I just bought an 87 4x4 dodge pickup with a 318, auto tranny, and a 2 barrel carb. It is a nice riding truck but has no pickup. The carb was rebuilt by a nonprofessional mechanic (me) and there was no change. It just had a valve job and has good compression on all cylinders. It smells like it is running rich, I tried adjusting the fuel mixture using a tach, still no change in the performance. I was thinking of changing to an edelbrock 600 CFM carb and intake. Any thoughts on this approach? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

What carb do you have? holly or rodchester? the rodchester is a kick-ass unit, i have voung the holly to be a POS, rebuilt one for my friend's Trailduster 318 twice, cleaned it entirely, still ran like shit. sent the carb out ($150), got it back and it ran good, but leaked if you want a 4bbl, go with a small one, with a stock cam anything over 500 CFM is overkill. The manual choke performer series is a good deal, less than $200 here. the 500 or 600 would probably be fine.

i ran the holley 2bbl on my old dodge, and I actually liked it. I pulled it, and put on an edelbrock intake and 650 carb, with maybe a 2hp difference (electric fan did ALOT more). I would recommend a different carb.. maybe a quadrajet. it is a good carb, but isnt the biiggest power maker... but for my money I would get a q-jet.. they will mnake the power you want, and not stall out on ya.

Garrett

Horsepower is expensive. How fast can you afford to go?

Just changing the carb isn't going to make a world of difference. I have a '77 with a 318 and went from the Carter BBD 2bbl to a Qjet. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32565 Don't think the Edelbrock Performer will make you happy offroad, but if it's a pavement pounder that carb in a smaller size will be a good choice. I've been messing around with Desktop Dyno quite a bit lately looking for the most torque and horsepower per $ with special consideration for low end. Headers will help some, but the real key seems to be the heads - in combination with a carb and headers. Those small ports in all the stock 318 heads seem to be the real performance killer, and the primary reason that engine got such a bad rap for being a dog. At stock compression with a stock cam (240/248 and .405/.410 on 110 LCA) according to DD you'll get 7 lb/ft and15 hp from going to a 4 bbl; putting it at 189 hp and 299 lb/ft, adding headers with the 4bbl. move it up to 213 hp and 338 lb/ft, and all this together with a good set of heads will get it to 311 hp and 351 lb/ft. Cam swaps won't make appreciably more net power, just change the rpm range in which it's delivered - and since I'm particularly interested in not hurting low end, there's no benefit to changing the cam. Unless you make the displacement larger. Taking the 318 with heads, headers, and a 4bbl, then adding the 4" stroker crank (with pistons for 10.5:1) and the milder version of the old Mopar 340 cam (260/268 and .430/.450 on 110 LCA) gets it to 397 hp and 432 lb/ft with excellent low end torque.

At the moment, my plan is to add the headers fairly soon and keep looking for a good deal on some heads, since there are several options. Ideally, a set of Edelbrock heads or the Commando heads from Mopar Performance will turn up cheap at the swap meet next weekend. I wouldn't pass on a set of Magnum heads either, but will need AMC (or Magnum-type roller) lifters to oil the top end. 360 heads will get you big valves and large ports, but the huge open combustion chambers will cut compression to the mid-6's :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: unless you have a lot of material cut off the face and intake manifold or go with the stroker crank. I'd be thrilled to find a set of W-series heads at a good price, but won't take odds on the chances of that.
Now you can check out the prices of all this stuff and compare it to building a big block (if you can find one where you are) or just dropping in a new crate 360 from Mopar Performance. It all depends on what's available for how much cash you want to dump into it.

Thanks for the well researched reply. I'm not looking to put much money into this thing, or do many changes. I don't use the truck for offroad just mainly use it for picking up things at Home Depot, hauling stuff to the dump, etc. I'm just trying to get more pickup when I pull out into traffic (forget passing someone on the road it can't get out of it's own way). When I accelerate it doesn't seem to matter how far down I push the gas pedal, it just does not pick up speed very quickly. I'm not looking for a hot rod, just a vehicle I can drive in everyday traffic. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Lloyd
I previously read the post you referenced about the carb but I must admit that your knowledge of fuel systems and engines is a couple of levels (ok, more that a couple) above mine. The reason I thought about the edelbrock was because I have an 89 Wrangler with a 350 that I put their 600 CFM carb and intake on and it ran great right out the box. It even went through emissions testing the first try with no adjustments. I probably shouldn't admit this, but it took three tries with the Dodge to pass and that was only after he ran the truck on the dyno at 25 mph in 1st gear to get the results low enough.
If I go with the edelbrock intake they have on with or without the EGR , would one be better than the other? The EGR is currently hooked up.
Thanks for your response.

George

Sounds like a 4 bbl. (any) with manifold and a set of headers and exhaust will do the best for what you want to do/spend. Edelbrock performer or Carter AFB (same thing) will do fine on pavement; or Holley, whatever you can find cheap to fit the intake manifold (spreadbore manifolds are less common). A set of Hedman headers won't cost much over $100, but I think they're crappy construction and will probably go with Doug Thorleys. 39 hp and 46 lb/ft gain according to DD - roughly 20% better for several hundred $.

If you currently have an EGR, and emissions testing, you'll need the EGR to be functional in order to pass (in most areas they do a visual and functional inspection of all systems). Edelbrock manifold and performer would be a good choice for what you want to do; has the advantage of being all-new, bolt-on and go system.

I'm not surprised that you had trouble passing emisssions with the stock Dodge setup; they used Carter BBDs almost exclusively on 318's and they sucked even in simple pre-emissions configuration. Everything done to try to make them cleaner actually made them suck worse. IMO those late-model BBD's were surpassed in foulness only by the Motorcraft Variable-Venturi.

The only visual inspection they do here in GA is for the CATs. My 89 Jeep didn't have the EGR but I did have to put CATs on even though the emissions were low enough without them. I just didn't know what effect disconnecting the EGRs would have on the way it ran. And anything to improve MPGs would be a plus, right now I get around 10-11 on the highway empty.

exhaust and making sure the ignition is working properly should be your first concerns. if you have a free flowing exhaust and the ignition is working up to snuff, then look for a edelbrock performer intake and q-jet carb. should give you a few extra ponies and have decent mileage still.:D

I have a 318 that I installed in my 74, I used the edelbrock 4 barrell 600 cfm carb, and used the midrise manifold underneath. I also have a low torque cam, and other sh#@, but the carb situation should still be the same. It works great now, but I had a few problems with it when I originally installed it. Any sort of off camber, or large bumps, would flood out the engine. I had to install the off road spring and needle set that edelbrock sells, this involves resetting the float but is not hard. I also had to go to smaller primary jets, and now (for a carb) it works great. Just spend the 2000 bones and switch over to EFI. (I wish)

-E:smokin:

2k fuel injection? Depends on what you want.. but for $700 you can have a holley TBI... the only 318 i have is in my 96 ram.. and i think even it is a dog.. but the new intake helped alot. my old ram with the 360 saw the most power increase with the electric fan swap out of a ford tarus (paid $10 at pick and pull... plus $5 for wiring, and $12 for a bosch relay.. had the $3 switch). As for the intake, i find spread bore factory 4bb's all the time. I would try out a used good workin Q-jet from a wreckin yard if you can find one for cheap.. sometimes you can.. i got mine for $5. Also, is your compression good, i know my 360 was doggin me because of all the carbon in the motor (plan on pullin it and cleaning it up, then re-assemble it, even tho it only has about 25,000 miles on it (installed in 93). Maybe that needle and seat helps.. but I know i hated it in my old dodge, with the edelbrock intake.. but the guy i bought it off of claims it kept his ramcharger running even when it was on it's side.. so who knows. What i know tho is that i really liked my old holley 2bbl.. and it is on my power wagon where the TBI used to be (smog reasons)... now just to drive it and see if there is a difference.

Garrett