360 pros & cons vs 318

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huh Ive been the other way over the years, I haven't ever had a vehicle that "couldn't" do what I needed, where just dumping in a 360 in place of a 318, would have made the difference..... the mid 70s and early 80s 360s I have had have been gas sucking pigs..... Ive had cars that ran better after swapping a 318 in in place of a 360.... always had a "plan" that I thought could "fix" a 360 but have never had the opportunity to do it.... those dished pistons and low CR I believe is the 360's biggest handicap. I never understood why every 360 I have ever seen has had dished pistons and no 318 that I have ever seen, has had them... not that the 318s were "zero deck" or anything but it seems like Chrysler in their ultimate wisdom handicapped the 360s from the get go. especially in the 80s where their "heavy duty" engines were even listed at 7.some to 1 CR....
I would like to rebuild a 360 some day with flat tops that actually come close to zero deck, add a bit of cam and see what that does to it.
 
volaredon said:
huh Ive been the other way over the years, I haven't ever had a vehicle that "couldn't" do what I needed, where just dumping in a 360 in place of a 318, would have made the difference..... the mid 70s and early 80s 360s I have had have been gas sucking pigs..... Ive had cars that ran better after swapping a 318 in in place of a 360.... always had a "plan" that I thought could "fix" a 360 but have never had the opportunity to do it.... those dished pistons and low CR I believe is the 360's biggest handicap. I never understood why every 360 I have ever seen has had dished pistons and no 318 that I have ever seen, has had them... not that the 318s were "zero deck" or anything but it seems like Chrysler in their ultimate wisdom handicapped the 360s from the get go. especially in the 80s where their "heavy duty" engines were even listed at 7.some to 1 CR....
I would like to rebuild a 360 some day with flat tops that actually come close to zero deck, add a bit of cam and see what that does to it.
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Bigger engines build CR easier, so they need dish pistons, both have about the same CR.
 
pittsburghracer said:
I have been offered 318’s for free, even delivered to my house and I wouldn’t take them. I was soured on them many years ago (1970’s) when I beat them easily with my 6 cylinder Ford Maverick. And I mean a lot of them and by a lot. 360’s are cheap and 42 cubic inches bigger.
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It's not the 318. If you can't build a 318 to beat a ford 6 cylinder you should go home. I was the opposite of you, I used the 360 heads and sold the rest of the 360's to other people. I kept the engines I liked, 273's, 340's, a couple 318's, and a few big blocks. Power is mainly a function of air flow, not cubic inches. Never had a problem beating Ford 6 cylinders with my 170 /6, not stock. Never raced a Ford 6 with one of my V8's, what would be the point.
 
66fs said:
It's not the 318. If you can't build a 318 to beat a ford 6 cylinder you should go home. I was the opposite of you, I used the 360 heads and sold the rest of the 360's to other people. I kept the engines I liked, 273's, 340's, a couple 318's, and a few big blocks. Power is mainly a function of air flow, not cubic inches. Never had a problem beating Ford 6 cylinders with my 170 /6, not stock. Never raced a Ford 6 with one of my V8's, what would be the point.
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I've had several 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks with the 318 and loved em. The last 318 I had on a truck (not counting the Dakotas with the magnum I put magnum heads on, a stock 360 2 barrel cam a performer intake and carb with hooker super comps the stock untouched 125k mile short block and it pulled like a freight train.
Funny thing was it was actually really good on gas too. Plain old 727 non lockup, and just for $#1ts and giggles I tried a 1/2 tank of E85 in it with a 1/2 tank of 87 and that truck loved it. I thought it would fall on it's face and I'd have to have my kid come after me with the ramcharger and tow strap but it surprised me
 
What is that supposed to mean?
In the past I have pulled out a couple of/6s in favor of 318s, but my most recent truck buy was an 85 D 150 with you guessed it, a /6. And I don't know why but I'm inclined to keep it a /6. Even though I have 2 ea 318 and 360 magnum short blocks in the garage and a low miles motorhome 440 sitting here.
I don't have an extra small block trans, or small (or big for that matter) truck motor mounts or radiator right now, and money saved by not searching for and buying those parts means more that I can put into the engine. Stock mid 80s 360s we're such weak noodles compared to the heyday that I am pretty sure that I can get a/6 to at least equal the power of a "stock" mid 80s 360. Though my truck runs and drives as is I have an earlier Forged crank/6 block in the machine shop as we speak, getting ready to do the "Tim Taylor" more power treatment to. Unless they come back with terminal bad news about the block. Then I'll be using one of the V8s that I have.
Though I don't currently have a good set of uncracked heads for any of the magnums I have short blocks for.
 
pittsburghracer said:
I have been offered 318’s for free, even delivered to my house and I wouldn’t take them. I was soured on them many years ago (1970’s) when I beat them easily with my 6 cylinder Ford Maverick. And I mean a lot of them and by a lot. 360’s are cheap and 42 cubic inches bigger.
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I see where you are coming from, but have you built a 318 yourself, as in properly? The stock 318 had a broomstick for a camshaft and a pitifully small BBD to get it's fuel. The 318's you raced, do you know if they were stock, modified, modified poorly? hehe
 
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I’ll take the 360 every time, just like I’ll take a 440 over a 383 every time. If you have both it costs pretty much the same to rebuild either one and honestly 360 cores are pretty cheap. So why not start out with a bigger pump?
 
well that chance to build a 360 as I believe it needs to be, and get rid of the factory handicap might have just popped up.... will talk about that elsewhere

but/ stock for stock, as-built by Mopar if Im looking at buying one, and 2 of the same vehicle popped up/ otherwise pretty much the same thing, same price and condition, only 1 was 318 and one was 360, I think I'd still take a 318..
modified, though, I can see "on paper" anyways, where a 360 could have some perks...... but modified can mean just about anything, so that just opens a huge can o' worms.
 
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