-3 degrees initial timing. It just feels lazy, and pretty much need to crack the secondaries to take off with traffic. It's as gutless as a 318-2 barrel. It's pulling 16-17 in/hg at 900 rpm. I'm wondering if the chain being off a tooth could be the culprit. I've tried 3 known good carbs and no matter what, it runs like crap. It currently has a box stock 625 Carter on it. I'm going to do a compression test tonight. I'm just hoping the cam isn't too big with the 1.6 rockers. I've run an XE256 in a stock LA318 with great results. The duration @.050" with the Summit cam is small enough, I thought it would be ok. Any thoughts?


1969 Nova
454/M21/3.31
Mild mid-11 second weekend cruiser

1994 F150 XLT Super Cab 2WD
5.0/4R70W/3.55
(Daily driver)