318 4" bore 3.58" stroke(360)

FWIW, don't forget that you'll have only the 2.5"-diameter main journals in that 318 block, rather than the 2.81" journals that the 360 had.

Maybe the 2.5" crank journals will be fine, though. When the Chrysler engineers designed the 360, they intended it to be a real fire-breather with free-flowing heads that would kick the Chevy 350's butt, and that's why they increased the main bearing diameter. However, then the smog laws kicked in, so the 360 engine could never be developed to generate the amount of power that the Mopar engineers had originally intended.


This is not correct.

Chrysler used bigger Maine because they KNEW they were going cheap and going to use a CAST CRANK. They wanted to increase overlap.

It's not a speed secret. It's stupid really. The aftermarket has been using smaller bearing diameters for years to keep bearing speed down.