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[Ice Cold]

It's just a matter of finding one from someone who thinks it's a 318. Hey, it's stamped 318
I've been looking at the wreckers and a buddy has a pile of Mopar motors we have to look at now.

Herb was on the W2 team
He also made me eat my first 2 choices of motors with his 408 package. And the motor has no problem living.

[Dippy.org]

[brotherGood]

from what it sounds, an x block would be the way to go, but good luck me finding one around here. most of the motors around here are the magnum era engines and motorhome engines. One reason i considered the 340 is because its different, but the price of a 340 will be alot more than that of a 360. I just wasnt sure if maybe the payoff would be worth the 340 in the end. and i dont want to go to a 273, because i honestly feel i'd be taking a step backwards.

[Ice Cold]

340 is a cute motor and it sound nice saying it's a 340. The owner of the Hemi Shop has a 340 in his Dip I've driven the car. The propane cop motor is wayyyyy quicker.

On the cheap, I'd find a pre 75 318 block, some 360 cop heads, a Edlebrock or 340 intake. w/ a cam and a Milodon street pan. Herb stood behind Milodon pans too. Oil makes the motor live. That won't break the bank and it's not too hard.

[270SE]

He also made me eat my first 2 choices of motors with his 408 package. And the motor has no problem living.

408 or 416, there is a LOT to be said for them. Pretty good reliability and a lot of power and propulsion power to be had from them.

273 isn't exactly a step backwards if you don't have a roller cam motor. It might not be worth giving up the ability to run a roller though. It's smaller. It has less potential to be built. It would cost more to stroke or do a lot more work to. If you aren't and won't ever be building it extremely that doesn't matter. There are decent pistons for doing a stock-stroke build on it.

What would the price of a 340 be versus a 360? '72/3 motors are good to use. If you can score one stock in running condition for the cost of a 360, pull that trigger quick. If it's a '72 even better.

The 340 wouldn't have a lot of payoff over a '70-4 360 (a few other years before '78 may have had the higher compression as well, that's the main advantage) or Little Red Express motor and it would have different advantages than a TBI 360. It would probably have more power than a TBI motor. It could be easier to make power than a TBI motor. But it wouldn't be a roller block just as those high performance 360s wouldn't be.

However, a 340 with a tiny cam in it will be a lot like a 318 with a tiny cam in it with 360 heads. There's a good reason the factory put the 340 cam into 340s, and it wasn't just because it made it sound cool. They also put it in several of the HP 360s for the same good reason. A 340 with semi-steep gears and moderately sized tires will want and need to go over 3600RPM at times. The stock intake and cam were there so it could do that and more. Get conservative and indecisive and it will be just that.

Magnum era engines aren't a bad idea if the price is close. Converted to carb they do make power. You don't have to buy a specific intake, you can go buy a $10-100 used intake and redrill the heads or get LA pattern heads. (I'd do the latter now) Magnum heads are basically closed chamber 318 heads that actually flow well with revised rocker geometry.

Motorhome engines can have awesome parts on them, but can also have taken an awesome amount of abuse. A lot of these kept running forged cranks and could have room for those above mentioned overbores. But those overbores require sonic checking which requires spending more money than you might want to on a 318.

[patrickgrossman]

Find a 70-74 X block

no such thing...the X blocks are the precursor to the R-series race blocks, and didn't come out until ~78 or later...

[patrickgrossman]

a 273 is a step back no matter how you look at it....45 less cubes than a 318 is less power and torque potential.

small bores means more shrouding (heck, you can't run magnum heads on them without notching clearance on the bores)

your most cost effective swap is: find a good running 360 magnum out of a junkyard.  replace the intake with either an eddie RPM air gap, dual plane M1, or crosswind manifold.

use a 600 cfm edelbrock 1406

use summit headers

get some 2.2L/2.5L chrysler 4 cyl valve retainers and use hughes #1110 springs

send the cam to bullet cams, have them re-grind the roller cam using their HR259/316 lobe for both intake and exhaust.  get the hughes crank snout extender, and
swap the t-chain cover forward from your 318....

it'll be an honest 330-340 HP and 400-420 tq motor, and get pretty decent mileage.  if you have a 7.25" axle, replace it, it won't be long for the world.....


second most cost effective option: get magnum heads with those springs, use the same cam suggestion/carb/intake/headers, and put them on your shortblock (if yours is an -85-up roller motor, you'll need the magnum lifters/pushrods/rockers, but you can get your LA cam reground).  if it's a flat tappet motor, use the comp XE250 or XE256 cam.

[270SE]

a 273 is a step back no matter how you look at it....45 less cubes than a 318 is less power and torque potential.

small bores means more shrouding (heck, you can't run magnum heads on them without notching clearance on the bores)

From my understanding those that actually put the heads on a 273 don't have to notch the bores to run them just like the 318s not having to notch the bores to run 2.02 valve heads.

Just like 20 less cubes of a 340 is a much larger step back than a 360 or the 43 less cubes than a 383. There's less power/torque potential but if that potential is not ever going to be utilized, then it doesn't matter. And there's a lot at play. Just like how better flowing heads don't necessarily mean more power and less compression doesn't necessarily mean less power.

your most cost effective swap is: find a good running 360 magnum out of a junkyard.  replace the intake with either an eddie RPM air gap, dual plane M1, or crosswind manifold.

Redrilling the heads or swapping them and running whatever intake you want is about as cost effective. Not a hard process and a lot more (cheap) intake options. Changing your mind or build won't cost as much later.

[brotherGood]

what all is required to swap a magnum 360 to work with a carb. setup. is it just the intake or is it a bunch more.

Also, i know i'll have to balance it, but what all else will i have to do to get all of my accessories to work, and what not.

[DobaMark]

For what an X block costs, you can get a long way on a normal 360 block.
Again, the X block may be the absolute best option for a cost is no object build, but I don't think a couple grand for a bare block is what this topic had in mind when it started.  Nor do I see anything that even hints at the expected power levels.  A normal block can easily handle 400 HP, probably even 500.  I'm not disputing what Herb says, but the fact is cost has to be considered for most people.

[270SE]

what all is required to swap a magnum 360 to work with a carb. setup. is it just the intake or is it a bunch more.

Also, i know i'll have to balance it, but what all else will i have to do to get all of my accessories to work, and what not.

send the cam to bullet cams, have them re-grind the roller cam using their HR259/316 lobe for both intake and exhaust.  get the hughes crank snout extender, and
swap the t-chain cover forward from your 318....

Your accessories may need to be spaced out to work with the Magnum heads to maintain the stock accessories. It may not be necessary with the '80s accessories but the alternator mount bracket had to be modified and moved a hair and every accessory bolt has a spacer on it. The alt and head both had to get ground a bit for clearance.

The "5.9 Magnum" will bolt in just like a 360 will, you can shim the 318 driver's bracket to use on the 360.

If you just put Magnum heads on your 318, go through the bottom end carefully so it will only be apart once and you won't have to do a motor swap soon after. It may need nothing, but if it needs anything it be much better to get it out of te way early and at once.

[CudaZappa]

my 2 cents:

360 is the way to go.  Cheapest available motor with the biggest potential for fun.  Bang for buck.  a 340 block will set you back $300 and then you still need to rotating assembly!  save the coin and go with a 360.  You should have about a $400 head start if you start with a complete 360.  That's a good intake/carb cost there.  Sure its not a "340" but performance talks louder than casting numbers on the side.

Overboring.  Unless you're buying a rough bore block (X-block) you should only bore to what you need to.  Thicker cylinder walls make more power than going .060 over.  If you you can use .020 pistons, you use those.  Don't go .060 over unless the bores are that worn.  Its easy to remove material.  Its PITA and $$$ to put it back in.

BTW: I scored a complete 360 for about $100.  I sold some parts off of it, and now I'm into it about ~$50.

[8D5 Gran Fury]

Cuda- I am totally with you. My G/F isn't going "All out." I need to live with it and use it as transportation, albeit fun transportation. The '90 roller-cam 360 will do what I want and them some for the best price/value index. X or R blocks, strokers, et cetera are cool, but a mixed use vehicle in my world can't fully utilize the potential, so they are a waste of money. Oh, and rigid, more sturdy bores make more power than thin, wobbly ones, too!

[M_Body_Coupe]

360 without a doubt.

There is a noticeable torque butt-meter difference between a 360 and 318...plus per equally configured motor the 360 will be more streetable and will make more power due to the extra cubes.

Now, if you could toss a few more bucks at it I would absolutely recommend that you go the stroker route...best all worlds!

[270SE]

360 without a doubt.

There is a noticeable torque butt-meter difference between a 360 and 318...plus per equally configured motor the 360 will be more streetable and will make more power due to the extra cubes.

Now, if you could toss a few more bucks at it I would absolutely recommend that you go the stroker route...best all worlds!

More power at less RPM. And versus a stock 318, that matters.

What you are doing now, what you are going to do, and what you are willing to change all matter. After that what you can get where for how much makes a difference.

The 340 would act a little more like a good 318 with more power.

340 or 360 makes for a slightly better stroker basis. A lot of folks did 360 strokers so there are now a lot of old 360 stroker kits out there versus 318 kits. Pistons are cheaper 340 vs. 318 especially on the 3.58" stroker.

A 273 would be very comparable to a 318. Some were better stock and in the same price range it is as easy with a cheap rebuild.

[brotherGood]

My main goal, is at least 300hp, and still keeping the fuel mileage above 12mpg, since it will be my daily driver. I really don't want to get into cam work, boring it out,  and all that mess, but if it needs to be done to reach my criteria, then it needs to be done. I want the motor to have the power, but not be junk in the ohio winters. Also, to switch a magnum engine over to the carb setup, is it just simply getting the proper intake and carb on there or is it more of a hassle. And once I get everything swapped, I don't plan on modding it unless it needs fixing.  At least until I have another vehicle and a nice chunk of change.
Thanks