408 Engine Question

[Bryn Tirion]

This is old, but I think worth a bit more input. I have always understood that since the Bristol factory was always willing to upgrade your V8 Bristol at a price, there is no penalty in value (or in exhibition) so long as you do something that they would have done. So putting in a later Torqueflite is fine, and putting in a 383 (for instance) would be fine. A 340 would not have been an option, as it was never fitted to Bristols, and is indeed a lumpy street engine and not a smooth cruising Bristol engine. I happen to think the 313 is a fine engine, developing 250 bhp at 4400 rpm stock from Plymouth Canada. They can be sourced easily in Canada, having been put in Plymouth Belvederes and Dodge Senecas among others, and even in combine harvesters (my neighbour has one in a Massey Harris combine). They could easily be booted up slightly to a 318, but keep in mind that this is an A engine and not an LA, as pointed out by others, so one has to be careful about the 318 parts and what hey are intended to fit. The 318 version of the A engine was put in a number of US market models also, between about 1958 and 1962.