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As some of you guys know from my previous posts on the subject, I've been working on a 1972 D100 Short Bed truck. I swapped in a rather warm 318, and a 518 OD trans. I was pretty happy with the combo, but when I went in to change the damper because of a mild low-speed vibration, I found the thrust bearings were completely gone in this engine.
I had three choices at that point; try and pull the pan and replace the thrust bearings; pull the engine and do the same, and probably have the crank fixed on the thrust cheeks; or swap it out. The 318 (324 actual) was built in 2003 and was used exculsively as a dyno engine, making as much as 426 hp. I kind of liked the 324, and agonized over which way to go, but untimately decided to just swap it out with the .030-over 360 in my 5th Avenue. I was somewhat reluctant to do this, because chances were pretty good that once I pulled the engine from the 5th, I'd never put it back together.
Anyway, the 360 is a much better engine, with radically ported 051 heads, and FM pistons, it made 477 hp with a small solid flat tappet, and probably about 20-25 less with the fast-ramp hydraulic in it now. I decided that the 360 would be a better engine, and it was never really the right combo in the 5th.
Prepped for the pull late last night, and decided to yank it today. Had it hooked, but it wouldn't come out with the big Milodon sump, and got stuck agaist the firewall and K-member. Had to drop the 727 trans separately, and then it pulled right out.
I'm going to clean it out and then fit a truck pan and stab it in the D100. Since I have a C171 A/C compressor on the truck, it limits the intake manifold choices. The 360 has a Torker II single plane intake on it now, and it is fully ported. The Performer off the 318 will also work with the A/C, and being a dual plane will make more low-end torque. This Performer intake is ported to open it up to 360 port size. I'm just not sure which manifold to use. When I did an intake test many years ago, using this same 360, the Performer was way down on peak power compared to the Torker II, like more than 25 hp. At 3500, the torque was pretty close, but I suspect the dual plane would be better at even lower rpm.
The wild card here is that both intakes are ported, so I don't know if I gained back some of the top end lost with the Performer. I'm not sure if I should run the engine on the dyno testing both intakes before dropping it in the D100.
-dulcich
I had three choices at that point; try and pull the pan and replace the thrust bearings; pull the engine and do the same, and probably have the crank fixed on the thrust cheeks; or swap it out. The 318 (324 actual) was built in 2003 and was used exculsively as a dyno engine, making as much as 426 hp. I kind of liked the 324, and agonized over which way to go, but untimately decided to just swap it out with the .030-over 360 in my 5th Avenue. I was somewhat reluctant to do this, because chances were pretty good that once I pulled the engine from the 5th, I'd never put it back together.
Anyway, the 360 is a much better engine, with radically ported 051 heads, and FM pistons, it made 477 hp with a small solid flat tappet, and probably about 20-25 less with the fast-ramp hydraulic in it now. I decided that the 360 would be a better engine, and it was never really the right combo in the 5th.
Prepped for the pull late last night, and decided to yank it today. Had it hooked, but it wouldn't come out with the big Milodon sump, and got stuck agaist the firewall and K-member. Had to drop the 727 trans separately, and then it pulled right out.
I'm going to clean it out and then fit a truck pan and stab it in the D100. Since I have a C171 A/C compressor on the truck, it limits the intake manifold choices. The 360 has a Torker II single plane intake on it now, and it is fully ported. The Performer off the 318 will also work with the A/C, and being a dual plane will make more low-end torque. This Performer intake is ported to open it up to 360 port size. I'm just not sure which manifold to use. When I did an intake test many years ago, using this same 360, the Performer was way down on peak power compared to the Torker II, like more than 25 hp. At 3500, the torque was pretty close, but I suspect the dual plane would be better at even lower rpm.
The wild card here is that both intakes are ported, so I don't know if I gained back some of the top end lost with the Performer. I'm not sure if I should run the engine on the dyno testing both intakes before dropping it in the D100.
-dulcich
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