My 360 is almost complete

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496 polara

496 polara

moparts id gch
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I will try to make this the "short" version.
This spring I bought a 1987 D150 with what turns out to be a great running 318 that someone let sit over the winter with straight water in it after doing a radiator and water pump replacement.Fist sized punched out area below drivers cylinder head that drains water rather quickly lol.Pity.

If I need a block I decide to go 360.Can't find a decent running LA 360 anywhere close by.Pick up a reman 360 from a vendor at my job for $1000.Take it to the machine shop to be checked out.Must have been sitting for 10+ years since being remanned. Oil pump frozen.Block deck height off .0032 from one side to the next.Deck the block.Check the pistons/rods/cylinders.End up balancing/blueprinting everything.Take a lot of weight out of the rods and have to add a little to the crank.Hone the cylinders with a torque plate as they were a little tight.

So now I have a nice blueprinted shortblock with crappy cast low compression pistons.lol

On to the reman J heads.JUNK is all I can say.Should have been scrapped from the start.

After looking here,on ebay,several local and national forums I am on and about ready to break down and order a set of LAX heads.A local guy sees my ad on a local forum and says I have a set of heads of off my old mopar 360/360 crate motor from the 90's(LA motor).Maybe 1000 miles on them and they are complete with head bolts,rockers,shafts,springs,and have 2.02 intakes.I give him $250 for them(kinda feel like I took advantage of him but he set the price).I agree to buy them sight unseen.He delivers them to my work and to my glee they are 308 swirl port heads with the a.i.r. holes welded shut and look brand new!To say I am happy is an understatement.

Now the motor can be assembled and put in my truck so I can actually drive it 6 months after buying it.I guess it is time to go ahead and do the title work lol.

Sorry for the book but to say this has been an exercise in patience is putting it lightly.

Most of the speed parts have been purchased used except for the cam/lifters/timing chain as this was supposed to be a budget build(sound of breaking glass as my wallet gets thrown out the window).
 
Engine specs for the build;
Balanced and blueprinted short block
Windage tray
should be 9.00-1 or very close
Lunati streetmaster grind;Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 266/266
Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 220/220
Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .485/.485
LSA/ICL: 110/104
Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd
RPM Range: Idle-5500
MP 308 heads with 2.02 intake
Port matched edelbrock performer
Holley 650 spreadbore with vacuum secondary
Coated 1 5/8 long tubes
2.5 exhaust into single 3" using flowmaster Y-pipe
3" exhaust with magnaflow muffler exiting in stock location

Stock 727 and converter(from 318 engine)
8.25 2.71 peg leg but will be switched to 3.55 sure grip after break in of engine.

Don't know what to expect power wise but 350hp(flywheel) would be acceptable for me.

I built this using info from threads here and expect it to be a torque motor with some good mid range as well.This is my first mopar small block build after 30 years of big blocks.
 
If that is still externally balanced you need the 360 flexplate to be able to use the old TQ. Are you using the old harmonic balancer too?
 
I have the B&M flexplate to run the neutral(318) converter.It has a factory 360 balancer.The whole setup was balanced together.
 
sounds like you're onto a winner.

did you check the valve spring seat and open pressure to check suitability for the cam you're running?
 
All that is left is to give the heads a once over to check spring pressure,valve job,seals,etc.
And get the CC size to determine actual compression.If I had some pistons I would have a nice little motor.
 
Mow to clean the holley valve covers and swap on the stainless bolts.
 

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Out of curiousity, it wasn't Bobby with the heads, was it?

Seems like a pretty reasonable low CR build. We put a stock '88 360 out of a D250 into an LRE last year and it was... about like every 318 from the period with a 4bbl on it. Ran pretty good but just nothing there.

How rough were the heads? Just awful in every regard you could think of?
 
Don't know who Bobby is but the heads were bad.Guides,valve job,shrapnel in two chambers.Would probably run fine in a stock no performance motor but not what I wanted.

Maybe it will run good enough to be fun to drive.
 
496 polara said:
Don't know who Bobby is but the heads were bad.Guides,valve job,shrapnel in two chambers.Would probably run fine in a stock no performance motor but not what I wanted.

Maybe it will run good enough to be fun to drive.
Click to expand...
Right on, so got something worth using instead of having to do everything- can't complain about that.

Ever CC your 308s? Usually not too much variance uncut but each can be different. You'll have a lot more cam than the 360 LPs had in them stock like what we used- should be decent even if it's short of 350 fly.
 
Based on what you list, I think you are onto a nice, responsive street motor with a decently broad torque band if you have a real 9:1 CR. 350 HP at the crank seems reasonable if the heads breath decently. (I don't know the 308 flows..)

BTW, 6 months is OK. My son's '65 'Cuda was bought in May and it is jut now getting fired up with a new motor.....so we're right on the same timeline here. Maybe we need to meet in Martinsville for BBQ as part of the break-in process!
 
Sounds like a plan.
These 308's came with 2.02 intakes from mopar on a crate motor (pre magnum days).My machinist did some good bowl work and I think they will flow more than this motor can use.Compression came out to 8.9-1 so hopefully it can use cheap gas.There is non ethanol 89 plentiful and that is what I plan to run as it will sit from time to time between driving.
 
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