318 or 360

[charger0740]

I am 17 years old and have a 73' charger with a 318, The 318 needs rings and bearings it smokes for atleast 10 min after start up, and has no acceleration....i was offered a 360 with a 727 for $125 but it is ceased. what would be the better plan? I currtently have a 904 in the car. I am on a limited budget since i am only 17.

[mikepmcs]

what's your compression?

i'd take the 360 and the 727 for $125 and rebuild it or not for now.  but i'd jump all over that for $125 as long as the block is still good. you could resell the motor and keep the tranny, etc...
what caused it to seize up?   

you gotta pull that 318 regardless right.  It will definitely be cheaper to replace rings and bearings just to get her running again, but you gotta decide what you want to do first. 

what's your intention with the car (daily reliable driver?, fast street car?)

is the 727 good?

how limited your budget and what you are needing/wanting to do drives everything, including what the experts on this board will advise.  I'm not one of them by the way, i'm just throwing some stuff out there for you to think of and possibly provide a little more detailed info on your plans for the car.

v/r
Mike

[charger0740]

I drive it almsot everyday in the summer. I had a freind take a compression test and i am not sure of the numbers but i know he siad it was decent but that was last year before i got it back on the road. I'm not sure if my very slow acceleration is due to the gears in the rear because i do not know what gears i have because someone replaced the bolt on the differential that said what it was. I am guessing 2.73

[mikepmcs]

318 with 2.73 gear will not be very quick.  but only you will know for sure, have your buddy(if he knows more about cars) drive it and help you decide if it is actually a loss of power.
also, maybe you need a good tuning as well, plugs, rotor, cap, wires, etc.....that also could cause some issues separate from the smoking issue.  you could always throw some engine ring sealer  in there for now and see if you can seal em up.  i'm not saying that the smoking issue is not causing your car to be sluggish cause i'm sure it isn't helping.  but there are other factrors that might be assisting in the slowness as well.

you can tell your gear ratio by lifting one side of the car up and turning the wheel and counting the revolutions of the tire compared to one turn of the driveshaft. i'm guessing you have an open differential and not a sure grip(posi to chevy guys).

i'll find you the specific thread on this site that deals with the ratio finding process. 

also, does this car have a fender tag on it or do you have the build(broadcast) sheet, that might help us on the rear end as well and also what your car came with from the factory.

v/re
Mike

[mikepmcs]

here's the thread i promised, read the whole thing and i put a link in this one that had a great explanation on how to find your gear ratio without taking anything apart.


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,22398.0.html