Robert,

Yeah, having to work for a living instead of playing with cars is a real bummer. LOL!!

They were Fel-Pro 1243 gaskets which block off the heat cross over. Plenty of heat here in AZ. I guess you'd call them composite as they aren't metal.

I've spent the past 30 minutes or so looking at cam specs. The reason is that the Summit specs seem stange to me. The intake opens at 5 ATDC (@.050) and closes at 29 ABDC. That seems late compared to other cams. Would that cause some of the problem?

Since we have it opened up, and I have to order new gaskets anyway, maybe I should order a new cam. What's a nice cam for an otherwise stock 318? It has a Performer (not RPM) intake and Edelbrock 600 carb. I was looking at the MP 340 replacement cam or the Comp 250 Xtreme Energy cam. The specs are real close but the MP has a little more duration. Don't want anything crazy, it's my daughter's car.

Thanks again for all the help. I think we're getting somewhere.
:-)

Ken

Thanks Robert.

I decided to go with the smallest Comp Xtreme cam. It's specs are:

250/260
206/212 @ .050
.432/.444 @ .050
110 lobe separation

I ordered it and the gaskets I need from Summit, so I'll have everything next week to put it back together next weekend.

Say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, and all that.

Thanks again,
Ken