Value of a 340

Value of a 340

  • Gotta have a 340

    Votes: 244 57.1%

  • Forget the 340, give me a 360 anytime

    Votes: 88 20.6%

  • Forget both the 340 & 360, big block all the way

    Votes: 54 12.6%

  • Forget all of the above - keeping my slant/273/318

    Votes: 41 9.6%
  • Total voters
    427
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I have two 340 blocks awaiting future builds. I like 'em. Big bore, short stroke, always a winner.

Seems like the 360 can make more torque at an earlier RPM I don't see many 360's running at 7,000 rpm like a 340 can. I'm sure they're out there though.

Everyone will tell you that 360's grow on trees and guys give them away for peanuts. In 2010 that may not be as true as it was ten years ago.

Also, there's less interchange between 360's and the rest of the LA engines. Different stroke, different mains, pistons etc.

Strokers toss all that out the window.
 
I've had a couple 340's in the past and that's what my Dart has in it now. But, when I build an engine for it next year (hopefully) I'm going to use a 360 shortblock that I bought for $100.

My car was originally a slant 6, so I'm not ruining anything. I plan on selling the 68 340 block and X heads to someone who is doing a restoration, or "just has to have a 340". I'll take that money and use it towards stroking the 360.

No one will be able to tell if I have a 318 or 408 by looking at the front of the engine, so I may just tell everyone it has a stock 273 in it!! 340s are great engines and lots of fun, but they are also high winding engines. Hard to rev to 7k on the streets around here. I'd prefer to make massive amounts of torque down low, so I'm going with the 408.
 
BrianT said:
I've had a couple 340's in the past and that's what my Dart has in it now. But, when I build an engine for it next year (hopefully) I'm going to use a 360 shortblock that I bought for $100.

My car was originally a slant 6, so I'm not ruining anything. I plan on selling the 68 340 block and X heads to someone who is doing a restoration, or "just has to have a 340". I'll take that money and use it towards stroking the 360.

No one will be able to tell if I have a 318 or 408 by looking at the front of the engine, so I may just tell everyone it has a stock 273 in it!! 340s are great engines and lots of fun, but they are also high winding engines. Hard to rev to 7k on the streets around here. I'd prefer to make massive amounts of torque down low, so I'm going with the 408.
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I may be interested in your 68 340, depending on price, condition and date codes. I would like to have a 68 engine in my 68 GT.

When your ready, send me a PM and I'll see if I can swing it at that time, I'm fairly close so I could pick up.
 
I paid $900 for my 340. Put in fresh bearings and gaskets. Edelbrock intake and headers and haven't had to touch it in tens of thousands of miles. I drives hundreds of miles a year to cruise ins it and does home depot runs on Saturday. It runs 12's... not a rocket but wicked bang for the buck. I have a spare in the garage in case the 6800 rpm shifts ever take their toll on it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtDMnw1yPY&feature=channel
 
Yeah, but.......318 blocks....basically free. 318 stroke.....same as 340. Early LA 318's have forged cranks (or use a 273's...with same 3.31 stroke) and are probably cheap too. Put your $$ in nice rods, pistons, bore it out and zero deck it.....it just seems like the smart thing to do, and an engine like this should be able to rev to the max! I would do just this, but.....I don't have any cars that need an engine right now.
 
340Cuda said:
I paid $900 for my 340. Put in fresh bearings and gaskets. Edelbrock intake and headers and haven't had to touch it in tens of thousands of miles. I drives hundreds of miles a year to cruise ins it and does home depot runs on Saturday. It runs 12's... not a rocket but wicked bang for the buck. I have a spare in the garage in case the 6800 rpm shifts ever take their toll on it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtDMnw1yPY&feature=channel
Click to expand...

Please post the specs of your combo including transmission, any chassis stuff, wheels/tires etc.

Nice car!
 
340Cuda said:
I paid $900 for my 340. Put in fresh bearings and gaskets. Edelbrock intake and headers and haven't had to touch it in tens of thousands of miles. I drives hundreds of miles a year to cruise ins it and does home depot runs on Saturday. It runs 12's... not a rocket but wicked bang for the buck. I have a spare in the garage in case the 6800 rpm shifts ever take their toll on it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtDMnw1yPY&feature=channel
Click to expand...

Nice what was in the gtx a 440??..and your 340 giving up a 100 c.i.'s hanging right with him:thumbup::thumbup:..i like how you heat up your tires too:-D:-D..small blocks RULE!!
 
I own a /6 for fuel economy, I also have a 360 .40 over at a 406 in my garage, I went with this because I could not find a 340 long block that is left at stock. If you go 340, I would recommend the T/A set up with J heads or X heads ported, bore it .30 over, any more and you could have some wall issues, go with a purple crank and a high comp. cam set up and find the rods that are over $100.00 each (I cannot remember the name of the brand) some dome pistons and race valves a Six pack carb set up and you could have something that no one wants a piece of on the track..
 
ahhh even if i had a 340 car i wouldnt go out of my way to own a 340. to me a core is a core, only worth more to me if its going to make more power. i skipped th sb went from slant to a 431 in my dart. my duster still has the slant but again im considering skipping the sb and going with either a 5.7 or the 400 i have. nothing against smallblocks, i like the 360.
 
rmchrgr said:
Please post the specs of your combo including transmission, any chassis stuff, wheels/tires etc.

Nice car!
Click to expand...

The car is pretty simple; early 340 block, 2.02 "J" heads (no porting, just factory castings), Edelbrock Torker340 intake, 750 vacuum Holley, Crane .484 lift hyd cam and factory steel rockers, el cheapo-flowtech headers. Tranny is a 904 with a manual valve body and a 3500 stall Hughes converter. I run a 27" tall M/T drag radial on cop car wheels with a 3.91 gear. Chassis is untouched other than fresh leaf springs a few years ago.

Like I said, a pretty simple car...
 
My dad had a 67 can am cuda, he traded =iteven for a hemi roadrunner(he needed a spare engine for his pro duster inearly 70's). The kid and his dad came to pick up the cuda, the kid lost at everytake off. They brought the cuda back to the house and trailered to their house. That said brought the two cars with two engines that wereprobably chryslers best
 
i grew up with stories from my dad of 340 glory in his challenger.

so i love the 340's ... i was trained at a young age.

but i also craved big block power so i found a 440 for another dart....

so i am on both sides of the fence....
 
340Cuda said:
The car is pretty simple; early 340 block, 2.02 "J" heads (no porting, just factory castings), Edelbrock Torker340 intake, 750 vacuum Holley, Crane .484 lift hyd cam and factory steel rockers, el cheapo-flowtech headers. Tranny is a 904 with a manual valve body and a 3500 stall Hughes converter. I run a 27" tall M/T drag radial on cop car wheels with a 3.91 gear. Chassis is untouched other than fresh leaf springs a few years ago.

Like I said, a pretty simple car...
Click to expand...

Nice job! Pretty stout.
 
Thanks for the kind words.

Just to keep the thread on topic. I bought a spare 340 short block that was deglazed, new bearings and fresh rings last summer for $450.

As most people mention, a 340 may not an advantage over a 360 but IMHO it is a better foundation for a budget racer(with a small displacement advantage over the 318 ). My 340 has spent plenty of time between 6500 and 7000 rpm. I agree, the 360 is a bigger motor for less money but the little you save you really should spend on a decent harmonic balancer if you are going to be spinning it up. There is also that moment at the gas pump when you know you're going to hear that question, "wudda you got in it?". It seems everybody has a story about a 340."...this guy showed up one night with a 340 Swinger...". I've got Magnums, 318's and 360's but none are as fun to drive as my 340.
 
You can buy the whole stroker kit for $2000. plus a gasket kit, e.t.c. cam $300. heads for $1500 that leaves machine work. Ive done two of these and both run good so I know it can be done. Of course like anything else you can spend a whole lot more if you want but you can build a good street motor for around $4000. When i did my first one the kit was $1300 the second one the kit was $1500 now its $1900.Of course i had the block. good luck on whatever you do.
Of course I am a 340 fan so i vote go 340.
 
It's worth what someone is willing to pay. It's like the 327 Chevy vs a 350. Which is best? Every situation is different. 340s are not rare, nor were they ever really rare. I can recall hearing they were rare in the mid 80s when I had 4 of them. I think "rare" means hard to find in a certain proce range and locality. To me they are not rare, but they are desired because of the legends and myths around them. But in terms of any buildup. Show me a 340 that makes "X" power and theres 318s, and 360s that also make those numbers. You can get a nice street engine for $4000. But it will be a 360 when that total includes initial cost. I don't think there's any 4" arm engine I've seen that combines quality and great output for the displacement with a sticker of $4K. My first complete, disassembled but cleaned and honed 340 cost me $350. Now the core blocks are worth more than that. In erms of shopping for used engines... If you don't know the guy whose car it came from and/or have seen it run, I would be very nervous to spend anything close to $2K on it. "Rebuilt" took on a whole new meaning when the Mopar flipper market took off 10 years ago.
 
I'm gonna agree with moper to a certain extent. The value depends on availability and that comes with location. It's nice to see that some of you have 340s laying around by the numbers. In my area of the woods 340s aren't that easy to come by and because those who have them know they're not that easy to come by in this locale they want a mint for them. A mint not worth spending. Are 340s rare? Not at all. Are 340s rare where I'm at? Yup.

I love it, really. I see it all the time over on fordsix. Guys telling others not to even bother with boring a 300 because they're a dime a dozen. Really? Then I want to go where they live so I can buy 'em so plentiful and so cheap. Maybe where you live, not where I'm at. The trucks they came in hit the scrapper a long time ago thanks to the salt in upstate NY.

That's leaves the 360. The complete engine in the Dip, formerly in dodgepower's Duster, was free. At the time no one knew what a 360 was and no wanted one. In the late '80s, early '90s the same ones who didn't know what they were suddenly became aware that the only thing available to them, in this area at a decent price, was the 360.

The 360 we have for dodgepower's Duster now was $175 complete. The block has some taper that a .020 overbore will handily clean up, but the crank is perfect. A good build to start a young teenage driver off with.

I read somewhere in this thread that you can't wind a 360? I'll have to remember that the next time I do the 1-2 shift at 6800. Maybe not 7000 on the nose, but damned close.
 
When I was looking to build an engine for my Duster about 10 years ago, I had the choice of a 340 core for $1000, or a 360 core for $100. The build was going to add up the same either way, so I decided to "save" myself $900.
 
I love the 340, but yes it is the hype of the past that makes them what they are today. They are little rockets, but the asking prices are ridiculous. There is a guy around here who has one of every year in his garage and he will not sell them, they just sit there and collect dust!
 
Mine has a 70 340 block with 360 J heads 2.02/1.60 milled. I am now building a 360 stroker so I can keep the 340 block safe eventually but really the 360 stroker is the way to go cause they are so abundant (360 blocks).

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I paid $600 for my running, '68 340 with X heads.

Then again, I only paid $100 for a 360 with 727 trans, but the 360 needs rebuilding.

I love both, but the 340 will always be my favorite. I especially love it when guys ask me at the track if I'm racing a 340, and some get pissed because I'm running a rare engine.

I tell them that's what they were built for. 8)

I have two 340's, two 360's, three 318's, and one lone 440 that never gets built because we love our small blocks too much, lol.
 
I just finished building a 340 for my 318 Challenger. Awesome engine, but definitely more expensive to build than a 360. Off the shelf piston choice is a little more limited, especially if you have to go with a larger then .030 overbore like I had to (.060"). Plus, if you've got an earlier high compression 340, the pistons are .018" over the deck, so head choice is a little more involved if you depart from stock; closed chamber heads have to be machined for clearance.

If I was upgrading and had to go out and buy an engine to rebuild again, I'd go with a 360. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to build, and an extra 20 cubes. Maybe not as rev happy as the 340's, but better torque for the street. Throw in a stroker kit and you can get your forged internals and still save money on the core vs a 340. Plus, since they're easier to find, you can find yourself a standard bore block. Harder to do if you're looking for a 340, and more expensive too. I saw an add on Craigslist yesterday GIVING AWAY 2 standard bore 360 blocks. Not something you see everyday, but it still happens. The last two 340 blocks I saw were offered at $500.

Now if I had an original 340 car, I'd have to get a 340. But if its a /6 or 318 car its not going to be any more correct with a 340 than a 360, so why not go with a 360? Especially with all the stroker kits everyone is doing now. You're already changing the rod ratio's, and you can go forged internals and neutral balance if you go that route.
 
And at the build price of 600.00,ill put it against any stock 340 or 360 any day.I also have 3 other 318s given to me,and i have them sitting here from stock to very near 400 hp.318s are free,so to me,that debunks a 1000 core 340 or even 100 360s(wich i havent found any of those near me for that cheap).Oh,by the way,i have had every mopar engine from slant six to 440,including a poly 318,and a 392 hemi.I just like the 318 the best,like chevy guys like 327s and ford guys like 289s,they can be fast,high winding and still excellent on gas all at the same time.
 
the only one i have never had is the sixer. I guess i like the 360 the best because there is no replacement for cubes, but in stockish form my 340 is the winner(forged crank floating rods). i scored a fresh re ring late 68 std bore 340 for $1000 put a milodon pan on it and arp rod bolts for a little added security. I built a 360 for my dune truck for around $1500...soooo 6 of one half dozen of the other
 
I love the 340, but the 360 is a great motor. I curently have a 360 in my 71 duster, but I picked up a 71 340 over the summer for free!! I did trade some big block parts for it but I didn't need them anyway. I am going to run the 36o for now but I will be using the 340 for a 422 stroker motor. The one thing I will say about that build is it will not be a budget build.
 
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