360 build or 340???

Rockin Ronnie said
Hey Shadowdog!!! You seem to know abour 360's. I have a 360 with the words "premium" on the valve covers. It came out of a 78 Diplomat from the original owner and I was told that it may be a "Police" 360..... Any thoughts ??? And the stroker kit you pictured in your forum post for the 360 to a 408 kit... What horsepower should a guy expect out of it with a decent set of stock heads??? I want to build this one up over this coming winter and needs to budget ahead of time...like the most of us....Thanks ahead for any advice.....Rockin' Ronnie

RR
Best way to tell if it was from a cop car is to look at the # stamped on the block since the valve covers could have come from another source usually there wil be a "P" or "HPP" if you have "HPP" it has a bit more compression and cam in it "P" just mild cam.
As far as HP with that kit..depending on cam and compression you could build up to 500HP. I would get a better crank if you want more than that out of it. I would take the time to gasket match your flanges...it's worth the trouble. Bronze alloy guides, hardened exhaust seats. Springs to match your cam. I allways have .030 milled off the heads...but check valve clearance if going over 9.5 pistons.Most common mistake I see is over carbing the 360 or running too rich. You need to adjust for your elevation. Here in Roswell I drop down 2 orfice sizes on holly 4160 since we are at 3600ft. Use either manual secondarys or the weakest spring for vacum secondarys. If your going to keep it street the air gap Edelbrock preformer is good...if you have the clearance a 2" 4 hole spacer on top will make it work better. Unless your running 12:1 or higher comp and a radical cam I would stay at 600-650 cfm.
Anything that robs HP is good to look at---it all adds up. Go to undersized pullys and HP water pump. Equal length headers. Windage tray helps too but I don't see any gain with a valley baffle. Use an electric fuel pump and toss the manual one out.
Hope this helps...

SD