AJ's Opinion; my super-fun, 360/A-833/3.55 street-combo

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>>BTW my experience; I had my decks cut twice each time by a different machine shop. They both said they were well able to do it right.
The first shop could not do it right. After careful measuring I found the one deck going uphill to the back and the other downhill. And for good measure they were not at 90* to eachother. Bolting down a cast-iron intake was not going to seal.
The second machine shop said the could fix that and they did. But they told me my one year old bores were all screwed up. Since those were sublet by the first machine shop, I didn't doubt it. But they added that they couldn't fix it unless they also line-honed it.
So, ok I said, do what you gotta do.
Well they "fixed" the holes ok and it only cost a thou to a thou and a half so ok File-fits it was. What I didn't know was that the "line-hone" had relocated the back of my crank up higher in the block, and now the factory seal barely touched the crank. I found this out a couple of months later when it started to leak. Not thinking much about it I just replaced it. But it happened again, of course, and this time I had a better look and sure enough the one half seal was worn out and the other was barely touched. And that matched the first pair. Being a fair guy, I brought the evidence back to the machine shop where I got the usual song and dance. But he was a fair guy too! He said I should bring him another 360 block, and he would fix it for nothing. Great I said, but who pays for the second block, and what about the boring and decking? Well no, he wasn't that fair....
So then, thanks but no thanks was my response. Well, actually, I think I said something like, so you want me to trust you not to ef up another block, and I gotta do it on my dime? No thanks.
Yeah it went something like that.
Here's the thing; all three shops are highly recognized builders in the area, and all three said they could do it...... but all three were wrong. So here's my advice to anyone building a 360 engine; do as little machining as possible and trust no one. So just leave the pistons down in the holes. Forget about them, and use the darn .028 gaskets. Or, just order slightly longer rods to get you where you want to be.
Ok so time to wrap it up;
What did I miss?
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you a few other things;
1) I did the oiling mods, all but the crossover under the intake thing.
2) I run a Milodon 7qt roadrace pan with the sides bumped out. But most of the time I run less than 7 qts in it. I bought it just to get the oil away from the crank. And I run the matching Milodon oil pick-up, the tray, and a HV pump. The HV pump gives me freedom to fool around with other oiling mods. But with all this oil moving around, there still wasn't enough going to my aluminum rocker arms so I had to send more to the heads.
3) Well the Edelbrocks have poor drainage, so I had to dig some channels. That got me thinking about my camlobes so I drilled a series of holes between each pair of lifters. Yeah I know, that's no where close to the lobes ........ when the engine is on the stand. But whatabout when the engine is installed and reving 7000 rpm? You got any idea where that oil is going? Me either, but I don't see it in the pockets any more, lol.
4) Hyup, I got oil spraying on my timing chain too. and you remember those pizz-holes in the rods that spray oil on the cylinders? HYUP they're doing a fine job now.
And so on. Oh the things you can do with an HV pump.
5) Alloy heads can run at higher pressures because they pull heat out of the chambers. So it's more like you HAVE to run alloys at higher pressures and or temperatures, just to break even, and some tests on dynos seem to prove that. To try to combat that, I painted thechit out of my heads, and I run my cooling system at 207*F full time. It's hard to argue with 93 in the Eighth.
6) I moved my air intake to above the hood, just cuz. lol. I've never had trouble with hot fuel, but with running 87E10 I get the fuel-disappearing-act about once a week. But with the DP carb, the AirGap, and hi-volume pump, it still always starts.
7) ignition timing will be a thing. If you're used to iron heads, forget everything you ever knew about timing; it does not apply to a 180/190psi clutch street car.
8) speaking of clutches; I like my CenterForce diaphragm pressure plate. But not the CF-II disc; she's a kidney buster. I went back to a stock factory 340 double-organic disc. They don't last very long, between one and three summers, but it only takes a an hour or so to swap it out. Mine usually crack the hubs or throw springs, making them vibrate. But the 367 has torn a few frictions off as well. One day I was thinking about this and it came to me, since the CF has flyweights, and my tires just spin anyway, why do I need all this clampload? Well it didn't take me long to dial in some slip for low-rpm engagement. I just installed some spacers between the PP and the flywheel, until I liked it. So now she's a dump-it-and-go deal. I just give the flywheel a lil rpm and more or less dump the clutch, and away we go. If I'm in a hurry I just rev it up until the flyweights are out and pow! tirespin, lol. As a bonus, my factory 340 discs last a lot longer now.

Ok so if you have questions fire away.