Performance cam for 318 Poly??

[Jay Gibbs]

It's been a way longer process than I had initially hoped for, complicated by working on the car outside in the driveway when my schedule- and the weather permits!...(it would have been much easier having the car inside the garage but I just don't currently have the room.) I'm finally at the point of replacing the cam and lifters sometime this week which will finally mark the start of the of the reassembly process. Hopefully this will be quicker than what it took take everything apart. The biggest part of this has become the careful cleaning, prepping and repainting everything that should be painted...cleaning away 53 years worth of grease, grime and gunk is a dirty and tedious job! I think I've gone through 5 cans of engine degreaser, 10 cans of brakeleen, a few cans of WD-40, and about 5 cans each of engine and manifold primer and paint. Trying to get as professional a result as a non-professional can get. Stay tuned...I'll report on the results when they are in. Looking forward to that first stressful start attempt after it's all done!

J.G.

 

[t57f100]

It's been a way longer process than I had initially hoped for, complicated by working on the car outside in the driveway when my schedule- and the weather permits!...(it would have been much easier having the car inside the garage but I just don't currently have the room.) I'm finally at the point of replacing the cam and lifters sometime this week which will finally mark the start of the of the reassembly process. Hopefully this will be quicker than what it took take everything apart. The biggest part of this has become the careful cleaning, prepping and repainting everything that should be painted...cleaning away 53 years worth of grease, grime and gunk is a dirty and tedious job! I think I've gone through 5 cans of engine degreaser, 10 cans of brakeleen, a few cans of WD-40, and about 5 cans each of engine and manifold primer and paint. Trying to get as professional a result as a non-professional can get. Stay tuned...I'll report on the results when they are in. Looking forward to that first stressful start attempt after it's all done!

J.G.

i get it i really do good luck have patience.so you feel ok to go with that block with the bad casting around the lifter bore

 

[Jay Gibbs]

It really has been overwhelming...I'm just trying to focus on limited jobs each day I work on it. Yeah, I'm fine with the block...the engine has always run fine as it was and I've now seen dozens of pictures of Chrysler engines with exactly the same type of malformed lifter valleys- some look much more poorly cast than mine. Also have now spoken to quite a few Mopar guys who are very familiar with the situation and said not to worry about it. I've now also checked inside the oil pan and thankfully have found absolutely no metal fragments...

 

[Jay Gibbs]

Well it's official- car is done, up and running...well almost!...

Everything went back together and it started and ran well...for a couple minutes. Then I noticed the coolant welling up at the edges of the intake. Did a retorque to make sure everything was to spec, but still leaking. Fortunately it is not getting in the oil. Shut it down and regrouped. After working for 3 months I decided I'd had my fill of working in the driveway...and the weather is getting cold and raw. Solution was to ship it off to my local classic car resto/performance shop and have them finish it up. Another plus will be I'm accelerating my differential swap and having them do it for me while it's in the shop. Out is coming the 2.93 open center section to be replaced by a sure-grip 3.55. With all my work with the new cam and 4 barrel carb, this should really wake up the performance of my 53 year old sled!

J.G.

 

[t57f100]

wow it looks awesome glad the start up went well for you you are getting on the other side now

 

[D100BeerWagon]

Looking for someone who has experience with 318 poly cams...I purchased a "performance" cam to drop in my 318 poly to complement my 4 bbl upgrade. The company I purchased it from (very familiar with the poly engine) says it is ground for a good overall performance and power increase while not losing too much power down low or vacuum- (what I wanted it to do) I was ready to install until I posted the specs on this forum and was told it is NOT going to do what I want and may in fact be less of a cam than the factory installed one.

I know nothing about cam grind numbers and am hoping someone with more experience than me can tell me if I bought/was sold the right cam or not! Attached is the specs sheet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J.G.

View attachment 195178

That cam specification looks pretty good, have you gotten it installed and running yet? Who was the supplier? I haven't been able to find many performance cam options for the Poly 318.

 

[Jay Gibbs]

I've put a good 600 miles on the car now since all the work was completed. It's tough to know where the greatest improvement in performance came from as all the mods were done at the same time...4bbl carb, performance cam and a 3.55 suregrip rear to replace the factory open diff. Overall it is a pretty starting difference though. The car is a lot quicker, and it pulls hard to 80 and beyond. Only downside is a higher engine rpm at highway speeds. Here's a link for the cam supplier...I spoke to them on the phone and they were very helpful. I described what kind of performance I was looking for and they custom ground the cam to spec.

318 Chrysler Poly | Camcraft Cams

 

[D100BeerWagon]

I've put a good 600 miles on the car now since all the work was completed. It's tough to know where the greatest improvement in performance came from as all the mods were done at the same time...4bbl carb, performance cam and a 3.55 suregrip rear to replace the factory open diff. Overall it is a pretty starting difference though. The car is a lot quicker, and it pulls hard to 80 and beyond. Only downside is a higher engine rpm at highway speeds. Here's a link for the cam supplier...I spoke to them on the phone and they were very helpful. I described what kind of performance I was looking for and they custom ground the cam to spec.

318 Chrysler Poly | Camcraft Cams

Thank you so much! Super helpful!