Old small blocks...extinct

[Nicholas]

Just wondering...I see that the standard engine in many of the DC trucks is now a new 4.7 litre V8. Does that mean the old 318 is out of production? What is the future of the 360?

[Stoga]

I wouldn't say so much extinct as evolved. Just as the the old small block evolved from the Firepower Hemi and Polysphere 318 before it, I'm sure the new engines still have some family resemblance with the old. I expect, though I don't know for certain if critical things like motor mount lugs, bellhousing patterns, bearings and other pieces are the same or similar. Maybe once these new pieces get out on the market and get a little older, folks will get the chance to mix and match, and see what can be done, swapping from old to new, and vice versa.
I don't really consider the 318-360 extinct, but just another step in a long progression that goes back to 1951 in this case.

[Chargerdude]

I think I read somewhere in the late nineties that other than sharing displacements, the new Magnum 5.2 and 5.9 share nothing in common with the old 318 and 360. I read it in a mopar mag. and they go on to say that to use fuel injection intakes or anything else off the new engines would require so much machine work that it would be cheaper to get the whole engine out of a late model wreck (that was before the crate motor program!) than to retrofit to the older blocks.

[Stoga]

Thats what I'm curious about, while the new engines have a bunch of redesign and technology, did they change the bellhousing and motor mount lugs? I remember an article sometime ago myself, about putting the Magnum heads on the earlier blocks, but forget the gist of it. I kind of guessing that motor swaps may be possible, especially if the ballhousing pattern of the block and crank flange haven't changed significantly. I expect swapping a complete engine/tranny assembly into an earlier Mopar like an A or B body, would probably take a bunch of engine wiring hassles, and would be a major undertaking, just like the fellow who built the Viper powered Charger a few months back. Now that was a sweet looking ride!

[Chargerdude]

yeah, I got the mopar mag with that article in it, and it also had a Charger powered Viper! Did anybody else see it? It was built by the guy that's in charge of the new PVO at Chrysler, he wanted to drag race a Viper and pointed out the fact that not alot of performance parts are made for the V-10 so he swapped in a HEMI crate engine. Now, those two cars were the sweet ultimate in Mopar Performance!!

[3bolt main]

i remember that article also with swapping the heads the bolts were more angulated sounded like alot of hassle but maybe im just getting old