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I have seen diesel-engine torsionals break a transmission, but it always happened to a component that was loaded when torque converter lockup clutches were applied, and the damper springs on that clutch were not effective to dampen the torsionals. And when it happened it was always traced to an...

No, this was in pre-production durability testing, AFAIK no bad designs ever made production. What was durable for 1 MY of production might not be good enough for the next year. 2010 brought a ~50hp increase, and IIRC that's where the trouble started. We started cracking them, and they sent a...

No, we were breaking flexplates during transmission testing, and every MY the engine torque output was increasing, and we'd find last year's flexplate wouldn't survive. So they'd scramble to try different shapes - circle, ovals, kidney-bean shapes. The GM engineers were trying to make a durable...

FWIW, I would not use that new flexplate. Those half-moon cutouts look to have sharp corners, and sharp corners make stress concentrations, and that's where things break. Whoever did the CAD design for that needs a little what-for behind the woodshed. Along with every engineer afterward that...

Fair enough. But if you just bought the car, would you immediately tear down to the short block and send the heads off just to put hardened seats in? If you did, what else would you do simply because you were in the neighborhood? To the heads, or to the rest of the engine? It snowballs quickly.

That leaded-gas thing isn't a hard/fast rule. It depends on how the car is driven, and it doesn't happen immediately. High speed/rpm, towing, and racing cause more damage. I daily-drove a 68 318 for about 7 years, mostly highway use at 75mph (I read this qualifies as 'hard usage' regarding...

Gotta love a guy trying to help another guy, offering up a free engine, except the shipping is more than he wants to pay. :lol:

Sounds like you're on a budget, and it's real easy to cost-justify every next step on the stairway until you find yourself in the attic and out of money. Anybody up your way have a mid-70s Newport that can donate a 400? An engine you can hear run and do an oil pressure check on? Regasketing...

I guess I should've watched the video before responding. But nobody ever discusses the Alpine, so I assumed I was safe. :(

Just to complicate things, Detroit Diesel Alpine Green is somewhat a contender. It's too light to be correct, but at least it's not too green, and not too blue - and it's readily available. Water cover is Duplicolor Alpine Green, VC and cyl head is older Mopar Performance turquoise.

Yes, the 5.2 is still a 318, but it has numerous internal advantages that reduce friction and increase fuel efficiency, both of which give more torque for the driver. And the Magnum has dramatically better cylinder heads. '71-older 318s are rated at 230 hp GROSS, even though CR started...

I understand his frustration. But I'd recommend at least pulling the axles to see if the bearings are actually greased. I was driving a Jeep pickup truck many years ago that had had an axle bearing fail, and the axleshaft spiraled out while I was driving it and I slid on the brake backing plate...

I would agree with that in general. But this 361 shares a near-identical cam with what was used in 383-2 and the 350hp 440s - so as-is, I doubt the exhaust lobe is hindering it with the factory cam. I would love to know how much a Lunati Voodoo cam (one of the smaller sizes) would help a 361...

I did a LOT of OD research about 15-20 years ago when I drove one of my cars a lot of miles each year. Looked at GV, A518s, the GM 4L60 and 4L80, etc. Unless you drive ~10k miles on it, year after year, the MPG savings of an OD isn't worth it for $$ spent. Esp if paying someone to perform the...

There's no timeframe/mileage noted above, so just throwing this out there: I doubt they'd last very long if they weren't, but did the new axle bearings get greased fully? They are not lubed by the gear oil like other axles.

I'll admit I haven't read all the other comments fully. But for towing, I'd look for a good used 5.2 Magnum, add a carb intake and 600cfm carb, and 3.23 gears. The 5.2 will add an easy 70 hp over a stock 318 and is somewhat of a bolt-in. It will get better mpg, too. There are posts on here...

I hadn't heard anything about CRT problems, but here's a Moparts discussion: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3141563/1.html

^^ This.

Yes, CRT is knowledegable, but anyone with racing experience knows about the vulnerability of the sprag. The sprag isn't concerned about what rearend gears you have, and you have no need for a high-zoot sprag. Sprag failures can be due to driveline failures or improper methods of doing a...

I read thru all of this and have some brief comments, other folks added the details. You don't need a HP rebuild - don't go nuts with HP hardware thinking you'll get a better trans. Your engine can't provide the 'push' for that. The biggest improvement you can get is reducing the 2-3 shift's...