318 DQ's

A 340 is like a big-bore teener.
A 360 is like a stroked 340
A 360 thus is like a stroked and poked teener.

Many years ago(1999), I wanted a stroker, but couldn't really afford it, cuz I was simultaneously "restoring" the entire car, and raising a family. I had at least one of every SBM in my 30 year collection. So the 360 was the obvious choice. I chose it because of the stroke, and how it affected the Dcr with the cam I wanted to run. I was old-school.Dcr was not yet being talked about, and the mainline thought was that 9.5Scr was gonna be the max. I was working in an engine shop, and when I talked things over with my boss, and what I had figured out longhand about Dcr ( there were no calculators out in 97 when I was planning my engine), he wasn't sold on it. But he was willing to let me be a "pioneer". So I built it at 11.3Scr for aluminum heads, and ordered the 292/108 cam that I had been dreaming of since I was a kid.
Well anybody that has ever run this cam knows it's personality. But I had never heard about it.
But I was confident that the combo would work.
And it did.
It made outrageous street power.
I had chosen the 360 because I knew the bottom-end was gonna be soft, and I believed the extra cubes was gonna make it up. And I wanted to run no more than 3.55s, with the trans that I had, the 2.66-A833.
So lets talk about how this cam works in the other SBMs, just the bottom end. So in at 104, the ICA is 70*.
In a 318, at 9.5 Scr the effective stroke is 2.43, the cylinder pressure is 150, and VP of 100
In a 340,at 10.5 Scr,the E-stroke is also 2.43, the pressure rises to 159, and a VP of 119
In my 367, at 11.3Scr, the E-stroke is 2.64,the pressure rises to 176psi, and has a VP of 143
Now to get an idea about VP, think of the torquiest SBM you can; probably a 5.9 right?
Ok so here's the 5.9@ 9.3Scr,with a 252 cam, E-stroke is 2.97, pressure of 157, and VP 141 .
So what I had built was a bottom end at least as strong as a 5.9 up to around 3000/3500, then she began to make power, more and more and more, and I was revving it to 7200, and she was still pulling hard. But get this;7200 was 64mph with 28" tires..... in 1st gear! And of course it was spinning the entire way.
What I discovered was that I had built a monster.
It was fast, furious, and drank gas like a camel guzzles water. But most of all, I was disappointed about the low-rpm torque, cuz face it, how often do you find opportunity to stand on it to 64mph. And stock 5.9 torque was not making me happy the rest of the time. Imagine my disappointment, had I built a 318/340 with that cam.
I retimed that cam several times, but in the end I pulled it out and sold it.
So now I knew what I didn't want, and the next cam was a 270/276/110.
In my 367,now at 10.9cr, the E-stroke is 2.79,pressure of 179, and VP of 153 . So now that thing had serious get-go,and strangely, I didn't morn the loss of power at the top. Had I never had the 292 to compare to, I would never have noticed. The engine still happily revved to 7200 and still pulled pretty hard most of the way.
Now on paper, the difference from a VP of 143 to 153,only maths out to plus 7%. But when you drive 153, it's like driving a 440 Magnum of yesteryear. (they make a VP of 156 at stock specs.)
That's what I wanted!
I HAD thought I wanted 440 power, but what I really wanted was 440 Torque. This cam was incredibly versatile, and I was very sad when it started dropping lobes.
The last cam I put in there, looks like this; 276/286/110, and
in my 367, still at 10.9 Scr, and now with an E-stroke of 2.74, pressure of 175, VP of 148 .
I gave up some VP, but got back the 292 power at the top. To get the bottom-end back, I installed the 3.09-A833 box. Daymn that was a good idea. The loss of 3.3% in VP, was more than offset by the Plus 16% more get go in the TM. And it still burns 87E10 gas.
IMO
I now have the best NA, street-360 ever built........ lol.
Now, here's the point;all the machine work between this engine and any other SBM costs exactly the same.
But if you bolt 63cc aluminum heads onto a 318 at no deck-work/ no shaving heads, with that 292 cam, or almost any performance cam,you will have a dog of a teener. It will cost hundreds of additional dollars to get the bottom-end performance back up to just stock teener performance.
But say you're smarter than that and put iron 58cc heads on...... and get the pistons up to zero-deck with mucho additional machining costs. Now you can make 10.1 Scr and with the 268 cam, make 164psi to burn premium gas, and have a monster VP of 125. Yes 125. ...... that's what an LA 360 makes ......stock.........So with 3.55s you're still a slug up to 24mph with a stick car, unless you rev it up and dump it to break the tires loose, and of course spinning ain't winning.

So I'm not a teener hater, I just can't get past spending mucho more money to get mucho less everything. And I suspect the cost of fuel is gonna sky-rocket shortly, so premium fuel is not on my plate. That makes the 360 the obvious best street choice for everything but perhaps, that is perhaps, in the fuel-mileage arena. But with even a modest compression increase, a 360 can even beat a stock 318 in that area.
Would I spend $1000 for a 360 core delivered to my door? No. I'd keep shopping.
Would I stroke a teener? Not to 4". Would I put a 3.58 crank in it? Maybe; that makes a 349 out of it at 3.94 bore. But I'd have to be desperate.
Knowing what I now know, I'd sooner put an extra gear in the tunnel and go crazy on the rear gear.
On the street it's all about TM, average power, and finding traction.
I have had a boatload of fun with a stone-stock long-block teener, with nothing more than a 4bbl, headers, and 4.30s ........................... and an overdrive for the hiway. That was one of my favorite combos. If I didn't live in the boonies, I mighta forgone the overdrive, and maybe dialed the rear-gear back a tad, to possibly as little as 3.91s no less.
Yeah so that's my story.