Police intercpetor 360 build...

[olde_ram85]

Ok friend of mine is giving me a complete 70's police intercpetor 360, its all tore apart. Plan is to have it all done in a couple weeks, I'm installing aluminium pistons 9;1 compression, good size cam, headers, umm stock 4bbl intake, dont have a carb yet... I have heard these are pretty good motors, what kinda hp numbers do these make in stock form? and compression?... i know the older 70-72 years are gonna be more, i will get some numbers off the block in a couple days i would like to have around 300-320hp

[dwc43]

There all 8.5 to 1 dished pistons. And it's easy to get 400 hp out of them with bolt ons and a stock intake and carb. Make sure to use a dual pattern cam with more duration and/or lift on the exhuast side to get the most out of it. 2 1/2 pipes with an X pipe will help too. A great intake to use is the 8007 Weaind action plus with a stock 800 cfm thermoquad. I'd also put the 2.02 intake valves in there cause you'll need them. Sounds like your off to a great start.

[olde_ram85]

i'm gonna put, 2 1/2inch pipes on it, the heads i'm not going to worry about at the moment cause i will eventually put the stock 340 heads off of my charger on this 360. Does anyone know if the cheap summit cams are any good? the kit is under $70 thats crazy! i'm wanting about .460-.480 lift, i will go for the dual pattern cam, sounds like a good combination.

[DartGT66]

Isn't Police Interceptor a Ford term?
The Summit cams are cheap, they are pretty ancient designs. The engine will run with them, even decently, but the newer designs have way more potential. By just switching the 360 heads to 340 heads, you are not going to see much difference. At typical lifts there is not much difference in the flow despite of teh 2.02" intake valve vs 1.88. I don't believe it's easy to make 400 hp with the stuff you have, or even 300 unless you use the pre '72 hp ratings. Neverthe less, with basic mods like you have planned, you are going to get a powerful, nice 360. And you can still tell people it makes 400 hp, just like most others do.

[olde_ram85]

yea i think i will stay away from the summit cams, i am looking at eitheir the crane powermax cam 222/234 .467"/.494" for $169.95 w/ lifters- 2,200rpm-5,200rpms

or the Lunati voodoo cam 226/234 .494"/.513" for $189.95 w/ lifters -1,800rpm-6,200rpm

where is a good place to find engine rebuild kits for a good price?

[DAHEMIKOTA]

pawengineparts.com (performance automotive warehouse) Dan

[pishta]

Originally Posted by olde_ram85

where is a good place to find engine rebuild kits for a good price?

I had great luck with PAW. They had forged poly 318 cranks balanced for 340's for cheap 15 years ago. It was a good deal.

[rumblefish360]

Does anyone know if the cheap summit cams are any good?

I pressed (Only a little) the issue because they didn't want to give out the info of there grinder. I didn't have to get tuff and twist there arm. I just said whats the big deal? We know there good and custom for you, just ground to your specs by....come bud, no biggie. Who does your work?

Summit, "OK, Crane does our cams for us."
Me, "HEY! Crane does? Get out, really?"
Summit, "Yep!"

[dwc43]

Originally Posted by olde_ram85

i'm gonna put, 2 1/2inch pipes on it, the heads i'm not going to worry about at the moment cause i will eventually put the stock 340 heads off of my charger on this 360. Does anyone know if the cheap summit cams are any good? the kit is under $70 thats crazy! i'm wanting about .460-.480 lift, i will go for the dual pattern cam, sounds like a good combination.

Your 340 and 360 heads are exactly the same other than the 2.02 valve which really does make a big difference even at the lower lifts. And 400 is pretty easy with these. We use the 360 as the bassis for all of our race engines and there pretty tuff. You'll want to rebalance that thing to after switching to those pistons. IT would cost a little more, but if you can swing it have it internally balanced. IT will last longer and give you better options for a balancer and you can use non balanced tq converters too. I used a PAW cam before like someone else suggested. Worked pretty good while I had it.

[olde_ram85]

PAW had some good prices but the kit was only avalible with cast pistons, but included a cam too for $411... thats cheap... UMM can anyone help me with the head cc's?? i need to know how big the combustion chamber is in order for me to order the right pistons! o i think the motor is a 1978 i found 9-28-78 on the intake

[dust]

Originally Posted by rumblefish360

I pressed (Only a little) the issue because they didn't want to give out the info of there grinder. I didn't have to get tuff and twist there arm. I just said whats the big deal? We know there good and custom for you, just ground to your specs by....come bud, no biggie. Who does your work?

Summit, "OK, Crane does our cams for us."
Me, "HEY! Crane does? Get out, really?"
Summit, "Yep!"

Seems that Crane is doing well, they also grind Mopar Perf., right?

[SixGunner]

I've posted this before, but the Police engines are actually 8:1 not 8.5:1. They lowered the compression for durability's sake, but the HP is higher because of dual exhaust. Do a forum search for the old post I had about this.

That said, they make a good starting point for a builder engine, because of the "extra care" in assembly. By that I mean the magnafluxed rods, crank prep, valves, etc. Even the Police package *there isn't an "Interceptor" from Chrysler since the late sixties* water pump had a bigger bearing.

If you want good info on the E58's, get the book Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth Police Cars 1979-1994 by Ed Sanow. It'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

My car started out as an E58 (the 300), but now there isn't much of it left.

Jay

ps your heads should be around 64-67 cc's, but it is best to measure your heads yourself because of machining and casting variances.

[DartGT66]

How did they lower the CR? Did they use a different piston or a different head? Personally I believe they just got more honest, because there was "police" involved. Yes, the Summit cams and lifters come from crane. There is only a couple of cam core manufacturers, and the big ones even do a lot of the grinding work for the smaller "names". Myabe I'm just such a bad engine builder, that I do not find making 400 hp with a 360 easy. My first build up used the old SSI cam, which is actually the same as the summit grind, 218/228 degrees at .050, flat top pistons, homeported 1.88/1.60 heads, Torker intake, 3310 holley, headers and MP ignition and it made about 270 hp. Run 14's at 100 mph in the 1/4 in a 3600 lbs car. With later add ons and many tries I got the car to run 13.26/ 107 mph and was making about 330-350 hp with it. For me, it didn't come that easy, had a big cam in it, high stall converter and better heads.

[olde_ram85]

Originally Posted by DartGT66

How did they lower the CR? Did they use a different piston or a different head? Personally I believe they just got more honest, because there was "police" involved. Yes, the Summit cams and lifters come from crane. There is only a couple of cam core manufacturers, and the big ones even do a lot of the grinding work for the smaller "names". Myabe I'm just such a bad engine builder, that I do not find making 400 hp with a 360 easy. My first build up used the old SSI cam, which is actually the same as the summit grind, 218/228 degrees at .050, flat top pistons, homeported 1.88/1.60 heads, Torker intake, 3310 holley, headers and MP ignition and it made about 270 hp. Run 14's at 100 mph in the 1/4 in a 3600 lbs car. With later add ons and many tries I got the car to run 13.26/ 107 mph and was making about 330-350 hp with it. For me, it didn't come that easy, had a big cam in it, high stall converter and better heads.

really 270hp doesnt sound bad at all to me, i will add more goodies to mine later on, new intake prob roller rockers down the road, was that with stock bore and compression?? i looked up the summit cam u have and the lift is .441, if so i should be looking at 300hp hopefully with what i have planned... this is going in a 82 ram s/b 2wd with 4spd

[DartGT66]

I think the 360 hp was rated at 245 or 255 hp. I didn't gain a whole lot compared to that, although for some reason the stock 360 hp A-bodies didn't run the numebrs my '73 did. Maybe my rating is a bit concervative? Mine was bored .040" over, basic cast pistons rebuild kit with flat top pistons. I never measured the CR in that engine, it must have been relatively low.

[rumblefish360]

Originally Posted by dst

Seems that Crane is doing well, they also grind Mopar Perf., right?

I do not know. MoPar has had several grinders in there history of companys working for them including Racer Brown as I'm told.

[dwc43]

[QUOTE=DartGT66]How did they lower the CR? Did they use a different piston or a different head? QUOTE]

The 360 uses the same dished pistons and heads no matter what it's on. The E58 police package got a different head gasket and was at 8.5:1. IT got the 340 dual pattern cam. It also got a double roller chain and windage tray. Some had dual exhuast, but most did not.All of them got the thermoquad and some had an extra phenolic spacer. I havfe one of those on a race car right now. They also got a 1st gear lock out on the tranny too. We used to have a lot of fun playing with these things when we had them in out dealership for service. IT's a wonder we did not get in trouble messing around with these police cars.

[TK]

Originally Posted by olde_ram85

yea i think i will stay away from the summit cams, i am looking at eitheir the crane powermax cam 222/234 .467"/.494" for $169.95 w/ lifters- 2,200rpm-5,200rpms

or the Lunati voodoo cam 226/234 .494"/.513" for $189.95 w/ lifters -1,800rpm-6,200rpm

where is a good place to find engine rebuild kits for a good price?

I like Lunati's, I had a 292/292....(forget the lift and @.050) from SUmmit, in they're cheapo bracket racing lunati cam advertisement, it worked great with the tunnel ram 360..............
I never heard, (or I missed it) what compression you plan on having, but 222+ duration sounds a bit much for stock compression, IMO.

[TK]

Oh, yeah, I had a E58 a few years ago, it CC'd out to somewhere in the area of 7.4 to 1.

[DartGT66]

As far as I know, only the early E58's had the 340 dual pattern cam. When the smog requirements became more serious, that cam was dropped. It was still used once, in the '78 lil red trucks, but not in E58 engines of the same era.

[TK]

From what I can tell, 75-79 E58's used the 340 cam, after 79, they switched to the good old 252/252, 410/410 cam used in the heavy service 318's in the 60's and early 70's.
They still ran good.

[SixGunner]

Whatever DWC43 sez, they do NOT have the 340 cam. They use the stock 360 cam, 2 or 4 bbl. Look up my old post on it, I have the specs listed. The only thing that used the 340 cam was the PROTOTYPE Lil Red Truck with the E58, and it also had W2 heads. Verified fact. The 78's had a "hand assembled" engine (black valve covers) but the 79's were "regular production" E58's. I have documentation in the old post about this.

There is NOTHING performance about an E58 360, it is all about DURABILITY.
Well, my bad. They do have dual exhaust.

End of story.

As far as the lower compression, I belive it is actually a dish situation, but DWC might be right about that. But they are lower comp for durabilities sake.

And, for the record, he never has showed pictures of his alleged 81-up E58 build tags either! (hint hint)

Jay

[TK]

Dear sixgunner,
I know, in your "VAST" experience in tearing down small block Mopars, (just like me?) I am assured that you do realize how wrong your last statement was. If you have ever driven, heard, or tore down a HI-PO 360 built in 79 or earlier, you would know, for a FACT, that 360's did indeed come, with a 268/276, 429/444, 114C 340 cam.
Of course, I know that you know this, because you know EVERYTHING about small blocks.
Nothing performance my ass, you ever driven one?
Jesus. play with a few, and bone out a few cars before you speak.

[pishta]

Ok, boys..chew on this and see what gets spit out

[TK]

Uh, looks like the 360 had a 340 cam to me, at least.
The lil red had a 340 cam too.
Is there more to your sheet?

[TK]

Dangit peewee, er dwc!?!?!
Would you answer me?

[dwc43]

Originally Posted by SixGunner

Whatever DWC43 sez, they do NOT have the 340 cam. They use the stock 360 cam, 2 or 4 bbl. Look up my old post on it, I have the specs listed. The only thing that used the 340 cam was the PROTOTYPE Lil Red Truck with the E58, and it also had W2 heads. Verified fact. The 78's had a "hand assembled" engine (black valve covers) but the 79's were "regular production" E58's. I have documentation in the old post about this.

There is NOTHING performance about an E58 360, it is all about DURABILITY.
Well, my bad. They do have dual exhaust.

End of story.

As far as the lower compression, I belive it is actually a dish situation, but DWC might be right about that. But they are lower comp for durabilities sake.

And, for the record, he never has showed pictures of his alleged 81-up E58 build tags either! (hint hint)

Jay

!st off you can go against me anytime you like, but don't get on here and straight out lie and make stuff up about. All the Mopar Performance books I have will tell you the 340 cam was used. E58's never had W2 heads nor did the Little Red Express. There's 2 in my car club with no W@ heads and there all original Check out www.musiccitymopsrclub.com and you might find a pic of it. The W2 head was a circle track race only head.All 360's have dished pistons, preiod. Even the LRE truck, period. IF you ever cracked open a stock 360 you would know this. It's all we use for race car engines now so we tear down quite a few of them. There not low compression for durability either. It's for your EPA's growing emissions standards. And for the record either come down here and I'll show you the tags or you figure out how to install a usb port on this old lap top and I'll post you a pic.

[dwc43]

And all police cars DO NOT have dual exhaust. Most are single. I have two if you'ld like to see them.

[TK]

That USB port...................

Just not quite the kind of thing you're used to "plugging into" aye, dwc?

[TK]

Originally Posted by dwc43

And all police cars DO NOT have dual exhaust. Most are single. I have two if you'ld like to see them.

2" from pipes, to 2 1/2" single, cat, chamber, muffler....................