I just purchased a 97 ram 1500 and the lack of power from the 318 is bothering me,. i also have a 2005 ram quad cab with a hemi so im a little spoiled on the power issue. Is putting a set of headers on the 318 a good place to start or is there a better way to start squeezing a little power out of a 318

 

i just put headers on my 318 and i cant tell a difference in them and stock manifolds.

 

I noticed a difference with my headers, but i think you should start somewhere else, like a k&n intake kit, a programmer (either superchips or hypertech), or a fastman 50mm throttlebody. How much are you wanting to do? because it really take a combination of things to make a significant difference.

 

Always remember if you are going to improve the intake, you have to improve the exhaust. If you improve the exhaust, you have to improve the intake. A K&N CAI will allow the 318 to breathe to its fullest potential, but if you add the fastman 50 mm Throttle body, then look into the headers, and further back in your exhaust.

Got rid of my 318 for a 360 cause I couldn't get enough extra out of the 318. I tow a 7800 pound fifth wheel.

 

depends how much you want and how much you want to spend. if you want 50+ HP get a supercharger. you want alittle less i would say cam and some roller rockers. less still, headers, exhaust, programmer..... or you could do the route im going and bore and stroke the engine but thats alot of work. also another way you can "Cheat" on HP is buy ungrading the gears to say maybe 4.10

 

i started with exhaust, then chipped, and CAI. makes a small difference.


next for me is the 50mmFMTB and new shortie Headers. after that it should be enough for this year.

 

thanks for all the great info guys, Ill post what i finally decide on when i do it

 

$45 single exhaust 36" glass pack//$134 CAI// $85 throttle body spacer 1"(rec 7/8" for better torque )( CAI + TB spcr requires fabing using origonal dodge air intake base) also a basic msd i go 100+ weeklyi run 1st to 45 mph and 2nd goes up to 80 and 3rd 120+i have blown the tranny (2nd gear)but i think that was my fault! any ways its peppy i know a hemi can be faster but there is a small group of people that push their vehicles in my area faster than i push my old dodge. oh i also have not chipped it i burned out a jacobs to

 

I highly recommend against a TB spacer. Waste of money IMHO. You are far better off to just get a Fastman TB as mentioned earlier.

As far as CAIs go... there has been many discussions here about them. Do a search on the forums here for more info. Some prefer a round air intake kit as opposed to the CAI.

Definitely get a better free flowing exhaust system.

 

Porting the cylinder heads yourself
using the now-discontinued Mopar Performance templates
is the greatest bang for the buck
and these better breathing cylinder heads
are the foundation of any further engine build up.

Look for the templates on eBay

The RT Magnum cylinder heads' larger ports will provide about a 20 hp improvement
"out of the box"

To get a second opinion on the value of better cylinder head flow
check out Steve Dulcich's article in this month's Hot Rod Magazine