Problems with my 318

Just got the Barracuda back from my shop, almost all the valves in my 318 are sticking. I hope it's just the heads that are messed up. If the pistons hit the valves and got dinged I'm really going to be PO'd. I paid big bucks for this engine to make sure everything is just right and dinged pistons aren't "just right" no matter what anyone says about how it won't affect performance or reliability. I feel like I have a tainted engine now...

Mopar 318 Piston Choices - Cast Pistons

I posted an overview of piston choices for the Mopar 318 on one of my Squidoo lenses, but I want to go over the choices in more detail here. While piston choices for some engines are limited, the 318 has an excellent selection available in cast, hypereutectic, and forged versions. Cast pistons are the least expensive pistons you can buy, so if you are on a really tight budget, they may be your first choice. They are also the weakest (and heaviest), so you need to really consider what you're going to use your engine for before choosing cast pistons.
A typical cast piston for the Mopar 318 is the Federal Mogul Z285NP. A set of 8 costs $93.52 from Summit Racing. These are listed as a stock replacement piston for 1967 through 1984 Chrysler 318 engines. Piston and pin together weigh 785 grams (add 3 grams for locks). They have -0.08" deck height and will give you a fairly low compression ratio. Oil return is via slots cut in the oil ring groove.Unless you are on a really tight budget, I would not recommend these pistons.
The Federal Mogul piston for the 1985 through 1989 318 is the Z526P. This piston's top is 0.025" higher in the bore than the 285's (-0.055" deck height) and will give you almost a half point higher compression ratio. They're only a little more expensive than the Z285 pistons, $103.92 from Summit Racing. If you want to run cast pistons in your 318, use the Z526's instead of the Z285's regardless of year. The Z526's will fit the earlier engines just fine.

Mopar 318 Connecting Rods

The Mopar 318 had 2 styles of connecting rods over the years. Until 1973, the 318 used a light weight forging with full floating wrist pins that was similar to the connecting rod used in the Mopar 273. In 1973, Chrysler changed the 318 connecting rod to a stronger, heavier rod with pressed pins, very similar to the rod used in the Mopar 360. Normally it is considered good practice to replace a weaker connecting rod with a stronger one. In some cases though I would advocate going the opposite way. The early 318 rod is made of good material, and while I wouldn't used them in a high rpm screamer, the lighter weight would be welcome in a mild to moderate build. I would have them rebuilt with stronger rod bolts from ARP or Pioneer though. Other then that, they should be fine.

Quest for a Mopar 318

It used to be easy to find a Mopar 318 - heck, people used to give them away for free. When looking for a replacement engine for my 66 Barracuda though, I had a difficult time finding one. When I did, I had to pay $400, more than the going price for 360 cores. I'd like to find 4 more because there are at least 4 different ways to build a Mopar 318 that I'd like to try. If anyone reading this knows where I can find reasonably priced Mopar 318 please leave a comment. Guess I should mention that it needs to be within a 4 or 5 hour drive of Reno, Nevada.