Okay - seems like my 318 currently residing in my 1988 2WD Ram Charger is about to give up the ghost. It's got a sound on acceleration that sounds suspiciously like a rod knock, there is a lifter that does not want to pump up, and the oil pressure is erratic. Oh yeah, and it bogs like a beyotch as well.

SOOOOO, long story short. Found an '88 318 on Craigslist that the the guy says was running great when he stripped the truck. It is complete and has all accessories and wiring harnesses with it. Basically, he said he tried to sell the truck as a running driving truck but nobody wanted it. Since he knew the engine was good, he kept it. He only wants $299 for it.

OOORRR, I have a "free" 360 I can get that is something like a '77 or so. Not sure about it's internal status but it's free. If I go this route, what should I do, swap my intake and Throttle Body onto the 360? Should I leave the current heads on the 360 or put on the ones from the 318?

I am really confused, I like the idea of having the extra power from a bigger engine but also want to consider budgetary and time constraints.

I need to decide before my current engine leaves me stranded...

Stick with a 318 or swap to 360 single choice
	Drop in the 360 with a carb and forget about all of the TBI stuff
	Swap in the 360 using the TBI from the 318
	Drop in the other '88 318
Votes accepted starting: 04/15/10 11:55 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

Anybody willing to put in their

If you want to have fun I suggest you get the 360 fast and pull the pan. Check the bearings and decide if you want to risk it.

If it's a no go then go get the 318. That being said. Both engines are questionable IMHO. If you can't drive it or see it run you have no idea if it is any good.

The 360 isn't going anywhere - it's in a customer's car at my shop. He said I could have it, he's going with a crate motor. So I guess I should pop it out of there tonight and take a look see at what's going on inside of it. You're right it can't hurt to look at it.

I have a perfectly good 318 with less than 500 miles on it sitting in my shop floor and a new 360 sitting between the fenderwells waiting to be plumbed and fired up! My Chally is my toy and I wanted more than the 318 could reasonably be expected to give. Budget wise I should still be running the 318 that would have probably outlasted me. Just my

If both motors need freshening up... I say go with the 360.

Not too sure how the stock electronics will like the 360. Not too much out there in the way of upgrades for the old Mopar TBI setup. Not too great a system either, imo.

For simplicities sake the 318 would be a better choice, however, the 360 would be more fun.

If you have to smog it, I see you are in the DFW area, a carb is out.

Yes, I do have to smog it but I would think that I can get it to pass emissions with a decent running carb'd 360. Of course, I d have to to keep the catalytic converter on it...

I'd get the 318, and send the cam in your current 318 out to bullet to get reground using their HR259/316 lobes for intake and exhaust, and put that into the new motor, reusing the lifters, pushrods, etc.

droping in the other 318 is plug and play with less tuneing for smog check IMHO

yea yea yea 360 more fun and less MPGS also

less work,less "mod o frying",less $ with plug and play

Update - Well - strange thing happened last night, all of a sudden she started to run better and is making no funny noises...So, I went ahead and put in the new fuel pump and sock I had bought last week, figuring what the heck, it'll need it anyways. This morning, fire it up and it has never run better since I got it LOL!!! I guess maybe I put the fear of God in it or something yesterday.

At any rate, I think I may either pick up the other '88 318 or see if I can maybe find an '88 360 to hold in the wings. Meanwhile, since the 360 is free, I think I will pull it from the car it's sitting in and take a look inside of it. Maybe I will take my time and build stroker for some future project

Thanks for all of your help and advice

I would run the 360 and try to get a harness for a 88 360 truck to it looks right for smog, if you're handy with split loom and friction tape you can disguise the reworked 318 harness.

As long as it looks right you should be ok, I used to pass smog in a 86 D100 with a 360 running a MP 280/.474 cam, hedman longtubes and a edelbrock performer rpm, I had cats(dual exhaust), stock air pump and a 318-4 spec Qjet on it.

Not trying to highjack, but I am planning a similar swap in a 90 Ramcharger. Going from the 318 to an older model 360 and was told in a prior post that I wouldn't be able to run the 318's TBI on it because of the computer. Highly recommended going to carb so my question is what do need to expect to have to do to convert it over as far as wiring harnesses, distributer, in tank pump, etc... Like I said, sorry for jumping in, but this seems to go along with the prior question. Thanks!!!

gots to run a fuelpump reg for the carb

hack into the wire harness to get the alt to charge (wire in an VR with plug IIRC)

another hack in the wireharness for the tank fuel pump to work

change the throttle cable over to carb style

add a elect dist with a vac advance can

just to mention a few things to over come

or swap the entire wire harness to an a non pcm/TBI wire harness

I did that on my 88 440 truck

swaped the wire harness back to an 85 harness to drop the tbi crap all together

So to simplify things it would be easier if I just got a harness out of an 85? Then I could just hook it all up and regulate the fuel pump. Did 85's use the electronic ECU type distributor?

you would need to find a way to power the in tank pump with the 85 harness

you could just add a bumper pump to the line and on the frame though

yes 85 has the ecu and elect dist

you would need the steering colum and guage cluster along with the 85 harness

to simplify...dont know if thats the ez-est way or the cheapest way or the best way...its just what I have done on a couple

it is not that hard to hack the wire harness to keep all the stock harness..I am just not up on all of it and it was ez for me..faster too

Sounds like I'll be doing some splicing! Dumb question, I assume VR is voltage regulator, but what do you mean by IIRC?? (wire in an VR with plug IIRC)

IIRC = if I remember correctly

VR = volatage regulator

you will need to clip a VR plug from another wireharness to splice into yours