I just picked up a car with a 1966 318 poly in it and I have no info on these things. What's the story on these motors? Are they worth building? Who makes performance parts for them? What parts interchange from other motors onto these? Any and all info is greatly appreciated.
If it runs, find a factory four barrel intake for it, put in a mild cam, swap in an electronic distributor (I've heard all late model 318 dizzy's drop right in) and some dual exhaust. I have a stock 318 Poly in my '60 Plymouth with an automatic and I get 24MPG on the highway with it, runs great and has plenty of power for me. Check out Forwardlook.net to talk to a bunch of people who love Poly motors, they know all the tricks for souping them up.
Websites to check out... Forwardlook Those guys can answer any question you have on these motors, no matter how random. The Polysherical Engine Association has alot of history and general info. There's a pretty decent article about rebuilding the 318 in Tex Smith's "Complete Chrysler Hemi Book". It also illustrates some of the differences between hemi's, "A" poly's, and "LA" poly's. If you're serious about building this motor, I'd check out Victory Library's "Chrysler Poly Performance" book. This book goes into every detail you ever wanted to know about your poly including what rods from other motors will swap over. There's not alot of performance parts available for the poly, although factory parts can be improved with minimal expense. Again, I recommend the Poly Performance book to answer those questions. You can get stock parts pretty readily for the 318. Napa and Advanced Auto carries everything, from my experience. Kanter does as well, but they're more expensive. I have a 326 poly in my '59 Dodge, which is basically an overbored 318. While not the fastest stock engine, its still got alot of torque and is an excellent driver. I can run on the highway all day at 80 mph without any problems. Hope that helps. ~Mel
The forward look site is going to deal primarily with the older poly motors. There are some differences. I would check out: www.allpar.com www.sweptline.org The sweptline is a truck site, but it has a forum with some of the most knowledgable mid-60's poly guys I've come across. The allpar site is more of a "history" of the different motors. EXCELLENT site.
search function appears to be working today. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44307
I'm not sure of the rear gears to be honest. The engine is in a 66 coronet. rear tires are a rediculously small 23" tall for the time being. I'm deciding whether to stick with the the poly or go with a la motor just because of the prices I've seen for speed parts on the poly. I would really like to keep it in there since it's the original motor, but funds are extremely limited right now and I'm pretty sure this thing is going to need a rebuild in the near future. I also don't want to have the car down for months on end while I gather funds for a rebuild on the motor.
Ive had a couple of these motors and had good luck with them. The last one was in a 66 plymouth. I had to put lifters in it but other than that they seem to run good. I know someone that is building one right now to put in 46 dodge p.u. We just picked it up from the machine shop the motor turned out to be in pretty bad shape.So the bill was pretty steep.Anyway thats my 2 cents. I say buildem and drive em!
"Abomination" & "Panic" here on the HAMB are big on Polys. Depending on the sonic check they can be stroke & bored to 400 cubes.
How did I miss this and not post any links? Join the Yahoo Group at the top of the page here: http://www.geocities.com/polyman64/ You may also check the forum out here: http://www.diamondbackengines.com/forums/index.php/board,6.0.html The Victory Library guy is on the HAMB here, and goes by the name "panic". He's got TONS of great info. Check it out: http://victorylibrary.com/POLY.htm ~Jason
in the early 60s, my uncle had a 58 belvidere with a built to the max 318 poly and blew the doors off a fuelie vet!
Another linky - www.dodgesweptline.org and click on "Web Forum" at the upper left. There, Norm has new headers for '61 - '67 Sweptline Dodge and Fargo trucks with Poly 318 engines - these are THE best headers around, too. If any of you happen to be building a Poly 318, Norm is the Poly 318 guru!
I built one... Darby, how does that intake look on my Poly? I have a mild cam, custom header flanges and know a guy who can make you a set too...
I'm so proud of Jay, he all growed up and defending the old Poly motors makes me about cry !! ( I've throttled the suds out of those motors for years, no problems yet )
I haven't posted there in a while - Norm Rocks! He sent me pics of those headers while in production... ~Jason
Any chance of anyone listing all the Polys that were derived from the Plymouth unit of the mid-fifties? And all the ones that were converted Hemis?
Jack, What kind of valve covers are those? I'm wanting a set just like that for mine when it goes in the 16 DB roadster.
I know one thing about the 318 Poly, they are tough. My dad had one in a '64 Dodge wagon and he hauled seven people and a wooden boat full of camping gear all over the state. This was before expressways went everywhere and we usually drove two lanes through small towns, all kinds of stop and go. One trip we ran it almost out of oil, the filter had a pinhole in it and my dad noticed that it had no oil pressure as we clipped along. He stopped at a gas station, when mechanics actually worked at gas stations and we found the entire bottom of the car was covered with oil. Changed the filter, added oil and went on our way. That same car lived through me driving it to highschool and racing almost every morning, I always took the aircleaner off as soon as i got out of sight of the house. It was a manual trans so of course i had to beat the snot out of it going through the gears. Then My dad gave it to my brother who was going to college across the state. He did zero maintenance on it and drove it 80 M.P.H. so it wouldn't shake at 70. My dad finally sold the car and the last time I saw it, it was pulling out of a gas station, squealing the tires, painted flat black with stars all over it. One of my all time favorite cars, and amazingly my dad got 22 M.P.G. out of the thing....I didn't..
Craig Fountain and his dad (I think) make those in Australia. I have more info - PM me if interested. ~Jason
Those are Fountains. They have marking on the inside shaped like Australia with "Fountain" inside it. Bought on Ebay for $325 with freight. I think I searched 318 poly to find them. Offenhauser made some too. Pretty rare I got lucky with them
They're in current production. You can find them in the Business directory of the Polyspherical Engine Association, or ask the guys at the 318 Poly Yahoo Group at the top of that page: http://www.geocities.com/polyman64 ~Jason
I believe I have a 318 poly in a 54 Dodge truck I just purchased. Can someone tell me where to locate numbers (never done this before) to identify the motor, year and what type of car or truck it may have come out of? Thanks!
Does it have seperate intake & valley cover, or the intakes seales the valley? The A Poly casting # is on the front on the pass side.
I think it is all one...the casting number (I think) is 2206383. I can't find that number referenced anywhere...
Nope. That's just the intake manifold numbers...My trouble now is that when I start to unscrew the valve covers, oil comes seeping out. It kinda freaked me out so I tightened them back up. Should oil be leaking out?
The return passages are probably gunked up leaving oil sitting on top of the head till it all drains down. I believe 54 dodge pickups were available with the v8. Check the forward look site for the location of the engine mumber. If it starte with a T its a truck engine, P for plymouth D for Dodge C for chrysler.
Plym_46, I think some 55's made in 54 had V8's but according to my VIN, my truck came stock with the 230 flat 6. I'm thinking the motor came out of a 60's era car but want to know. I was just a little freaked out when oil started coming out from under the valve covers...can I still take them off?
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