218 engine upgrade questions

[1950 pilothouse]

I was looking into getting my cam reground and possibly shaving the head on my 218. Little more compression and better sound. Would I have to change anything else in the motor if I did this? Lifters, valves, anything? Still learning as I go

[Plymouthy Adams]

grinding the cam to a bit hotter (longer duration)  displaces your gained HP at a higher end of the RPM scale so therefore you lose available horsepower at the lower end where these engines are ran for the most part...as for changes...to take advantage of the hotter cam and have it work to its full potential changes such as better induction, better ignition and the ability to exhaust your gases are items of interest to upgrade..gets a tad costly overall for the few ponies you hope to achieve.

[1950 pilothouse]

My truck runs good. Just wanting to put a few upgrades to make it look and sound better 

[Plymouthy Adams]

looks and sound can come to you at a better means of spending your money.  Actually a bit of time to detail the engine and paint the compartment is always well spent effort.  Good exhaust will change the tone of the truck to appease the ear, keeping it in a good state of tune will keep it performing.  All this can be done with elbow grease and very little out of pocket.  But again, dresser parts are costly for what little gain you truly getting.

[NiftyFifty]

There are dual carb set ups available, and dual exhaust headers, electronic ignition and shaving the head just a bit can help, but remember that at the end of the day, it’s still a low hp flathead and will most likely never compare to a later V8 or even V6.

[1950 pilothouse]

I’ve already ordered a dual carb intake. No it won’t ever run with a v8 but it will still look cool with the hot rod parts Lol

[Plymouthy Adams]

seems you already established the path you wish to take having already bought an intake changes the game and should have been mentioned in the first post...by all means trick it out with all the show goodies...oohs and ahs are pleasing to the ear at car shows...this seems to be what you really are wanting to hear...nothing wrong at all with this approach

[59bisquik]

Either split your exhaust manifold or purchase a set of headers for it. Dual exhaust sounds really nice and would compliment your intake. Milling the head would wake it up a little bit as well as having a cam regrind. Pertronix upgrade is also an easy upgrade that is worth your time.

 

[1950 pilothouse]

Petronix?

[Plymouthy Adams]

5 minutes ago, 1950 pilothouse said:

Petronix?

yes..you can check on it with the same word doing an internet search....

[maok]

7 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

yes..you can check on it with the same word doing an internet search....

But use - Pertronix

[Merle Coggins]

8 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

yes..you can check on it with the same word doing an internet search....

 

Or, you could have just told him it’s a company that makes electronic ignition conversions. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I could sit here all day writing narratives for sure but the proactive person upon hearing an inquisitive word or phrase could well execute and search and discover more than just a single fact..

[59bisquik]

https://www.summitracing.com/search/product-line/pertronix-ignitor-solid-state-ignition-systems/year/1942/make/dodge/engine-size/3-8l-230

 

check the pertronix website for exact fit. The generally ask for 2 letters marked on the side of the distributor for model verification.

Edited March 14, 2018 by 59bisquik

[NiftyFifty]

http://www.langdonsstovebolt.com/store/#!/Stovebolt-Mopar-Mini-HEI/p/1222043/category=18665978

 

I'm more of a fan of the complete distb swap, it is more money, but I have a better chance getting a replacement part from a jobber if I break down on the road, as it's all S10 2.8L parts.

 

You can also google Moose headers if you want true dual exhaust, he builds them when ordered..decent price..just ride him that your looking for a nice clean set of headers..mine had a lot of welding slag on the, and one hole I had to end up widening to make fit...but not as many options for the 25" blocks compared to the 23's

[Jeff Balazs]

The Pertronix conversion is quite simple and very effective. You replace the standard points and condenser with their module which is a magnetic trigger and has no moving parts. If you go this direction you should buy their matched coil and use resistor type leads not solid core wires. My truck is my daily driver and this conversion works flawlessly. Starting hot or cold is never an issue. Some may argue that the original equipment is just fine as it is.........but that really depends on having good quality replacement parts and I found that to be problematic. My experience with the Pertronix set up is that it is basically fit and forget. One possible negative with it is there isn't any under the hood bling associated with it. It is hidden under the stock distributor cap and there really is not any evidence things are not bone stock.

Jeff

[ggdad1951]

I had an electronic version of my VR built by a guy (now not in business anymore) to get rid of the points in there and all the issues with that...never did get it to work right...

[Adam H P15 D30]

19 hours ago, 1950 pilothouse said:

Petronix?

Do a search for the Slant 6 distributor conversion here and other sites.  MUCH better choice than Petronics and all parts are off the shelf at the local O'Rileys / NAPA.  Plus you use a GM HEI module that does a much better job of controlling spark and duration than the Petronics.  I THINK 55 Fargo did a really good write up here and on the HAMB but the pictures were lost to the Photobucket scandle.  Also, check your vacuum advance to see if it is any good, if it's bad (probably) might as well do the conversion, I did mine for ~100.00 or so.

@55 Fargo Spitfire Was it you that did the write up on this?  If so, do you have the pictures?  I used this write up a few years ago to put my Slant 6 distributor in my 49 and it was very helpful.

[55 Fargo]

20 minutes ago, Adam H P15 D30 said:

Do a search for the Slant 6 distributor conversion here and other sites.  MUCH better choice than Petronics and all parts are off the shelf at the local O'Rileys / NAPA.  Plus you use a GM HEI module that does a much better job of controlling spark and duration than the Petronics.  I THINK 55 Fargo did a really good write up here and on the HAMB but the pictures were lost to the Photobucket scandle.  Also, check your vacuum advance to see if it is any good, if it's bad (probably) might as well do the conversion, I did mine for ~100.00 or so.

@55 Fargo Spitfire Was it you that did the write up on this?  If so, do you have the pictures?  I used this write up a few years ago to put my Slant 6 distributor in my 49 and it was very helpful.

Thrashing Cows did the initial write up.

I also did the conversion and posts.

I will post on this in a short while with pics..

[55 Fargo]

Okay here are some pics of the conversion, not too difficult to do.

But it involves machining down the shaft to fit into the flathead 6 block.

I did it the primitive way, by using a long strip of sandpaper and going it slow and easy, not much material needs to be removed.

It worked very well, had an issue with wiring and my control module fried, so pulled it out and have been using my points dizzy since.

I need to get it back in operation , and just have not bothered to date..

[Adam H P15 D30]

I machined my housing in a drill press with sand paper.  Took about 15 minutes...  No special tools required

I also swapped the Chrysler ignition box for a GM HEI module from a late 70's engine eliminating the ballast resistor and better dwell control, smaller footprint.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Adam H P15 D30

[maok]

I also did the Pertronix conversion on my '28 Chrysler even though there wasn't a kit available for my 631 delco distributor. Very simple to do and only a keen eye would only notice that its inside the distributor. One regret, I should have done the Pertronix II module. 

 

Now I can get to 32mph down hills...:)

Edited March 15, 2018 by maok
additional info

[55 Fargo]

1 hour ago, Adam H P15 D30 said:

I machined my housing in a drill press with sand paper.  Took about 15 minutes...  No special tools required

I also swapped the Chrysler ignition box for a GM HEI module from a late 70's engine eliminating the ballast resistor and better dwell control, smaller footprint.

Yup that can be.done