Mopar 360 Build on a $2,500 Budget - Horsepower S13, E17

some like the Mopar muscle machines, you'll love the

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today, just like we love this bright orange 72 duster when Plymouth introduced this car in 1970, some guys called it the workman's hot rod, the price base was only a little over $2,500. but if you stepped up and got a small block 340 in years, well he was a highway rogue who could dust off Camaros and Mustangs what we just put together 1969 Dodge Polara 500 part Beauty Luxury 318 was one of four engines the series that powered factory Mopars that began in the mid-1960s, a lighter version of the A engine, hence the name LA, were efficient, long-lasting, and quite powerful small blocks found in B and C bodies.

Dodges and Plymouth, a superstar of the family was the 340i Flo, large port heads and a six barrel option were the reasons it was often called the Hemi of the small block 340 only had a six year production run thanks in part to a successor that appeared in 1971, the larger 360, gained most of the 340's performance parts and enjoyed a much longer production run and was a popular choice for cars like the Duster in 1974; However, since a factory

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free fall was just around the corner the 360 ​​never got the respect of the 340, today we want to change that since they had a 30 year production run of Boneyard 360's are still very easy To find, like this, we recently had a machine to increase our

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.

It's also now easy to identify which block you have simply by looking at the casting number on the outside, another nice feature. About the castings of these blocks is that all three 18, 340 and 360 are made of a high nickel alloy. That's the same material other manufacturers only use in their specialty racing blocks. Recently, we built some

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versions of classic Ford and Chevy engines. Well, this time around, this budget Mopar comes along with mostly original parts, like this cast crank that was standard on all factory 360s, now has a 358 movement, is externally balanced, and over the years , these things have proven to be tough enough to handle. abuse Super Stock Racing pistons for the 360 ​​are also cast in the forged connecting rods, they measure six points one two three from center to center, which is also the same for the 318 and 340.

Now you're wondering how the 360 ​​can use the same length. With a longer stroke of 3.5 and eight inches, the answer is in the piston, which is shorter and also the lightest, unlike other engines in the series that use floating pins, these have a press-fit design, Our 360 uses a hydraulic camshaft with a flat tappet, which brings us to an interesting quirk in the Mopars lubrication system: the pushrods are solid and do not have a lubrication hole in the middle, so what's the point? Otherwise the oil will reach the top of the valve train? Oil is fed from the number four main to this number four journal on the cam. which has a through hole and from here it is pushed up through an oil gallery and because of the strange shape of the rocker bolt oh here it goes through the bolt and through this big hole in the rocker shaft and thank you to these smaller hose wells the rocker arms and pushrods get a lot of oil, a little strange but it works, the cam is a direct replacement with a basic operating range of 2,000 to 4500 rpm, duration is 218 and 228 at 50,000 quick with a left max of 441, this timing chain grease tab attaches to the push plate that holds the cam in place and by the way, we're using a double roller.

Our cam and these lifters came as a kit from Summit Racing. The Los Angeles engines used two different cylinder heads. The small piece that was used on a 318 and the large port that was used on a 340 and a 360, but there are two different versions of the large ports before the 72, a 202 valve was used on the intake side and a 160 on the the exhaust, then the 72 used 188 with a 160 exhaust valve as well. let's see what we have and that lets us know that we have 72 on later heads, in the meantime we will finish

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ing our budget after the break and today we are loaded with duster trivia, in addition to the 340 and 360 dusters, did you know?

Other models came with names like the gold duster, the silver duster, the space duster, the tornado duster and this one tickles, yes the duster, no lie, we'll be right back, very funny, we're back, but the most interesting part was. He's off to a car show to chase another trophy and now we're going to finish our 360-degree budget

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. Earlier, Joe showed you how the lubrication system works on this engine. The next step is to fit the solid pushrods like in the In the old days we used stamped steel rocker arms loaded on the original one piece shaft, now that the rocker arm ratio is one point five to one, the tip of The valve moves further than the tip of the pushrod on the arm itself, for example, if the threading and pushrod tip moves up 400 mils then the valve tip will move down six hundred thousandths. .

Now we can bolt on the stock timing cover with the water pump, it has an assembly and for dyno purposes a fuel pump block on the plate for economical induction. Let's go with this stealthy, lying skyscraper that now has a wide power band from idle to 6,800 rpm. If you're building your first Mopar 360 and you see this big gap here, you might be saying to yourself, hey, I was wrong to say Well, no you didn't, it's a design feature with a useful purpose. You see that there is a closed channel under the EGR intakes and these spaces allow some of the heat that builds up in the intake to escape towards the lower end.

We can handle all 360. Lube system first with an oil pump and pickup assembly, followed by the pan, which by the way are all stock Mopar replacements here and throughout the build review schematic board, this one was The first time we hooked up a Mopar small block to our DTS Dino, thankfully it continued. with few modifications and pretty much like any other small block with that here and like any hydraulic flat tappet set up, a good break-in period is a must. Remember those oil holes we showed you on the rocker arm shaft. Well, now you can see how.

Effective, this tried and true system serves to quickly lubricate the rocker arm and power the engine on a budget. We won't win Summit Racing's 600 CFM street carburetor and one of their Mopar electronic distributors to evacuate the exhaust gases. Set up kitchen competition heads. with inch and a half primaries leaving two two and a half inch collectors. I think I know why I try it so smooth like it's that rocker or I think they're really brilliant pulleys. Oh despite all the glare we ran the engine for 20 minutes at various revs now let's find out what our conservative combination actually does we have a 300 bus anyway yeah remember the original 360 was factory rated at 255 370 pound-feet of torque 295 horsepower yeah, not a bad start, now let's see what my cat has a knack for timing, we can try it again like this and see where it takes us, good time, died.

In fact, I went back just a hair, oh seven, 381 381 on the floor, good gate, that's really good, 3800 RPM we got. 381 feet of bail, look at the torque curve on this thing up, level, through them, down, right in the operating range of the camshaft, and the power is just nice, steady ramp all the way, no no dips or dips, it's really consistent, you can't beat that. not very kind of course we're fine it's not good enough to change timing and small increments it's determined to squeeze a few more horses out of this 360 before we hang it up and perseverance has a reward a grand total 314 horsepower. just a really nice flat curve, no hiccups, no dips or even that's for something else.

Oh no, that's a good deal, so this little engine will be good in a truck, maybe a passenger car, your duster and all that, yeah, all around, give up, that's a bit. engine and this is just stock but we still have a performance deal ah that will be fun not bad for a small small block that now makes more horsepower and torque than ever in its heyday and we will soon be bringing it back from return. To improve performance, stay tuned for a surprise visit with a broker who is one of the rudest, nastiest, most vile and foul-mouthed.

He is also a good friend of mine to stay with us. It's time for outlaw racing, one horsepower and we're not here to cover an event exactly we're here looking at a new class one that's hotter than sun lotion that other auto scam for a while Pro mods are the world's fastest door-closing race cars any size engine almost any power-up in a running car any size tires in the Oscar version, as the name implies, Pro Mod automatic, the only problem is that the clutch It has a different power. I mean some of these beasts produce as much, maybe even a little more, as some of those cars, they're in a class where they're competitive with each other and won't come out on top.

I mean, any car this weekend that is on this track could win this race. A definite contender is Dennis Jordan. He has already executed the veteran executioner of his ruined Hemi among the three with Nathan I. We always said that a good drive in one of these cars could cure cancer. The Jordan engine is an airy Hemi style most commonly seen in vehicles with tractors and, unlike most automatic drivers, uses power slip that transfers power and a lot of guts to stay on track. rhythm again. I got a whole package, you know, he's good in the trees, a great driver, you know, we used to drive him and I rotated.

I drove for a week and the next race he drove and I finally said man. You are much better at driving. I'm a well you could start driving, we race every lap, whether it's John Force or whoever you know, we take them all seriously because anyone can win at any time and it's kind of a race, it's no wonder to find a racer like Dennis here, what did surprise me was finding the driver of this Pro Mod Nitrous Camaro, an old friend, a racing legend and an all around good guy, how long are you going to have to stay here?

I've got a lot of things wrong Tony Kristin and I go back to the mid 90's when he and his '57 Chevy epitomized the professional street racing class, now the always sarcastic king of the street is back racing a robot automatic, yes, I have Nate. 20 here this thing should run fine the last time I went out with the car it was the first time with this engine. I can't even, I should go much faster with what I'm going. I'm doing a terrible job. Look I have a way back for the first session I don't know how good this track is, I hope it's good because then I'll throw some fire at it, we'll see, I'm glad to see you're still doing it.

I'll see you back if I do well if I don't do well you know the old routine stay away from me see you later jumping in his first qualifying Tony's modest tune was good enough for a 418 at 189 miles per hour and in the second round, place the fierce 406 to leave the qualifying group. Dennis was having some trouble executing a comparable pass on the executioner vet. Everything is fuel in our air to do these things wrong and we just don't have enough air today, so. It's a big learning curve and it's sending us back to school. We'll have them completely changed and we'll try to increase the boost in the engine a little bit and I hope Tony came out last night and showed that he's going to pack a punch with that. nitrous car Tony has a way of talking but always seems to back it up, so I thank my mom who died, who left me some money and uses a met, she could see what I'm using it for, she died.

Christian's hopes of winning. They are alive and well even though here in the pits he does most of the work alone, in the old days there were people begging to go to the races with you, now it's okay, how much are you going to pay me? Do you want to go to the races with me? I think you should pay me. That's how I see it, no matter how you look at it. This guy is one of the best. Check out this 408 solo elimination race. It's like he's riding on rails. if you were ever dying jack yeah last kick from him I'm not done yet unfortunately Denis Jordan finished around two of the knockouts he'll throw he won the second round and this matchsemi-final in his game towards the fire and a showdown with one of his many old rivals Steve Kerr, well here they are getting tired with the last race of the weekend and, oh no, Tony Christian, the red lights turning the winds happen , yeah, well, I was expecting it and I just wanted to go in and hit it, and when I got too far, I prepared myself a little bit for that run with it because I didn't want a rounded full weight force.

I saw a little increase a little bit, well, you can improve one thing, although, as always, Tony Christian will be. Come back like a redneck, leave me twice in a row. Hey, I have to remember that something is broken. The watch is fine. 2 times a day. Well, that's his moment. Mustang owners are awesome, as soon as they purchase a new vehicle, they can't wait for replacement parts to be fitted. Well, if you have a 2010 model, you don't have to wait any longer for an aftermarket exhaust system. Cherry Bomb just released their GT shaft backing system that has the most aggressive sound ever.

It has features like mandrel bent tubes. Aluminized powder coated construction. huge 4 inch steel tips now claim four to five rear wheel horsepower and as for the price, I don't think you can blow the rear tires fast enough to get anywhere to buy one for two hundred and seventy - five dollars, you don't have to spend a lot of money to put a monster transmission behind your engine; In fact, Monster Transmission and Performance has a full line of transmission converter packages like this one for the 4l60e, made for engines producing up to 650 horsepower now, each coming with a long list of upgraded internal parts and even electronics. new.

They road test every transmission before sending it to you, they always talk about how they will send it to you absolutely free, which is quite rare these days, prices vary from the start. At just over a thousand dollars When you think about antifreeze protection, the first thing that comes to mind is cooling systems, but what about the fuel system? Water in your system can cause the gas line to freeze as well as rust and corrosion. An iso heat bottle with your next fill can remove harmful water while also cleaning your fuel injectors or carburetor. Works on all engines and It is designed for year-round use If you have work to do in tight places Matco Tools has the answer for you, check out their new Slim Line 88 to hit it now, the large number of teeth allows for shorter ratcheting throws and at the same time , allows maximum rotation on the nut or bolt you are working with, come in green or orange handles, then how about a palm sized tool for special grinding jobs, this is your mini two-inch grinder that has a rubber boot to reduce vibration and a side-exit exhaust for better engine efficiency.

For more information on these tools and many others, contact your location. Metro Distributor you know where to find us here next week for another episode of Horsepower