Hi all. I wanted to ask about 318 power upgrades, because this year i really want to focus on my engine. That being said, I would like some more low end power. My truck has always felt sluggish on the lower end. Everything on the engine is good, plenum is fine, pretty much all new electrical other than spark plugs and the distributor base. The only aftermarket exhuast i have is a flowmaster series 40 muffler. I would really like to upgrade the exhaust at some point, but i dont want the truck to sound annoying and obnoxious. Ive also always considered doing a cam. Id like to keep it mild because i daily the truck. Im just not sure what exactly I should get. Ive been looking at hughes and comp. I also have a SCT tuner, but havent had the chanceto use the higher octane tunes.

Sorry if this question has been asked a million times, its just good to get new thoughts on the topic and such.
thanks

 

No replacement for displacement - consider swapping out the 318 for a 360 for more power. They bolt into the same spot and use the same transmission, so the swap is very straight-forward.

 

I have thought about it, but my 318 is still low mileage. 120k. I also dont have a garage or extensive time to swap the engine

 

A muffler is about sound, not performance. (for the most part) Some shorty headers, a good Y pipe, a free-flowing cat, and a 3" exhaust would get you some more torque. Might consider doing the timing chain and gears as well, that one was THE biggest performance on my 96, but, it had north of 180K on it at the time.

 

Sounds good. And yeah I agree about the muffler. Was just something nice to kinda release the rumble of the magnum. That being said about the cat, do you know if that will mess with emissions? That’s the one thing that also worries me. I’m in Illinois so they’re strict on emissions testing. Not a big deal tho since I just got it done.

then for headers, I’ve heard pacesetter is good. And then for y pipe and cat, what brand did you use? I’ve only had experience with flowmaster.

 

Pacesetters are long tubes, shortys are actually better for low end torque. (depending on whose dyno charts you look at....) But, if you go with long-tubes, you then need to matching y-pipe. Hoping you have enough room to install it under there. You can just hack out a section of the y-pipe, after they come together, for a single-in, single-out (3" please) cat, and emissions should be happy. Most of the time, they just want you to HAVE a cat, and pass the sniffer test. If you do, it's all good. Other folks (california.....) are much more ****, and don't want you changing ANYTHING on the stock exhaust.... So, what you can get away with, depends a lot on where you are. Where I live, there are no inspections, no testing, no nothing. So long as it isn't overly loud, no one cares.

 

Why weren't the plugs changed? That's part of a normal tune up, even today. At 120K, your timing chain has some life left in it. My truck got one at 168K, although the chain looked more like 150K and my speedometer reads high anyway. It's much smoother running and responsive than before the tune up but I changed so much and did so many things, it's hard to say what did what. On my truck, what I anticipated to be a two week job was more like 4 months. Partially because it was REALLY hot and I'm retired and would only work in the afternoon while the truck was in shade. I also replaced things that weren't causing problems but still needed replacing. The fan clutch had a wobble and the harmonic balancer was coming apart.

 

Posted this before, from another forum about 9 years ago: https://www.dodgetalk.com/threads/le...-truck.464674/
Basic low mile small (5.9) Magnum 1500 4x4, decent shape. Owner added a list of bolt-on mods, dyno tested each step of the way.
Very nice upgrade in HP and TQ without any serious disassembly.