what is the best small block and why ?

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70aarcuda said:
neither...

but you would have to be stupid to spend 1k for a 360...360 should sell for a few hundred bucks..

i bought a complete 72 360 for 100 bucks...and use the saving to rebuild the engine
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Another university grad , pick a or b , you choose c . Both as they came from factory , you can buy a new 360 for $100.00 ? Please let me know where
 
Lets make it easy , 1 1970 340 1 1974 360 both factory fresh , both $1.00 , which you going to take ? Let me guess , you can buy a 360 for -$50.00 . Very simple which is best , not which can be built better or cheaper .
 
jerry6 said:
Another university grad , pick a or b , you choose c . Both as they came from factory , you can buy a new 360 for $100.00 ? Please let me know where
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University GRAD...thanks..,,,apparently as some people lose the argument they like to dismiss the other person as being stupid....LOL

yeah..i am laughing all the way to the bank.....LOL

did I say mine was new...no...

wake up it is not 1970 anymore....
 
and you still have not given an answer .I set the parameters , you refuse to choose the best of the 2 engines . I never asked if your 360 was new , don't care , question is simple .
Glad your laughing all the way to the bank .
And your right , not 1970 there are lots of cars out there with much more HP from the factory , big deal .
 
jerry6 said:
Another university grad , pick a or b , you choose c . Both as they came from factory , you can buy a new 360 for $100.00 ? Please let me know where
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Hes right about that, I live in Oklahoma City and I had to pay 500.00 for a 360 crate motor built back when Supershops was still in business in the States. So it was in storage since 1992 and built by who knows who but sold to him by Jim Glover Dodge for 1559.42 in 1992. It was a straight long block 360 production engine. I got it cheap for 500.00 because he had put in a Erson RV Cam a Edelbrock Performer, Pan, Valve Covers, Timing Chain Cover, Painted it, even a nice Balancer. There are good deals but just the added parts are well over 500.00 and were all new or just like new, meaning the pan & covers. I put it in a 1975 Truck and it runs really strong, it will smoke the tires and bark the gears!:burnout:
 
65CudaFish said:
Hes right about that, I live in Oklahoma City and I had to pay 500.00 for a 360 crate motor built back when Supershops was still in business in the States. So it was in storage since 1992 and built by who knows who but sold to him by Jim Glover Dodge for 1559.42 in 1992. It was a straight long block 360 production engine. I got it cheap for 500.00 because he had put in a Erson RV Cam a Edelbrock Performer, Pan, Valve Covers, Timing Chain Cover, Painted it, even a nice Balancer. There are good deals but just the added parts are well over 500.00 and were all new or just like new, meaning the pan & covers. I put it in a 1975 Truck and it runs really strong, it will smoke the tires and bark the gears!:burnout:
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A 100.00 won't buy a Carburetor today, not a good one unless you shop around for that good deal!
 
Hard to argue with the reliability of the 340. My engine has been together with the supercharger on it since 1988, however with the economy being what it is I was going to build a 360 stroker engine. I ran into a buddy of mine at a car show and he told me that he had 2 340 blocks at his garage and if I wanted them all I had to do was come get them........well I guess the 340 build is back in the works but if I didn't have the 340 block it would be a 360 that I would be building on.
 
well I played with 318's they are idiot proof hrow a set of 340 or 360 heads on em...then again try a set of 302's or even some 273 heads and cam it to go with the rear end gear ya have..if ya have a stick or a convertor....go with a bit more cam ......Lil' more gear don't hurt either........if it Blows up ......they ar a dime a dozen and you can rev them till the sun goes down ...or comes up.....340........whoooooo hooooooooo7500 rpm's all day every day and gobb's of low end torque and high rpm's for us small block kinda guy's...360....torque monster gobb's of low end but don't go crazy on cam lookin for top end....6500 is about what the beaste of burden is good for but yur gonna have fun with her and dime a dozen....318's and 360's i love em!!!!! but I just gotta find a word above love for the 340........that's a tall order...untill ya had a 340 under yer foot ya just don't know i have been lucky to have fallen in love with them when I was 16 I got my first taste of a 340......been hooked ever since........ had a few 360....stock bottom ends that were quite impressive stay away from the big cam'sthe Lil' purple shaft I think 484??? 300 stall and anywhere from 323 to 391 gear and it's an animal...all about it's intended use.....you drive it...pick the parts for how you drive.............just sayin.. :)
 
jerry6 said:
Lets make it easy , 1 1970 340 1 1974 360 both factory fresh , both $1.00 , which you going to take ? Let me guess , you can buy a 360 for -$50.00 . Very simple which is best , not which can be built better or cheaper .
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the answer to your stupid argument is the 340 only because they had compression and you could buy off the shelf pistons. the realality though in 2011 is the 360 is a better choice money wise unless you get a 340 cheap. even then i would sell the 340 for a nice profit to some old head guy that thinks he can't live with out a 340 or a resto guy.
 
To answer the question the way you posed, the 360. Why? More cubes and cheaper to build in stock stroke form. However, to answer the question custom taylored to YOUR specific situation I say the easiest thing to use is the engine already there. The 318. You can always sawp on the bolt ons to a 360 late on down the road.....that is if you're not satisfied with the 318 on the street.....and I bet you would be if you build it correctly. But as stated, anybody can make a shitbox out of anything if they're stupid enough.
 
GATORS340 said:
318 with 360 heads makes it a wedge motor but the crank won't hold up.
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Incorrect, all of MoPar "LA" engines are wedges.

If your crank didn't hold up, it's not the cranks fault. Ethier poor machining when last rebuilt or bad oil pump in a car without a idiot light or gauge.
 
ok i been doing some thinking i what im going to build and its easy im going to build my 318 that i have already and it is going to be a stroker 390 im been doing some searching for the stroker kit and i found a few places what is the best place to get the kit from i came across http://www.campbellenterprises.com/318-stroker-kit-mopar-318-5.2-stroker-kits.php tell me what u guys think and another question with a good set of factory heads and a good cam and intake ball park figure what kind of hp and tq should i see the information has been very helpful
 
The best small block is whatever you have laying around in your garage.....

honestly whatever you have easiest access to, theres nothing magical about a cubic inch number.
It all depends on 1. access 2. MONEY 3. intended purpose

HAVE FUN
 
I think that site is pretty good since they have everything in a kit ready to go. I do not know another place off hand that you could compare prices to, except maybe Manciniracing.com. (Maybe)

The problem with factory heads is they will not support the engine size as cast. They will need to be ported and milled for for this C.I.D. Factor X,J etc... 340/360 heads are approx. 72cc's which would mean some milling would probably be required. Watch the head gasket used for this. Not to thick!

Depending on cam size and actual compression ratio, then and only then can a HP/TQ figure be given.

What operating RPM do you want to drive on the Hwy. in? What gear ratio\tire size?

I can plug it into a desk top dyno sim. The program is a little old, but in general, it isn't bad. A little generous in the HP category.
 
when the 273 was replaced with the 318, the performance option 273 commando was replaced with the 340 a strictly no nonsense hot rod V8 that could stomp on any small block out there, unfortunately by the early 1970's unleaded fuel meant lower compression and emissions requirements choked it down,
the answer was a longer stroke and more displacement with the introduction of the 360, a much better engine FOR IT"S TIME,
today the 340 has a mystique due to its early success and lower production,
where as the 360 is often seen as a low compression truck engine
the truth is they are BOTH great engines, and when built correctly are more than capable of keeping up with each other, the differences in bore and stroke are just that DIFFERENCES, they each have there own advantages and disadvantages, different but equal, neither one is "better"
 
There is NO such thing as best when it comes to this. It is ALL subjective.

Yea, if you were talking almost forty years ago, the 340 was the engine to have.
Today it is more of a "wow, look at me because I have a 340" type thing. If you blow up a 340, then there is another one gone. That said, I am NO WAY slamming the 340. It was a potent package back in the day and they run real strong. The newsflash is that all the stuff that made the 340 run great can be applied to the other small blocks as well. The buy in price for a decent 340 core is more often way to much money. Unless you find one at a decent price, I'd skip it.

If you are of course rebuilding it from the ground up, the 340 vs.360 argument becomes pointless nonsense. The only thing I can see then is higher rpm or more low end torque. What fits YOUR needs better?? What can YOU afford??

The most economical choice is the 360. It offers the most for the least by far if we are talking talking stock stroke engines. Around here in the south, they can be bought cheaply. Pistons are reasonable for them to. They run real strong with minimal modifications. Easy to obtain as well..

Stroking these engines out really levels out the playing field as well. If you want crazy torque, consider a 408.

Another option is the lowly underrespected 318 . Dirt cheap and easy to obtain with the downside being a higher cost for pistons. Get a good set of heads on a 318 with a nice 10:1 or so compression ratio and you have a very strong street package. The combinations are endless and if you want a 390 cubic stroker engine, it won't dissapoint. The 318 shares the same stroke as the 340. The 318 is another budget minded option for those who already have them or can get them cheap. Don't dismiss them as a pig for performance. There are several 318's out there that can surprise you!

Again ,it is not the 70's anymore and quit living the past. I am a nostalgia freak for sure but with today's performance parts, you can make ANY of the Mopar LA engines run DAMN GOOD!!

I am still a believer that the correct combination of parts is the secret to a great running engine rather than it's cubic inches...
 
thanks again for all the great info this is helping alot to answer rumble fish 360 question im thinking about running 373 gear ratio the rear tires i was looking at was a 235/60/15 but if i could get bigger i would and the rmp range on the hwy at 70 i was thinking like 3200
 
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