318 or 360 - What to Build

[junkyardhero]

Ahh I see. Well I will have to get new pistons and overall the heads on the 360 anyway, and I kinda figured I’d need a high stall TC. With the 4.10 gears.

To build a street machine what kind of build specs would I be looking at doing for compression, heads, intake carb, TC, ect.

Or even then am I chasing my tail trying to build the 360 around my purple cam?

if i was building a motor around a cam, that wouldn't be my first choice.

anyway, let's start with the usuals:

what are your expectations?
how do you plan on using/driving the car?
what is your budget?

the budget, ideally should be listed first because it dictates all. but i digress...

 

[1973_Swinger]

For sure,

as mentioned, this will be a street runner but I will be driving some highway to get to city, maybe the odd strip day.

Id like to be in the mid 300HP
likely going to O/D 4 speed it in the future (5 year + plan)
727 trans at the moment
4.10 rear end
budget.....????.... maybe around $2,500 = $3,500 including machine shop work or is that laughable? My first time diving into performance upgrades for a vehicle motor.

 

[1973_Swinger]

If someone can recommend a build thread of a previous member then I would gladly do my own reading on the subject matter, but oh man it has been quite overwhelming, there are a lot of build threads on here, all with good information. So forgive me for yet another engine building thread lol

 

[Professor Fate]

Yes ,,you’re right !
A friend of mine had one he bought brand new back then .
It would fly for that time period when almost nothing else would .

I wonder what Mopar did to those engines ?

Tommy

They were basically an E58 police pursuit engine (340 cam, 850 Thermoquad, windage tray, double roller timing chain, etc.) with some added dress-ups and modified for truck use (chrome valve covers, chrome dual-snorkel air cleaner, truck oil pan and pickup, etc.) and redesignated as the EH-1.
The original prototype used W2 heads and intake, but those were nixed for production.

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

Build the 360 w/ a 4" crank.
Internal balance, you won't regret it.
Drop some cheap aluminum heads on it and what it lacks in hp it will definitely make up for with tq.
3.58 already get terrible mileage, so why not get all the tire ripping you can. My 410 with a light foot would get near the same mph as my friends 360, but way more power. Cam is critical.

 

[volaredon]

That was it. The chrome made them run better

 

[273]

Heres a good video to show what some basic mods can do to a 360

 

[Dartswinger70]

If someone can recommend a build thread of a previous member then I would gladly do my own reading on the subject matter, but oh man it has been quite overwhelming, there are a lot of build threads on here, all with good information. So forgive me for yet another engine building thread lol

Oh no its ok its quite entertaining...truth be told these build threads go back years and back say about 2012 people were saying one thing and yet today they are saying a total opposite...its funny how the interwebz works and how the info gets twisted. Just for fun look up an old one Id venture to say you wont see too much "318 fluffing"...

 

[340six]

That was it. The chrome made them run better

I knew a guy we all called Skick Rick. He mostly did engine swaps with good used motors and transmissions.
He always talked motors quality and conditions up.
Did stand by his work, almost always had a smoke and after 11 maybe 12 a beer.
Slick Rick was a fun guy. He had tall tales of the E58 he had. Swore it was 700 Hp and you could tell since it had duels and chrome covers
Rest In Piece Rick.

 

[Road Grabber]

I’ve had both. The 360 has tremendous torque at the bottom. If I had to do it over again hands down 360. You can’t compare the heads and ports. The 360 I had used the same two barrel cam and pushed you back in the seat. You don’t have to go crazy with the 360 to get the power and torque. The 318 has potential but not with those factory heads.

 

[1973_Swinger]

I read the casting wrong. The 360 is a 1976. Not that that changes much I think it’s still a lower HP year than the earlier builds

 

[Road Grabber]

You won’t need much in a light A body. I had a 360 in a road runner and it was great until I found a 383 and put it back to stock.

 

[Road Grabber]

In my opinion the more away from factory hp the more likely you will have to change something else and lose durability. It becomes an addiction. I used a 1973 two barrel 360 that was in a large Dodge Polara and that car was a beast. It sent me across the vinyl seats as a kid. I kept the stock cam. The cam was still good cause it didn’t have triple valve springs wearing everything out. I just used stock hp valve springs. I wasn’t gonna rev the engine to 6500. Just a street car and I actually towed a boat with my road runner like it wasn’t there. My brother had a 360 in Snow Commander pickup and that thing was unstoppable.

Have fun. More cubes, more stroke, more torque. Pump gas.

 

[junkyardhero]

I read the casting wrong. The 360 is a 1976. Not that that changes much I think it’s still a lower HP year than the earlier builds

unless you're retaining everything "as stock" on a rebuild it basically means nothing. you'll be replacing everything that made it "lower HP" in the course of a rebuild.

the recipe is straight forward: get some compression in it, use a reasonable cam and have some half decent heads and you'll make nearly 400 falling out of bed.

 

[V8 Sam]

Yeah, but, the cool factor of a healthy 318 tho...

 

[Ant]

I vote on more cubes for this. Not having to hunt down a 360 core is a very nice thing, so build it while you have it.

 

[273]

Main advantage of displacement is you can make desired hp at lower rpms which with typical street gearing (2.76-3.55) is a huge advantage, easier to get into the powerband at any given road speed, but if you like higher rpm's (about 600 rpms with 318 vs 360) deeper gears higher stall etc.. for a given hp then 318 might more be your thing.

 

[jrc4y4]

When you have a 318 with 300+ hp it surprises everyone and becomes a talking point at the cruise nights. When you have a 350 hp 360, it’s just another healthy 360. Will more power make you smile or will the novelty of a hopped up 318 make you smile? I personally have a 318 but if given your situation I’d build the 360 and enjoy the power.

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Unless you like dealing with obscure parts availability, building engines that you can obtain readily available off the shelf pistons now, and down the road should you have issues is where it's at.

360 & 440 are as good of starts as one can ask for with multiple piston combinations for both. 318 & 413, not so much.

Purple stripe cams, while what we had in the day are not that great for power production compared to what's available today. They work, but there are better choices to choose from.

Unless you have deep pockets and like banging your head against the wall just stick with the KISS Method.

Tom

 

[1973_Swinger]

great advice here, although it seems 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other.

knowing that the 318 was pulled running and original to the car, I think that's what I am going to go with first with a few bolt ons...

there's an opportunity locally to buy a Holley Street Dominator 318 intake with a 600CFM eddy carb for $500 CAD. There is a few posts on FABO regarding the Holley SD with mixed reviews.

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on the following build specs:

Gear ratio: 4.10
Transmission: freshened up 727 with shift kit
Torq Converter: High Stall ??? RPM ???
Heads: Stock 318 Opened up slightly???
Intake: Holley Street Dominator (single plane with no equalizer chamber connecting 7-8)
Carb: 600 Eddy Performer
Cam:????? I have purple shaft as mentioned previously but seems people say its not a great option

 

[jrc4y4]

Based on your gear selection I assume it’s only being driven around town for cruising and street light battles. Does the car have a 727? I’d run a 904 but if it already has it then roll with it. Stall based on your cam but probably 3000-3500.

Don’t waste time with the factory 318 heads. When I rebuilt my 318 I only did a 3 angle valve job and put them back. They did fine but going from 1.76/1.50 heads to 1.88/1.60 302 casting heads with port work was like night and day. Highly recommend a better head whether aluminum or a better iron head. Learn from my prior mistake of just doing a basic rebuild when much hp was left on the shelf by running an anemic head. If worried about compression loss with a 340/360 head, have them shaved and the intake machined to line up. Or small chamber aluminum heads.

I’d avoid the single plane intake. The advantage of a 318 is the low end torque. With 4.10s and the right stall and cam that thing will want to leap at the line.

 

[junkyardhero]

great advice here, although it seems 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other.

knowing that the 318 was pulled running and original to the car, I think that's what I am going to go with first with a few bolt ons...

there's an opportunity locally to buy a Holley Street Dominator 318 intake with a 600CFM eddy carb for $500 CAD. There is a few posts on FABO regarding the Holley SD with mixed reviews.

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on the following build specs:

Gear ratio: 4.10
Transmission: freshened up 727 with shift kit
Torq Converter: High Stall ??? RPM ???
Heads: Stock 318 Opened up slightly???
Intake: Holley Street Dominator (single plane with no equalizer chamber connecting 7-8)
Carb: 600 Eddy Performer
Cam:????? I have purple shaft as mentioned previously but seems people say its not a great option

you're trying to build something out of mish-mosh of parts, so it's not gonna do anything great.

with the 4.11's and stall it'll shoot out of the hole, but with a 600 it's gonna fall on it's face before the limiting factor of the heads.

it'll do rad burnouts and be fast for about 475ft

 

[1973_Swinger]

I run the mopar 292 cam many here despise. Runs well. Your 4.10's will easily tolerate that cam. I say run it! Advancing cam degrees will help low end. I out my cam in 4° advanced and it helped.

Just curios What was your build setup was for the 292 cam?

 

[QuickDart360]

My build consists of a budget build I had in mind like 16 /18 years ago. My dart sport had. A slant 6. While it took me from point a to b reliably it was not what I truly wanted. I always loved the sound of cammed V-8's as a kid growing up in the 80's. So an uncle had an abandoned chrysler Cordoba in his garage. So he decided to sell it. I took it! It donated its 360 & 727. The block was bored .30 over and used KB107 pistons. Stock heads had cracks in many of the exhaust seats. Located some bare 340 X-heads for 250 back in the day! Rebuilt heads with new Mancini valves. No porting out my budget. In that era I put in the 280/474 mopar cam. It ran good. Intake was the ld4b edelbrock. Some dynomax coated headers. Started off with 2.45 gears in the rear. They were the most awful gears for my set up. I quickly ordered a set of mopar performance 3.55's. Installed them with an Auburn suregrip. Night and day. 727 was beefed up with cheetah valve body from turbo action. 2500 stall converter which I was not thrilled about. Car ran strong anyway and was fun! As time went on I decided to make some changes. Ordered a 292 mopar cam. I had been advised I would need better gearing so decided to go with 3.91's. Also had a FTI 3400-3600 stall converter thst I had stashed for the occasion. Last but not least I switched my intake to a Victor 340 single plane. Thst is my current set up. Runs good still. Hope I covered all you wanted to know.

 

[QuickDart360]

Honestly I think the 3.55's would still work good. But I got greedy and made the change.