Small Block Refresh And Rebuild Part Two - Small Overhaul

There is really no benefit to degreeing a small, stock, hydraulic camshaft, so we simply aligned the marks and installed the cam straight up. Always double-check that the timing marks on the sprockets are correctly aligned by using a straight edge.

After cleaning our rods, we installed our new, 0.030 over, Speed-Pro pistons. These pistons are economical, but the skirts are still coated with friction-reducing coating. Our pistons also came with rings and pins, making them a great deal for our budget build.

Having a good ring compressor makes installing pistons much easier. Inexpensive ring compressors can be found at most automotive parts stores.

Before installing the timing cover, the oil slinger needs to be installed. There has always been controversy as to the benefit of this part, but we like to install it as we feel it better oils the timing chain and gears and helps prevent leaks at the front main seal.

With the timing components, oil slinger, and fuel-pump eccentric installed, we can now install our timing cover.

Engine overhaul is a good time to change components like the fuel and water pump. Since we would be purchasing a water pump anyway, we spent a few extra dollars and upgraded to a Milodon high-flow water pump. By purchasing a Summit brand fuel pump, we got a high-volume pump at about the cost of a stock replacement unit.

Always replace the oil pump during engine overhaul. For our 318, we used a Melling high-volume pump with a new oil pickup. Don't forget to properly torque the oil-pump bolts. Most engine bolts, even the oil-pan bolts, have a specific torque value.

Our factory balancer was shot, so instead of purchasing a factory replacement we got this SFI-approved Summit brand balancer for about the same cost.

Our factory heads needed more work than was economically feasible for this build, so we looked for a good pair of used heads. Luckily, our friend Tod at Inline Performance had a pair of used 302 casting swirl port heads that just needed to be cleaned up and bolted on. Note the closed chamber design of these heads that will help power output significantly.

With our swirl port heads cleaned up, we bolted them on and torqued the bolts to 85 lb-ft. Head-bolt torque is critical on the Mopar small-block since only four head bolts surround each cylinder.

Since two-barrels aren't any fun, we decided to upgrade to an Edelbrock aluminum, dual-lane, air-gap intake and Holley 650-cfm four-barrel carburetor. These components should work well with our mild hydraulic cam, flat-tops, and swirl port heads. While nothing exotic, this combo should be good for a realistic 300 hp.

We weren't able to accomplish our entire overhaul in the garage, but we did freshen our 318 on a budget of less than a grand, discounting the intake and carburetor upgrades. Don't be intimidated about trying this at home, engines are just held together with nuts and bolts so a garage overhaul can be easier than you think.