Honestly I don't think that is a very good price for a 360. I can get one out of the local junkyard for less than $200.

Heads are removable from the block... Ever heard of a blown head gasket? That's when the gasket between the head and the block.... blows.

I looked at the link you posted and I think that what you would get with that is only a shortblock, like the first picture, so that's why I posted up the alternative.

 

Ahh ok. I googled it too. Seems kinda confusing the way they use it. But now I know the differences, I feel a little smarter now lol.

Thanks.

 

No problem! All this stuff can be a bit confusing at times

 

Years ago, a "long block", was pretty much a complete motor, with the front and top end on it, usually minus carb and alternator but not always. Now it's a short block with heads. Seems that definitions are often changed to suit the person selling an item.

Anyway, I read through most of this thread, and having built more motors over the years than I can count, I'm going to offer my opinion, too.

There are plenty of options for both the 318 and the 360, if you're just looking for somewhere around 300 horsepower or less. You can get that with the 318 easy enough, even easier with the 360. The 360 actually has a longer stroke than the 383 and 400, and a 4" bore. With forged aluminum pistons and proper design and planning, you can get by with as much as 10.5/1 compression and still run pump gas easy, and with maybe a .272 duration cam and a set of Rhoads lifters to tame it on the bottom end, you'll manage close to 300 horse without too much trouble. One thing I'd splurge on is a billet crank, if your motor doesn't have a steel crank already. It'll set you back $600 or more, but it'll help protect your investment in your motor when you start hot-rodding the **** out of it, by not breaking and driving pieces of your bottom end into the pavement like a cast crank sometimes can when abused a little.

The biggest key to getting economy out of a motor, as well as performance, is to raise the compression ratio as much as possible. The higher the compression ratio, the more efficiently the fuel/air mixture will burn in the engine, and the more power it produces for a given amount of fuel. The problem with raising compression ratios too high (past 9.5/1 or so) is that you have to start burning lots of additives, or buying fuel at the airport, or switch to alcohol (which sometimes makes more sense than you'd think).

However, using forged aluminum pistons, and building your motor with the proper quench/squish area/clearance, you can run as high as 11.0/1 compression ratios on pump gas. I've done this with small block chevys numerous times, and it'll work with a Mopar small block just as well. The problem is that, if you're not going to build your motor yourself, you can't depend on the guy doing it for you to take care of the necessary calculations and planning, or even have a clue about these things. Many of the guys who "build" these motors don't know much except how to assemble it without screwing it up. If you want it done right, you need to do it yourself, or find an old guy in a machine shop who'll help you out. They'll usually know their stuff pretty well.

 

Sounds like you know your stuff. Thanks for the info. I should be becoming much more knowledgeable over the next few weeks on engines and bores and all that technical stuff. Im in a ICE class right now. Its mainly diesel though but alot of the stuff is the same or similar and will have an outboard class next week to learn more about gas engines.