[mopar56]

can anyone identify or recommend a site to identify cyl heads, now that the motor is out of my sons truck we are doing a few light mods, the number on one head is 4328302 there is also a 121 and CFD the heads are still on and dont plan on removing them so we cant see underneath, the block is a 318 but the motor has been changed in this truck prior to us getting it, thanks

 

[dana44]

Do a search of Dodge head casting numbers, works every time.

 

[mopar56]

actually I just did, I found a great chart on line, looks like maybe the 4th #8 should have been a #3 which would make it a 85-89 which seems right, nothing special I guess :angry2:

 

[mopar56]

while in the process of cleaning up our 318 and readying it to mate with the a833 we are installing we came across a engine for sale on line that the guy claims is a 71 360ci, was the 360 actually being made then?, if so then in theory it would be the last of the higher compression engines and apparently there was some work done to it so maybe the hardend valves/seats have been installed we would need to ask that question if we procede but thought we would inquire about the year first, thanks

 

[TWX]

That's the "302 Swirl-port Head" that is very popular among builders. Assuming that there aren't cracks between the valves (literally running from intake valve to exhaust valve) then it's considered an excellent factory 318 head.

Only a machine shop can tell if the heads are still good or not, they can magnaflux them after taking them apart. If they're good, probably best to use 'em unless you're going to go aftermarket on the heads, like Edelbrock or Indy...

 

[valiant67]

1971 was the first year for the 360. The cylinder head on the first 360s was pretty good though no with hardened valve seats from the factory. The heads (if original) should be a J head, basically with large 340 style ports but smaller valves.

 

[mopar56]

thanks valiant, I will check to see if any work has been done on the heads, I suspect so because it was in a later modle car, twx I assume you are talking about the 85-89 head if so we have no cracks as the engine runs fine

 

[68RT]

1971 360 came out in the Chrysler Newport Royal only. About 14,000 that year. and was a two barrel only.

 

[mopar56]

is there anyway of knowing for sure the year as the casting numbers seem to be attatched to a group of years

 

[dana44]

You can spend the money on hardened seats, but I have yet to find it necessary in 35 years. Even with hardened valves you could burn a valve if you run too lean, Mopars simply built their engines out of better materials over the competition to begin with.

 

[TWX]

You literally cannot tell if they're cracked or not without them being checked, retorquing could exacerbate a problem if one exists. Since they're off, you won't have a better opportunity to confirm...

 

[BlackSheep01]

I have a dream ...

a properly balanced, blueprinted 318, ported and polished ...

like the one in my Dad's 1968 "Showroom Stock" Satellite....

it would literally shove you down in the seat when you punched it.

 

[mopar56]

well just to clarify, the heads are not off either motor at this point and wasn,t really planning on taking them off, the 318 in my sons truck runs just fine, I get what your saying about the cracks but I dont have any reason to suspect a problem, we simply took the motor out to ease with the conversion to the 4 speed std and because we experienced a blown frost plug this past summer so thought this was a good time to remove the engine and replace all the other plugs as a precaution, then at the same time we are cleaning, painting, and freshening the motor because we take the truck to local car shows through out the summer. But here is our dilemma...we have done some work to the 318 to "warm it up" a little bit and had plans to do a few more mods, cam, headers etc, but as it is only a 318 , not really a performer to begin with, would we be better to "switch gears" at this point to something with more potential, a 340 is out of the qustion, too rare and expensive so a 360 seemed more practical but as most are "smoggers" not really much better than the 318 without pouring loads of money into it we thought maybe a compromise would be this 360 if it was from the higher compression area, ( this is also a running engine so no need for expensive tear down)and all of our parts, steering pump, altenator, dist, carb, etc would bolt right on, now that being said what we thought we currently owned was a smogged down 318, but if "TWX" is correct about the 302 swirl port heads then maybe this 318 has a little potential after all so I guess my son and I have some more thinking to do on this before we procede much further, one last thought...as we are removing the auto we now need a flywheel, apparently the 318 and 360 are different?, not sure what though, so I guess we will have to hold off on ordering one untill we decide which engine to use dose any one know of a good quality aftermarket flywheel, they all seem to be "off shore", which usually means junk!, sorry for the long post but just thought I should clarify what we were doing to this little truck, thanks

 

[dana44]

Well, first thing to do to determine the 318s potential is to do a compression check to see what it is, go from there. If the freeze plugs are going bad, yes, change them all and worry not, a better cam always helps even a 318, lift in the .450 range is about all that is needed. There is a ton of easy, cheap power that can be had with porting and edging the combustion chambers of these heads (being closed chamber and larger valves and ports), but that is not an issue right now (even if 50=75hp/tq can be had by doing this). As far as the 360 goes, same thing, do a compression test, find out what the compression is, the 302 heads will raise the compression on it, too, thus even more power with even less work, the 1.88 intakes in these heads will give it a nice boost and still breathe enough to be happy.

 

[mopar56]

thanks, well looks like we are going to see this 360 tonight, if it is what it is supposed to be then I think we will buy it, I know we will have to swap out the oil pan from the 318 most likely but main question is dose anyone know if it will have the crank drilled to accept a pilot bushing for the std trans?, every 318 I have run into so far dose but I'm not famailer enough with the 360

 

[dana44]

You will have to check the crank for the pilot bushing, may be drilled, no bushing installed possible. The oil pans do not swap, the 360 has a smaller gasket front and rear so they don't interchange, so something to look at. Truck oil pans are available to work. The 360 is external balance, you will have to check to see if the flywheel itself is also external balance, I don't know the answer to that but someone else should know for sure.

 

[mopar56]

ok well thats another 100 bucks for a new pan :scared: but all in all not too bad, I dont mind putting the pilot bushing in as there cheap and I hadnt installed the one I have in the 318 yet so I will take it with me to check, I had heard some cranks dont come drilled to acept a bushing but that would mean two different cranks hence two totally different engines for standard than auto, I really cant see Dodge doing something like that?, it would just increase assembly line cost. Guess I will let you all know tomorrow, if anyone else has any input about the swap before tonight it would be appreciated, this was a car engine going to a truck, hopefully the oil sump will swap?

 

[dana44]

There are two other things you need for the 318 to 360 swap. I believe it is the motor mount bracket on the passenger side (the block has different mounting bosses), easy find in the salvage yard, and the exhaust manifolds (unless you go with headers) are different, but still need to be truck vice car manifolds. I just searched rockauto and they show the listing for the clutch and flywheel as being the same for the 318 and the 360, so that's good info.

 

[mopar56]

good morning, well we took the plunge and bought the 360 last night, so heres the good news it came with many more parts than first expected which was a bonus, including a flywheel,(talk about that in a minuite), like mentioned earlier heard it run via video, owner did a compression,130-135, and he seemed a straight shooter, pulled the valve covers, squeeky clean there, fuel pump and dist were out so could see the double roller chain, lifters/cam looked good, bad news is its a later year block than origanaly thought, but again on the good side the hole is drilled in the crank for the pilot bushing, so were going to try it out, so in relation to the flywheel, the one that came with it, but was not actually used on it measures 14" diameter but it seems too big for the bellhousing, I have another one in my shop for another project that came off a 69 cuda and it mesures only 13" and the clutch is a 10.5" so I think the flywheel I have is for a 11" clutch, I havnt actually tried bolting the flywheel on and then the bellhousing, I'll do that tonight, any ideas here?
Dana44, as for the exhaust, yes we are using headers and the block cam with the mounts on the ears so hopefully they will work.

 

[dana44]

So you have the bracket that bolts the motor mount to the K member, not just the motor mount itself? If so, great, saves the hassle.