349 CI on the cheap
I have heard of a few of these engines running around. Most are mild. I think if I were to do it, i would do a little different. I dont like hanging a piston dome that was not designed for it out of the deck. Mopars are tall pistons, and there might be room. But I would have concerns about the top ring hitting the bore chamfer. I had a 318 with soem Chevy pistons in it. I need to sit with some books, but I'm sure a chevy piston can be used on a mopar rod with a bushing replacement that would be part of a rod re-do anyway. But, my approach would be to use a 318 block, sonic test it, and bore it .090 over, then use the off the shelf 360 pistons for it. Another note...the cast performance cranks can take 600hp as a limit. Those have large good radii, no sharp edges on the journals, and better material. A factory casting, especially cut down to 318 main size, will not take 600hp. At least not for long. I applaud the effort tho. There's a lot more to it then just telling a shop to slam that together. Plus, I just bought two 4" cranks from Eagle, $350 each. With off the shelf forged pistons they can be used in a 3.91 to 3.97 bore 318 block. Not necessarily as "budget" as BJR, but less extra machining to get things to fit, and a streetable compression ratio.