Hey guys. Two weeks ago I picked up a 1991 W250 with an LA 360 block. Do y'all think it would be possible to build a 300 horse (net) 360 with $2,500 or so? I'm not looking to go too crazy, but I would like to get a little more power out of the thing. The motor only has 44k miles on it, so I'm not really looking to do a swap. Not yet anyway. Thanks.

 

Do you plan on keeping the throttle body injection or carb? A magnum swap might be better to start with and put the original motor in a corner.

http://www.magnumswap.com/first-steps/

 

Well I've heard that TBI doesn't respond well to mods, so I probably won't be keeping that. Unless maybe an aftermarket TBI system would work better?

I wonder if it would make any sense to pick up a Holley EFI system? I used the Holley HP for my D150, but that was top of the line with the full laptop control. I don't know if I can justify ditching fuel injection for a carburetor. I suppose if it comes down to that...

 

Something like this seems pretty reasonable...

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...on/sniper_efi/

 

I would prefer multiport injection over any kind of tb injection. It's still basically a fancy carburetor that may give you a few more miles per gallon. Don't know how experienced you are about building/swapping things but if you can just swap in a 0BD2 PCM out of a 96 or above along with the magnum motor. You can also put in the 46RE trans along with it and have overdrive. You will have the move back the t-case and get new drive shafts. The major issue with this is incorporating it in with existing wire harness/truck. It may be more work then you want to tackle but can be done. Probably a carb and some engine mods would be more what you had in mind.

 

by "net" you mean to the ground? Id recommend ditching the tbi and putting a carb on it. i would recommend a thumpr cam from Comp Cams ( it'll be the same price as the smaller More mild cams). Intake and headers should get you close.

 

Yes sir. I suppose I'll do some more research and see what I come up with as far as prices go. I would still really like to look into that Holley system; I've heard good things! If I can pick up a cheap Magnum 360, I might look into that as well. I would just hate to toss aside a fully functioning motor that only has 44,000 miles on it.

In any case, I appreciate the input guys. Just trying to get some ideas and see what direction I want to take with this thing.