360 info

[dogedood]

hello my names basil I'm new hear, I have a 1947 dodge wfx 32 and I've been watching some of the build threads and planing my own. I found a 1986 dodge w250 near me on next tech and with a 360.http://www.nextechclassifieds.com/listings/1708339/ wanting some info on how many miles it can get before the engine needs rebuild and things like that. I'm kind of a newbie so you can shower me with advice. I was planing on swapping the old body on to the newer frame and engine. 

[Radarsonwheels]

The old style motors can go 100,000 or 150,000 and still give decent service if they got regular oil changes and the carb wasn’t rich washing down the cylinders & rings. If the plugs run clean it’s cheaper to use a little oil (like a quart every 500 or 1k) than it is to rebuild. 

 

Or they can die a sludgy hot death at 50k. Depends on the quality of the build and the tune and maintenance.

 

To figure out what you wanna do pull the sparkplugs. If the are the labrea tarpits you will need valve seals, or rings & pistons or both. The next check is compression- if one cyl is way down or they are all way down you will want to pull the motor and rebuild. A compression tester is cheap and easy to use. A fancier test is a leakdown but you need more tools. A mainfold vacuum check on a running motor can also tell you a lot- it could be down in general or exibit specific symptoms like a flutter. You can look that up online or in a haynes manual. 

 

In general though these are pretty simple and tough motors. I rebuilt the 318 in my 86 ramcharger in the chassis a couple years ago. New reman heads were like $300 from rockauto and I also did a mild cam & lifters, high volume oil pump, 4 barrel aluminum intake with edelbrock 650 carb, and ceramic coated headers for around $1000.  The intake and headers were picked up for cheap off craigslist. I dropped the oil pan and checked a couple bottom bearing shells- they looked perfect so I torqued them back on for another 200K of service. It was kind of a home brewed tow package and gave a slight but noticeable bump in performance for the little v8 in a heavy old battle wagon. 

 

In general the 360s were great motors- plenty of torque and potential for pretty good HP with some bolt ons. A stock rebuild is pretty cheap but you can also just grab old ones from the junkyard and beat em till they blow.

 

good luck

radar

[dogedood]

thanks for your info! in the with the listing it starts rite up and sounds good. I asked him how many miles through next tech but he hasn't responded yet. if I git the truck I plan to make a build thread.  

[dogedood]

sorry it appears I got the wrong link on, this ons betterhttp://www.nextechclassifieds.com/listings/1708339/

[dogedood]

my computers all messed up and I did it again! I think this ones right http://www.nextechclassifieds.com/listings/1707680/

[Radarsonwheels]

Wow that truck has open headers or a hellified exhaust leak. 5 speed 4x4 v8 sounds like a LOT of fun. I really like how our trucks look sat up on a 4x4 chassis too- the exact opposite of the lowered deal I built out of mine. 

 

You goin for mild monster truck?

[dogedood]

I made a model, only difference from this truck to how the real thing should look is the the paint is real patina on the real thing. it also has a cattle Gard made out of a model a bumper and a flat strap on top of that, its all torn apart now but I might be able to find a picture. 

[dogedood]

sorry picture of a picture, but this is what the truck looked like wen I found it. 

[dogedood]

he says he's got open headers, 129,000 miles, 4barrel carb.

[dogedood]

hears an old picture of before I got the engine out.