Looking at a 340: But What do I Look For?

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4woody

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I've been looking for a 360 to put in my '38 Chrysler, but have been offered a 340 that I'm going to look at tomorrow. It is a 1970 that was impounded when a tenant got into trouble. Problem is there is no way to run it and do a compression test because it is out of the car (70 Duster) and has no tranny/flex plate/converter.

According to the seller it turns by hand, and is complete from carb to pan, but that is all I know so far.

So what do I look for? I know to see what heads and block#, but what else can I do on the spot?

I'd appreciate any advice.
 
look for the stamp on the front of the block 'drivers side below cylinder head' that says 340P
see if it has an x on the heads or J.

Really though...wheres the car? and what do you mean by trouble?

I'd rather see the 340 stay with the duster [originality] than someone just trashing the car and scalping the motor...
 
How much? If you don't know how to ID the engine, "340" and the casting date will be cast into the side of the block and machined into the surface on the drivers side of the block where the head meets the block. If its a 70, should have a"X" heads and Forged crank and windage tray. Look for signs of disassembly like excess silicone. If you can score it with exhaust manifolds consider that a bonus to re-coupe some money. These are getting hard to find and just a block in my area is $400-500 and not in good shape, a short block is $800.
 
X, J, U were the heads on a 1970 340

Hey dano call me 541 660.1092 I've got 2 1970 340 blocks couple forged steel cranks etc. I no longer will use and will sell,
I'm in Grants Pass
 
dano said:
How much? If you don't know how to ID the engine, "340" and the casting date will be cast into the side of the block and machined into the surface on the drivers side of the block where the head meets the block. If its a 70, should have a"X" heads and Forged crank and windage tray. Look for signs of disassembly like excess silicone. If you can score it with exhaust manifolds consider that a bonus to re-coupe some money. These are getting hard to find and just a block in my area is $400-500 and not in good shape, a short block is $800.
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x2 be careful I had a guy tell me he had a "340" and it turned out it was a 318, so make sure you check it out good.
 
I noticed you are in santa cruz. I am just 25 minutes away, in gilroy, over the "hill" (152)...

Bring some tools to turn it over...
 
I know to look for the casting #s. Is there any external sign if it has the good crank? I'll see if he'll let me take off the pan. If I was selling I'd see that as a reasonable thing.

How do positively I.D. the exhaust as original 340?

I don't know what became of the rest of the car. The seller says he bought the engine from the impound yard. He's looking for $900.
 
If I remember correctly, the casting numbers on the exhaust manifolds should end with 549 and 553. I'mm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Look them over really closely for cracks, especially around the bolt holes. If the manifolds are there, and not cracked, it's probably worth his asking price if the engine isn't all rusty inside.
 
4woody said:
I know to look for the casting #s. Is there any external sign if it has the good crank? I'll see if he'll let me take off the pan. If I was selling I'd see that as a reasonable thing.

How do positively I.D. the exhaust as original 340?

I don't know what became of the rest of the car. The seller says he bought the engine from the impound yard. He's looking for $900.
Click to expand...
That is a great price on a complete 340 from air cleaner to oil pan,I will be in Pacific Grove the middle of this month.If you need help to check it out let me know 314 345 0070 Don I have 6 complete 340s none of these would I take 900 for.
 
4woody said:
I know to look for the casting #s. Is there any external sign if it has the good crank? I'll see if he'll let me take off the pan. If I was selling I'd see that as a reasonable thing.

How do positively I.D. the exhaust as original 340?

I don't know what became of the rest of the car. The seller says he bought the engine from the impound yard. He's looking for $900.
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All 340s have forged steel cranks except the 73s which will have a special crank damper that says right on it that it's for the cast crank only.Here's a picture of one.
 

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67GTConvert said:
All 340s have forged steel cranks except the 73s which will have a special crank damper that says right on it that it's for the cast crank only.Here's a picture of one.
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72 was cast crank also...at least mine is.
 
Well...
That wasn't quite what I expected.

The bad:
Carb & exhaust were MIA
Engine clearly hadn't run any time recently as the belts were crumbling.
Nose of the engine had taken a gentle hit as the fan (at least) was bent.
No way to take off the oil pan & look at the bottom.

The Good:
I looked under a valve cover and things looked pretty clean.
It did turn over by hand.
Everything there seemed to be original including the intake. Except..

Other: MT valve covers

In conclusion it would require at least a partial tear-down for me to be comfortable putting it in a car.

I thought I was going to see something closer to usable, so I'll probably keep looking for a done 360.

I thank everyone for the advice.
 
HotLines said:
X, J, U were the heads on a 1970 340

Hey dano call me 541 660.1092 I've got 2 1970 340 blocks couple forged steel cranks etc. I no longer will use and will sell,
I'm in Grants Pass
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, I don't need extra right know, one 340 is enough on my pocket book!
 
the balancer tells the truth if its steel or cast, the steel crank balancer is alot thinner and has drill marks on it front of it balancing purposes....
 
Hadahemi said:
72 was cast crank also...at least mine is.
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Ok,I was under the assumption that they changed over for the 73 model year but maybe it was sometime earlier.Does your car have the original motor? if it does,is it a late build date?
 
67GTConvert said:
Ok,I was under the assumption that they changed over for the 73 model year but maybe it was sometime earlier.Does your car have the original motor? if it does,is it a late build date?
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And I was under the impression it changed in 72...but I don't recall where I got that impression, isn't 72 the first year of the lower compression? Maybe that was why I just assumed the change to cast crank went along with that. My engine is the matching numbers for the car, but I'm not sure about the build date, will have to check.
 
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