Street 318 Perfection - Why 273 Heads Are Good, And How To Make Them Great (A 1968 Barracuda Update)

[@notyou6950]

318 performance? But why? Are you getting desperate?

[@Coronetguy]

I think it has more to do with. “ I asked him to do it”!! But thanks!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

If you had ANY idea how many people have asked me about performance 318 build tips over the years, you might understand that this is a popular series. Haha.

[@notyou6950]

@ I used to have a 318 dodge pick up truck. It got 12 mpg no matter what. It was designed that way. I find it semi useful but not a base to build something special out of it. I rather go with 440 block.

[@Coronetguy]

@ totally understandable. If you’ve followed this at all you would have known I already have a 440 build in a B Body.. this is not that!! 🤝

[@notyou6950]

@ I’ve never seen this before. You’re all new to me.

[@jbaron2771]

This dude needs more subscribers! He has some serious encyclopedic knowledge of mopars.

[@Darryl-69SE]

I second that!!!!!!

[@cthlhu]

Absolutely agree. Good content, great information, funny, good editing and camera work.

[@MalikIV-808]

halfway there to 100k

[@DaveSmith-ep9ew]

Standard mopar man

[@KrisGreenhillsGarage]

WHOA WHOA WHOA! We wanna see more of the burrito. What kind? From where? Homemade? Alright, I admit it, I may be alone in this. And I may be hungry. Either way, show us more burrito!!!

[@ckramer115]

Im typically alone in the garage trying to deal with mechanical "suprises" on older cars. One of your most valuable services ( to me at least) is your ability to sort through surprises/ issues. Not so much that youve seen it all before, but youve seen enough to sort out a path forward.

[@SypherF]

CHEERS ON 50K DDG!!!!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Thank you!! 🤘

[@michaelnault5905]

I grew up in a world where everything on Pentastar wheels was motivated by the 318cid reliable as sunrise engine. The 273 was a mystery. So great video!

[@jasonnelson6624]

Really? When or maybe where I grew up 318's were viewed as a slant 6 with worse gas mileage. In other words strictly for dependable transportation. The 273 super commando was seeing as a legitimate small block. Not saying any of that was true or correct just people's perception. But with a 4 barrel and solid lifters I think helped influence why some saw the 273 as a performance engine. Well at least till the 340.

[@clembob8004]

Thanks for the explanation on the different combustion chambers on the various 318 heads. My entire 318 life has been lived with the 68 to early 70s-ish open chamber head, and they have always been pretty good, but I can see where the closed chamber would be better. But, the 340-360 was what I have usually leaned on for making large metal containers (aka, Mopars) go fast. BTW, this video was apparently done in the "more hair" era of recent videos. All good in any case!

[@jamesblair9614]

I found a big chunk of casting sand firmly attached inside the end exhaust port on my 69 340. The car had been used, hard, for years, without coming lose, it took some work with a hammer and punch to knock it off.

[@SchoolforHackers]

Could you tell the difference afterwards?

[@Coronetguy]

Great Christmas present! Thanks Jamie!! Very informative video!!

[@Coronetguy]

Also want to give a shout out to Rat Rod Al on FABO, for the good deal on the 273 heads, and taking the time to ship them from Florida!! 👏🤝

[@pickelsprojects5312]

I cant wait to do my first engine rebuild and your content has been helpful and enjoyable

[@iamnoone.]

JAMIE. I have 3 sets of 66 273 heads. All closed chambered. Took one set to shop and had them plug the intake blot holes and redrill them so i can install a modern 4 barrel intake on them. Finding a 66 4 barrel intake. Well, it would be easier to find a pink elephant 🐘🐘

[@LSSindustries]

Hey im early. I put a choke cable on the fifth ave yesterday and in my infinite wisdom, i routed it in a way that pulling the cable caused the slightly loose distributor to rotate. I was driving ro work trying to figure out why it was running like garbage, twisted the distributor and it started running good, surprise surprise

[@SchoolforHackers]

😂

[@VC.valiant]

I really enjoyed the info on the heads ,cheers

[@JustanOlGuy]

Great stuff as always, Thanks for sharing.

[@Oldjohn52]

I'm a fan of the battery jacket. Mostly they are great when youre just standing around in the cold. If you're working, you don't really need it. But when you have to wait for a ride or a dog to pee, they are pretty nice.

[@craigerickson6308]

The 273 never got the praise they kinda deserved. Every bit as good as a 289 or 283. When I had my 66 formula s I always wanted to do the hop up, d dart 273 for it, but never did.

[@lones1878]

I’ve found more rpm by adjusting hydraulic lifters near the bottom off their travel in stead of the old “1/2 turn from zero” . Turns the lifter into a short travel if you will and limits the amount of aerated oil in the lifter that causes them to bleed down. Bleed down is more common than pump up in my experience. Especially with the janky hydraulics we have today. Love the 318’s!

[@ScottDLR]

Really interesting explanation - thanks Jamie.

[@rexrobertson7353]

Built the same engine many many years ago. Back then you could still buy mild performance solid lifter cams....and that is what I did....kept the 273 rockers and put a solid lifter vam in the 318. Ran great for years and years. If fact it is what got me hooked on solid lifters and adjustable rockers. After that had a 340 with trans am heads and solid lifter , and 440 with solid lifter flat tappet. Both very strong steet engines back in the day.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Awesome! I’m a strong believer in the adjustable arms in any case, and would definitely prefer solids. But yeah, bit harder to come up with these days.

[@gk5891]

'64 Valiant Post All scrap parts 318 318 Roller Short Block 0.420 OEM 360 Cam 302 Heads (Minor Work) OEM Alum Intake (Minor Work) Carter BBD (Tuned) Runs well for what it is. Quicker than '72 Rallye 340.

[@JoeFilardi]

hi Jamie great ep good luck with the rebuild ok.

[@roycervantes1341]

Good afternoon Jamie ,,,,, DDG,,,,,,,,,,, Yeee Yeee 😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@kellyjones5619]

I’m at work I’ll be back later!

[@moparedtn]

Great little series on making a great little engine - more of a grown-up engine, I guess. WAIT, hold the phone here - *Jamie's mane has returned already??* *It's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! Praise be to BOSLEY and ROGAINE!!* I keed, I keed.... Merry Christmas everyone. Be safe and God bless. - Ed on the Ridge

[@Grandadsjunk]

Great information brother hood thanks

[@DPWheeler67]

A truly Dead Dodge, great video Jamie

[@boss9mustang404]

Jamie, sorry for being out of the loop, but whatever happened to that purple '69 Charger you had? Love your videos man

[@LSSindustries]

That wasn't his, he was driving it back for Tom at rocket restorations

[@LSSindustries]

He does have a red charger as well as one in primer

[@boss9mustang404]

Ah ok, that makes sense, I do know about the other Chargers

[@billyeichler176]

Jamie fantastic again pal

[@heavyearly2232]

Behold, the time travel MATRIX! Who's that? That's You, Jamie....from the past.........

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

“When… will then… be now?!”

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

3:22 hey this is "old"Jamie. 4:12 I don't know that core plug looks new? 15:39 exhaust valve recession "was" a thing back in the day because the fuel refineries had not come up with a suitable replacement to lubricate the valves against the seats. For a awhile it MTFE, then it was found that was hazardous to and switched to something in the same chemistry tree that was safe and works as well as lead. That time where there was no lubricant was about ten years. Every time a machine shop saw a set of pre 80's heads they would wring their hands at the money they were gonna make.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Interesting. That core plug shouldn’t be sitting like that tho. It was a new steel plug like 20 years ago, never painted, now seasoned.

[@rosscurtis896]

nice heads :)

[@tedcorey3054]

You got a "Head Shed" ?

[@markskonecki2050]

i cant tell how many 273 and 318 i threw out in the 80s and 90s because everyone said you cant do anything with those crap engines. now feel like banging my head lol especially knowing now that the 273 has closed chambered heads, Ive never took one apart and i had a bunch of them i just gave them to the scrap guy.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Yeah, that’s very unfortunate.

[@countswing284]

Burritos, heated jackets and ever changing coiffure....... I thought this was a car channel. Happy Holidays! Cheers! 😎👍🏎🏁🏁🎄🎁🎀

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Sometimes 😅

[@creativeloafer9792]

Interesting factoids I honestly never knew, like the early intake mismatch mention. Soooo are we looking at a future burrito review???? Man they’re delicious

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Burrito channel with a car building problem, or whatever it is Tony Angelo always says

[@raymond_sycamore]

What if I had a channel called "running dodge driveway?"

[@boredom.victim]

I call BS 😂

[@Anthony-nw5zv]

Back in the '80's I started off with SB 's '77 Sport Fury with a 318. And was looking for closed chamber 273's but gave up and went to B/RB's

[@JeffMiletich]

They do say two (matching) heads are better than one. A burrito is an added bonus.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

So true 🤣

[@thirdvisiongarage9148]

IDK the workings you'd have to do to make it happen, but id love to see your skills and experience throw together a build with the 400hp 318 recipe that Dulcich did a while back with hotrod mag! Looking to build a little bit milder version of my own in the future

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I’ve read that article many times. Haha. I actually want to dyno this car when it’s done if possible, so we know what we’ve got. It *won’t* be anywhere near 400. And we’re running manifolds. But I’d like to know, for science!

[@wrenched90405]

Unobtainium - 78 RC brake boosters apparently all brake boosters for 78 ramcharger are shielding wolverine’s skeleton - and mine is kaput any advice? thinking replacing with universal/aftermarket or maybe even hydro boost - any recommendations? Not an OEM fanatic nor daddy warbucks - just effective, reasonable cost :) go sniper efi!

[@roadwheels1]

The other day I heard you say that you have 600 videos. I’m wondering, if you’ve been putting out MOPAR videos for the past few years, why did your channel just show up in my feed a few months ago? Kind of a rhetorical question i guess.

[@beljames1563]

With the 79 318 smog motor in the Cordoba do you think that the easier to find 302 heads would give an advantage over stock?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

You’ll get the compression bump so that’s good. If we just slap the heads on you won’t end up with a functional quench pad though. It’s not the end of the world, and they can still get a mild open up job on the intake side. Just not nearly as much.

[@lesliesmith2586]

It’s not a race care! So we’ll block the heat crossover, it’ll be cold blooded but we’ll get some horsepower. It’s not a race car! We’ll use these nice roller rockers. It’s not a race car! But it does have an engine that’ll be a fun cruiser. Nice vid. And don’t even enjoy Mopars. I think I watch to hear him make reference to Chevrolet.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Because race car. Haha. Listen, all I can say is… I didn’t spec the rockers.

[@Vaino_Hotti]

I'm still not getting why my mopar-inclined friend was confused when I showed him the pair of SBF E6SE high-swirl heads I got for free. They were free because they're garbage, but he was so used to seeing mopar combustion chambers they apparently looked good to him?

[@TribeWilloughby]

I made an appointment w/ the Mechanic... I just said iT must be a stuck lifter make'n the poor Old 318 smoke ...A lot 😂

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Well… good luck with that 😅

[@jfv65]

IMO porting is a balance between effort and return. At some point the details only gain you a little bit of extra cfm. That's the right point to stop.

[@doublebackagain4311]

Raises Hand: Was a hydraulic roller cam discussed? You know, cause 'lifter failure'

[@Wayfarer001]

Were watching the wizard,the wonderful wizard of Dodge...lol

[@andrewklahold2880]

318, Polly head engines were 90 degree and not 60 like the la 318, Polly head 318 was widely used in trucks and industrial. And what ever happened to the 340

[@SchoolforHackers]

I need to look inside one and see why they’re called poly.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

WRONG. Both the LA and the Poly are 90 degree V8s. It’s really easy to tell by looking. They share the same exact architecture! Now, the LA may *look* narrower because of the head design, and the valve cover sealing surface (which is narrowed and angled upward on the LA, again to make the engine narrower.) I actually cut my discussion of the Poly and comparison to the LA out of this video because I thought it was running a bit long. Yes, the Poly was used in trucks and in industrial applications - and also in many, many regular every day cars. What about the 340? Do you mean mine, or in general? Lol.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

@SchoolforHackers they are colloquially referred to as “poly” due to the “polyspherical” shape of the combustion chamber, a name that makes sense next to the “hemispherical” chamber Chrysler was using previously (and then simultaneously.) Another useful description is “canted valve,” which may sound familiar if you know your big block Chevys.

[@seanbragg1696]

You got any 3.9 318 content

[@stevetaylor9265]

The difference in compression would not cause that. We used to build real mutts for dirt racing.

[@gk5891]

Yep, it fires every 90 degrees with high and low comp cylinders firing every 180 degrees. Would likely make more power than two matched low comp heads.

[@Foxcanfixit]

273 heads are good due to small chamber, small valve but good-ish or good adjacent flow. So great low end but run out of breath near the top without improvement

[@Foxcanfixit]

It’s the same reason I like 283 heads on a 327 or 305 HO heads on a 350

[@That_AMC_Guy]

Quench Pad? Wasn't he Launch Pad's brother on Ducktails?

[@01ls1z28dabx]

😂

[@The_Painter31]

The last video of Caveman Jamie...so sad I think we got used to you this way.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

😭 don’t worry, he’ll be back.

[@boredom.victim]

REAL burritos are wrapped in foil with grease dripping out down to your elbow! ❤

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Oh hell yeah! These are poser burritos from the coffee stand. But it beats a day old corndog and a slap in the face.

[@nickbruni8041]

👌🏼⛽️

[@davegettemy9679]

Having rebuilt both a 273 and a 318 I have seen extremely good running 273 on the other hand the 318 is a great motor in my opinion the 318 is not a performance motor I have built a lot of them in all different configurations and struggled to get 300 horse on the dyno. On the other hand the 273 was easy to get 325 to 330 horse. I would choose a 340/360 instead.If I was building a 318 performance motor I would not waste my time. As a stock rebuild in say a pickup that’s a perfect motor. It’s like the 305/307 Chevy great motors but not a good choice for a performance engine.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Guessing you aren’t familiar with the 400 HP 318 build features in Hotrod then? I’m building a 273 too 😁 I am not building this to any number, the cam is mild, the converter is stock, and we’re running manifolds - but I KNOW it’s going to wake this thing up.

[@jamesadams4304]

Why is there a # "1" stamped on the bottom of one head and a # "2" on the other? Requiring minds like two know

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I noticed that! And I have absolutely no idea.

[@graydude4698]

👽 .... ..

[@jasonnelson6624]

Wait I thought iron was needed? Or just not for breakfast but ok for lunch or dinner? 😂😂

[@classicdude-mike8174]

SCIENCE !

[@01ls1z28dabx]

My eyes! Why did you have to show that green monstrosity? 😂

[@d1mennis]

Wouldn't have been cheaper and more expedient to use a modern motor from a boneyard?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Sure, kinda, and if you want cheaper and more expedient, be my guest! Personally, I want the mechanical fuel pump to work. I want the engine to be original and look rightish. I want an LA.

[@d1mennis]

@DeadDodgeGarage I guess you're just a traditionalist!

[@Spawndukes]

To bad that this street car is not going to warm up that fast. Cold blooded engines are a pain in the ass.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I’m really excited to test that theory actually. My Demon has a blocked crossover and no choke - because race car. It requires feathering the throttle for 1-2 minutes depending on ambient temperature, and then it’s good to go. Zero notable hesitation as soon as the temperature needle has bumped off of dead cold. I gave the owner the choice, and he said block it because he doesn’t mind that. So yeah. We’ll see.

[@PecanRanch]

The intake valve is too small. You would be better off using 360 LA 188 heads, and milling for increased compression

[@wolframokeefe6044]

Horrrrorrr....lol kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJevnKhti72rjcUsi=XLPzdDmepWm656cN

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Haaaaaahahaha. Too good.