Question about the price of 340s

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Relax360

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Hey guys I have been workin on my 70 Dart swinger 340. I have noticed people on moparts and ebay and criagslist selling 340 block or complete engines. My question is why are people asking so much for them. I bought a complete 440 engine for 1000 but see people asking for twice that much for a 340? Is it just that they are scarce?
 
IMHO - one reason 440 were used in everything, the 340 was a performance car only engine and they made a lot fewer of them..
 
Buy a 360. Save your money. Now 9 people will chime in and give you 9 different answers. Throw 5 red flags. And tell you they can rev their 340 to 8600 rpm. Let the games begin! :rolleyes:
 
Actually a 408. But hide the motor mounts & POOF it's a 273. Lol

20170319_152950.jpg
 
340's did/do run good but you can build a teen to run along side a stock 340. 360's are also known to perform with the right combination. With all the strokers out there I don't see a huge difference between a 408 or a 415 when it comes to power or torque. And then the guys putting together Magnums. ........well, more power. I usually don't play the Barrett Jackson game of cars and parts. Many are artifically price inflated for the unsuspecting buyer.
 
use your 318 with a 340 sticker on it, free!

340 was a +.130 318 block with 360 heads. Sure they came stock with 2.02 heads (early ones) but only because Chevy had 'em. Wanna build a 340? punch a 360-4 .040 over and install Hamburger main bearing spacers, run a forged 318-3 crank and 340 pistons. Bam, you got a 72 spec 340.
 
With the affordable 4" stroke rotating assemblies. The 340's really only have a home in numbers restorations. 318 + 4" crank you got a 390!
 
Some people just like 340s. They are relatively rare. That is why they are higher priced. As far as the argument goes there was a time when stroker cranks were not common and 360s had a reputations as low compression truck motor. Most people would do a good stock rebuild and maybe put a cam and light porting on the heads. In stock form 340s were king of the small block mopars. Fast forward to today and everyone is running aluminum heads with roller cams and stroker cranks. The gap between the 360 and 340 has closed up. I still personally prefer the 340 but from a performance stand point the 360 is at leasts its equal.
 
340's were only built for 6 years and have a good performance reputation...

Unfortunately most of them today are at the maximum limit for overbore, so finding a good one is getting harder and harder to do...

440's were built for 10 years, and 360's were built for about 30 years... That's why there are more of them around and they are cheaper...
 
krazykuda said:
Unfortunately most of them today are at the maximum limit for overbore, so finding a good one is getting harder and harder to do...
360's were built for about 30 years... That's ...
Click to expand...

Plenty of 340s out there that are not at their max bore....just gotta know where they are...
 
I only asked because I do have a real 340 4 speed dart. But yes a 360 looks just like it. Out of curiosity what is the max overbore limit?

And yes everyone who is selling thinks its a sellers market. Well...it isn't
 
Relax360 said:
I only asked because I do have a real 340 4 speed dart. But yes a 360 looks just like it. Out of curiosity what is the max overbore limit?

And yes everyone who is selling thinks its a sellers market. Well...it isn't
Click to expand...

Factory service manual lists max overbore at .040" over... Many of the sellers claim you can go to .060 (because theirs is)....

I prefer to keep my cylinder walls as fat as possible...
 
the '68 340 in my Duster is .060" over. 12k miles so far no issues at all. ~400 hp build too. Most of the LA small blocks will go .060" no problem. Not all, but most. Sonic check to be sure. And mine's not for sale either. :p

Still, for what most guys charge for standard bore 340's you could buy one that's already maxed out and sleeve all 8. I got a good deal on mine because it was .030" and worn out when I bought it. Wasn't looking for a 340 really, just found one. I don't think I'd build another, 360's are cheaper all the way around. No weird over the deck pistons to deal with like on the early 340's either. 360's got a bad rap because they were low compression, detuned smog engines from the factory. But if you're not doing a factory rebuild it doesn't matter at all. Set the pistons at zero deck, closed chamber aluminum heads and set the quench with the head gasket and the 360's will win out. No replacement for displacement as they say. The only way I'd build a 340 over a 360 is if it was the numbers matching engine for the car. Folks are nostalgic about them, but it doesn't mean anything other than a higher build price if it's not the original engine for the car.
 
People ask alot for a 340 just because it's a 340.......it's some kind of ooohh, aahh mystic, just like a Hemi. There are people who will step over a perfectly good 360 and buy an over priced clapped out 340 just because it's a 340.

Then there is the eternal 340 vrs 360 debate, that the 360 is a junk smog engine, that will never make any power, that the 340 is so much better as it came out of the factory as a high performance engine. You can't convince people that 20 more cubic inches can be 20 more horse power.
 
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