A question..Dodge 318 v8?

Ok I have no plans on changing anything on the jeep till next spring and am just speculating here.... I have a Dodge 318 v8 engine with a light racin cam and a Holley 4bbl in my Diplomat.
Now the question is... save it to eventually stuff in the jeep or get some $$$ out of it for more $$ for the jeep???
I understand horsepower and torque are 2 different animals but this beast of an engine was toasting 06 mustangs off the line at highway speed.

Should I consider mothballing the 318 for future use, or just give it a happy home with someone else?

This jeep, just this weekend has changed my whole outlook on vehicles...before I'd stomp it if some dip**** in a riceburnin car got anywhere close to passin me. Now... Hell I havn't been over 55 mph! and I realy don't care if there passin me!
So my qustion is.. hang onto the 318 for the future, or not.

 

In my experience, if you build an engine and sell you'll always lose money. How bad you lose depends R) If you're into it a lot, I'd say keep it for another project. If you're not into it much, sell it and put the $ into the jeep. You might be better off using a different motor for the jeep anyway...there are a lot of other engines that would be cheaper/easier to do. Maybe a late GM V6 (like a 4.3). They have a great power to weight ratio, and it's a common enough swap it shouldn't be that expensive. It's too bad you're not closer to Montana...I could hook you up with a sweet deal on a Buick 300 V8 :twisted:

 

If you have some notion of swapping an engine into you Jeep, a Dodge V8 probably isn't your best option. You can put a V8 into an ECJ5, and many have been swapped in, but V6s are much more popular today. Chevy and Buick V6s are compact, powerful, widely available and inexpensive, and fit in the engine compartment much more easily than a V8.

The Mopar small blocks are of comparable size and power to a SBC, and lots of those have been swapped in to Jeeps. However, your stock transmission (the T-90) isn't up to the task IMO. If you really wanted to use the 318, you'd be better off to pair it with a Dodge T-18 or NP435 and adapt the transfer case to the stronger transmission.

You can read some about this topic here: http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/knowledge_gateway.htm
Be sure to read the section under engines about Dodge V8s. Lots of good info there.

 

I say go for it- I run a 380 Hp McCandles built 360 in my Scrambler, and I love it. One of my friends also ran a 318 in an ECJ5 he boght from me, and loved the torque.

 

Well I bought the car at 100k and the cylinder walls had no wear, so my dad bought the cam and paid for the head rebuild, the carb was baught by me new but ain't right to get the most out of the cam.
The engine is a fire breathing beast and also has alot of sentimental value since it was the last time my pop was able to work on a car with me before he died from cancer but that was close to 10 years ago.
Anyway... would the transfer case and both differentials take the stress?
If I'd just be lookin at stuffin the engine in and finding a manual trans to fit then I might just try it.

 

It will require more than just findng a manual tranny to fit, you will need to adapt the tranny to your t-case, and fab motor mount, modify the grill, get a bugger radiator, etc.

 

Howdy folks I am new here but I read the post with intrest

I swapped out the old flathead motor in my M38 (cj3a) several years ago, and in the way life goes I have not had the jeep out of storage for 3 years

Heck I did not even clock 50 mi on the 4.3L/turbo 350 swap before I tucked her away

I too have a sentimental attachment to a piece of iron as my grandpa raised me on stories of his 46 cj2a bought right after the war

I managed to tuck away the jeep while life ebbed and flowed, now I am about 2 weeks away from bringing her back out again...

Yep I thought of selling her often, always need the money, but it means so much more to know that I did not sell it..and that my Grandpa is remembered in that ol jeep

I still miss the sound of the flathead motor in my sleep, and I regret the swap, just from an old school perspective

However the 4.3L will stay till I get some good years of use out of it

I say that with the 318...almost anything can be done to a jeep with the bucks to back it up..

but my vote has to go towards keeping the 318..it sure is not costing you anything..and it means too much to sell IMHO

might make a nice coffee table someday

something to remember the fun days with your dad

just my .02

Morgan

 

Heck, I would keep it whether I was putting it in the Jeep or not unless I was just in dire need for the $$. But then again, I never sell anything.

 

I'd put it in the Jeep. Then come back and tell all if you like or not. Just keep everything you take off the Jeep in case you wanna change again one day.

 

If (err when) the engine in Blue Flu goes to lunch I'm dropping a Mopar V8 in it.
A bit different than a 5 but heck I'd swap it into a 5 if I had one to use now.

 

Gonna give up on the Rambler six Jer?R)

 

R) It messes with folks head bad when I tell them I'm taking the engine out of my bug to put in the 5. R)