He already spoke to the junk yard that sold him the wrong engine. They said they'll find a 360 PCM and trade him straight up for the 318 PCM.

I mentioned the SCT tune from Hemifever already, but that's out of the question.

The old girl has given us 8 years of dependable transportation to and from the shop and the job site. At 230,000 miles, the interior is starting to rot and the clear coat is gone thanks to the South Florida heat, and the "new" salvage rear end he put in less than 6 months ago is starting to make noises already. The new engine ended up costing around $1500, and he's done putting money into it now. She's just beat, and gonna be heading out to the pasture soon. He's looking pretty seriously at a 2010 1500 Hemi QC.

Anyways back on topic, the 318's biggest drawbacks are the relatively small bore (4.00" and larger is the magic "sweet spot" for a V8), and the small crank journals. The 360 makes a lot more torque than the 318 does, and the 360 can be taken a lot further than the 318 can.

The 318 has always been known as Mopar's budget performer, after it's sole purpose of getting groceries. Kinda like Ford's 289 and Chevy's 305. You can make them fast, but they were never really intended to do so.

Not saying anything bad about the 318 though. In the Ram it's a little underpowered IMO, but there's been several in my family and no one has any complaints. I love driving my buddy's Jeep just because it has the 318 in it. Sooo much quicker than my I6, it just scoots right along.

 

thanks for all the replies guys, very good info here.