1973 360 upgrades

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85D150

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I’m going to be picking up a 1985 D150 with a 1973 360 in it. Owner claims the following

Newly rebuilt 1973 360 built with hastings moly rings, and king racing engine bearings, has a summit racing billet distributor and ignition box good for shift points up to 6500 rpm, small RV can do not know the specs on the cam other than that. Reused stock pistons.
Has dual exhaust with the factory exhaust manifolds. And still the factory intake with a 2 barrel carb.
My questions are what can I do to make more power with this? Headers? Obviously a 4 barrel swap. What intake should I use? And carb? Thinking about maybe a 625 Street Demon Carb? Would like to make more power but stay on a tight budget.

Would maybe do a cam swap in the future? Don’t know if I have the skills to do that though. Truck also has a suregrip don’t know the gear ratio and a 727 tranny. Wanna make it a fun truck. Another thing would I be better off just putting a 5.9 Mag in it- converted over to carb? I can do the intake swap. Any suggestions highly appreciated!!!!!!
 
I’m not opposed to spending the money on a new intake that makes power and would be good with a cam swap down the road also
 
2 big questions, what are your power goals/intended use? How big or how tight is your budget?
IMO an aluminum intake (maybe edelbrock performer rpm or similar dual plane) and a new 4bbl carb and maybe headers (not as necessary) should make a really torquey bottom end motor good for a truck on a minimal budget. I have a similar setup in my dart and I can get around most places faster than my jeep without ever really needing to go more than 3k rpm
With enough budget then go with a big cam and the right intake for it you can move your power band up a little to make it more hi rpm friendly and performance oriented
 
Projectile Dart said:
2 big questions, what are your power goals/intended use? How big or how tight is your budget?
IMO an aluminum intake (maybe edelbrock performer rpm or similar dual plane) and a new 4bbl carb and maybe headers (not as necessary) should make a really torquey bottom end motor good for a truck on a minimal budget. I have a similar setup in my dart and I can get around most places faster than my jeep without ever really needing to go more than 3k rpm
With enough budget then go with a big cam and the right intake for it you can move your power band up a little to make it more hi rpm friendly and performance oriented
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My goals for the truck is a fun street driven truck and maybe an occasional 1/4 mile pass. Budget will be tight at first. But will get better down the road. I can probably spend about $1000-$1500 on it right now
 
Intake is easy, rpm or rpm airgap. Budget is stock 71 340 manifold but with that nose heavy truck
you would gain with an aluminum intake. Then headers.
After that I would start setting up the suspension for street/strip.
 
Stock pistons is the hangup- you need to get some compression going. Some thin head gaskets like the Mr. Gasket 1121G s (.028 compressed) will help some.
With that mild RV cam and stock heads, a factory 4 bbl. manifold with carb of your choice (I'm kinda partial to TQs) should be plenty. An Eddy Performer or Weiand Action Plus or Stealth would be good choices, too. They flow plenty good for your heads and cam and can be found used pretty reasonably.
As long as you have decent duals right now, headers would be last on my list- and probably if and when you do a cam swap down the road.
 
I’d just drive it, build a list of parts, then start collecting them. Winter project.

Set a goal of 1/4 mile time you want, then post your tire size, gear ratio, weight and ask for a cam recommendation.

On a budget, it takes time to get the truck/car how you want it. There a never ending money pit, wait mean investment…
 
Scody21 said:
I’d just drive it, build a list of parts, then start collecting them. Winter project.

Set a goal of 1/4 mile time you want, then post your tire size, gear ratio, weight and ask for a cam recommendation.

On a budget, it takes time to get the truck/car how you want it. There a never ending money pit, wait mean investment…
Click to expand...
No since in upgrading to a 4 barrel then now? I could also just get a 5.9 Mag and convert it to carb and throw in there but I was hoping to just use this.
 
I wonder if a bone stock 5.9 Mag would make more power than the 360 La I have? Would convert either one to a 4 barrel.
 
85D150 said:
I wonder if a bone stock 5.9 Mag would make more power than the 360 La I have? Would convert either one to a 4 barrel.
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I don't believe you'd see any noticeable gain with a stock 5.9 over your 360. Quite possibly the opposite, since the cam is unknown.
 
Search engine builds on here by member @IQ52. He shows first hand that you do not need high compression to make power. His builds usually include very professionally ported heads, but with good parts choices, you can make very respectable power with stock ports. I would do the mods you've said and see what happens. With one caveat. Use headers and the 750 Street Demon instead. A 360 will suck that carburetor down like a Hollywood hooker.
 
If you have a freshly rebuilt 360, No use in swapping it for a magnum now.
With $1000 – $1500 to spend get an Eddie Airgap, 600-650 carb of your choice and see the difference. If you want more performance, get headers and look into a free-flowing exhaust setup. Everything on this list should be in your budget if you find good deals.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Search engine builds on here by member @IQ52. He shows first hand that you do not need high compression to make power. His builds usually include very professionally ported heads, but with good parts choices, you can make very respectable power with stock ports. I would do the mods you've said and see what happens. With one caveat. Use headers and the 750 Street Demon instead. A 360 will suck that carburetor down like a Hollywood hooker.
Click to expand...
What intake would u recommend?
 
Topless69 said:
If you have a freshly rebuilt 360, No use in swapping it for a magnum now.
With $1000 – $1500 to spend get an Eddie Airgap, 600-650 carb of your choice and see the difference. If you want more performance, get headers and look into a free-flowing exhaust setup. Everything on this list should be in your budget if you find good deals.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. It’s been rebuilt but basically just bearings and gaskets….. he says small rv cam but I’m just gonna say a stock cam. I will upgrade the cam at somepoint
 
Eddy Air gap or Weiand Action plus intake with 4 barrel carb(the 625 Holley Demon would do nicely).. then headers.

My2c.
 
Just keep in mind, even the 73 low compression 340 came with an 850 Thermoquad. A 360 will take a 750 street demon and not even blink.
 
What would be my best options for a throttle cable and kick down cable for this swap? This is currently a 2 barrel so I’m assuming that the stock set up will not work on the Demon carb and aftermarket 4 barrel intake.

I’m gonna go with a street Demon carb don’t know whether to go 625 or 750 and I’m leaning toward a aftermarket clone air gap.
 
I agree with TripleR but I would look for a used one. Something about setting a new manifold on an old engine doesn't trip my trigger?

As far as carb recommendations, with the price of gas now, I'd get a used Edlebrock 600 that you has been gone through and don't look back.

If you feel you need to replace the throttle cable and kick down, I'd recommend the Lokar set up. You can get them from internet with black casing on them and the work smooth as glass when adjusted properly.
 
I’d buy a used airgap before I buy a clone. They can be found easily.

I said what I said, as to save your money and collect parts because it’s a system and all the parts and adjustments to the system matter. Most people think that just slapping on an intake, carb and headers is going to give them more power, yeah you might see a little gain. And it will breath better, but you could also go the other way and just spent 1000 bucks and still have to make changes.

The best thing you can do is Plan, buy some parts Plan, Plan, buy some parts, ask the guys questions. Weight your ride, find out what gearing you want somewhere in the 3.23 to 4.10 range, tire size, have a cam ground, Plan, buy some parts, pick up some pistons, some heads, have them ported, and then have yourself a nice 400 HP 360 that friendly, and has some balls. It’s very easy when you Plan it out.

Lokar / other aftermarket cables are OK,
 
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