Does this 360 seem worth the $$$?

[myasylum]

Complete running 71' 360 engine, rebuilt edelbrock 600 carb, edelbrock tocker manifold, chrome valve covers, J heads, points distributor, exhaust manifolds. Still in car, can hear run before puchasing. Minus fan, pullies, starter, some brackets and linkage. $600 firm.

 

[Demon416]

Not a bad price for a running engine. I'd go hear it run though.

 

[camd64]

I always try to find out if it has been bored over too. if its an engine thats already bored to its limit and has some miles on it then you could end up with a boat anchor in a short while.

 

[myasylum]

Yea, he said when he bought it, he was told it was rebuilt and it had 50,000mi on it. So yea... that makes me wonder a bit too.

How much it too much for a running 360?
At least it has the intake and carb on it. I guess he has headers too.

I'm going there on Tuesday. 100 mi away! EEK! Anything else I should look for? He said I could drive it too.
Oh, he'd give me the exhaust too. He's buying a crate motor.

 

[camd64]

wow thats gonna be a long road trip. the price is about right but for sure try to talk him down. im sure if he has it posted for 600 he would take 500. if its driving check for smoke out the pipes under load and a good sighn of mileage is to pull the oil cap and look for oil sludge. if you have alot of sludge then for sure its got more than 50k on it.

 

[myasylum]

He's got some 2.02 j heads I'm going to try to get from him too. I'm hope maybe I can work out a deal??

 

[grumpuscreature]

If it is a '71 360 the cylinder walls will be a little thicker than others. MaMopar used 340 water jacket cores that year and those blocks will take the same overbore sizes as a 340, i.e. 4.1" max. Should already have X or J heads but with a 1.88" intake valve. Hope this helps.

 

[myasylum]

Yes, It does have the J heads already, but the smaller size intake as you said... so I was going to see what shape the other heads are in with the larger valves, or should I not care?

Yea, the goofy thing is the he said that it's out af a 72' car but a 71' motor.
Is that how it works?

 

[dgc333]

Unless you can confrm the state of the internals compression test, leak down and bore size I would just consider it a rebuildable core. As a rebuildable core its worth $50 to $150.

 

[72bluNblu]

$600 is too much for even a running 360. As mentioned above, if its already been rebuilt you know its not a standard bore, so if you're planning on rebuilding its just a core thats been bored already.

If you need it to drop in and go I'd still have to take a look at it, especially if it was supposed to have 50k on it before he got it. That tells me that the current owner didn't rebuild it, he was told it was (sketchy, this is now a 3rd hand rebuild). And it probably has way more than 50k on it now, which means its a rebuild candidate in short order. The 318 in my Challenger was supposedly rebuilt "2-3k miles ago" by the guy who had it prior to the guy I bought it from. It runs good and compression checks ok, but leaks oil from at least 3 different spots, and I can guarantee the accessories are NOT 2-3k old, they're original to either the '83 block that the 318 turned out to be or to the original 318 in the car. So, in short, maybe it was rebuilt, maybe it was a junkyard salvage repainted and called good, who knows. I'm running it until my 340 is finished, then maybe I'll take a look at it and go through it for another project...

There are plenty of 318/360's available for less, or in better condition. When I bought my 340 short block the guy offered me a 360 short block with extras for 50 bucks.

 

[66340SEDAN]

He's got some 2.02 j heads I'm going to try to get from him too. I'm hope maybe I can work out a deal??

What does he want for the heads? You can always put larger valves in the heads on the 360 later on if you want, then you can install hardned valve seats and new valve guides.

 

[danmc77]

I think that's way too much. 360's are everywhere. I bought one w/ j heads from a farm down the road for $150. I put a 4bbl intake on it and a hotter cam and it started right up. He also said it was rebuilt recently before it sat - when i pulled the engine apart, it was beautiful inside. so I got a fresh 360 that was pretty hot with a cheap and easy intake and cam swap for less than $300 including the new cam and iron intake.

Now, if your plan is to rebuild - the work that needs to be done is going to cost the same with a running engine as compared to a non-running engine (obviously as long as there are no major issue w/ either engine) - so you're looking at starting a project with $500 left in your pocket if you use a good core engine, as compared with a running engine that you're just going to rebuild anyway - and $500 bucks poorer.

 

[myasylum]

I may be a dumb ***, but I'm bucking the trend here. I am going to at least look at it tomorrow. He said he's willing to work with me.
So far he's giving me the A-body headers, and complete exhaust. The engine comes with intake, and carb that's $200.00 right there and I'll know it runs. So I'm at least going to look at it, and see how well it runs. I'll look for leaks, and smoke.
I'm just looking for something to dump in my Duster that runs for now...
The rebuild... Who knows? Someday.
I'm not saying I'll buy it for sure, but look at it. Hopefully my ears will be fine tuned

I'll take some pics and post them as well (I hope) Wish me luck! 9:00 A.M. tomorrow Chicagoland!

Thanks!

 

[dgc333]

If its running at least bring a compression tester with you and check the compression.

 

[goldduster318]

I paid $700 for mine that was used...the owner had it apart and I could look at everything. I rolled the dice but it came with a lot of parts that are fairly difficult to find and that made the gamble worth it.

Considering I got
a 360 car Milodon oil pan (about $150)
360 4-speed flywheel with correct balancing ($250 for some reason)
600 Holley with electric choke, only 4 years old (i know it works perfect since I never opened it up and it doesn't leak either)
New water pump
Holley street dominator intake (sold for $85)
Sold ONE of the cylinder heads recently for $65 (they were mismatched)

so, had i started with a truck 360 and not had these parts to sell, I would likely have spent more money.

 

[Prine]

I still say do it.........(check your other thread, Part 2)

It sounded tight and clean like I said.

I think your getting a good deal.