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318 upgrading questions

J

joshuadmire

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Nov 14, 2014
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Independence MO
I just got my first ram truck. The proud owner of an 83 d150 2wd shortbed. Christine. I would like to upgrade her to make more reliable. Thinking new electronic distributor, upgrade from 2 bbl to 4bbl carb, new ignition system, things like that. Was trying to get some ideas on parts to use, what to avoid, and any other possible upgrades recommended. .... what about replacing my automatic transmission (3 spd i believe) with a more modern 5 speed automatic? How difficult would that be? Looks to me just a simple swap. I've already replaced the rear main seal. Twice due to listening to someone else's diagnosis of an oil leak that once i dug in found it was just the oil pressure sending unit. But at least the rear main is good now! Thanks ahead of time for any input and information received here.
 
First off , congrat's on your first Dodge truck . The 318 is a good motor as well . As far as the upgrades you mentioned . The distributor ? With an 83 you should already have electronic ignition in it . So I say if there nothing wrong with it then leave it alone . But you could go with a heavy duty cap & rotor , a good set of wires , Champion plugs , and a higher output coil . As for swapping from a 2 bbl. to a 4 bbl. That's a good idea . You should go with a duel plain style intake and as for the carb , don't go to big . I say nothing bigger then a 600 . Personally , I'd run a 500 eddy with an electric choke . If you really want to get into it then you might also want to consider doing a cam and double roller chain . Same thing with the cam as with the carb . Don't go to big . Something like an RV cam works great in these trucks . Now your question about what transmission . What you have now ( If it's an automatic) is a 727 ( three speed ) . The 518 swap is a pretty easy one . That's the three speed tranny with fourth being an overdrive . ...... By the way ,,, Welcome to the site !
 
Thanks for the welcome and the information. This is what i know of the truck. The engine has been swapped out from the original. Still a 318 just not sure what year or where to find that info out. I was told that the replacement engine has only 37k miles and has had a rv cam put in as well. The previous owner pulled a horse trailer with it. There is one vacuum line that exits the distributor and runs in with all the many other lines for the carb vacuum advance the air cleaner and whatnot. As for the new carb, i appreciate the info. I was going to throw on some monster demon carb or go with a tri power intake with 3 2bbls. Also i been noticing with the colder weather she wants to shake really bad when accelerating. Even when in park and slowly start pushing on the gas the engine studders really bad. Pretty much goes away if been running for about 15 or 20 minutes. What would cause that? Been thinking timing not quite right but i may be wrong.
 
The date of the motor should be cast on the drivers side of the block . There good size numbers but they might be kind of hard to see depending on what your running for a starter and exhaust . The RV cam is a very good cam for these motors depending on what your looking to do with this truck . Everything I said to do plus maybe a couple of other things is for a truck that would be driven almost anywhere , definitely giving you more power and torque , as well as a lot better fuel millage . It won't be a race truck but it should hold it's own . Put it this way . I did a similar build to a 318 78 full time four Ramcharger running a 4" lift with 33's mudders and I was getting about 17/18 MPG with enough power and torque to pull a tree down as well as no problem "at all" passing people on the highway . As far as carb selection go's . That's were a lot of people go wrong . You put to much carb on there without everything else to match it your just going to end up with a truck that's a gas guzzler that's dead off the line . You have to remember that sometimes less is more . As for the symptom's you described it's doing right now ? That could be either carb or timing . A couple of things you can check real quick is to see if your choke is working properly and also check and make sure your vacuum advance is working as well as any vacuum leaks .
 
Thank you again for the information. Such a help. I'll look into the choke and vac adv. Whats the best way to go about that? Looks like I'm going to probably go with the dual plane intake with an edelbrock 600cfm carb once i save. About the ignition.... what distributor you recommend? Thinking going all msd with a new coil as well.
 
joshuadmire said:
Thank you again for the information. Such a help. I'll look into the choke and vac adv. Whats the best way to go about that? Looks like I'm going to probably go with the dual plane intake with an edelbrock 600cfm carb once i save. About the ignition.... what distributor you recommend? Thinking going all msd with a new coil as well.
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Im going all hei with my 360. I've heard nothing but good things about the swap. Better mpg, and performance. Thats a win win in my book all day long.
 
85Rusty said:
Im going all hei with my 360. I've heard nothing but good things about the swap. Better mpg, and performance. Thats a win win in my book all day long.
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That was one of the options I was going to give him Chuckie . Glad to see someone else chiming in with some good suggestions . :thumb:
 
I'm only lacking the pigtails for mine. Got the parts, but not the plugs. Dang it.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Looks the way to go. Found a few complete conversion kits on ebay for under 125 bucks. The improved gas mileage is definitely worth it. Anything i can do to help there is great!
 
Another thing you should think about is the exhaust . Weather you plan on headers or manifolds , go with a "true" duel exhaust . It'll help all the way around , fuel economy , performance and depending on what muffler you choose , just sound a whole lot better .
 
Good to know. I was originally going to go with cat back with electric cut outs after the headers so i had optional push button open headers.
 
A true duel will flow better . Think about how your exhaust runs . With a cat back you have two heads , two headers into one pipe , into one muffler , into two tail pipes . True duel , you have two all the way back . You'll have to have both mufflers on one side of the truck because of the gas tank on the drivers side but in my opinion it will flow better and not just sound better .
 
I am running Dynomax's #17553 Ultrflo Welded X 2.5 in and 2.5 out duel exhaust. Full truck headers 3" collectors 2 pipes in, X pipe in muffler and 2 pipes out that feed threw 36" 4" dia. Stackes. Not real quiet but can will hear the radio. Looked at staking mufflers and decided to go this route I stead.
 
7mopar said:
I am running Dynomax's #17553 Ultrflo Welded X 2.5 in and 2.5 out duel exhaust. Full truck headers 3" collectors 2 pipes in, X pipe in muffler and 2 pipes out that feed threw 36" 4" dia. Stackes. Not real quiet but can will hear the radio. Looked at staking mufflers and decided to go this route I stead.
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Any body have trouble with their android adding works where you don't want them?
 
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