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73 Chrysler 318 rebuild

Rhoda Mae

New member
hello, Recently purchased a 73 Uniflite with twin 318's , both need work,
here is what I noticed so far,
both are soft seized and have gotten them to move
the Starboard engine appears to be fine, with the exception of the timing cover which is rusted on the left side and the metal is gone, so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
the Port, has a milk shake in the oil,
paragon , transmissions,

my intentions are to remove both and rebuild, I am a retired technician and dont see a problem,
I have done a few SBC's but no Chryslers
any advice would be appreciated,
also which is the standard engine and which is the counter rotating,
thanks in advance,

Bill
 
Bill, if these have been Raw Water cooled for their entire life, do not spend a dime on the over-haul. You will have interior rust scale that has not adhered to any rules nor pattern.

Instead, pick up a pair of 360 (not 318) automotive cores for your rebuilds.
No one has ever complained about having more available torque and horse power!

The Chrysler cylinder heads incorporate a wedge shaped combustion chamber and a quench surface.
Take advantage of the quench surface by using the correct piston profile in your rebuild.

Here's an older thread regarding the 360 over-haul and taking advantage of the quench effect.

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/showthread.php?434986-Thoughts-on-my-engine-build


As for Std LH rotation and RH Reverse rotation:

If straight shaft drives, the Starboard engine is typically the RH Reverse rotation engine.
If V drives, the Port engine may be your RH Reverse rotation engine.

If someone had installed transmissions that are "opposite of engine rotation" capable, then both engines may be Std LH Rotation.

If you can bump them over via the starter motor, you will see which is which.

Engine rotation is determined by viewing the flywheel end...... not by viewing the front end!

CCW rotation = Std LH
CW rotation = Rev RH
 

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all great info, thanks very much,
Ill keep the block advice when i get them apart,
I didn't plan on replacing the block , as I was under the impression, there was not a lot of hours on these, but good to know,
I have rebuilt a few small block chevys that were raw cooled, and have not had an issue, of course if there no good , there no good. I am a little concerned finding affordable exhaust manifolds, as the ones that I have seen are expensive,,
 
Also I forgot to mention, that the boat spent if not all, most of its life on the great lakes, boat is from Ohio, so here in Fla it will be its first splash to salt water,
if that matters,,lol
 
.................
all great info, thanks very much,
Ill keep the block advice when i get them apart,
I didn't plan on replacing the block , as I was under the impression, there was not a lot of hours on these, but good to know,
I have rebuilt a few small block chevys that were raw cooled, and have not had an issue, of course if there no good , there no good.
I am a little concerned finding affordable exhaust manifolds, as the ones that I have seen are expensive,,
Have you considered going with the GM SBCs?
Your Paragon transmissions use the Borg Warner pattern flywheel covers.
Borg Warner is readily available for the SBC engines.


Also I forgot to mention, that the boat spent if not all, most of its life on the great lakes, boat is from Ohio, so here in Fla it will be its first splash to salt water,
if that matters,,lol
Rust/Corrosion (raw water cooled engine) exits whether river/lake water or ocean water. Of course the salt water corrosion is much worse.


Run time hours mean very little. It's Father Time that causes the issue.
As said, the rust/corrosion takes no certain path. It can be severe in one area, and not so bad in another area.

Years ago, I took a previously RWC Ford 5.8L cylinder block in for a first over bore. After successfully boring a few cylinders, the boring bare popped though one of the cylinder walls. I ended up using an automotive core.

The automotive cores have seen Ethylene Glycol only.

Your call on that!
 
I have a lot of horror stories myself, regarding things like that , I will do what I have to , to have a successful rebuild, if in question , it gets replaced,
thanks for your great advice, I always listen to reason, lets face it, its truly a labor of love, or non of us would own boats,,lol
 
In my 1972 31' sport sedan with twin 318s and Paragon Vee Drives, the port engine is standard rotation, and the starboard engine is reverse rotation. Another way to

tell is by looking at the distributors. The reverse rotation engine distributor will have a 3/4" spacer under it like the one in this picture.
Reverse rotation distributor.jpg
 
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Oh cool, didnt know that, thanks so much for that info, Ill check in a few,,lol
and reverse rotation is in what direction looking from the rear,
 
.....................
and reverse rotation is in what direction looking from the rear,

All engine rotation (car, truck, aircraft, marine, industrial, etc ) is determined by viewing from the flywheel end.
Std LH Rotation = CCW
Rev RH Rotation = CW


In addition to all components that are Rev Rotation specific, the front and rear main seals are also Rev RH specific.



.
 
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If you have gone through the steps correctly then it's likely that your file size is too large. I'm not 100% sure but I think the cut off for this site is around 1MB. There may be other ways, but I insert my picture into a Word document and then compress the picture
to E-Mail size (96 ppi) which once saved again as a picture,
makes it compatible for this forum.
 
Be aware there are differences between the 318 and 360 blocks (aside from bore/stroke) you'll encounter should you go that route.
 
good to know,,,!! thanks however I am on a budget, and although there would be a lot of different things I could do to "get more power" Im fine just repairing whats in the boat, within reason, If money were not a factor, I would be talking to a rep from Yanmar and installing matching diesels,
but sadly Im not a rich man
 
If you have gone through the steps correctly then it's likely that your file size is too large. I'm not 100% sure but I think the cut off for this site is around 1MB. There may be other ways, but I insert my picture into a Word document and then compress the picture
to E-Mail size (96 ppi) which once saved again as a picture,
makes it compatible for this forum.

I use "Paint" ( part of all Microsoft Operating System Utilities) to Open the desired file, and then use the "Resize" button to resize it "by percentage". You can also use "Paint" to crop the picture to present a better view. I usually save the file in .jpg format.
 
Please re-read my second paragraph in post #6 regarding over-hauling a previously Raw Water cooled engine.

What if:
...... you have these cylinder blocks bored first over.
...... due to internal rust/corrosion damage, the boring bar was only a few thousandths away from cutting though a cylinder wall.
...... you now have these engines re-assembled and installed in the boat.
...... you are now out for the break-in period and a cylinder wall ruptures.


Perhaps read this article, and make sure that your machine shop has this capability.
http://www.gallowayengines.com.au/ultrasonic-testing

 
Please re-read my second paragraph in post #6 regarding over-hauling a previously Raw Water cooled engine.

What if:
...... you have these cylinder blocks bored first over.
...... due to internal rust/corrosion damage, the boring bar was only a few thousandths away from cutting though a cylinder wall.
...... you now have these engines re-assembled and installed in the boat.
...... you are now out for the break-in period and a cylinder wall ruptures.


Perhaps read this article, and make sure that your machine shop has this capability.
http://www.gallowayengines.com.au/ultrasonic-testing


And its not just the wall thickness in the bores. I know of at least three cases with well maintained raw water cooled engines, where a section of outside wall of the block, just fell out.
 
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