318 big block?

[69bananabeast]

I was online the other day on another site and this cuy had a pic of a 67 coronet . The guy said it was a 67 coronet 440  with a 318 big block. has nyone ever heard of this before? 

[Lightning]

it could've been the 318 Poly engine, that sucker is WIDE

[8WHEELER]

Yet some people call it a wide block 318 or a poly block, not a very
often seen or used engine these days, mostly seen in 66 models.

Dan

[69bananabeast]

yeah i've heard of poly 318 b4  but never this "318 big block"

[Telvis]

Compared to a four cylinder motor it is a big block.

[TeeWJay426]

It's probably the 318 'Y-block', the presursor to the 'LA' block. It's a '66 or older 318; most of the parts won't interchange between the wo. Gotta wonder what it was doing in a '67 though; the last year for them was '66. Could also be the second possibilty that occurred to me.... the guy was just a total dipstick and was throwing out whatever descriptive terms he could think of because he doesn't know squat about what it really is.....

[hemihead]

Most likely a Polysphere 318. I have heard them called Y Blocks , Wide Blocks,Big Block 318, and Canadian 318.Used from the late 50's to 66.Not alot of Hi Po parts availible for them.I had a 65 Coronet 500 with one.
It was an ok engine.

[Ghoste]

It's a 318 poly I'm sure.  I have heard the 318 big block term used a lot around here and I imagine it's usage depends on the locality.  I think some of the 67's still had them here in Canada so it could be legit if my memory is right and it's a Canadian car.  They used to be very popular around here for farmers running irrigation pumps.
The potential for this engine was never reached.  It began as a cheaper way to build a sort of "baby" Hemi in the 50's.  Some of the combustion chamber benefits without the complexity of dual rocker shafts.  The polysphere combustion chamber began to come into it's own a lot later and once again, Chrysler lost money by being ahead of it's time.  It died off when the wedge became the chamber of choice universally and it was much cheaper to build.

[hemigeno]

Not alot of Hi Po parts availible for them.
It was an ok engine.

Not so, mon ami...

I LOVE my poly 318...

They did stop production in '66 domestically, and I think Ghoste might be right about (or is it "aboot" up north) 1967 Canadian cars.

[Ghoste]

What's this aboot stuff?  Where I live, we seem to get a slight Detroit drawl (although Michiganders will insist we still say aboot) and the rest of Canada seems to think we're from the deep south or something.
I'm less than an hour from Motown so all our television came from there and as everyone knows, it's the TV that teaches kids how to talk.
Aboot.  Sheesh. 

[hemigeno]

Aboot.   Sheesh.  

[Ghoste]

Just for the record, I have a lot of relatives in Michigan and they tease me aboot saying it that way all the time.  I tell them, "at least I don't drink PAP".

[hemigeno]

Having a hockey team (or some semblance thereof) in St. Louis keeps me up on Canadianese.

What's with the word "organIzation" anyway?  I think you guys just pick words to twist the pronunciation around on to let you know who the real Canadians are.

And what is PAP    A Michigan thing?   

[/thread hijack]

[69bananabeast]

What's this aboot stuff?   Where I live, we seem to get a slight Detroit drawl (although Michiganders will insist we still say aboot) and the rest of Canada seems to think we're from the deep south or something.
I'm less than an hour from Motown so all our television came from there and as everyone knows, it's the TV that teaches kids how to talk.
Aboot.   Sheesh.  

What are you talking aboot?   

[BMC440]

Thats a nice looking 318 "POLY", hemigeno .

bmc440

[Drache]

What I think is funny is that Canadian add "U's" to words like honour and colour... hell when typing I just used the american version of those words... much easier!

[hemigeno]

Thats a nice looking 318 "POLY", hemigeno .

bmc440

Thanks, bmc!

That's what's powering my 2-ton carhauler.  To say I got a little carried away when I built up that truck's motor would be an understatement.  The guys at work tease me that it's the only 2-ton truck that will pull the front wheels off the ground.     I'll let the next owner of that truck find out whether that's true or not.

Geno

[Red Ram]

I think "Y" block refers to the early Ford V-8s, the V8 after they got rid of the flathead. My 59 Coronet has a 326 version of the poly engine, I believe they only made that engine for one year. I was curious to know the differences between the 326 and the 318.

[XXSpiralXX]

   A friend of mine has a 67 coronet ( i think its what it is ) with a dual quad poly 318. Its pretty cool. He swears its stock......
  Ummm...... Whats pap?

[hemigeno]

I was curious to know the differences between the 326 and the 318.

There are a few differences, but not that many.   The 318 originated with Plymouth, whereas the 326 was a 1959 Dodge-only Poly "A" motor (yep, just one year).   There are a fair number of parts that interchange between the 326 and 318, since they are both Polysphere "A" motor variants.   The bore size is 3.95" for the 326, and 3.91" for the 318, and both use a stock stroke length of 3.31", although I do not know for certain if the crankshafts are interchangeable.

There is a wealth of information on the Poly motor series (as well as a bunch of stuff on early Hemi parts interchangeability) in a publication by Victory Library (see link below).   Incidentally, Dodge had a 325 polysphere also, that was not an "A" motor, but a derivative of the 325 Hemi.   It is a whole lot different than the 318/326 motors.   That was back when each division (Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, DeSoto) had its own lineup of engines, and they didn't necessarily have many parts in common.   Towards the very end of the 50s that began to change, and a lot of standardization had been implemented by the early '60s.

http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/mopar-tech.htm

I did double-check the reference material I have from Victory, and Canadian cars did indeed have 318 Poly's installed through 1967 (US stopped after 1966).

Spiral, there was a 318 dual quad option available from the factory on the Sport Fury's - that's probably what he means as "stock".   They didn't offer that in 1967 anyway.   1957, yes - '67, no.   The intake manifold I used on my Poly is the cast iron version from a '58 Sport Fury.

[Ghoste]

Taken from Tex Smith's, "The Complete Chrysler Hemi Engine Manual, is this info on the poly's.

"All divisions used Polysphere's, they were identified as Plymouth Hy-Fire, Dodge Red Ram and Chrysler Spitfire (DeSotos used Dodge engines in this case).  First introduced in 1955, there were actually two versions of the poly.  One was based on the Hemi block and came in displacements of 241, 259, 270, 301, 315, 325, 331, and 354.  They can be converted to Hemi's by changing pistons, heads, raockers, pushrods, headbolts, and manifolds.  Plymouth, Dodge and DeSoto require Dodge parts and Chrysler requires Chrysler.
The second version was referred to as the A series and came in displacements of 277, 301, 313 (Canadian)318, and 326.  None of this series can be converted to Hemi's."
Used without permission and paraphrased.

Pap is like "soda pap"

[ChargerRob]

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Here in Venezuela, people calls it also 318 Big Block to make difference to the 318 LA.

More info about the poly engine:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/4164/

I sold about two years ago, 2 NOS heads for that engine.

[Argos_Chargers]

Poly head 318's aren't that uncommon.  I had one in my '60 Dart which i sold last year...it ended up in Pennsylvania.  Anyways, it really got upand scooted even though it only had a little tiny stromberg on it, it was hooked up to a 2 speed pwerflyte tranny and it was in a huge, heavy car.  I was truly impressed with the engine.  One showed up at the refugee meet in Kent yeasterday in a '66.  Even though '66 was the last year for the poly in U.S. models, it was a common engine in Canadian cars in '67.  My Monaco convertible (which came from Canada) originally had a poly head 318 in it.

Argo

[KMPX2]

I have one of the very hard to find 6-pack set ups for a 318 poly

[Ghoste]

That's an aftermarket piece?

[Nacho-RT74]

I just noticed on the link I posted, also call it 318 Big Block

[Brock Samson]

 great read,
Two questions:

how would one I.D. one either by opening the hood and looking or from a tag?

and were they installed in C-bodies?..

[hemigeno]

great read,
Two questions:

how would one I.D. one either by opening the hood

The valve covers had 2 or 3 bolts going through the crown/top, and the bottom edge of the valve cover has a scalloped edge (it isn't straight).  Another telltale Poly trait over an LA is that the exhaust ports are arranged in "1 1 1 1" fashion like the Hemi's are.  LA & B/RB engines are set up "1 2 1" like a SBChevy.  I think you can see those details on the pic I posted of my engine.

There are other 50's Mopar engines that can get confusing to tell the difference between.  If you're talking about 60's cars though, those points will let you know it's a Poly318.

[Brock Samson]

 love yur motor pic there geno, looks sharp! interesting motor mount below the water pump what's that about?.. standard issue?..
and why didn't ya paint or finish the spacer below the intake manifold?..
 

[hemigeno]

love yur motor pic there geno, looks sharp! interesting motor mount below the water pump what's that about?.. standard issue?..
and why didn't ya paint or finish the spacer below the intake manifold?..
 

Thanks, Strat,
The motor mount is standard issue, that is if you have a 1960 2-ton truck...  Honestly, a lot of the medium/heavy-duty trucks even into the '70s used that same style of center/front motor mount.  The rear crossmember you see around the bellhousing fits between the framerails of the truck.  No mounting points on the transmission - it just hangs off the bellhousing.

I didn't paint the spacers because they are phenolic, and I wasn't sure they would take paint very well.  They do look a little odd, but I wanted them as much for thermal isolation of the carburetors than anything else. 

[Ghoste]

Yes, they came in C-bodies.