'71 Duster 440 or 360? Pros and cons

res1vw21 said

Go big or go home, with aluminum heads water pump housing and intake the 440 wont be any heavier then the 360. If you want to stroke something you can make the 440 over 500ci.... Personally I would just do a nice higher compression 440 with the light weight parts on it.

Click to expand...

IMO anyone new to big block A-bodies and on a budget should start close to stock. Foolproof combos, cheaper initial build, bolt-on chassis mods. Seen it many times where guys spend all kinds of money on expensive parts for some killer engine and it runs like crap cause they don't know what parts work together and can't even tune the damn thing.

Regarding aluminum, the intake is a no-brainer, and water pump housing I agree on. Heads depends on his budget I guess...but i got the impression he already had alot on his plate as far as car projects.