The Glorified Tonka Truck

[FJCcrawler]

[VerticalTRX]

The thing is, is that for a stroker crank it is only a $30 difference in the cast steel crank and will give me around 60 more foot pounds of torque on the lower end. For rods I was going to get forged steel and aluminum hypereutetic aluminum pistons. All this new will cost around 900 bucks and should give me a considerable power gain. All these parts are good for at least 500 horses. (63,775.5 cat power)

The thing is, the problem with the 360 is that the cylinder heads blow, not only do they not allow much airflow, they only will allow for .500 of tappet lift. With after market heads I can go with more lift and would have better flow, but these heads are 1300 bucks for the pair. Im thinking I'm just going to stick with the stock heads and port them out the best I can and go with a .480 lift cam. It'll be an improvement over stock and ill just get one with more duration and the same degree lobe separation. All said and done it'll be around 1200 for around 400 hp/ 475 ft. Engine masters makes tons of videos with 360s so this is where im getting all these estimates from.

Disclaimer: I’ve never turned a wrench on Dodge motor in my life

I really doubt you’ll make 400hp and nearly 500lb-ft breathing through stock 360 heads, no matter how good you port them. Stroking the motor out more is fine and good, just remember that more cubic inches need even more head flow and cam to support them, at a given rpm vs stock. Your best bang per buck power wise is going to be in a good set of aftermarket heads, probably around the 180-185cc range. Make sure your heads, cam, and intake (can you even get aftermarket intakes for these EFI motors?) are all properly matched for what you want to do. I built my motor in my Ford for the Idle-5500 rpm range, which works great off road.

A few other things to remember when penciling out your motor build:
-machine work, expect to spend several hundred minimum
-all the other valvetrain related stuff: custom push rods, roller rockers, timing set, proper valve springs, etc
-all the hardware, any performance build deserves ARP fasteners throughout
-gaskets, freeze plugs, oil pump, water pump, etc
-aftermarket EFI intake manifold
-any computer/tuning related mods and expenses
-possibly larger injectors
-headers and exhaust to support the power


I have a lot more money (at 2006 prices nonetheless) in my Ford motor than what you are proposing and it probably only makes 300hp or so. All that aside, you should build it the best your budget allows and enjoy what end up with. The numbers on paper aren’t important, if the motor performs the way You want it to and does what you need that’s all that matters.

[BadAssEddie]

Grubb's always got good stuff to say and numbers to go wtih!

I'm thinking along the same lines, better to do a small thing well than an ambitious thing poorly, especially in the Foxridge parking lot. I'm no stranger to overly ambitious snowballs.

I would suggest just going through the donor longblock and replacing, wear parts, gaskets, and seals. Make sure it has compression, hone the cylinders in short block trim, maybe get a valve job and rebuild the heads, then put it in your truck and wheel. You need to save the limited income for things like a winch, not blownup shocks, etc. All that will scratch your engine building itch without being too aggressive or costly. Remember, you are doing this in an apartment and parking lot. You will still have the old engine to start collecting parts for and getting block machine work done to if you still want, but you only have so much time burning 5 qts a week and swapping an engine twice is a pain

[wheelertaco]

Grub always comes in here with awesome advice and Brian always ignores it...

[BadAssEddie]

Grub always comes in here with awesome advice and Brian always ignores it...

Hahaha, so true

[VerticalTRX]

Grubb's always got good stuff to say and numbers to go wtih!

I would suggest just going through the donor longblock and replacing, wear parts, gaskets, and seals. Make sure it has compression, hone the cylinders in short block trim, maybe get a valve job and rebuild the heads, then put it in your truck and wheel.

Yeah that was another thought I had was just freshen up the 180k mi short block, put a mild cam in it, home port the heads, a set of headers, decent exhaust and intake. Should be doable for under $1500 and will provide a noticeable gain in power.

[FJCcrawler]

This whole build goes along the lines of the top gear motto. "Ambitious but rubbish" why stop now?

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Your best bang per buck power wise is going to be in a good set of aftermarket heads, probably around the 180-185cc range.

I've done some looking for bigger heads online this size and the problem i keep running into is that the push rods run right next to the intake on the 360. Unless I drill new holes for the push rods and get offset lifters I cannot get a head with more than 170 cc intake. Drilling new holes is more work than Id be able to do with just my tools at home and I doubt it would be cost effective to buy aluminum heads and then get them machined to have the new push rod locations. There really isn't anything I can feasibly do to make better power with these heads.

I've started throwing around the idea of an engine swap with something a little newer or at least something that I can make better power with more easily and something that can bolt up to a better transmission as well. LS swap?

For now Ill just take your advice on the 360 I have now. Build it to make decent power for a good price and drop it in and wheel the piss out of it. I have other things I want to change on my truck in the mean time. As long as I can do decent burn outs and donuts I'll be happy.

[VerticalTRX]

Sounds like a plan, get it back on the road with some mild mods and start saving/planning for something bigger and better. If you eventually do an engine swap Chevy is probably the way to go, talk about bountiful and cheap parts...

[YellowDodgeBrian]

If you eventually do an engine swap Chevy is probably the way to go, talk about bountiful and cheap parts...

Yeah that's what everyone has been telling me! only thing I have to worry about is Cory burning my truck to the ground.

[BadAssEddie]

If you eventually do an engine swap Chevy is probably the way to go, talk about bountiful and cheap parts...

Yeah that's what everyone has been telling me! only thing I have to worry about is Cory burning my truck to the ground.

Or it doing it to itself

You can get a 5.3 for $300 and put some Gen IV parts on and have 350 HP like poof!

[Mr.WJ]

LSX or LS7 are both acceptable as well.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I'm going to do a lot of editing to fix all the unavailable photos so bear with me.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

You're going to get stuck on a turd at Big Dogs and get frustrated then you'll come over and "lock" your diff. Or at least that is my prediction

Little did I know how accurate this would be...

[Mr.WJ]

You're going to get stuck on a turd at Big Dogs and get frustrated then you'll come over and "lock" your diff. Or at least that is my prediction

Little did I know how accurate this would be...

Funny, that is exactly what happened.