Being a newbie i purchased what i was told was a 360 magnum engine pulled from a low mileage 95 dodge ram.. So tonight i began the tear down process with an idea of what i was going to do and my dreams were crushed when i found out it was actually a 318. The cylinder walls feel fine and inside everything looks really good. My question is how can i get around 400-450 hp out of this motor. It is my first build and i was thinking of going turbo to make up for lost power. What kind of build would everyone recommend? thanks!!!

Don't worry, a 5.2 can make 400 hp. You need more cubic inches to do it easily. That means a 4" stroker crank which will get you to about 392 cubic inches. The 5.2 and 5.9 heads are almost exactly the same. They may be good enough as is but better port flow is always helpful, lets you use less cam.

This is short because there will be 20 recipes on this thread by tomorrow afternoon.

R.

FYI when buying an engine,you can find the cubic inch cast into the side of the block above pan rail on driver side, date is on pass side.

should be stamped just under the head/block parting line on the driver side also

x2 on the bat to head

400 hp 318 is pretty easy and don't have to be expensive.

square deck and mill about .035 off the block, re-assemble with new rings and bearings, use a .028 head gasket to get a nice tight quench. Get the roller cam reground to specs like this
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/produ...mp;partid=11433
Put on a eddy airgap intake and some good quality headers and you will have very close to 400 hp and gobs of tq. With this combo you will need to check closely for piston to valve clearance and possibly get notches in you pistons. A slightly more $ option is KB167 pistons, but then you don't have to mill the block.