identify the year of my 360 long block

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pt70 said:
From an old NADA booklet, I'd say it is a 360 HP motor for a 1980 car. It was available in a Chrysler Cordoba '300', a Dodge Mirada, or a Dodge St. Regis. And likely in police cars. A 360 HP motor was rated at 185 HP. I think it was the last year that Chrysler put a 360 in a car.
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so a whole 185 HP...so what all would you all do to liven it up since i have it apart at the moment... i am only doing bolt ons at this point...not pulling the engine at this point...i have the following parts going on...just waiting for it all to come in

doug long tube headers
edelbrock performer 2176 intake manifold
4 bbl carb edelbrock avs2
replacing the spark plugs to autolites
new wires
replacing the oil pump cuz i can
new oil pan

i got a bunch of other stuff i am addressing but it is unrelated to the engine...doing suspension and electrical...

what else would you do to help out the 185hp?????
 
hotairgypsy said:
true...i just want to know the proper year in the event i need any parts for it...i am new to these older cars...i dont know what interchanges between years or 318 to 360 stuff yet...all helpful stuff for me...
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Mostly everything except for the crankshaft larger rod journals
 
hotairgypsy said:
true...i just want to know the proper year in the event i need any parts for it...i am new to these older cars...i dont know what interchanges between years or 318 to 360 stuff yet...all helpful stuff for me...
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Just spit a year out from 1971 to 1991 and you got it.
 
hotairgypsy said:
so a whole 185 HP...so what all would you all do to liven it up since i have it apart at the moment... i am only doing bolt ons at this point...not pulling the engine at this point...i have the following parts going on...just waiting for it all to come in

doug long tube headers
edelbrock performer 2176 intake manifold
4 bbl carb edelbrock avs2
replacing the spark plugs to autolites
new wires
replacing the oil pump cuz i can
new oil pan

i got a bunch of other stuff i am addressing but it is unrelated to the engine...doing suspension and electrical...

what else would you do to help out the 185hp?????
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Concentrate on torque. Don't worry about HP. For a street car, torque is king, as John Lingenfelter used to say and he was right. Just build for the torque level you're looking for (and when you want it) and all the rest will fall into place. Some disagree with that approach but it works well. For a race only engine, you follow "a little different" approach.
 
LA family differences: 360 crank main journals are bigger, main bearings are bigger, mains bore in the block is bigger, pistons are bigger than 318 and smaller than 340 and wrist pin is closer to piston head, Harmonic dampener is counter weighted, heads have bigger ports and valves, intake and exhaust manifolds have bigger ports to match the heads, oil pan and its rubber seals are different size. Things that are the same are; connecting rods and rod bearings, windage tray, fuel pump, water pump, timing cover, timing sprockets and chain, oil slinger, camshaft, lifters, rocker arms and shafts, cam bearings, oil pump, intermediate shaft, distributor, engine bolts, valve springs, valve covers, starter.

The 360 LA parts all interchange in all years. This changed with the introduction of the 5.9 magnum which uses different heads, valvetrain, cam, lifters, valve covers, intake manifold. The crank/rods/bearings, pistons, oil pump, intermediate shaft, distributor are the same. as is the timing chain and sprockets. I'm not sure if the water pump and timing covers are the same or not.
 
In my book, the windage trays, distributors, and camshafts are not the "same". Will they bolt on? Sure, but, they're not identical. The windage tray needs to be tweaked a bit to keep it from rubbing the crank if you put a 318/340 tray on a 360. Cams and distributor specs are different.
 
Specs on distributors, carburetors, and camshafts are tuning issues best left to the current owner of the car or his/her engine builder. Those factory tuning specs as well as all the emissions parts under the hood in the "as delivered to the dealer condition" changed yearly at the whim of the EPA. I got the impression hotuairgypsy was concerned with what would "FIT" the LA360 he has, which I believe is a 1978. If I read him wrong and he is building a concourse queen that will lose the competition if the wrong tag is screwed to the distributor, or the wrong year intake is on there, or God forbid the engine serial doesn't match the body # then I apologize for my generalizations, no harm was intended. Noted; the windage tray on the 340 is a tad smaller diameter, but it is made of light sheet metal and is easily reshaped by hand and works just fine. Neither you nor I mentioned the TA rods which are significantly different in weight...but not in critical dimensions. The weight issue is taken care of by the engine builder's machine shop. However, they do "fit".
 
My take on what the OP was looking for was "bolt-on" parts to increase performance. Sure, most small block stuff will physically bolt on, but, if you're looking for performance, you need to take all the specs in consideration. Taking off 360 parts and installing 318 parts usually will usually make performance suffer. You have to take those specs into consideration and have them match the other parts you plan to use if you want things to play nice together.
 
cudamark said:
My take on what the OP was looking for was "bolt-on" parts to increase performance. Sure, most small block stuff will physically bolt on, but, if you're looking for performance, you need to take all the specs in consideration. Taking off 360 parts and installing 318 parts usually will usually make performance suffer. You have to take those specs into consideration and have them match the other parts you plan to use if you want things to play nice together.
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And that is exactly why I ruled out the use of 318 heads exhaust and intake manifolds on the 360. And also why all LA cams, distributors, and carburetors are tuning issues not fitment issues. Rustyratrod said the same thing in a hundred less words. I guess should have left it at that rather than explaining the fundamental dimensional differences one will encounter when mix-mastering LA parts. Nobody in their right mind would install 318 heads on a 360 unless they were stranded in a desert somewhere or way down on their luck, and nowhere in my posts did I suggest doing so. I clearly stated 318 intake and exhaust ports were incompatible with the 360. Read my post #31 (intake and exhaust manifolds have bigger ports to match the heads). Furthermore hotairgypsy clearly asked in post #25 "i just want to know the proper year (of my block sic.) in the event i need any parts for it". No mention of performance or tuning, he only asks what parts properly mechanically fit his ostensibly stock 1978 Windsor 360.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Not bein smart, but why does it even matter? It's an LA 360. They are all pretty much the same. Besides, you're going to make it what you want, right? So as far as that goes, you could just grind every number off it and go.
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Bingo! You got what you got.
76-?? Doesn’t make much difference.
 
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