IT’S time for part three of Scotty’s renovation of the 318ci small-block Chrysler V8 for his dad’s VE Valiant ute, and this episode sees him finishing off the short-block.

Last episode was all about wrestling with sumps and oil pickups, whereas this time Scotty bolts together the top end of the 318 as he inches closer to dropping it into the car.

First up, a new timing cover, Edelbrock water pump and balancer were bolted to the front.

For heads, Scotty chose a pair from Edelbrock’s RPM Performer series, which are more than capable of flowing the air needed for Scotty’s goal of 400hp, so they were torqued down with a set of ARP bolts.

Finishing off the valvetrain are some Ultra Pro roller rockers from Comp Cams, which required a bit of massaging to get them mounted properly.

Scotty had to cut down the studs used to bolt the rockers to the heads, and then use a pushrod tool to figure out the right length of pushrod to order for this angry little Mopar, which ended up coming in at 7.65in long.

Next episode will see Scotty put the final touches to the 318 by bolting on the intake manifold, rocker covers and sump, and then it’ll get slotted in the VE Valiant as we get one step closer to firing this thing up!