Carbs and electronic ignition have worked very well for many years. Trouble shooting a problem on the side of the road is pretty simple with a carb. With the right parts, a 318 can be a fun reliable cruiser with enough power to get you a ticket or two. 360s have more power and torque but get a bit less fuel milage, probably 1-2 mpg less, driven the same way.

Any efi will get slightly better consistant fuel milage then the same sized carbed version, but if something happens along the road, are you capable of troubleshooting it? A single tow in will remove any fuel milage advantage over a carb for most of the useful life of the car. The reality is many efi cars have logged many trouble free miles, so a need of road side trouble shooting may not never be a factor.

I have no experence with a 5.7, but they seem to have a lot of posibilities for problems built into them. That and the still limited parts availability would be enough to keep me away for a couple more years.

For my the choice would be either the 318 or the 360. Carbed or efi is a good question. We put 10,000 mile a year on a 35 Dodge sedan with a 318 with a small cam and an afb carb with a 904 and a 8 1/4 (323 gears) for 7 years in a row. That car was a flat trouble free, fun car to drive. The next ride was a 360 2 bbl carb, 727, 9 1/4 with 3:23 gears. The 360 was wore out, but had as much power as the camed 318, got a couple less mpg. We also put 10,000 miles a year on that one for 4 years. My current ride is a 360 thermoquad with a 727 and a 9 1/4 with 3:55 gears (its a 4x4 truck) The truck is down getting a fresh engine right now. The new 360 carbed engine is ready to in, but just a couple days ago a 318 efi Dakota arrived at my place, I'm giving serious thought to moving all the efi stuff onto the 360, just for the drivabilty improvement. This truck will be driven through the winter (think snow and -20 degrees.)

My advice would be determined by your ability to work on your own car. If you have the ability to work on a computer controled car (know how they function), do the efi, if not, stick with the carb. If 1-2 mph difference won't be an issue, go with the 360 for the "free" extra power. Gene