360 build need info on parts

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otrsteve

otrsteve

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ok i just had given to me a 360 out of a 77 dodge van, dont know if half ton or what, im going to rebuild the engine and put it in my 68 dart replacing the 273. does anybody know where i can find info about these engines like power and specs and a good source of parts. was looking at PAW but they list parts for cars and trucks are they different, specifically the pistons, why would there be different pistons in a car than a truck, and would the 360 out of a van be considered a truck motor? wow thats a long paragraph, lol any help on 360 would help.
 
The 64,000 dollar question is; how much do you want to spend? If you are rebuilding the engine, it does not matter if it started life in a car or truck, horse power numbers are the same for both, around 170 SAE net.

To put the engine into a car, you will need a car oil pan and matching pick-up, and dip stick.

Northern Auto Parts (www.Northernautoparts.com) has an affordable kit for rebuilding, it is listed under their performance line, for $601.52. All you need is a block, crank and rods, you will get everything you need. When you change pistons you will need to ballance the assembly, pony up and ballance internally, you'll be light years ahead in the long run. For your heads, a good valve job and the guides are in spec, the 1.88 intakes are fine (you can collect more speeding tickets than you can afford), you don't have to change them to 2.02's. Throw the exhaust rotators away, get regular retainers and use the springs recomended by the cam manufacturer.

For an intake, you've got lots of choices: Edelbrock Performer, Performer RPM, RPM AIR-GAP(depends on hood clearance), Edelbrock LD340; carburator 600 to 750CFM Edelbrock or Holley, dictated by cam, intake choice, and driving style.

Hope this helps.
 
This will be a start, which also gets into the other Mopar small blocks also.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/318.html

You'll need a center sump passenger car oil pan & pick-up as well as a B&M flexplate for an original 360 if using a neutral balanced converter, or a corresponding OEM 360 converter.
Regular 360 and '93 and newer Magnum 360 engines are balanced differently and most parts do not interchange.

I believe car pistons were dished and truck/van pistons were flat. But they all had pretty low compression.

You can go to Summit and start customizing your search parameters for whatever oparts you want to check out. http://www.summitracing.com/

The block and heads are a good base to start with and you don't have to get carried away with high end performance parts to get good street performance out of it.
 
As far as parts sourcing goes, first get a plan together on exactly what you want/need to do with the engine. This way you know exactly what you want and can compare apples to apples.

Then shop around: Check this site, Moparts, Summit, Jegs, PAW, and of course, eBay. Also try loacl Swap Meets especially mixed brand one - Mopar stuff is hard to find/sell at Meets that are heavily Ford and/or Chevy, don't be afraid to ask for a discount. Odds are the vendor has been "lugging around" the Mopar items for awhile.
 
A plan to what end you want the engine to be is the first step and when you get this ideain your head, try as hard as you can not to change it, this cost money and lots of it.

Theres no real difference between car, van, truck and HD engines. The biggest difference you'll find are a double roller chain, windage tray and maybe a 340 cam in a 360 for the HP engines. Otherwise, theres no real difference.

Like it was said above, when you start building this engine, it will matter not where it cam from, what it did and how it was when you took it apart. It's the end result your looking for when your building this.

Bottom line. What is your goal?
 
rumblefish360 said:
A plan to what end you want the engine to be is the first step and when you get this ideain your head, try as hard as you can not to change it, this cost money and lots of it.
Click to expand...


Dang if that is not the truth! Like Rumble say's stick to the plan. Changing plans mid stream will most likely take you a few steps backward, which cost $$$$$ Been there done that a lot for some reason.
 
wow lots of great info, my goal is a powerful street, weekend driver but not so much power i start breaking stuff. 280 to 300 horse @ flywheel i reckon. but doing it on a budget of about 1000 bucks or less. i dont think its to unreasonable to ask that from the 360 considering the 273 thats in the car now was dynoed @ 270 when the previous owner built it using used parts and swap meet stuff. luckily i should be able to carry over the 273 holley strip dominator intake and the 750 vac. holley carb, along with the headers and electronic ignition. this is my first mopar build and really excited to do it. thanks guys
 
If I may offer my 2 cents.....A Holley Strip Dominator is not a good option for a street/strip 273. The manifold ports would overlap the head ports if the heads weren't opened up also. A dual plane intake would have definitely worked better on a 273 and , debatably, probably on a 360 also. Even if it was a Street Dominator intake, I think most would agree with a good dual plane.

Here is a 360 combo from Mopar Muscle. It's actually an exhaust comparison but can give you some ideas on what to do with or expect from a 360. It would also help if you could find a Mopar-knowledgable machine shop, or at least one that has a very good reputation for performance builds.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/...pp_0307_mopar_crate_engine_exhaust/index.html
 
thanks for the link. i dont know what all was done to the 273 the previous owner built it and all i know is its a screamer. though quarter mile times were not as impresive as i thought they would be, in the ballpark of low 14 with all stock susp. and full interior. anyways looks like the 360 maybe scraped its been bored 30 once and cyl. 4 has some pitting, can i bore it 60 with no problems, this the stuff i dont know about dodge.
 
otrsteve said:
wow lots of great info, my goal is a powerful street, weekend driver but not so much power i start breaking stuff. 280 to 300 horse @ flywheel i reckon. but doing it on a budget of about 1000 bucks or less. i dont think its to unreasonable to ask that from the 360 considering the 273 thats in the car now was dynoed @ 270 when the previous owner built it using used parts and swap meet stuff. luckily i should be able to carry over the 273 holley strip dominator intake and the 750 vac. holley carb, along with the headers and electronic ignition. this is my first mopar build and really excited to do it. thanks guys
Click to expand...

OH! OUCH! YIKES! OH!

Strip Dom! WOW! Umm, LOL, that intake starts it's power band @ 3,000+ RPM and goes to 7,000 no problem. WHEW! Strip Dom. on that engine, WOW!

At $1,000 bucks, your probably not going to get the short block rebuilt unless your doing almost all the work save machining of course. Better bank roll the war chest some.

A good thing is 300 HP flywheel is an easy feat for a 360. I'd start with a basic rebuild with decent pistons. Something like the KB-107 or the Federal Mougal cp116H which is very very similar to the KB. Summit has them set up with piston rings ready to go in a package.

On a cam, the 340 OE cam is the one or the upgraded version on a tighter centerline for the muscle car chop in the exhaust. Ethier cam with headers and a decent compression will make 300 no problem. Figureit this way, OE stock 340's were 270 HP. Adding headers will take it over 300. Even if the valve is small in the head. (AKA - 1.88 int.)

otrsteve said:
thanks for the link. i dont know what all was done to the 273 the previous owner built it and all i know is its a screamer. though quarter mile times were not as impresive as i thought they would be, in the ballpark of low 14 with all stock susp. and full interior. anyways looks like the 360 maybe scraped its been bored 30 once and cyl. 4 has some pitting, can i bore it 60 with no problems, this the stuff i dont know about dodge.
Click to expand...

You should be able to bore it .040, there are pistons for this. Ethier way, have your machinest sonic check it to be sure before you do anything. Build or scrap. .060 is possible if the sonic check, checks out OK. Less boreing is better.

IMO, trade the strip dom for a RPM/air-gap RPM or Stealth. Or purchase it outright and shelve the Holley intake for useage later. It is a very good old time intake. The MoPar M1 single plane is modeled after it and only a few HP better.
 
ok wow anybody need a intake, lol. i didnt put it on that engine, like i said swap meet parts motor. maybe i will swap it for a edelbroke. has anyone dealt with rpm machine they got a rebuild kit i was looking @ but dont know who they r or if there parts are good.
 
ok tore down the new 360 today, doesnt look good. #4 cyl. rusted bad, had to scrape and lube for an hour to unstick it. the pitting is pretty substantial. and its been board 30 already. im unsure if i will build it now or freshen my 273 as it already runs strong. what would jesus do.
 
Any pictures of the cylinders?? You would be Way happier with the end results of a the 360 instead of the 273!
 
not yet i tried to get some using a drop light and my cell phone couldnt tell what u r looking @ lol. im going to get some posted tomorrow after i get off work. thursday im going to take it to a local machine shop and see what they think. wonder could i sleeve it. however my budget started at 1000 now thinking closer to 2600 me doing all but machine. oooppss im not sticking to my plan lmao. oh the joys of toys.
 
pics of bad cyl cant really make out how deep they r. also the head pic was the cyl over bad one. rusty also. other pics for fun. lol

HPIM3601.jpg


HPIM3596.jpg


HPIM3598.jpg


HPIM3603.jpg


HPIM3608.jpg


HPIM3609.jpg


HPIM3610.jpg
 
more pics of the toy. also after looking today my intake is not a strip dom. it say street dominator. maybe a little better suited ill get beter pics when i clean the car up lol. poor thing looks pathetic now.

HPIM3607.jpg


HPIM3611.jpg


HPIM3605.jpg
 
I'd think that cylinder should clean up just fine, and you should be able to go to .060" with that block. Best to sonic check it if you do though.

This is a list of 10 different 360 buildups with dyno results. I like it because it gives you a ballpark idea of where you should end up HP wise based on your selection of parts...

http://www.mopar1.us/dyno.html
 
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