Looking for opinions on low budget 360 build

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Bl1zzard

Bl1zzard

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Hey folks,

I know asking for opinions are going to get me slammed with 700 different options, but I value your knowledge, so let me have it. The PO told me this was a fresh rebuild, it wasn't as you see by the pictures. I've only put 700 miles on it since we bought it. Also the PO apparently painted it while it was open, there is orange paint everywhere on the inside. There are also mismatched bolts everywhere, some I'm not sure are even automotive grade.

Some of you may have seen my other posts with the badly running 360, then me talking about making a 408 stroker out of it. Well, we've done the costing including machine shop work and it comes out to richer that I care to even talk to my wife about. So, a budget 360 rebuild it is.

Here's what I have to work with, 1975 casting 360 block and heads, all stock guts, Edelbrock intake. #6 cylinder is a problem with scoring and pitting, it will have to be bored to fix it. I need to send the block to be steam cleaned, inspected and prepped for the rebuild.

I'll attach some pictures of stuff I've found to be worn out. Front cam bearing, crank bearings, rod bearings, some of the lifter rods.

Does the camshaft look ok? How about the crank? Pistons? Heads? Lifters? I'm not sure what to look for on those or do I need to clean it all up first? If I have to have the block bored out, then the pistons don't matter, but I should be able to reuse the rods, right?

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Bl1zzard said:
Hey folks,

I know asking for opinions are going to get me slammed with 700 different options, but I value your knowledge, so let me have it. The PO told me this was a fresh rebuild, it wasn't as you see by the pictures. I've only put 700 miles on it since we bought it. Also the PO apparently painted it while it was open, there is orange paint everywhere on the inside. There are also mismatched bolts everywhere, some I'm not sure are even automotive grade.

Some of you may have seen my other posts with the badly running 360, then me talking about making a 408 stroker out of it. Well, we've done the costing including machine shop work and it comes out to richer that I care to even talk to my wife about. So, a budget 360 rebuild it is.

Here's what I have to work with, 1975 casting 360 block and heads, all stock guts, Edelbrock intake. #6 cylinder is a problem with scoring and pitting, it will have to be bored to fix it. I need to send the block to be steam cleaned, inspected and prepped for the rebuild.

I'll attach some pictures of stuff I've found to be worn out. Front cam bearing, crank bearings, rod bearings, some of the lifter rods.

Does the camshaft look ok? How about the crank? Pistons? Heads? Lifters? I'm not sure what to look for on those or do I need to clean it all up first? If I have to have the block bored out, then the pistons don't matter, but I should be able to reuse the rods, right?

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Dyno-Test 360 Smog Motor - Mopar Muscle Magazine

Magazine Builds

 
Bl1zzard said:
LOL, funny but no. I'm thinking of the ~$300 rebuild kit, if the other parts are ok enough to use.
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You don’t have enough useable parts for a 300 buck kit.

You for sure need a cam and lifters. I don’t like the looks of the rocker shafts, and as bad as they look, I doubt the rockers are any good. And one end of the pushrods are blue. That’s heat from lack of oil.

You need to gets eyes on it from someone who looks at this stuff regularly. A plug may be missing somewhere, a plug may be installed somewhere it shouldn’t, who knows.

Something ain’t right. I’d mic the crank and see what size it actually is, and see if it will polish up.

EDIT: I wasn’t looking at the rocker shaft. That’s was a close up of the pushrods. I hate looking at pictures. You need to look at the shafts and rockers and see what they look like.
 
yellow rose said:
You don’t have enough useable parts for a 300 buck kit.

You for sure need a cam and lifters. I don’t like the looks of the rocker shafts, and as bad as they look, I doubt the rockers are any good. And one end of the pushrods are blue. That’s heat from lack of oil.

You need to gets eyes on it from someone who looks at this stuff regularly. A plug may be missing somewhere, a plug may be installed somewhere it shouldn’t, who knows.

Something ain’t right. I’d mic the crank and see what size it actually is, and see if it will polish up.

EDIT: I wasn’t looking at the rocker shaft. That’s was a close up of the pushrods. I hate looking at pictures. You need to look at the shafts and rockers and see what they look like.
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I wouldn't doubt oil wasn't getting where it needed to be with all the orange paint plugging up the oil pump pick-up screen.

The kit I'm looking at is $365 Canadian. It includes.

Federal Mogul stock style Camshaft
Federal Mogul stock style Lifters
Melling stock style Timing set
Federal Mogul stock style Pistons
Perfect Circle stock style Piston Rings
Federal Mogul stock style Rod Bearings
Federal Mogul stock style Main Bearings
Durabond stock style Cam Bearings
Melling stock style Oil Pump
Melling stock style Frost Plugs
Victor stock style Gasket Set
 
The thrust face of the main bearing is pretty worn. The crankshaft looks to be in decent shape but needs to be measured and polished. 65'
 
Take a look here; you see that ridge at the top being about .25 inch or more high and bronze colored. That, by itself, is not a problem. It appears that someone ran a glaze-buster thru the cylinder. That also by itself is not a problem,even tho it was poorly done.
But look at the untouched area just below the ridge and just above the scratchy area. That's a problem.
Recall that this is the space where your engine is supposed to have compressed the mixture to the max, and the ignition system has lit it off. The pressure is building and the piston is dwelling there as it changes directions. That pressure is desperate to escape, and sees that as an escape route. The top ring has expanded into there, and the gap has opened up. So, whoosh the pressure heads for the crankcase, and it's on fire.
I haven't seen the pistons but I bet the sides show the evidence of the burned oil, proving this is what is happening. Supporting evidence would be black oil.
The bottom line is that engine need to be bored, and new rings/pistons installed. That will simultaneously get rid of the ridges, the watermarks, and she'll get a proper crosshatch for oil-retention.
Since you now know this, whatever shop you take it to, might, for a few bucks, put the entire short block together for you. Then when you get it back, you get to take it apart and check their work.

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Probably the cheapest thing you could do is find a running Magnum engine swapped to 4bbl makes 300-320hp depending on manifolds or headers, add cam for 350-400 hp.
 
273 said:
Probably the cheapest thing you could do is find a running Magnum engine swapped to 4bbl makes 300-320hp depending on manifolds or headers, add cam for 350-400 hp.
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My man killed it in this post here! No doubt.
However! IF - IF you want to rebuild what you have because you want to.... then a full kit should be ordered. Call Summit for there basic rebuild mits that includes everything. You’ll need to take the block and crank to the machinist o know how big the cylinder bore will be and what size crank bearings to order in the kit. Summit can also swap out pistons for the cost difference.

Then order the cam, lifters & pushrods (in stock length) and assemble it.

If you do the Magnum route, sell the LA part by part to recoupe the some of the cost. If not all of it.
 
Bl1zzard said:
LOL, funny but no. I'm thinking of the ~$300 rebuild kit, if the other parts are ok enough to use.
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There is no 300 dollar rebuild anymore. Not even for a small block Chevy. @318willrun can probably give you some good ideas though.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Take a look here; you see that ridge at the top being about .25 inch or more high and bronze colored. That, by itself, is not a problem. It appears that someone ran a glaze-buster thru the cylinder. That also by itself is not a problem,even tho it was poorly done.
But look at the untouched area just below the ridge and just above the scratchy area. That's a problem.
Recall that this is the space where your engine is supposed to have compressed the mixture to the max, and the ignition system has lit it off. The pressure is building and the piston is dwelling there as it changes directions. That pressure is desperate to escape, and sees that as an escape route. The top ring has expanded into there, and the gap has opened up. So, whoosh the pressure heads for the crankcase, and it's on fire.
I haven't seen the pistons but I bet the sides show the evidence of the burned oil, proving this is what is happening. Supporting evidence would be black oil.
The bottom line is that engine need to be bored, and new rings/pistons installed. That will simultaneously get rid of the ridges, the watermarks, and she'll get a proper crosshatch for oil-retention.
Since you now know this, whatever shop you take it to, might, for a few bucks, put the entire short block together for you. Then when you get it back, you get to take it apart and check their work.

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Yup. Perfect example of what we were talking about in the thread about honing. That cylinder is out of round. He might could get by honing it if he was running a forged piston, but it needs boring.
 
It will be hard for what you need to stay at 300.... If you had a good running 360 then 300 could really perk it up
 
318willrun said:
It will be hard for what you need to stay at 300.... If you had a good running 360 then 300 could really perk it up
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Thanks guys,
I'm not looking to stay at $300, just starting with the $365 kit plus machining costs (good point about bringing the crank too, rumblefish). I just can't spend thousands, maybe $1500 all in. I dream of new heads, roller lifters, etc...but those I think are a dream for me and my wallet.
 
I was hoping to keep my 400 build under 1500 but when I eclipsed 2K I just said "screw it" I'm not even keepin track anymore. Well I am, but I'm just gonna build it and get it done. Surprisingly Kitty looked at me and said "screw it, it's a big block, aren't they more expensive anyway?" She's catchin on. lol
 
RustyRatRod said:
I was hoping to keep my 400 build under 1500 but when I eclipsed 2K I just said "screw it" I'm not even keepin track anymore. Well I am, but I'm just gonna build it and get it done. Surprisingly Kitty looked at me and said "screw it, it's a big block, aren't they more expensive anyway?" She's catchin on. lol
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I made a serious mistake when I told my wife, "I've now put in what I paid for the Dart so it's doubled in value". That was before the engine went, now it's hat in hand looking sheepish.
 
Bl1zzard said:
Thanks guys,
I'm not looking to stay at $300, just starting with the $365 kit plus machining costs (good point about bringing the crank too, rumblefish). I just can't spend thousands, maybe $1500 all in. I dream of new heads, roller lifters, etc...but those I think are a dream for me and my wallet.
Click to expand...
1500 should get you a reasonable rebuild. basic but useable.
 
After just visually looking at the pictures. That cam an lifters are junk so is the crank. It needs to be bored. You can buy new rods cheaper than it would be to resize yours. The Heads look like they would need everything. You would be better off looking for a good untouched dry LA 360 motor from a "U pull it" yard. Get one from a truck. Put a new timing chain. your pan , pick up , new oil pump. intake and mounts on it.

You could get it running good under $500. ad $200 for cam and lifters . Sounds like you just need a good motor. You got taken on that motor once don't take yourself and waist more money. Its Junk from what I can see and what you said. Just looking at the crank you can see the miles. The cylinders look like they were scuffed up and reassembled. The motor looks like it was assembled on a dirt floor

Well that's my opinion. Sorry

Get one that's clean inside and nobody had there fingers in it. You can't make perfume out of ****. Well you could but it still wouldn't smell good in the end
 
Bl1zzard said:
Thanks guys,
I'm not looking to stay at $300, just starting with the $365 kit plus machining costs (good point about bringing the crank too, rumblefish). I just can't spend thousands, maybe $1500 all in. I dream of new heads, roller lifters, etc...but those I think are a dream for me and my wallet.
Click to expand...
On a strict budget, cut the heads about .040 and make sure the valves are sealed, install a cheap cam (like summit) with around .455 lift and 272 duration 110 centerline, a set of cheap headers and let her rip
 
Bl1zzard said:
I just can't spend thousands, maybe $1500 all in. I dream of new heads, roller lifters, etc...but those I think are a dream for me and my wallet.
Click to expand...
I did my 340 & 360 short block for around that price tag.
fishmens67 said:
1500 should get you a reasonable rebuild. basic but useable.
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Yup!

318WR suggest cam is a good one for stock running gear. A lot of about camshaft specs and size is wrapped up in what your doing, draw weight, rear gear and tire size and IF a new converter is in the cards.

Don’t dream of a roller tappet. A good solid is all your going to need. Dream of cylinder heads another time.
 
You’ll be lucky if you can get the machining done in Canada for $1500...never mind parts. You should look for good running used engine...
 
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