I'm new. Help me build my 360

[PlumCrazyDart]

Hey guys. I'm from winnipeg canada. I just bought a 74 dart swinger with a 360 and 727 auto out of washinton and it's being shipped over here as we speak. I'm going to be building up the engine soon and was wondering if you can guide me in the right direction. I'm hoping to get this car in the 13's so i'm not looking for anything crazy. I want to keep all of the bottem end and just change the heads, cam, intake, carb, rockers if necessary. Any combos you can suggest? I was looking at the edelbrock performer rmp package, and it looks pretty decent. (1500-6500)
Here's a picture of it, hopefully it works

[rumblefish360]

Before I suggest word one;

Are you thinking about headers?
What type of rear end is in there now and do you mind a gear change? What would be the ratio limit for you?
That ratio limit should be on your mind 1st. Reason being, is a question for yourself. Am I going to cruise or am I a street light brusier.
Theres a big diff in 13.99 and 13.00.
DO not use Edelbrock cams. For a 13 second ride, a basic MoPar or Comp cam is good. No need to get fancy/custom.
A rocker change should only be an upgrade to the MoPar HD Hyd. replacements.

[PlumCrazyDart]

I'm definately going to get headers, as for the gears I'm not sure what is has because i don't have the car yet, but I would change them if they are too numerically low, hopefully to something streetable but still good off the line, maybe 3.53-3.91. I was also thinking about the xe-280H comp cam (i/e=280 .05=230 .05lift=.480) and maybe a 2500 stall.

[rumblefish360]

I can't find that cam in the book. Not an XE cam at least.....OH, next page. A Magnum series cam. Better of with a XE series cam.
The extra duration on the exhaust will be a bennifit to the engine. Reason being the exhaust side off the heads dont flow as well as they need to on stock or Edel. heads. Even after porting, a balance (% wise, I forget) should be meet to use a single pattern cam. This is not offten met through basic porting services. And the added expense to find it is not a dollor wise investment vs. HP produce on low HP engines. It is easier to compensate through a split pattern cam shaft.
The .050 Dur. equal is the XE274H with a tad more lift. Listed power band range is better. (Broader)

[PlumCrazyDart]

Oh yeah, sorry i meant the 280H magnum hyd. I'm just so used to the XE because thats what i have in my vette. So you think it would be better to just go with the xe-274 and maybe put on an edlebrock performer rpm intake and a 2500 stall?

[dave571]

Before you start buying a cam, you should know, your compression ratio.

Best to pull a head and make some measurements. Then use a calculator, like at www.kb-silvolite.com

A cam will make an engine a dog, if there's no compression to back it up.

Mild clean up of the ports while you're there will yield dramatic results for little effort.

If you are going to use compression numbers provided with the engine/car, I would take them with a grain of salt. There have been many examples(here on the boards) of pistons that say 10:1 on the box yielding numbers closer to 8.5:1 when actually measured.

What's the elevation in Winnipeg?

Headers for sure, and 3.55's at the least(maybe 3.91 or 4.10). A converter that stalls around 2500 or 3000.

[rumblefish360]

Yes Sir, I firmly believe it would be better than the Magnum cam in this set up. Stall sounds about right. (Not an auto trans man.)
And like Dave said, make sure you have the comp. you think you have or the engine will suffer and you'll be upset and pissed at a dog engine miss built.
I would use the 3.55's for cruise and 4.10-3.91 for street pounding. Tire size has a play in this. Height is as important as width.
You may have to remove your head to know exactly where the piston is at top dead center. This and gasget thickness and bore and cyl. head cc amount is needed as exact as possible to determin your comp. ratio.

[6 packin]

I bet you have a 8 1/4 rear end in it! See the sticky up top for Finders guide that are good friend ajmopar was kind enough to fix up. The 8 1/4 should be ok for mild perfmance applications, its were big rubber and torque meets the road, you be looking for a 8 3/4 rear for your car. Only there a bastard rear end and hard to find with there weird 4 inch bolt pattern Yours is 4 1/2 with disc brakes. The KB pistons are a good value, there part #107's is a good choice with the compression your looking for. No NOS with these also. The heads will be planty for what your doing with them, although 2.02 intakes will help?? Some good bowl work would be a plus. Dont overcam or over carb the engine. Listen to the guys here, they will steer ya in the right direction. I reccomend a 3.55 or 3.91 and a good 3000-3500 converter, dont buy crap here. Get good stuff not B&M.

[PlumCrazyDart]

Thanks for all the info guys, you seem to be a very helpful resource. I bought the car off ebay, I just hope I don't get a piece of junk.
Is there any way to check what kind of rear end it has other then putting a chalk mark on the drive shaft and rotating the rear tires to see how many times the drive shaft turns?

[6 packin]

Should have a tag on the cover bolts, if joe bloe has not been into it and didnt bother putting it back. A 3.23 is a very common gear. Great highway gear to, just not so hot at the track.

[rumblefish360]

Should the tag not be there, take down the cover and look for the ratio stamped into the ring gear itself. Jack up the car rear and spin the tire to search for it.

[jasontlit]

Chech out Hughes' cams...they make dual pattern grinds.

The price isn't out of sight, but it also ain't the $49.95 chebby lobed stick, either.

See ya, Jason

[jasontlit]

Oh, yeah...Doing the gear ratio check with the wheel-to-drive shaft rotation should be sufficient to figure the gearing (if the tag isn't there).

The choices of gearing options are far enough apart that it shouldn't be confusing. I.E., you won't confuse 2.76's with 3.23's. That is a difference of about 3/4 rotation of the driveshaft.

[razorbac]

Forget the performer cam. I bought a car with the performer package on it. Its better than a poke in the eye, but pretty mild for what you want to do. Good looking dart, whats that ugly blob above it? hee,hee