318 to 360 parts interchangeable

[MrJLR]

I currently have a 318 but will want to go to a 360 in the future.
Parts I'm putting on the 318 are carb, intake, and headers.
Will they transfer to the 360? I assume they would but I'm not sure.
Also will my 727 bolt up to the 360?
Are the motor mounts hard to find for this swap?

Lastly, what are good years and bad years to avoid when I look for my 360?

 

[Johnny Mac]

Intake, headers and carb would swap, but obviously if your 360 is a moderate build you could use a better intake, bigger carb, and bigger headers, that may not be optimal for your 318. Also the trans will bolt right up, but you may want to consider a torque converter if your 360 cam is fairly aggressive. Lastly the 360 has a differet left motor mount, or u can weld a spacer to your 318 mount.
To my memory, 360 blocks were good until 1974ish.

Im sure someone else can add more to my post, but this should get u going

 

[MrJLR]

Intake, headers and carb would swap, but obviously if your 360 is a moderate build you could use a better intake, bigger carb, and bigger headers, that may not be optimal for your 318. Also the trans will bolt right up, but you may want to consider a torque converter if your 360 cam is fairly aggressive. Lastly the 360 has a differet left motor mount, or u can weld a spacer to your 318 mount.
To my memory, 360 blocks were good until 1974ish.

Im sure someone else can add more to my post, but this should get u going

Thank you!
All good news!

 

[AJ/FormS]

Buy the TTI/Hedmans now.My teener loved the dual 3 inch pipes and dynomaxers.
All it had was a CI small-port spreadbore manifold and a small TQ. Oh and enough valvespring on it to hit 5200, at least.That was some fun 73 teener.

 

[BlueDream]

The 360 is balanced differently than the 318 so you'll need the proper parts to account for that. You can use a different torque converter or get a countedweighted flexplate and run the torque converter from the 318. If you get a 360 that doesn't have a center sump pan already, the one from the 318 will NOT work. Also, in 1970(or '71?) they changed up the small block timing covers and the timing marks changed sides. This can be a problem because of where the radiator hoses are. I ran into this problem with my 340 and ended up using the old timing cover and marking the balancer so I could keep my radiator and still see my timing marks.

Going from a small block to another small block should be a walk in the park! One good thing is that you already have a 727 and 8 3/4 so you won't have to worry about the trans and rear end turning into a ticking time bomb with all the extra power.

 

[65goldcuda]

The 360 is balanced differently than the 318 so you'll need the proper parts to account for that. You can use a different torque converter or get a countedweighted flexplate and run the torque converter from the 318. If you get a 360 that doesn't have a rear sump pan already, the one from the 318 will NOT work. Also, in 1970(or '71?) they changed up the small block timing covers and the timing marks changed sides. This can be a problem because of where the radiator hoses are. I ran into this problem with my 340 and ended up using the old timing cover and marking the balancer so I could keep my radiator and still see my timing marks.

Going from a small block to another small block should be a walk in the park! One good thing is that you already have a 727 and 8 3/4 so you won't have to worry about the trans and rear end turning into a ticking time bomb with all the extra power.

WOW! IS he ever correct. Good thing you already have that stuff. Most of your "add ons" will fit, but just because it bolts on doesn't mean it is the "right fit" for the motor. I agree, if you are going with LA Heads than your intake, carb, distributor, exhaust manifolds or headers should fit. You may have some cooling issues with the new larger more HP engine, but I found a good fix for that, a 16" 2500 cfm push fan from summit racing did the trick for me. (I had to notch the hood latch to get it to fit right but it works great, I have it on a toggle switch for use in traffic etc).

 

[MrJLR]

The 360 is balanced differently than the 318 so you'll need the proper parts to account for that. You can use a different torque converter or get a countedweighted flexplate and run the torque converter from the 318. If you get a 360 that doesn't have a rear sump pan already, the one from the 318 will NOT work. Also, in 1970(or '71?) they changed up the small block timing covers and the timing marks changed sides. This can be a problem because of where the radiator hoses are. I ran into this problem with my 340 and ended up using the old timing cover and marking the balancer so I could keep my radiator and still see my timing marks.

Going from a small block to another small block should be a walk in the park! One good thing is that you already have a 727 and 8 3/4 so you won't have to worry about the trans and rear end turning into a ticking time bomb with all the extra power.

Awesome....more GOOD information - thank you!
I'll be changing the torque converter for sure because of the cam.....

 

[Infecteddog]

If you get a 360 that doesn't have a rear sump pan already, the one from the 318 will NOT work.

I missed the mentions where it's going in a truck. Trucks, vans and Jeeps use rear sump pans- cars used center sump pans.

 

[318willrun]

I will tell you now, buy a balanced flex plate or have the current flex plate balanced. Personally, I had my flex plates balanced, and it's only about 50 bucks. Then, you can go from converter to converter without always having to find one that is balanced for the 360. Quick summary: Intake, heads, cam & lifters, push rods, timing chain & covers, distributers, oil pumps and rods all interchange between a LA318 and a LA360. Parts that do NOT interchange are pistons, crankshaft & oil pans. Hopefully I didn't forget anything.....

 

[BlueDream]

I missed the mentions where it's going in a truck. Trucks, vans and Jeeps use rear sump pans- cars used center sump pans.

You're correct, sorry it was early and my coffee hadn't kicked in yet. #-o

Post fixed