Hey, I have a 1988 318 thottlebody injection out of a 88 ram. I want to someday swap it into my dakota. The problem is that throttlebody injections only made about 190 hp which isn't really worth my time putting money into. I was wondering if a carburetor set-up made more power then the throttlebody and maybe if it does I could just go carb. If not, I guess ill just look for a newer magnum mpi 318, but I would like to see peoples opinions on this idea and what they suggest. Thanks!

 

My opinion, I wouldnt mess with the 318 at all. Get ya a 360.[sm=gears.gif]

 

Yeah... I would absolutely love a 360 but even if I do find one and I would still be undecided to go carb if it was a pre magnum engine.

 

Even if you do find a magnum 360 they make a cabred intake for it. Matter of fact i have one that im not gonna end up using. Thought it was gonna be too expensive to keep my r/t motor FI so I jumped the gun and bought the intake. Mopar dual plane aluminum. What I didnt think about was the fact that I work for a Dodge dealership and certain things are easier to come accross. Now im stuck with this intake! So if you do find a mag360 and dont want to mess with FI you can do it.

 

OK thanks! just one more question... how different are the horsepower levels in multi port injection compared to carb'ed? Obviously mpi is going to have more I was just wondering how much more?

 

magnum 360 in my dak was rated at 245/335, carb'd 360 in my ram was rated at 180/250 iirc. Of course, if you're putting a used motor in you'll want to rebuild it most likely, so you can get basically whatever power levels you want out of it.

Why go carb'd? It's easier to swap in, and easier to tune. It's also cheaper. Period.

Why go fuel injected? More precise fuel metering, better fuel economy, better cold-starting, better off-camber running (no starvation or flooding due to the carb), and better driveability in general.


Here's the thing, the LA motors have really low compression, down to about 8.1:1, whereas the magnums are up in the 9:1 range. Magnums also have much better cylinder heads and 1.6:1 rockers.

When I replace the motor in my Ram I'm probably going to go with a magnum 360 and build it, but I don't know yet if I'll leave it fuel injected.