a couple of 360 ?s

[rigger3006]

i know this is abody site, but the other forums lack the knowledge here.just picked up 79 sportsman motorhome,360 4bbl,727,410 dana 60(lotsa parts for the demon if i wreck it).anyhow,i see like a heat crossover pipe? at rear of exhaust manifolds joining them.if i do install headers for mileage/power can i eliminate these? i noticed the "sight hole" for setting timing is on bottom of driver side harmonic balancer.thinking of putting in a rv cam in, any thoughts on setting up timing marks? or am confused for no reason as usual?

 

[AJ/FormS]

IIRC there ain't much compression in one of those so a cam might not be the answer for a streeter or a DD

That heat-crossover pipe is part of the air injection system. It can be completely eliminated without detriment.

Those engines work in the vans cuz of the short-period cam, and the performance gears.On the ones I have worked on,they responded well to low-rpm timing increases, but NOT to more power-timing. I had to make my own timing marks.
But it's still a good core to make fresh with some taller pistons; and then you can cam it up.