360 Crate Engine enhancements

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bigtooth

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So I have a MP 360 Magnum Crate engine. Its the 390 HP version with the R/T heads and 9:1 CR.
cam: 230°/234° @ .050" 0.501"/0.513" Lift and it has the M1 single plain intake on it.

The engine still seems to run strong and be in good shape, but of course more is always better, I guess I caught the bug.

So my questions is, with the colder months approaching what would be some options in increasing the performance of this engine, if any?

More compression? Different pistons?

obviously stroking it out, but that's prob. not in the budget this year.

I was thinking perhaps a paxton supercharger, but I think that would mean a cam swap also. I believe the LSA is 108*, but could the rest of the engine in current form support it?

Just looking for any ideas, thanks! :study:
 
Pull the heads. Have someone massage them real good. Maybe a slightly bigger hyd roller cam from somewhere like Hughes or a Lunati VooDoo. Gasket match and or port the intake. Upgrade carb and ignition if need be and buy some dynomtime and tune tune tunemtill it's razor sharp! Next step may be pistons if you want to bump compression....but all depends on how crazy you wanna get and how much you wanna spend.


Then there's always nitrous....:burnout:
 
Beatnik nailed it. PM MRL,OU812,IQ52. All have excellent experience here.
 
headwork or change them to somthing that flows better.....rpm airgap instead ofte m1
 
The first problem here *I think* is that you mentioned you have R/T heads. The create engines did not come with R/T heads but regular heads. If your head(s) do not have a R/T cast into it, the. They are regular heads.

The R/T head is a nice upgrade over a stock head when ported but there are cheaper routes than the MoPar R/T head to use.

This engine lacks a little compression being a 9-1 ratio as advertised by MoPar. There cam is a nice street grind though you can get a stouter cam else where without much of a change in the operating RPM range the current cam has now.

As mentioned before, porting the head is good. But I would not change to a RPM. The single plane is only a tick behind torque production and equals the HP output of the Edelbrock. The full potential of the intake will not be realized on the current engine as is. The single plane has the potential to propel the car faster than the Edelbrock RPM.

We have a few fellas here that run in the 10's with the Edelbrock. It's no slouch! And the same words for the M-1! there are a couple
Of threads going on now that are a out swapping these two intakes. One about a Weiand dual plane Intake swap.

Look for them. The cost of the swap is Danm near close to a total waste of money. I would only do it if I was racing for MONEY!
A d OT if there was an actual bennifit to my combo!
 
Thanks guys. So it sounds like there might be some options for a better cam for my setup, i'll start researching that.

The heads are stamped R/T. I believe the R/T heads was the difference between the 380HP and 390 HP version of the crate engine.

I have thought about trying an AIR gap, but havent pulled the trigger yet. I have also read in other threads to try a 4 hole spacer on my M-1.
 
The first problem here *I think* is that you mentioned you have R/T heads. The create engines did not come with R/T heads but regular heads. If your head(s) do not have a R/T cast into it, the. They are regular heads.

The last run of crate motors had the R/T head because Mopar stop casting the regular Magnums.

Head work would be my first thought. Maybe some Roller rockers. It depends on were you want to gain power, Down low ? Up high ? Mid range ? Maybe a converter or gear swap ? Whats your exhaust and ignition. Ive seen those crate 360 run 11s out of the box with the right chassis.
 
I would port the heads, and mill them .040 and a look into the thinnest mls gasket to try to get the CR up. Anything else bolt on like rockers or intake will only net you small gains and not worth the cost.
 
I love my RPM air gap intake. I agree with the higher compression if you want to go that far. Otherwise, porting the upper end and a nice hot cam will help as well. There are way too many cam threads for me to recommend one. But, if you want to have a lot of fun, stroke it, baby! I love my stroker.
 
I've got an MSD ignition in it. and 3.91 gears, that being said I'd love some more low end power, its a street car and I have some 3.23 i'd love to be able to run.

I've been checking out stroker kits, looks like around ~$1300 for the kits, more if I want/need a forged crank.
Can I run flat top pistons with my R/T heads? How does one go about edumacting themselves on these types of combo's? besides bugging you guys:newb:

Should I plan on a forged crank if/when I can afford a stroker kit?
Can the cam be re-used or would something a bit bigger be more appropriate.

I guess at this point, i'm leaning to the point of running it until I can afford the go fast parts.
 
With the 3.23 gears, I myself would run a tire under 26 inch's as not to big down the engine in having it struggle to turn a big wheel. A cam swap to a smaller one would up the torque, but not the HP.

If it is a street car, then a forged crank is not needed.
A roller cam can be reused over and over and over again, no problem.

1 question though, do your heads have a "R/T" cast into them?
 
They do rumble, I think you should be able to make it out in this picture.
I hear you on the smaller tire, but wouldnt that negate the gear swap?

What I was getting at with the cam is would it still be appropriate after a stroker kit?
 

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Yes on the cam.
The gear swap may make the engine chug getting into its power band. The lower numerical gear ratio is like choking a. Engine.
 
Bigger cam and pick one that has a grind compatable with a supercharger to leave the door open for later on. I have run several MPP 241/528 cams. That has a 112 centerline.
 
So I have a MP 360 Magnum Crate engine. Its the 390 HP version with the R/T heads and 9:1 CR.
cam: 230°/234° @ .050" 0.501"/0.513" Lift and it has the M1 single plain intake on it.

The engine still seems to run strong and be in good shape, but of course more is always better, I guess I caught the bug.

So my questions is, with the colder months approaching what would be some options in increasing the performance of this engine, if any?

More compression? Different pistons?

obviously stroking it out, but that's prob. not in the budget this year.

I was thinking perhaps a paxton supercharger, but I think that would mean a cam swap also. I believe the LSA is 108*, but could the rest of the engine in current form support it?

Just looking for any ideas, thanks! :study:
What times are you running? It's an easy high 11's combo but far from ideal.
 
With the stock pistons the milling and such is a big potential problem. Check this if you follow the posts on the net to determine you won't have a big mess.
 
I've got an MSD ignition in it. and 3.91 gears, that being said I'd love some more low end power, its a street car and I have some 3.23 i'd love to be able to run.

I've been checking out stroker kits, looks like around ~$1300 for the kits, more if I want/need a forged crank.
Can I run flat top pistons with my R/T heads? How does one go about edumacting themselves on these types of combo's? besides bugging you guys:newb:

Should I plan on a forged crank if/when I can afford a stroker kit?
Can the cam be re-used or would something a bit bigger be more appropriate.

I guess at this point, i'm leaning to the point of running it until I can afford the go fast parts.




$1,300.00? how much are you going to spend on a paxton unit?
 
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