Rebuild or Replace 360 Engine in my 74 Cuda?

[Chryco Psycho]

for a minor upcharge you can get .010 over size pistons & not hog a ton of meat out of the block

[steelcuda]

I definitely appreciate the advice from the folks here.  The posts have been informative and helpful.  I'm not sure what the comment means about "just another..."  I'm not a mechanic but I know enough and have enough friends to double check what's going on with the engine, plus all the advice here.  That being said, the engine's apart now and we can see that there was a ton of wear and tear, some damage, and some things that just had to go.  The cam was bad, a few bad lifters, and other odds and ends.  Signs that it was pushed hard, maybe with little oil.  Hard to tell.  But I know when I'm done its going to be awesome - which is my goal.  I want it to be awesome.  Here's a couple of pics to share while I'm waiting on some parts to arrive.

[1 Wild R/T]

I definitely appreciate the advice from the folks here.  The posts have been informative and helpful.  I'm not sure what the comment means about "just another..." 

Not meaning to insult anyone but what it means is many/most engine shops build generic engines with common off the shelf parts... And for 360's that means you wind up with a low compression smog engine since thats how it started out... To actually build compression you need to pay attention to things like chamber volume, compression height & a number of other details.... None of which could be determined from the pictures you've posted... But it is obvious they used the cheap "rebuilder grade" timing set...   People that what their engines to preform really should educate themselves....

Good luck...

[steelcuda]

Yeah, no insult taken.  I've talked through those things with David and Perfection.  We talked about what the boring would be, changes to pistons (Silv-o-lite flat pistons, the right cam (1968 340 Cam), etc.  Will it be perfect? No.  Will it be what some other folks would do?  Probably not given the number of options out there.  Hopefully when all is said and done, it will be awesome.

[1 Wild R/T]

Unfortunately Silvo-lite pistons are the last word in rebuilder grade parts.....  You will have high 7 to mid 8-1 compression ratio... For 50-75 dollars more you could have easily had 9.5-1...  I really wish guys would slow down & ask questions before spending their cash....   Back when I was younger I trusted my machinist to select my parts once... He talked about it being a performance build but the new build was lazier than the original engine that was worn out... That was when I started reading everything I could & when I started measuring I found the pistons were so far in the hole my 440 Magnum went from a likely true 9.3ish-1 C/R down to 7.8-1.... Thanks buddy...  A car that use to break the tires loose going to WOT @ 25mph suddenly would barely spin the tires leaving a stop sign... (it was a long time ago, the tires were bias ply so spinning them at 25 mph wasn't that hard)

I hope it runs well & does everything you expect... But in the future ask questions & listen to the guys that have BTDT.... We don't want to see you make our mistakes....

[Chryco Psycho]

 I can call you for free & talk you through all of this if that helps !! It is a lot faster than typing too .
All of the parts going into the engine need to be carefully selected & matched or you will spend a bunch & Have nothing as Wild experienced .
Silvo-lite = bad use a proper forged piston it will cost a bit more but it will perform a Lot better

[steelcuda]

I appreciate the offer. I'll talk to my guy and check on those pistons. I'll get the build list as well to see what else can be improved. Thanks for all the advice.


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[nsmall]

@steelcuda I would highly recommend reaching out to chryco as he is very smart, and you don't want to do this twice.  These cars are already to expensive to build once.  I have nothing to offer besides listen to veterans on here like wild rt said. 

[1 Wild R/T]

Ask your machinist to look at the KB-107......... It's .200  (Almost 1/4")  taller than the standard Silvo-lite cast piston... With a standard chamber volume, normal .041 head gasket & a standard (not blue print) deck height it will give you about 9.2-1 C/R....

It will improve throttle response, increase torque & HP and at the same time improve fuel economy....

[RUNCHARGER]

Low compression is why the 360, 400, late 440's and rebuilt 383's got a reputation for being gas swilling, low performance pigs. This is your chance to fix it but it looks like the deed is done.

[1 Wild R/T]

Oh, just for fun I went & calculated your compression ratio with all the same parameters except the compression height which I changed to represent the Silvo-lite number.... Built that way you have 6.92-1......

[JS29]

Oh, just for fun I went & calculated your compression ratio with all the same parameters except the compression height which I changed to represent the Silvo-lite number.... Built that way you have 6.92-1......

[bennydodge]

I'd take it apart and spend the extra money on performance machining operations- align hone the main saddles, do the final cylinder hone with a torque plate, check and equalize the deck height. Any competent machine shop can perform these steps. In my mind this is the difference between an engine that merely runs good and one that really rocks. Essentially you're "blueprinting" the engine, in fact back in the old days the magazine test cars that were "ringers" usually had this stuff done. You could easily free up 30-40 hp by just doing this..

[1 Wild R/T]

I'd take it apart and spend the extra money on performance machining operations- align hone the main saddles, do the final cylinder hone with a torque plate, check and equalize the deck height. Any competent machine shop can perform these steps. In my mind this is the difference between an engine that merely runs good and one that really rocks. Essentially you're "blueprinting" the engine, in fact back in the old days the magazine test cars that were "ringers" usually had this stuff done. You could easily free up 30-40 hp by just doing this..

Your better at spending other peoples money than I am.... 

[bennydodge]

I'd take it apart and spend the extra money on performance machining operations- align hone the main saddles, do the final cylinder hone with a torque plate, check and equalize the deck height. Any competent machine shop can perform these steps. In my mind this is the difference between an engine that merely runs good and one that really rocks. Essentially you're "blueprinting" the engine, in fact back in the old days the magazine test cars that were "ringers" usually had this stuff done. You could easily free up 30-40 hp by just doing this..

Your better at spending other peoples money than I am....

lol, and I've done pretty badly spending some of my own..