68 Cuda 383 vs a 360

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If I was 18 again and looking for engine swap for my 67, I 'd be doing a modern Hemi swap.
I'd probably do it now if I didn't have a bunch of OLD engines and transmissions laying around.
Period correct ? well that doesn't include a 360 pre 71. lol
 
rumblefish360 said:
The starter is a nice plus for sure.
Spark plugs are a really nice plus for sure!
Can set up is tight but should not be a problem. The fan clutch (if your using that style) is available @ Hudson, they have what they titled the “Muscle Car Short fan clutch.”
Transmission bolts are @ the hardware store. (Use grade 5, grade 8 a plus!)

The real bear is hooking up the trans to the engine with the engine installed already. Getting your hands in the back to install the attaching bolts is already a bit of a PIA with small block.
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I always removed and installed my 440 in my 69 cuda with the engine and transmission together. Heck even did it without removing the hood. My car was an original M code car so the engine size wasn’t an option for me but at the time I also had a 69 340 Survivor. If I was building a car from scratch I’d go with a 360 with big valve 340 heads. I had a stock 79 Little Red Express with this combo and it was quick.
 
mcodecuda said:
I always removed and installed my 440 in my 69 cuda with the engine and transmission together. Heck even did it without removing the hood. My car was an original M code car so the engine size wasn’t an option for me but at the time I also had a 69 340 Survivor. If I was building a car from scratch I’d go with a 360 with big valve 340 heads. I had a stock 79 Little Red Express with this combo and it was quick.
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yep i pulled the 383/727 from my 68 valiant with the hood still on, came right out no problem.
 
How much grass can 23 cubes cut? A pissload. How fast would a 23 cube go cart be? Fast enough you wouldn't want none.

I say big block hands down. There was a reason big block A bodies were feared. To me, mild driver sets the decision in motion. You could build a blueprinted STONE STOCK 383 HP engine and set the world on fire with that thing.
 
LO23M8B said:
Got ya. The 360 will run good, I had 2 79 300's but they need more comp. a for real 9.0 to 1 and they run good with a stock 340 cam. 10.5 to 1 and they run great but must mix fuel.
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It’s a darn shame the planets didn’t line up for the 360-4 back in the day. I do feel that a good 10-1 ratio 360 with all the good 340 parts would be an excellent runner. I had a ‘79 Cordoba. Everything except the 4bbl. Moonroof and tow package. What an excellent car. (Once I did away with the Leanburn that is….

fishmens67 said:
You buy that. lol I don't know anyone that isn't looking for more power sooner or later.
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I’m just answering the guys question. Nothing more or less. If he wants to go faster later, GREAT!
We will all be here!

No matter which engine family he decides on, the high compression stock factory HP offerings are a great platform to start with and jump from. Even if the off year blocks are the starting point, AKA, LA 360 or the 400B, give it a good piston and compression ratio so you can copy the factory’s offerings. Plus his headers…. Yea! It’ll be a good every day driver.

Im sure you have a few good B/RB tips!
 
My combo; 367/ @11/1/ alloy heads/ small cam/ 4-speed/3.55s @3650 pounds with me in it.
She will annihilate any size street tires that you can fit into the stock tubs, thru two gears for sure, and mine will go well into Third. Sliding around turns is a blast.

Never had a 383, but in 1970, My 340 Swinger annihilated them as installed in Bs; both engines stock. Just two caveats;1) never start from a dead stop, the Swinger just boiled the hides. and 2) shut down at the top of third gear . With 3.55s the 340 ran out of steam at 85/90 mph, and when going into 4th, it was all done. Mine only managed
98mph on those E70-14s. @3330 pounds/me in it..

So I vote 360, cuz outfitted as above, she goes 93 in the Eighth, still with 3.55s, after all these years ................ And besides, the hi-compression 360 can make phenomenal fuel mileage, and mine has always run on 87E10 since 1999
383s have shortest stroke of all Mopars. They are built to rev. Cam it up and run the gears and fine, have a blast. But with the cost of gas rising weekly, the handwriting is on the wall.
 
383’s have (the) shortest stroke of all MoPars.
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No, 273,318 & 340’s have a 3.31 vs the 3.38.
Anybody know first gen HEMI engines much?
 
AJ/FormS said:
My combo; 367/ @11/1/ alloy heads/ small cam/ 4-speed/3.55s @3650 pounds with me in it.
She will annihilate any size street tires that you can fit into the stock tubs, thru two gears for sure, and mine will go well into Third. Sliding around turns is a blast.

Never had a 383, but in 1970, My 340 Swinger annihilated them as installed in Bs; both engines stock. Just two caveats;1) never start from a dead stop, the Swinger just boiled the hides. and 2) shut down at the top of third gear . With 3.55s the 340 ran out of steam at 85/90 mph, and when going into 4th, it was all done. Mine only managed
98mph on those E70-14s. @3330 pounds/me in it..

So I vote 360, cuz outfitted as above, she goes 93 in the Eighth, still with 3.55s, after all these years ................ And besides, the hi-compression 360 can make phenomenal fuel mileage, and mine has always run on 87E10 since 1999
383s have shortest stroke of all Mopars. They are built to rev. Cam it up and run the gears and fine, have a blast. But with the cost of gas rising weekly, the handwriting is on the wall.
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I don't think I ever raced your 367 with my old taxi cab 383. lol
don't you think it's time to fresh'n up that 367, if it's done what you say since nineteen hundred and ninety nine it's got to be getting a little tired.
PS. had a stock 68 383 Magnum with Hooker fenderwells and 4.56 gears in my 67 fastback in nineteen hundred and seventy nine. where were you.
 
As an owner of a very original 383 with all the correct parts including the suspension and all!

Even though I am converting to PS Over the winter!

My vote is SB 360 Stroker!
 
I would run the 360, it has a shorter rod/stroke ratio, important for a mild driver.
 
Has anyone ever done a poll on this?

Big Block A body sound impressive. Looks impressive. I sold my Big block parts, didnt want to deal with the space issues and suspension.
 
I have a 383, no space issues, header issues, spark plug issues, clutch linkage z-bar issues, cooling issues, (manual) steering issues, suspension issues, weight issues, over/understeer issues, mental issues (that I'm aware of), or drivability issues.
I spent as little as possible, the aluminum heads being the biggest spend, and it surpassed my expectations by a long shot.

I'm sure a small block Mopar is a blast as well. A hundred years ago I bought a 350/300hp right from GM, the highest performance sb at the time, and with a 4 speed and a posi in my 57 chebby it was the burnout king.

So, I'm sure that didn't help at all.
 
I am old school, I have a 69 383 Cuda, a 68 GTS 383, and a 69 Dart GTS 340. And Whatever it was Originally, it gets. But being old, I don't put cast crank 360's in anything if the car never came with it. 360,400, or 440.But I don't race any more. However, If I did want to put another 60's A body together, it would be a hopped up 318 or 340 only. If that isn't fast enough, oh well.
and I hate seeing 350 chevys in old mopar Hotrods. When I see them, I walk away.Lol

20210326_123101.jpg


68 GTS 002.JPG
 
yes a bit heavy, but quite an unusual car, and will always hold it's value. it is all about what you want out of life.
When I bought my 68 GTS in 2003, I was 26 miles from home. It was a modified 383 dart, and quite frisky. My friend gave me a ride to pick it up, and as we headed back to the ranch I must have encountered 15 stoplights. But at every light, even though I tried to not squeal the tires, they chirped every time.
when we got home, my buddy accused me of showing off, as the tires squealed every single time I left the light.
I told him I was trying NOT to squeal the tires, but I failed every time.
months later when i restored the Interior, I found a racing slip from maryland somewhere, and it was showing the car to run 12.20's at that time, around 1994.
No matter what is said here, a good running 383 dart is a lot of fun!

and that is the Dart in the picture. The previous owner owned the car since 1974.

leaving 18 years for me!
 
Unless I make an effort my 68 will hook pretty darn good on a dry road. I think the lack of traction is typically due to tire and shock selection. Given the nature of the car it needs a sticky tire to make and retain traction. The big block dart which was clearly not a road race inspired machine... Give it four sticky tires, bigger front t bars, rear sway bar and seasoned driver the watch it run Watkins Glen or Road America no problem. Well, if ayou could keep the oiling system and brakes alive lol.

As I stated above...impractical for almost everything. That is what makes a big block Dart awesome. Don't get me wrong I loved my small block valiant too. Sometimes it is more fun to choose whatever is more interesting to you versus what is most practical and cost effective.

408 vs 383 I will take the 408 every time. 451 vs 408 is a different story. Stroked big block gets the nod.

As far as headers it was my undersranding that b body hedmans will fit in a big block 4 speed a body with some slight modifications? If not you have the choice of manifolds and several different TTI models from shorties to step headers.

Power steering is also a deciding factor. There just isn't a lot of room in that area with a big block.

Aside from removing the OEM front sway bar my GTS is unrestored in the suspension area. It will be even better when I rebuild it with greasable LCA pins and QA1 strut rods. 5"+ upward front travel should do the trick.
 
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fishmens67 said:
I don't think I ever raced your 367 with my old taxi cab 383. lol
1) don't you think it's time to fresh'n up that 367, if it's done what you say since nineteen hundred and ninety nine it's got to be getting a little tired.
2) PS. had a stock 68 383 Magnum with Hooker fenderwells and 4.56 gears in my 67 fastback
3) in nineteen hundred and seventy nine. where were you.
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I know yur funning me, but to be fair;

3) in 79 I was 26 and married for just two years. I was riding back and forth to work, on a one year old Bike of the Year ; a GS 1000; purchased new the previous spring. On weekends I was rocking the Earth in a 74 Dart Sport 360/4-speed/ with a fresh 360 and huge Pro-Tracs. My wife was pregnant, and our first, a daughter was born the following spring.
That 70 Swinger was all used up by 1975, being on it's second everything or more, (all warranties), Thanks to ma Mopar; and I sold the beat-up, worn-out, hulk, for half what I had paid for it just five years earlier.. I would meet my wife to be, just a few months later.
So no, I didn't see you either, lol.
2) Putting headers on a 383Magnum, makes it a totally different animal. Never mind 4.56s.
1) yes. last time it got new rings was 2004 or 5

AJ/FormS said:
Never had a 383, but in 1970, My 340 Swinger annihilated them as installed in Bs; both engines stock.
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Bs, as you know, are just a bit heavier than my 3200 pound Swinger, thereby, gear for gear, shrinking their power advantage, to almost nothing.

In hi-school, geaduated in 1972, I knew how to pick my battles. Besides, we were all poor kids. Most of the guys had cars 10 or more years old. But I had a leg up on them, having already saved up $1200 since age 13; and in 1970 the bank was willing to lend me another $1200, based on my deposit history, and a co-signer of course. So I got a nearly new car outta that deal; with a 5/50 warranty no less. Thanks be to my Mum, who taught me the value of saving, and to my Dad for co-signing..
 
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If its a factory big block A-body I would run it with what it came with..but,if its NOT a factory big block car..I'd run a small block all day of coarse stroked preferred!!
 
stroked340 said:
If its a factory big block A-body I would run it with what it came with..but,if its NOT a factory big block car..I'd run a small block all day of coarse stroked preferred!!
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Agree with the first half for sure.
The second half is a give and take. Since a lot of time the car comes to me engine/drivetrain missing, I find the small block an easy to do swing in. This is mostly weight based. Having swung in both big and small blocks.

But you ran right to a stroker small block.
Big block fans now go… OK! I’ll stroke my 383.
For 2K, 440 source kits are cheaper than small block kits and the bigger cubes and better heads lay off huge!
 
mopowers said:
What all made the 360 easier to work on for you?
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Spark plugs for one, lol, I have owned one big block powered Mopar and all my other stuff is small block and FML is changing plugs in a big block with headers a nightmare!!!!!!
 
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