big block or Y-block 318?
Laurie J. Beck
In article <01bcefe9$200d6b20$efdaafce@default>, cal...@sprynet.com says...
>
>has anyone ever heard of a big block 318, or Y-block 318. It is currently
>in a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere, but I don't know if it is original. Any info
>would be helpful.
Yep. The Y-block 318 was produced during model years 1957 through 1966. It
had the same bore & stroke as later 318s (3.91" x 3.31"), but there was little
else in common with the 318s that came out for the 1967 model year (these later
318s were based on the well-known "small block" that started out as a 273
during 1964).
The first 318 appeared for 1957 under the hood of the Plymouth Fury (and was
also available on lesser Plymouth models). With dual quad carbs, radical cam
and relatively high compression, this 318 put out 290 gross hp. It was also
available for 1958, though the Fury also had an optional 305 horsepower, 350
cubic inch version of the B-block for '58. From 1959 on, the 318 was more of a
"cooking" engine, with lower compression and 2 barrel carb standard (though a
4-barrel option was available for many years too).
The original 318 was based on the same block as the 277, 301, 303 ('56 Fury
engine) and 326 ('59 Dodge only) cubic inch engines from 1956-1959. There was
also a 313 & 314 ci version available in Canada during the late 1950s.
1966 was the last model year for this engine. It is sometimes referred to as
the "poly-head" V8 because its combustion chambers were polyspherical, sort of
like an imitation hemi. Most, if not all of these 318s had solid lifters too.
I had one of these 318s in my '66 Plymouth Belvedere. It was very durable,
reasonably economical and decently peppy. Wish I still had this car.
Drew
