Ok so Im pretty much set on getting a 360. Looked into hemis but they are way more expensive plus I imagine a kit to do the swap is alot aswell. If anyone has anything to change that please let me know. Not sure if Im going to get a crate or go re manufactured yet. Could use suggestions for that. Money wise, Im not too worried about. Im not looking to spend too terribly much but I want a good reliable engine with maybe something a little more than stock. Considering swapping in a manual 5 speed when I do the switch but havnt looked into pricing yet so not sure. Anybody have experience with auto to manual swaps?

Gears may end up coming sooner than the engine, depends on pricing of everything. After talking with some of you on here and running stuff through the ratio calculate Im planning on going with 4.56 gears. Not going to be swapping axles, just gonna stick with my 9.25 and D44. I figure Im not doing any hardcore offroading or rock crawling so I should be fine. But I need suggestions on what brand. Some brands are better than others of course. I dont want to get stuck with some cheap brand thats gonna make alota noise.

Brakes, so this is simple. Gonna be needing new brakes soon and I was wondering if the ceramic brake pads are as good as they say they are. If so/not what are some good brands, Id like to get a good set to help braking.

Last, gonna replace my rear springs. Should I keep the blocks and go with stock springs or get lifted springs and remove the blocks?



Thanks for all yalls help, not sure what I would have done without yall and this site to get my truck to where it is now.

 

You can't go wrong with the 360. I would recommend you find a good rebuildable core then find a good machine shop to build you the engine you want (high torque) instead of a generic crate motor or one speicifically built for cars\hot rods.

No one makes a kit to install the hemi engines in our first gens. It isn't that difficult since it will bolt up to your current trans. Mounts are available, stand alone computers are available, you will need to determine which headers will work etc.

Manual swaps are not that difficult if you have all the necessary parts. If you could find a good donor at a scrap yard since you will need the drive shafts, cross members, pedal assemblies, etc.

Yukon gears are good quality and low\no noise. Spicer are the best but pricey.

I have 35's with 4.56 gears with the 727 auto trans and that is a good gear set as it puts the engine RPM's right where they should be for the power band of the engine.

What size tires are you going to run? I can tell you the brakes on the 1/2 ton D44\9.25 with 35's are never going to work as well as the larger brakes on the 3/4 ton axles simply due to the rolling weight of the larger wheels\tires.

As far as lift blocks...if your not doing any off-roading lift blocks are ok on the REAR ONLY.
I personally prefer no lift blocks and recommend a shackle flip and lift springs to get your desired height.

 

When you check the price of rebuilt blocks remember that if you do not have a 360 to turn back in you will not get the core charge back. I also would recommend getting a rebuildable engine from a junkyard and then build it the way you want it.

Yukon actually admits that their cheap gear sets are noisy, so if you go that route upgrade from the economy sets. I just found this out from my talks with Randy's Ring and Pinion.

 

Add another check mark for building your own 360. Parts are pretty cheap, and even having a good machine / engine shop build most of it for you would be cheaper than going the crate route. Also, then you know exactly who built it. You or the shop of your choice.
I swapped in a 5 speed in my '78, but it was a 4 speed before. Wasnt very difficult. Cross member was in the right place already, I just had to make custom mounts for it. Drive shafts were the right length still. Pedals would be a bolt in swap, so no biggie there. I ran a hydro clutch. Made an extension of the actuator arm (going into the master cylinder) and welded a pivot point on the pedal for it hook to. Havent looked back since. Love 5 gears.
Not sure what your usage will be for the truck, but I think 4:11s are plenty for any type of road/towing use as well as 90% of the off road use. My first gear is unusable with 4:11s unless I am starting on the side of a very steep hill or have a massive trailer. I pulled a flatbed trailer with my '67 Mustang on it and the bed PACKED FULL of tools. Dont know how heavy it all was, but my truck didnt seem to care. Ran interstate speeds no problem for over 1000 miles. Did I mention it did that while still running a 318?

 

tires are 35''

The only thing about rebuilding a 360 is finding one. If I do does it really matter what shape it is if Im going to have it rebuilt? The engine will be rebuilt completely by a shop aswell, I dont have the place to do it myself.


Sound sounds like a need a parts truck to do a manual swap. gonna start looking around for some junkyards to see what I can find.

Iv heard about yukon so Ill look into those and spicer.

Nice eric, Ive considered 4.11s.

EDIT
Will any 360 fit in my truck? Or do i need to only look at certain years?

 

I don't know where you are located, but a buddy of mine is selling his project truck, which sounds like it might be good for parts for you. The only thing is, its an 85 or 84 LA 360 block, and I'm not sure if you wanted to stick with the magnum or not. It ran fine when he started the project, but definitely smoked a good bit. He already has a 5 speed conversion done, with a resurfaced flywheel and new clutch. I think he used an nv4500. Since its a SRW w350, it has 1 ton axles, and a 4" spring lift, new in box.

I wish I could just buy the truck, but right now, funds and time don't allow it, and I don't think I could survive more than a few weeks with just my ranger if I sold my current dodge to fund it.

If you are interested, I could PM you the link. It's in western PA.

 

Does sound like a good parts truck for me, but Im all the way in WA. Maybe you could ask him a couple questions about how his manual conversion was though?


Im going to try and stick with the magnum block.


Ive been doing some looking around. Just talked to a guy at a machine shop. He does alot of rebuilds and sounds like he knows what hes talking about.

Originally I was hoping for around the middle 400s for hp and torque and that was judging off crate 360 mainly and a little about 318s I could find. Speaking with him to get that much out of it I would need to stroke it which in turn hurts the life of the engine alot. Which I do not want to do. Later from looking around, looks like a stock 1992 318 puts out about 230 hp, so 450 is a big jump. Looking online for crate and remanufactured engines, close to 400 for torque and hp isnt uncommon although this guy was saying that is still alot to put into a 360 and mid 300s is going to be more reasonable if I want it to last and not stroke it. Now nowing my current truck probably only has around 230 hp (idk torque), 350 or so doesnt sound to bad, I mean my truck does have some power. To do a long block rebuild will run me about 1500 at this place just for labor. Some performance mod I am looking into is, H-beam rods, 282 duration camshafts, possibly a steel crankshaft, and polishing and (cant think of the other word right now) the heads and 707 (or whatever is closest to that) carb, msd ignition

With that said, I am going to post some links below with some online sources and there engines and Id like some feedback on if that hp/torque is realistic or is what this guy I talked to sounds about right.


http://www.motorworksengines.com/index.php?pr=360crate
This engine sounds pretty sweet at 378 hp and 399 torque for just under 4000. But is this too good to be true?

http://www.jegs.com/p/Mopar-Performa...10916/10002/-1
Jegs has a right at 400 for both at about 10k

http://bouchillonperformance.com/P5153475.asp
Another for about 6500 with 390 hp and 420 torque

None of those are stroked either.


Also as a side question, they say "not for use with air conditioning.'' Is that not possible because seems strange they wouldnt be seeing as the are 360 out there with A/C

 

You don't have to settle for a "one size fit's all" crate motor. Look at some of the custom builders, tell them what you have, what you want and see what they can build you a custom engine for. Most of the crate motors are geared towards cars, more HP than torque and at a higher RPM range.

I've delt with these folks a couple times: http://www.immengines.com/
He has done several build up's for the various magazines you can read. See what he can do for you.

As far as the AC coment...many times it is due to the intake used on the LA engines which will not allow the compressor to be remounted in the stock position due to the T-stat housing location. There are other brackets available from Bouchillon..
http://www.bouchillonperformance.com...rcondition.asp

 

I think the biggest question is how much money do you want to throw at it? Enough for a decently reliable and streetable 350 horse motor, or enough for a raging 750 horsepower, race gas guzzling monster? That's really life's limiting factor.

As for the swap, the truck was down to a rolling chassis when the swap was done, so I'm not sure how much useful info will be there. We were able to literally just pick up the trans, step over the frame rail, and sit it on some wooden blocks to bolt it in.

 

After talking to the guy 350 is much more reasonable and what Id like. I dont want to stroke it because I want an engine that will last.

Has anyone had any experience or heard of the first link I posted in my last thread? Id really like to hear something about them