Help me spend my money, LOL.

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If you are going to put new rod bolts and pay a machine shop to resize, take that amount and compare to a SCAT rod kit. This is log-rolling into just building a stroker. You can build a budget motor without resizing the rods. It's not perfect, but if you are really on a budget, you will have to cut some corners.

IMHO, you are making too big a deal about building a stroker motor. Building this 360 so it's reliable is the same as building a motor with a .42" longer stroke reliable.

Save a some more money and build a 450-475 hp stroker.
 
Bruce, you gotta have the rods resized. Are you going to have your crank turned or did it mic out good? Get you some plastigauge and check it after getting your stuff back from the machine shop. It's one of those Trust but Verify kind of things. IMO 9.5 is plenty for a pump gas street engine. If you find some used aluminum heads and go that route you can bump your compression some more due to the heat dissipating qualities of aluminum. Iron magnum's will give you a little bump and they flow better as well. And a little pocket porting and unshrouding will go a long way.
I'm with the rest on the HV oil pump. Unless you run a looser than normal rod & main bearing oil pressure shouldn't be a problem. I'm a fan of Mellings. Take a little free time with the die grinder and remove all of the casting flash that would restrict the oil flow/drain back on the block. The drains in the lifter galley is usually where you'll see a lot of flash.
I'd think about cam bearings as well. Cheap and easy to do when the engine is apart and out of the car. Most parts houses rent the tool to R&R them.
Your stall speed and rear gears are going to play into your cam selection (but you already knew that!). We already got a good idea on vehicle weight. Have you looked at Hughes Cams? Have have very good results with them. And they ain't re-cored Chebby blanks! :poke: LOL!!! HUG HEH1928AL or HUG HEH2328AL . I
I tend to go towards the smaller when its a daily driver, nothing like over-camming a car...[-X
 
Personally - I would do one of two approaches:
1 . leave it alone. Stick a cam in it (something smaller like the XE268 ) and a set of Comp 901-16 springs, plus a windage tray, intake, and headers. Then drive the snot out of it and never worry.
2. Proceed with the stroker. For several reasons - I don't agree with putting 302 castings on anything but 318s or 273s. A 360 will be wheezing with them regardless of the valve sizes because the ports are too small. Velocity is king - but the queen is port volume and they ain't got enough. Also - You have pressed-pin pistons and it's tricky to press off the rods without a serious risk of ovalling the piston. So if you're going to go through the cost of lower end work and dismounting for new pistons - get what you want. The 4" stroker with forged pistons and a decent crank is not much more money to build than a 360 shortblock and will be a street killer even with stock port 360 heads. You can always upgrade later to a better top end.
 
autoxcuda said:
If you are going to put new rod bolts and pay a machine shop to resize, take that amount and compare to a SCAT rod kit. This is log-rolling into just building a stroker.
Click to expand...

Great tip, this is why I started this thread to explore all of the possibilities. Those kits are right in line with the cost of resizing, got some homework to do now. :D

Thanks
 
Bad Sport said:
Great tip, this is why I started this thread to explore all of the possibilities. Those kits are right in line with the cost of resizing, got some homework to do now. :D

Thanks
Click to expand...

AND they come with ARP rod bolts installed. Factor that amount in there too.
 
Resizing the rods is a simple honing process to assure the rods are completely round on the big end. The rod bolts stretch and rebound with every revolution. Over time, the big end of the rod becomes egg shapped. Short between the rod bolts and long 90* apart. By having the rods resized, they are brought back round again and proper bearing crush is re-established. It is also essential to resize rods when rod bolts are replaced. Pressing old rod bolts out and new ones in can "play" with the rods big end. When bearing crush and clearances are measured in thousandths of an inch, you just don't take chances. Corner can be cut in engine building. You can use old pistons, you can run used cylinders, you can get cylinder wall clearances approaching .010".....over with a forged piston. As long as the ring end gap is good, you're alright. She might have some piston slap....lol, but crank clearances and connecting rods you just don't cut corners on.
 
moper said:
Personally - I would do one of two approaches:
1 . leave it alone. Stick a cam in it (something smaller like the XE268 ) and a set of Comp 901-16 springs, plus a windage tray, intake, and headers. Then drive the snot out of it and never worry.
.....
Click to expand...

This is the current running and driving combo in the original posters car:

1974 Dart Sport, 318, Comp HE268 cam, Weiand 8007 Action Plus , Summit 600cfm Street/Strip, 1 5/8" Headers, 904/Transgo TF-2, 8 3/4 3.55 Suregrip.
 
autoxcuda said:
This is the current running and driving combo in the original posters car:

1974 Dart Sport, 318, Comp HE268 cam, Weiand 8007 Action Plus , Summit 600cfm Street/Strip, 1 5/8" Headers, 904/Transgo TF-2, 8 3/4 3.55 Suregrip.
Click to expand...

I run a very similar set up to this & am extremely happy. However, I believe your Weiand to be a better complimpent to this package than my Performer.It's a fun combo to run as you put together your stroker combo.
 
Oh geez. Have you actually ever PUT 302 heads on a 360? I have and it worked great. I opened the port entrances only op the 360 size and it ran like a raped ape. I mean really. Do you believe that garbage? As long as he doesn't cam the hell out of it and try to make the heads flow more than they are capable of he'll be fine.


moper said:
Personally - I would do one of two approaches:
1 . leave it alone. Stick a cam in it (something smaller like the XE268 ) and a set of Comp 901-16 springs, plus a windage tray, intake, and headers. Then drive the snot out of it and never worry.
2. Proceed with the stroker. For several reasons - I don't agree with putting 302 castings on anything but 318s or 273s. A 360 will be wheezing with them regardless of the valve sizes because the ports are too small. Velocity is king - but the queen is port volume and they ain't got enough. Also - You have pressed-pin pistons and it's tricky to press off the rods without a serious risk of ovalling the piston. So if you're going to go through the cost of lower end work and dismounting for new pistons - get what you want. The 4" stroker with forged pistons and a decent crank is not much more money to build than a 360 shortblock and will be a street killer even with stock port 360 heads. You can always upgrade later to a better top end.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, I have. on 360s an 318s. Some with some decent porting. And yes, on the 360s they are responsive. But so's my Agway lawn tractor - until the governor stops it. Which is exactly what the 302s do. They choke and it's at the pushrod pinch so tapering the entry does little to help aside from not losing anything from mis-match turbulence. Bigger valves help a little - but not much unless the whole bowl/port get's worked.
I run a 318 Performer intake on the 360 in my truck too - but it never sees 4K and I know I'm giving up some midrange for the sake of off idle torque.
Don't listen to me... Ask yourself if Ma Mopar really needed to have two different casting heads for all those years and kept them until the Magnum line was introduced. Why when the 318 got 302s, the 360s and 318 police and truck 4bbls got 360 castings even given the compression loss?
You're asking him to spend money on something that's limited at best, and in my opinion a waste of cash. It will run great with what's there as long as the other bolt ons are addressed. The deal is to not spend, or spend on something that will pay back. 302 castings won't ever give good payback - not in cash when you sell them after, and not in power while the are running.
 
Not my bench - but some as-cast flow numbers that jive with what I've tested before:
302's
LIFT----I-------E
0.100--55.2----34.5
0.200--105.2---70.7
0.300--152.0---104.2
0.400--187.0---113.2
0.450--189.8---115.5
0.500--190.1---117.3
0.550--190.4---119.0
0.600--190.4---120.4

596's
LIFT----I-------E
.100--62.8----48.3
.200--117.3---98.3
.300--174.2---120.8
.400--193.2---125.6
.450--192.5---127.7
.500--192.5---128.3
.550--192.5---129.0

Theres a roughly 12% increased flow from 302s to LA 360 heads with no other changes from the seat to .300 lift. Small cam or large, 302s don't move a lot of air and the 3.58 stroke 360 wants it.
 
Yeah I hear you, but I simply dont think it's gonna hurt it at the power lever he's talkin about. He's wantin a band aid engine to get him by, he aint lookin for every single HP.
 
Anyone milled their heads for a compression bump?? I am considering this possibility with the current 360 heads I have, and running a thinner gasket.. I believe the heads have the 1.88/1.60 valves, I need to verify that today.

How much needs to come off to get I point in compression?
 
Ouch, I was hoping for less, lol. The price is reasonable to get it done and if I take that much then I'm gonna have to commit an intake for those heads only. Which isn't really a problem, I just need to decide if I want to commit the Weiand or get another intake.
 
Bruce with the combo you're shooting at and with a sorta small "short" cam the small gain from the bump you get in compression will probably be negligible in "normal" driving conditions. You could probably make that little bit up on the blueprinting side of things (exact rocker ratio/pushrod length, carb jetting, free flow exh, gasket matching, etc.). Now that being said I would have the heads resurfaced just for proper sealing purposes but I wouldn't go for a big cut as it screws with everything else. Intake ports matching up and pushrod length for starters.
 
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