I'm looking for all the help I can get, I've raced on the dirt for about 9 years. Due to going to college we sold the race car, however I ended up staying local and going to my community college. This will be my second year out the car and being away from my passion is painful. I'm attempting to start piecing together a 318 based sprint car engine which will eventually power a USAC West Coast 360/VRA 360 sprint car. You may be familiar, but these small block V8s are very expensive to build due to the high number of extremely specialized parts required. For now I'm just going to try to get the ball rolling on an engine, while the cost may be too high to jump right into sprint cars; at earlier stages in the process I may be able to get it into a VRA Hobby Stock then maybe an IMCA modified. I need all the help I can get; I'm looking for mentors, supporters, sponsors, fans, and anyone else who is willing to help. I need all hands on deck. Here in minor league racing in local So-Cal, Mopars on the dirt tracks are almost non-existent. I'd like to change that. It might be easier and cheaper to build a small block chevy, but unless someone gives it to me I'm not gonna spend any money on something that isn't a Mopar. It's been my dream to have a Mopar sprint car for about 7 years now, and I'm on the search to make it happen. I have a 74 Duster, everything that has been done to it I have done myself and I strive to be as self sufficient as possible, daring to do things that are tedious and difficult; but I'd rather spend the money I have on the tools to do something than to spend the money on labor. As a result of this mentality I continue to learn more and more about cars, I love it. I'm willing to do all the work myself I just need someone to help me by either teaching me, or supplying me with the resources to do it myself (for example, the machining to the crank and rods).

Here's what I have:

-I've got a forged 273 crank that needs to be turned, I'd like to have all the old school hands on work done to it; radiused journals, nitrided, lightened, etc. It needs to be inspected and worked someone who knows what they're doing.

-I've got a set of bushed 318 rods that need to be worked over; I'd like to get them shot peened, inspected, lightened, machined also by someone who knows what they're doing.

The Goal:

Okay, so this thing is going to be a beast. Unlike almost any high rpm race engine built today, I'm going to be using almost an entire OEM short block that's been reinforced and done up old school to maximize strength. I wanna pull out all those old tricks for when there were no specialty parts available. I have the rods, and the crank. I'm gonna use an 318 block. I'm not sure what heads would be best, but they will need to flow 300+ cfm. This engine is going to make max power between 7000-9000 rpm in sprint car trim. Maybe less if it's to go in a hobby stock or a modified first. It will need to be built for maximum longevity due to the very tight budget I have. Roller lifters, rockers, and maybe even a roller bearings for the cam. We're talking 13:1 compression at the least, so it's gonna need to be o-ringed. All the hardware will be ARP. I'd like to maintain shaft mount rockers of the LA variant because I strongly believe that they're just better than the oil through the pushrod stud mount type. It will be a dry sump also. The class limit for displacement is 360 cubic inches, which will be hard to get out of a standard 318 possibly, at a later time a stroker crank could be installed possibly but for the time being about 326-332 c.i. should suffice.

Idea for what's going to go into it:

-Early 70s 318 block (maybe a truck block for the thicker casting) or a late 80s block for roller lifters
-Bore Sleeves
-ARP Rod bolts
-ARP Main studs w/windage tray
-King Bearings
-Main Stud Girdle
-Forged Pistons
-Bushed Piston Pins
-O-rings for heads/block
-Double Roller timing chain or gear drive preferably
-SFI Harmonic Balancer?
-ARP Misc. Hardware
-3 or 4 Stage Dry Sump oil pump
-Cam mount or belt drive for Oil Pump
-Kevko Oil Pan
-Oil Tank
-Magneto or electronic ignition with a small alternator (No battery)
-Roller lifters
-Roller Rockers
-Titanium/Chromoly Retainers
-Hardened locks
-Dual Valve Springs
-Oval Track Cam
-Heavy duty rocker shafts
-Heavy duty rocker hold downs
-High pressure Fuel pump
-Carburetor for now (hilborn injection eventually)
-Brodix/Edelbrock/Procomp Aluminum CNC-Ported heads (eventually)

and probably more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Thanks for reading

Please make comments, suggestions, etc. If you wanna help, let me know. Thanks!

Some thoughts:

To get the quickest acceleration out of the corners you need the lightest reciprocating assembly that is legal for your class, and that for sure isn't a stock 318 rod, which weighs IIRC 720 grams. A good weight to shoot for would be 600 grams. You also need the lightest pistons and pins, which aren't close to stockers or the old SpeedPro/TRW forgings. If class allows it, there are chevy rod/piston combinations that would work better and cost less.

Your mention of doing it the old fashioned way sounds like wishful thinking. There aren't any "old-timer's speed secrets" that have been forgotten due to the passage of time. The reason things are done the modern way is, the new ways are better. For example, back in the day everyone cross-drilled their cranks. Now no one does it for a couple of different reasons, and the new way is better. A lot of interesting things used to be done to pistons, but they were dropped because there was an easier and better wa.

There's a lot of material to remove from a 273 crank, although it is exactly the same as the late Poly/early LA 318. It's also the same forging as a 340 crank.

300cfm heads? Your proposed engine would have a very narrow power band.

I also don't believe that a stock 318 block will handle that amount of power for any length of time, but others may disagree. For 7000 - 9000 rpm hydraulic rollers are out, and what does the sanctioning body allow?

For ignition the sooner you can get away from a distributor and use a crank trigger the better.

Others may disagree about everything I've said here. I'm up to learning from others' experience.

This reply was an attempt to tether you so you don't go floating up into the great wide open. I've built a lot of engines in my head and many of them would have not worked and/or exploded if actually built and run to max power.

R.

Thanks for the thoughts, I appreciate it and it's definitely something I will take into consideration. I'm not looking to make 700hp the first day out, I can upgrade my components as time goes by. I just want to get back on the track and start racing again. The track is a fifth mile, so like you said as far as having less mass in the rotating assembly; I might have to just keep rpms up or get on the gas sooner than everyone else. The higher mass might actually help the car hook up. Who knows, this isn't a plan that is set in stone; it's fluid. I'm planning on learning a lot from the entire experience. But spending a bunch of money on aftermarket parts just isn't in my budget unless it's absolutely necessary.

Whats your roll cage and chassis set up... whats your
minimum weight... your fighting a hard road if you
plan on OEM junk... off set grind the crank to chevy
rods so you can get the weight down.. turn the counter
weights down and balance it in closer to the center line..
everything you want or need to do COST.. some thing have
to be sent out.. what are you willing/capable of doing..
do you have a welder that you can use( can you weld)

Get a magnum 318 , everything is lighter , ( stock pistons and rods) and the stock block takes roller lifters. All around better engine in stock low buck form.

I'll be able to do assembly myself and I'm going to see about someone local wanting to be a part of my plan and doing some machining, etc or showing me how. I can't weld yet but will be able to soon. Cars weight will be about 1400lbs with driver. And that's what I was thinking. Magnum is a great start not to mention high performance valvetrain parts are much more affordable. I was planning on running magnum style pistons with the narrower small end. Everyone else runs Chevy style stud mount rockers anyways so that would probably be better from that aspect. On the other side, shaft mount is much more stable and if you snap a pushrod you won't lose oil pressure. But it's all up in the air at this point, whatever I can get and make work is what I'll do. Once I get on the track I can get sponsors and start buying better equipment.

To be more specific in my target for hp and rpm, I'd like to reach around 7500 rpms and about 550-600hp.

one thing to consider is what type of track ? tacky or dry slick ? if tacky then you want cubic inch with some stroke, if dry slick then short stroke to help make forward bite easier, a small bore from a 318 is going to limit the cylinder head, for a hobby stock class then a 318 may be built to run with 355s ci but for a faster class a 340 or 360 would be a better choice along with a w 2 head or a ported X head, i ran a 340 in a late model shaw car with flat solid tappet 2 barrel methanol stock rod X head 12.1 comp. it would run equal to any chevy 355-360 in its class but as you know chassi set up means more than horse power so good to have both, i was building a 340 w2 arias piston 13.1 with mechert hollow dome lite rods to run in a outlaw imca class but didnt get a car to put it in, also clearances were loose and a moroso wet sump pan was what i used with a direct drive powerglide 7500rpm max. i used a narrow rear main bearing in the block, i got most of my engine info from a guy who ran kit cars in the 70s and did well.

Cheatham, thanks for your post and I'd really like to learn more from you. It's very rare to find a dirt track Mopar guy. The track will be tacky and slick, it depends on the night and time of day. Usually the track is maintained well. I'm considering a 360 now but I don't know if the cast crank would hold up. Otherwise I can just start with the 318 and later when I get more money I can buy a stroker crank or a forged 360 crank and have it ground down for 318/340 mains.

i had a friend at the same time as me back in the 90s that ran a 360, his motor was given to him by Jim Baldwin, so who is jim baldwin ? well his son rick baldwin ( google name ) tried his hand in a cup car a couple of times, i think it was darlington or talledega that rick was qualifying and spun and car turned driver side into wall and his head hit the wall and he was in a vegitave/ coma state for many years, he was a local guy who ran mopars here at the asphalt 1/4 mile oval, his dad jim built the engines, any way jim built a 360 for my friend to use in his late model car, my friend name was jimmy mikluncak and so he took either a chevy or ford 6 valve alcohal mechanical fuel pump and welded a mopar arm and made it work lol. i dont know what was done to his motor but it was simple and it ran good, nothing special about it, i do know the 360 blocks have a huge oiling hole at thr rear main and have been told to use the narrow bearing in its place and install a restrictor and drill it the size of the other mains, and tube the block. dirt tracks dont put engines in a bind like asphalt tracks so its more forgiving, so you should be ok with a stock 360 crank. i think if you try spinning these small block mopars 8000+ rpms then oiling and valve train reliabilty are going to be an issue. my dad wanted me to go with carrllo rods and dry sump to start off with but i had no money to go that route, build with what you have then keep the rpms that will let it live and keep it oiled, have a consistent motor and work on the chassi, gear it for the dry or tacky and have the right tires for the heats and features. as you know its a stradegy game not a wild drive it sideways foot to the floor like ppl think it is. if my eyes werent so bad id still be doing it.

Don't want to crush your dream, but there is nothing budget about a sprint car.
Your motor plan will not even power a good street stock these days.
Our ascs Mopar will cost about 55k to duplicate, only thing mopar is the R3 block and that has many hrs on the mill to lighten and put oil passages in right place. Everything is custom built, even the fasteners.
My advice is join a team that runs up front, learn everything you can about the fueling and shocks, that's what makes a sprint car fast.
Stay in school and get a job that pays big bucks because if your wanting to use a mopar for 360 sprints your going to need $money$ and lots of it.
Good luck

go to www.moparchat.com then scroll down to & click on circle track chat

5.9 magnum block is the strongest production block, I wouldn't use anything less since they can be had for next to nothing. Lots of guys running the stock cast crank real hard, if you skimp out and use a stock crank then spend some money on light pistons, rods, pins...

Aren't the earlier LA blocks the strongest? I thought the Magnum blocks have a lighter casting.

Dave has been studying really hard.

R.

The 4.00 inch bore will be a better choice

He has?

very tight budget

Your tight budget is already over $10,000.

Haha probably,

USED PARTS WANTED!