Which year or years 360 is best

There is no "better" or "worse". Only ones that will work for what you want, and the rest. If you plan for a hydraulic roller, start with the 88-92 LA roller blocks. IMO, these tend to have teh best casting quality in terms of core shift and thickness. I've seen '71 casting 360s that were paper thin because the casting job sucked (core shift) and I've seen late 80s that could be bored to 4.10 safely. Again, all depends on the casting job. Not the casting core, but the actual pouring. Like Joe said - Have anything you look at tested. I bought a good sonic tester and it really opened my eyes to the BS that "tradition" and magazines and authors say on big and small blocks. IF you have to have "the strongest", you will have to test more than one or two. I've had 3 blocks over the years that I sleeved one to three holes because the bores would have been too thin for a stroker at .030 over factory. Too thin for me is less than .150" thick after finishing on the major thrust. If that spec is raised to .200 or thicker, at least 50% of the blocks you test will fail.