360 Questions

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73'-318VALIANT

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Well, Hopefully ill be going to try and find a good 360 block to start my build. My question is, What cars rolled of the the assembly line with the 360's? What is the best years to look for? Im gonna try yhe junk yards first and if all else fails ill try to buy one online! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! thx in advance. T.
 
73'-318VALIANT said:
Well, Hopefully ill be going to try and find a good 360 block to start my build. My question is, What cars rolled of the the assembly line with the 360's? What is the best years to look for? Im gonna try yhe junk yards first and if all else fails ill try to buy one online! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! thx in advance. T.
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I'm a novice but if I were you the place to look would be 70's Vans and trucks.
 
They were used in trucks from 71 thru present, (at least I think they still use them). Also used in many different cars from 72 thru about 80 I think?? The 71-90 engines were considered LA series and the 91 up are Magnum series. The 71-73 models used a different rear main bearing and seal but not sure what the diff. is. The real early blocks were thick walled units that were basically a 340 not bored out as much. There's alot of hear-say on this matter as to what year they ended the thick wall units but I'd say if your looking for a block to bore over more than .030 you need a 71 or 72 unit. 73 thick wall units are very iffy as to their existance. The 86 on up blocks are roller cam engines so that's a plus if you want to run a roller cam.

As to your question about what is the best year. I guess the early thick wall ones would be the best but good luck finding one and you better get a 71 or 72 to make sure it's really a thick wall unit.
 
Check cordobas trucks vans diplomats gran furys and old cop cars they are plentiful
 
roler cams didnt start til the magmun series,,,tons of those 360s around,,and dodge ram,,from 91 thru 03,,5.9 360 C.I was replaced in 04 with the 5.7 hemi option,,,no more 360s after 03...you can find a 360 magmun in most yards in ram trucks,,,,with a throttle body injector,,mopar performance makes a intake for a carb,,should be able to pick one up reasonable,,, look in your area on craigs list,,search dodge trucks,, maybe some one is parting out a wrecked truck,,
 
I have always had good luck with early 70's trucks that are getting parted out. I have one 71 360 and two 72's all 3 were out of old county trucks and I can usually find them for around $250 each, running.
 
The '86 - '92 360 blocks have the provisions for roller cams so one could be put if it didn't have one. I have an '88 360 out of a B350 van that is flat tappet but has the provisions for the roller lifter spider and I have a '92 360 in a B350 van that has a roller cam in it.

The difference seems to be if it was carburated it has a flat tappet (fuel pump eccentric)and if it has fuel injection it was a roller (eccentric not needed), well this is how it works out for mine and the ones I have seen it the bone yards any how.

Chuck
 
Another way to go is a Mopar Performance 360 short block assembly.
They come in the pre-Magnum or Magnum variety.Price is right around $1200.00.

I have a complete engine build article from Car-Craft magazine using one of the pre-Magnum short blocks,using Aeroheads and parts from Summit.They estimated 375 hp without to much trouble.Total build cost $2308.00.
 
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