340 or 360???

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Sounds to me like you are at the beginning stages of an incurable disease that most on this site have 8) . . . don't forget,exhaust choices are few,and EXPENSIVE !! I went with a stroked 318 because of my header configuration {port shape} But I'll give my vote for the 360,plenty of torque and very plentiful :toothy7:

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Back in the early 80s this discussion ALWAYS went in the direction of the 340. Even back then I told people to go 360 unless it was an original 340 car, AND I've owned an original 340 car (with a 340 at all times) since 1983. The power will be similar for all build levels between the two engines, but what tips the scales is cost. You can still buy a 360 core for a couple hundred while you can't touch a 340 core for less than $750 (unless you're lucky).
 
The 360 has a roller, FE...Not a point dissy, and a carb.
LOL, I have a 69 340 block, steel crank, bare x heads; people want to buy it at a good price, but I'm so anal on a 340 that I won't sell- it will probably rot in the shop until I die.
340 's run different than 360's.
 
green1 said:
340 's run different than 360's.
Click to expand...

I've heard that same excuse for thirty years. It just doesn't happen in real life. My 340 will wax my 360, too...........


But, something about hauling around 5,500 lbs of full-time four wheel drive might have something to do with it.................
 
First off, I've owned my 340 for over 20 years. If I didn't love my 340, it would have been sold long ago. The 340 (early ones, anyway) has a forged crank, forged pistons, 10.5:1 compression, floating pins, roller chain, windage tray, etc. The 340 was never built as anything but a performance engine. The 360 was used in damn near everything.

If I were starting from scratch, I would build a 360. When I rebuilt my 340, the only parts that got reused were the block, crank, flywheel, and timing chain cover. Why spend the extra money for all the good factory parts only to replace them all?
 
I have a 99 Ram witt a 318 , roller cam, etc,in a quad cab truck. Even with almost 230 K miles on the clock, this little short stroker will pull a loaded trailer (with a load of 2800 pounds) as good if not better than a similar truck with a 360.My father owned that truck.Fuel economy was worse,but the muscle just wasn't there. The point I try to make is,if you don't hit your combo just right,the strokrd motor can be one sick puppy. Just ask anyone whose had their 400 spanked by a decent 383. Go ahead, let's hear THOSE denials, ha-ha! Also, the 340 block should have more meat ibn the cylinder walls.
 
I had a 318 literally self distructed at 170K with better than standard care because I was hauling a 4500 lb trailer with 1500 lb in the box..my new hemi ram is awesome..

I had heard that the 340s were more tempermental and required more
fiddling...I bought my car as an unfinished project from a guy that worked at chrysler for 10 years and his choice was a 360 over the 340..

I think all the comments here have been excellent and that is why this forum is awesome !!

Grassy
 
A stock 340 needs no more fiddling with than a stock 360, EXCEPT if it is still running a dual point distributor (which generally isn't a huge deal, either). Now, a 273 with solid lifters, that's another story.....

Anything heavily modified may or may not need lots of tuning.
 
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