'59 Plymouth Forum

can a golden comando 361 be built out of a 318? i have the chance to buy a good 318 ( 2 barrel)polly , the guy also has a 4 barrel manifold, carb and air cleaner. i dont know what else would be required other than a cam and new pistons. can a 318 be bored to a 361? will the 361 pistons work with the 318 contecting rods? i need to jump on this right away , so any help would be greatly appreciated. i want this to be as stock as possible so it needs to be a polly, i dont want to put anything else in this car.

thanks curt danners

on my home computer i am a guest apparentley.

zook250 , curt d

Anonymous wrote:can a golden comando 361 be built out of a 318? i have the chance to buy a good 318 ( 2 barrel)polly , the guy also has a 4 barrel manifold, carb and air cleaner. i dont know what else would be required other than a cam and new pistons. can a 318 be bored to a 361? will the 361 pistons work with the 318 contecting rods? i need to jump on this right away , so any help would be greatly appreciated. i want this to be as stock as possible so it needs to be a polly, i dont want to put anything else in this car.

thanks curt danners

Hi Curt -- pretty sure a GC is a different animal altogether, from the location of the distributor to the architecture of the heads. It's not just the bore... I'll copy Ed Eckerson on your questions, but I'm sure he'll corroborate. Hey! What's wrong with polys?! Check out the [318poly] list on Yahoo! groups...

Dan

from what i can tell the 318 poly with the super pack had a 4 barrel and a cam, that produced 260 hp( from the 59 sales brochure), this is what i have the chance of building. if i put just the 4barrel intake and carb on the 2 barrel motor, i dont think i would see much more power gains until i did a matching cam. are there cams available to go with the super pack option?

curt (zook250)

Hello Curt

UNFORTUNATELY--not a chance
They are two TOTALLY different blocks
ie: 'A' engine and 'B' engine

The 260 HP 318 can be easily built to 290 HP as in the 57/58 FURYs
The dual quad manifolds are always for sale,or just use the 59 and later AFB carb. You wont loose much!!
Cam is no sweat--most of the cams were DIFFERENT--but not by much. I can furnish one,,,as close to the 260 or 290 HP models or wilder or milder

GOOD LUCK
ED ECKERSON

thanks for the advice. i would like to build the motor to at least 260 hp. 290hp would be better, but i am wondering how the stock transmission would hold up. also would it be better to buy an aftermarket manifold or go with the stock manifold? i am leaning toward the stock manifold because i want the engine to look completely stock, but performance wise is an aftermarket manifold much better? regarding carburation will an AFB carb fit on the stock manifold with out modification?is the AFB carb much better than the stock, and could i get the same performance with the stock carb as with the AFB? and finally, i would like to install a cam that is still good for daily driving , any ideas on the cost of a cam.

thanks

As far as intake manifold and Carb
Use the 59 and later cast iron 4 bbly 260 HP manifold.
The AFB fits it--it looks stock and will run well!!
Certainly the alum 4bbl hi rise aftermarket stuff is better,,but if you want to be stock appearing....etc etc

CAMS--almost any grind on a new billet,,like I said from mild to wild,,from a 'FURY' cam copy to an improved version-------approx $175 for the cam and another $125 for a set of solid lifters.

COMPRESSION--stock compression was 9 or 9 1/4 to 1. I am still trying to nail down if there was ever anything different about the FURY pistons to make them 9 1/4!!!
ANYWAY most aftermarket pistons are approx 8 to 8 1/2 to 1.
If you want more squeeze--use the .020 shim head gasket,,,deck the block and mill the heads . You will get well over 10/1 with all of that.

I am in the middle of my 'FP31' project. Rebuilding an origional suirviving FURY 290 HP block. Most everything is available or you can use parts for the later 'LA' engines.