Little Red Express Cam Specs

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R4Sedan

Larry
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A friend of mine just picked up a low mileage motor 360. That came out of a '79 LRE P/U. Would anybody on here know the cam specs or know where he could find them.
Thanks
 
Can't help directly.. I always assumed the LRE package was just exterior stuff and nothing different inside the motor....??
 
I believe it uses the 69 and up 340 camshaft.
 
Depends where ya go for the information. Some say the 79 had a 340 cam and others say the 79 only got a regular production 360 cam.
 
Can't help directly.. I always assumed the LRE package was just exterior stuff and nothing different inside the motor....??

Complete package. other then the obvious cosmetics..

EH1 360
Factory high stahl converter
Load flight trans factory shif improver
9 1/4" open end 3.55 rear
Dual exhaust (stacks) with cross over pipe.
79 had 15x8 wheels all the way around. 78 had 15x7 up front and 15x8 in the rear..

Only options were a/c. Red or black bench or bucket Int. Maybe sliding rear window too.
 
They outran the stock Corvette both in 78 and 79. They were the fastest domestic production "cars" both years.
 
Stock 79 vette is slow, I have one.
But yes they were the fastest production vehicle in the USA when made.
 
I read the W2's were originally made for the LRE truck but that seems a little out there. The 340 auto cam vs. the 360 4bbl cam is almost, if not, the same specs. The 76 360 Duster was the fastest car that year, I remember the cover of road and track or one of those rags with about 6 cars in a V formation on dry lake bed, Duster out in front.
 
That's right. The W2 head was scheduled to go on the LRE, but they backed off. Wouldn't THAT have been somethin?
 
That's right. The W2 head was scheduled to go on the LRE, but they backed off. Wouldn't THAT have been somethin?

I've heard that also.

They planned to put w2 heads on the LRE, but decided not to by production time...
 
A neighbor had one and he claimed it would get the front wheels off the ground by just bolting w2's on it. I was also a teenager then so he could have been yanking my chain.
 
How did those things run? I know they were fast when nothing else was back then.
Low 15s. SCs and LREs clocked quick for the time, the 350 Camaros were a distant runner-up. Most other things were about as impressive as a 2 barrel Aspen.

Is the 79 E58 the same 360 specs?
Just about. LRE blocks don't have any part of VINs stamped though. Cam, heads, intake, carb were the same- LREs didn't have ELB like the contemporary E58s did and they were in trucks that weighed 300-500 lbs more than the E58 F bodies. I don't know if they had different pistons- they did have 3.55s which most of the cars did not get then. The buddy seats they offered around then are some of the best for that generation truck in my mind. The LREs had a unique motor that was not offered in any other trucks, nor did any come with anything besides the basically 360 with basically E58 specs.

E58 was offered in the Super Coupes, Street Kit Cars, Magnum GT, 300, Cop Cars, and trailer tow package cars along with the E55 2bbl 360HD. Last year for the E58 was '80. The 360-4s after that in trucks are not high performance, but I've also never seen one with lean-burn.
 
my old LRE.. fun to a point but man it needed a big block..:) only got 10mpg..

truckdrivers.jpg


early 79 still got the tuff wheel instead of the ugly omni wheel..
truckdash.jpg


seats were comfortable.

truckinterior.jpg
 
my old LRE.. fun to a point but man it needed a big block..:) only got 10mpg..
They didn't because at that point the 440s had 25 less HP and weighed more. So it could've been slower and used more gas. You could get a 440 Warlock in '78 that was basically an LRE w/o stacks. They were slower- that's most of why the big blocks went away. Everything to pass smog meant that the large cars with big blocks just couldn't compete- that writing had been on the walls for years.
 
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