Stock 360 Upgrades for Crusher Cuda?

yellow rose said
I don’t know what the 051 head is, but if it’s an open chamber the piston needs to come out of the deck. I’m not a fan of milling a bunch off the heads. It makes gasket sealing tough.

Also, 10:1 compression ratio is a good starting point. Don’t buy an off the shelf cam. Don’t buy an off the shelf computer. Buy a Holley clone that is a double pumper and learn to tune it. You have enough gear to run a Strip Dominator or an M1. Do it

Your biggest issue will be headers. There ain’t a header worth a single crap out there for that chassis. Not one. I haven’t seen an off the shelf header that wasn’t 40 HP or more off a decent header.

My last race car was a 64 Barracuda. I made 2 sets of headers for it, and paid a guy to make the last set. Of course, I had a lift off fiberglass front end and no inner fenders so I had some room.

If you have the option of using a 67-75 or 76 A body, I’d use it just so I could buy headers.

And I love the early A’s. They just don’t have any room.

Hey Yellow Rose,

Have you seen these from TTI ? Specifically made for this chassis. With your tech expertise I'd like your opinion as I'm considering a similar project with an early a-body convertible.

header #636A

63-66 A-BODY 1-5/8" x 1-3/4" SMALL BLOCK STEP HEADERS

FEATURES

Design: 63-66 A-body chassis

Primary tube size: 1-5/8" O.D.

Secondary tube size: 1-3/4" O.D.

Collector size: 3" with 3" 3-bolt flange.

Flanges: 3/8" thick, laser-cut, contoured for a leak free fit.

Material: Constructed of 16 gauge mild steel tubing. Mandrel bent on sophisticated computer controlled bending machines for precise fit and uninterrupted exhaust flow. The mandrel bending process maintains a constant inside diameter of the tube for a smoother finish with no restriction of flow and no crimping of the tubes.

Step design: Provides low-end response and top-end horsepower gain.

One piece design: One piece header tubes / No slip tubes.

Under chassis design: Above the steering center link design offers maximum header to ground clearance.

Full length header design: Proven power gain vs. shorty design.

Recommended for: 320-575 horsepower.

Header set includes: Header gaskets, 12 header bolts, header reducer adapters with 3-bolt