Re: What to do with my D500?

Posted by Hal/WA on October 20, 2006 at 20:09:59 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: What to do with my D500? posted by John on October 20, 2006 at 09:50:26:

I guess it would depend on how much you use the truck and what kind of shape the 318 is in. If I didn't use the truck much and the engine was in good shape, I would just put up with it.

On the other hand, if my 318 was pretty worn out, I would build an early model 360 as a truck engine and use a factory 4 barrel (Thermoquad if I could find it, Quadrajet otherwise). I would use a camshaft that emphasizes low end torque and would use the best cast iron exhaust manifolds I could find. I would also check out the possibility of an exhaust obstruction. If my truck had that "lean burn" junk, I would get rid of that and use a conventional Chrysler electronic ignition. I would not use EGR if I could get away with it with the emissions inspection. Also remember that the 360 uses a different flywheel than a 318, and probably a different vibration damper.

If I could find a real truck transmission with an overdrive that would fit the engine that wasn't too expensive, I would add that, if it didn't look too difficult.

Radial tires usually get a little better mileage, and keeping the pressure right where it should be really helps. I also would check for dragging brakes.

The 318's really didn't have much power in that era. That was when the emissions laws really took hold and the manufacturers tried to handle the laws the cheapest way they could get by, which usually meant that the engines just didn't run nearly as well as they had a few years earlier. Unfortunately having less power, we usually had to push the gas pedal a lot farther down, resulting in lousy gas mileage. The later fuel injection engines had more power and lots better mileage, but of course cost much more to produce. Good luck!

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