360 upgrades

[opquail]

hello, i have a 73 dodge w100 power wagon i just put a 360 in it out of an rv what are some good inexpensive upgrades i can put in it to get as much power as possible? thank you for all your time and help!

[cageman]

pistons that are at least zero deck, most bang for the buck. 360's and 400 need compression.

[opquail]

what about just simple bolt on stuff

[DartGT66]

cam, carb, intake headers.

[dodger1]

Agree with cageman, pistons will give the biggest bang for the buck, along with more cam, 4 barrel and headers.
If you don't want to get inside the motor, a good set of headers and duals should help - assume the rv motor already has a 4bbl.

[opquail]

it came wit a 2bbl but i put a 4 on it i have a edelbrock 1406 but i think its pumpin too much fuel how do i find out what cam came stock in it? the motor came out of a 78 dodge motor home

[dodger1]

There will be a stamped number on the machined face on the front of the block just below the block-head interface on the driver's side. Usually filled with dirt, paint, etc. so you might need to scrub a bit. Post it here and someone will have the details. Regardless, it wouldn't have had much of a cam - I'm betting it was just a regular truck engine set up for lots of bottom end torque. The Ed 1406 carb won't help it much all by itself but will give you a decent start if you get the rest of the bolt-on's done. Cam and pistons will wake it up for sure.

[opquail]

What kinda pistons should I get, an what size? What size cam? I'm bout to get some headers for it, but is there any other inexpensive bolt on upgrades I can get? Are the stroker kits for the 360 worth it? Where is a good place I can get the parts from?

[DartGT66]

There are stroker kits and about anything imaginable available for the 360. It all comes to how much do you want to spend, and in what kind of condition the engine is now.
What intake do you have? What kind of trans, converter and tires? What are you looking for?
But I assume you've got a stock drivetrain and a pretty heavy car. In that case you want an engine that has deecnt power and pulls well from low rpm. The first thing is that the engine must be in good condition, not much blow by and the valves don't leak. Like said before, those negines have a low CR and do not respond very well to modification. If the short block or heads are in need of a rebuild, trying to increase cylinder pressure (more power) will not result in more power.

I'm currently hopping up a 360 with a low budget, here is what I did

The engine was dismanteled and measured. The stock CR with .040" head gaskets was 8.0:1. I disassembled the heads and ported them, you don't have to do much, basically performing a good valve job with a deep 70 degree bottom cut and blending from there is all that is needed for decent results. Backcutting the valves also helps with relatively low lift cams. The heads were shaved .060" which brings the CR close to 9:1.

The short block was just cleaned and reassembled, brass freeze plugs were installed. I also deed some oil passage work and installed a hi vol pump and some baffles in the stock pan, but those aren't necesasry for moderate performance. I also used an old "Stocker" trick and turned the pistons (installed them in to different cylinders they were previously in, notch facing rearwards)

Double roller timing chain was used with a comp cams xtreme energy cam and recommended valve springs. Didn't perform a new valve hob, just lapped them. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-CL20-223-3/

The intake is a performer that weas matched to the heads and the port holes enlongated to fit the milled heads wihtout intake milling. The carb is a 1850 holley with a 31 pump shooter and a yellow secondary spring. There is also a 1" 4-hole phenolic spacer that has been flared to the manifold.

The headers will be 1 5/8" primary Hookers with dual 2.5" exhaust and free flowing mufflers. Haven't decided yet if I will install a H-pipe or not, but propably will. It should work with smaller exhaust pipes too, but the 2.5" is what I have in the garage and being on a low budget...

Other than that there isn't much... electronic distributor with the heavier advance spring removed and that's about it. I think it will make between 250 and 300 true horsepower, which almost doubles the true stock output.

http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/3414566/

[dodger1]

Re: stroker kits - figure on a couple of grand plus a cam, headers, decent head work and valve job (as dartgt66 says) Keep the cylinder bore as close to stock as you can - just clean up bore to the nearest .010" oversize. There's very little power to be gained by going to a big overbore. Only thin cylinder walls. Stroker would certainly give you a torque motor. Check out Hughes Engines for more on stroker kits.

[mopar29mod]

buy a good cam, headers and some gears and torque converter first, I would go slightly better than you would use for the torque converter and headers as that will pay off for when you go through the motor for the big HP. A good tune of the ignition and carb is free HP.

[fat 360]

A small nitrous kit comes to mind....

[dodger1]

Originally Posted by opquail

What kinda pistons should I get, an what size? What size cam? I'm bout to get some headers for it, but is there any other inexpensive bolt on upgrades I can get? Are the stroker kits for the 360 worth it? Where is a good place I can get the parts from?

I think we need to determine what "bolt-on" means to you. To me, it means literally that; whatever bolts onto the existing long block. That excludes anything that goes "inside", including pistons, cams, stroker kits, etc. mopar29mod has some good points there also. Final drive gear ratio will make a big difference, for instance. If you want max. torque off the line, a 4.56 axle ratio will do that. Just forget comfortable highway cruising, or any sort of fuel economy unless you also go with an overdrive transmission. There is always some sort of trade-off, no matter what you do.

[rlaman821]

. I also used an old "Stocker" trick and turned the pistons (installed them in to different cylinders they were previously in, notch facing rearwards)

Dart66, what is to be gained by this? I've heard it mentioned before but never understood the benefit.