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Need a ThermoQuad?

Shit compression would explain the ability to time it excessively. However, as I said, more timing is not always gooder. You might find better results around 32-34° total. It doesn't sound like it would hurt to try, anyhow.

Generally you're most likely to encounter spark knock at low RPM and high load, hence the "Big Fat Friend" method of timing a car.

There's no reason your combo "should shine" at lower RPM. It runs exactly how I would expect it to run, being a small engine with a 340-ish cam, free-breathing heads, and headers... big, stupid fun north of three grand with not much happening below that. Low compression or not, the cam and airflow are what determine the powerband and you've got both in spades, even with an ill-suited intake (which isn't nearly the albatross it would be on a 340 or 360). The less-than-optimal gear/tire combination exacerbates that, and I'll bet a lot of the fun happens once the engine climbs atop the gears. Second gear (Third? Can't remember if it's a crawler first) is probably a laugh bonanza after the upshift. Everything I suggested to increase low-end towing torque would counteract all the giggles you're getting in the upper regions of the tach... you'd be doing four-wheel burnouts instead (no, not really).
 
Oh yeah, I know that putting the 302s on it would kill the high end fun.. it is a granny first, and I can have it in fourth at 25 mph, and it'll cruise right along.. It's the NP 435 wide ratio. I'll give up the high end fun and put that in another car.. I need this thing to haul shit, and tow derelict cars. The nice thing is, for $600, I bought not only an entire same year, "rebuilt" running small block four speed combo with pedals to swap into my truck, but it came with big valve J heads.. I kept what I needed, sold and scrapped the rest to come out $100 in the black after regasketing the donor motor.. I came out on top there..
If this thing was 2wd, and lighter, I'd leave it alone. It weighs too much for me to justify having no bottom end in it.. I'll find some 302s, I know there's some here in my local junkyard, but I really hate giving those shitheads my hard earned scratch.. I'd rather pay for shipping than to deal with those dicks. They're so unpleasant. They should've been swallowed.

Edit: I know the timing's pretty high.. I didn't set it that way intentionally, I had it set to 8 BTDC, and that's where it ended up at the top. It ran, it didn't sound like it was pinging.. I left it awaiting further instruction. I really only drive the poor thing once a week or so, but when I need it, I need it. Nine daily drivers to myself and a three mile drive to work sort of limits the exercise they all get.. I'm getting better about that since I don't really have a home life anymore except for the dog..
 
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TheIronSausage said:
I'd rather pay for shipping than to deal with those dicks. They're so unpleasant. They should've been swallowed,
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No, you wouldn't. Trust me on this. Heads are heavy. Watch Craigslist or eßay for nearby shit.

You've clearly got room to play on the timing, and you might find it actually does run best where it is, but I'd goof around with the old advance light and see what varying total timing gets you. Hell, you've got a distributor machine so you can play with rates of advance too. Not sure if your machine can do anything with the vacuum, but you do know the canister's rate of movement can be adjusted with an allen wrench, right?

A light pocket port on a set of 302s, degreeing then advancing the cam, and otherwise leaving it alone would probably get you close to where you want to be. You might be able to find a cam better suited to towing, but that's additional expense I'd probably consider skipping for the time being. Yeah, the grind is somewhat slanted toward a higher powerband, but it's not exactly radical. I think it would actually make pretty good torque with some port velocity.
 
I did know about the adjustment, and my machine does have the little vacuum motor. I just need to find an appropriate belt for it. All that really means I'm sure is going through my pile of O rings.. I think that a seal for a fuel sending unit should be about right, but only just now thought of it.. I've had it for three years.. It got some decent use at first, but I converted all my crap to electronic and only just scrounged the parts to convert the machine.. Now that I've got time, I need to take a day and actually go through it. It's got some crumbly wires, and that kind of voltage and my conductive self really don't get along.

Also, without looking at the specs again, it stuck in my head that the summit k6900 was a mild RV cam, which I assumed was biased towards low end grunt.. I should go look again.
 
On a side note, a concerned citizen was kind enough to send me a PM asking me about what sounded like a depressing end to a post just up the page. No worries, I'm not about to open my veins in a tub full of warm water.. She's moved out, we've moved on. Everything's not only civil, but happy. We're still friends. I just have more free time, is all I meant.
 
TheIronSausage said:
Also, without looking at the specs again, it stuck in my head that the summit k6900 was a mild RV cam, which I assumed was biased towards low end grunt.. I should go look again.
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It's very close to a stock 340 cam as I recall, and it is a good RV/towing cam with the small-port heads typically used on non-340 small-blocks including '73-up 360s. As is usually the case, though, open up the breathing and it moves right up the powerband. It's not designed to be a drag-race cam, of course, but the 340 was never a low-RPM grunt motor simply due to its short stroke. That cam would be very torquey in a stockish 360-4V engine.
 
Okay, found a set of 302s on Craigslist during my morning constitutional. Emailed the guy and went out there today after work. I get there, he looks at me and says "Matt?" I say "Matt?" Turns out we knew each other from when I sold him a '73 318 short block for his '73 Challenger three years ago, and yes, we're both Matts. The heads were $50.. I don't know if they're cracked yet, but I've seen worse. Then he pulls out a brand new Carter BBD and some spare BBDs he kept for parts. The Fury's been hurting for a non cobbled together carb for a while. You're all going to say four barrel, I say that this new BBD is too nice for this old motor. Four barrel when this block finally pukes. The carbs were $50, a bit much, but you can buy a rebuild kit for close to that, and the new one's ready to go. He threw in a box of standard bore slant pistons for free... Whatever, I doubt I'll need them, but one of the guys on the slant six board will want them. Finally, he asked me if I had any interest in 360 parts.. Said he had a magnum long block which I turned down because I didn't want to mess with setting up injection in an old car, or converting the block to be a carbed motor. So then he pulled out the rotational assembly of an LA 360 motor and said the crank was gone through at the machine shop, and the rods were good. The pistons had valves hit them at some point, but whatever.. Got the bottom end minus flywheel for $120, and the crank's drilled for a manual trans. I'm kind of broke for a little while, but after I get the 302s on the truck, I'll have a nice set of working big valve J heads.. All I'll need is a junkyard block, cam and lifters, flywheel, and a dingle-ball honer and I'm 90% to a 360.. Unless the block isn't .30 over, I don't see why I couldn't run those pistons, but I'm sure I'll get slapped for that remark...
image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg

All in all, I think I did alright for $220.. (Rods and balancer not pictured, but super clean, and good crosshatching in the rods)

No, that's not flash rust on the crank.. It's clean
 
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It's a good thing that I'm not in the buying market, I'd be drooling all over these deals that I've been seeing. :clap:
 
Yeah, I've no idea what the freshly machined rotating mass out of a 360's worth, but I saw the drilled spot for the input shaft in the back, and let's face it, nobody I know can get that machining done for $120.. Even still, I was a little nervous.. I hate haggling, it's not in my nature. Tell me what you want, and I'll pay it or leave. Most importantly, even though I've dealt with the guy in the past and he's a stand up dude, I know diddly shit about machining, or the condition of those 302's and neither did he. I kinda dropped the money on the 360 stuff just because I'd be a little bummed if the heads turned out to be junk, and the fresh crank was, let's face it.. Shiny. Seemed like a good bet at that point. No regrets.
 
You slam-dunked a hole-in-one at home plate in the end zone. Nice score!

EDIT: All Mopar LA cranks are drilled, the question is how deep, and more importantly, can you feel a step inside it where it was actually reamed for a pilot bushing? You can get away with using an automatic crank with a 4-speed, but the problem is you need to shorten the input shaft. Once that's been done, even though it affects absolutely nothing when used with the proper crank and bushing, it still lowers the value considerably.

Mark the heads indelibly (such as stamping) and organize the valves so you can get them back in the right guides. Now that you're living the bachelor's life, toss the castings in the dishwasher. Stop the machine immediately prior to the drying cycle to avoid flash-rusting them. Have them magnafluxed if you're paranoid, but you can check straightness with a long carpenter's rule, which I know you have.

Reassemble them with new springs (something cheap, you're not building a screamer anyhow, stock diameter is 1.437" if memory serves) and new valve seals... after speed-lapping the valves. To do that, put each valve back in its original guide with some lapping compound around both the seat and the valve's seat area. Chuck the retainer end in a drill. Spin it for a few seconds (10 should do) in both directions. Disassemble, clean up the mess, and reassemble. Boom! Hatchet-man's valve jɵb. It's down and dirty but it does work. Get some Mr. Gasket .028" head gaskets (every bit of compression helps), install the heads, and enjoy. Unless the valves rock noticeably in the guides or have obvious visual narrowing of their stems, you'll be OK for many miles this way. Otherwise, you're gonna need guides--and at that point you might as well just completely recondition the heads the right way.
 
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The funny part was, I recognized him, but couldn't remember from where. He said that I'd sold him a 318 two years ago.. I asked him if I was buying my own heads back.. I sold my '86 truck 318 about that long ago, and the description he gave me fit "I don't know, I never saw the truck run, but the guy I got them from said he drove it daily." They weren't mine, I sold him a '73 shortblock out of a Satellite I got in trade. Which really makes me wonder what the other 318 block in the corner of my basement's from.. I know which one's out of my '68, but now I've got a stowaway I don't remember.
 
One would think a quick trip down to the dungeon and looking at the casting date on the side of the block would provide an, "Oh yeah!" moment. :D

A 360 block shouldn't be hard to find. Hell, if you were closer I'd donate one of mine. I've got one that's cleaned and magged at standard bore, which was my ex-girlfriend's project, that's been sitting here for several years. It probably needs to be bored, though I'm pretty sure it would clean up at .020". I've also got the Hatchet Job engine on the stand, that I really need to get after, as well as a complete 198x engine with '72 accessories on it including the 2V carb/intake and points distributor. I pulled that from a truck last year, thinking it was the original engine. I really, really want that one gone because it's totally in my way. I popped the valve covers off it, but that's as far as I got before stashing it in the corner of the garage next to the LF fender of my Challenger. I have to walk all the way around the car to get from the LF wheelwheel to the hood latch. :wall:
 
Alright.. Poked at the stupid truck more today.. The pistons don't have any valve relief in them.. That's for sure. The compression test came up within 4-5 PSI across the board. While the number sucks, (all around 120).. The consistency is excellent.

Doc, I met this guy who said he had a solution to the crappy low end torque problem without changing my heads. In the back of his garage, he had some trick manifold.. It's a spread bore, so the Tquad will bolt right on it. He said it's great for bags of torque, and fuel economy, and it would get me laid.. He sold it to me for only $350! I think it's called an SP2P? I'll have to check in the morning.. :moon:
 
TheIronSausage said:
Alright.. Poked at the stupid truck more today.. The pistons don't have any valve relief in them. That's for sure. The compression test came up within 4-5 PSI across the board. While the number sucks, (all around 120).. The consistency is excellent.
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That's what I figured. It's probably rebuilt, possibly just re-rung--which isn't necessarily evil.

Your piston doesn't come up enough to use such a large chamber. This is not only a drawback for your engine, I surmise it would make for a lousy end to a date as well. Not dealing with such a huge chamber in the first place seems a happy solution to both issues.
 
Dr.Jass said:
complete 198x engine with '72 accessories on it including the 2V carb/intake and points distributor. I pulled that from a truck last year, thinking it was the original engine. I really, really want that one gone because it's totally in my way.
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Wish you were closer... I have the 360 Mag sitting on the floor in the garage, but that's not what I need right now. I located a '74 D200 being parted out, but he wants $500 for the 360/727 and can't, or won't, verify the running condition of the motor. I think at that point I'm calling TTi and ordering headers.
 
Here at Château Imperiàl, $500 would get you that complete 360, another 360 block and crank that were cleaned and magged, a set of J castings (I'm actually overstocked on HP LA heads at this point), an A727-A, and probably some other LA parts I'm not using. I'm sure I've got a spare set of rods lying around, among other things.

$500 for a core 360 and transmission is absurd. Go over with your truck and $300 in your pocket. Flash $250 in his face. If he refuses it, go to $300. Still not enough? Don't offer a penny more. Move along. The only reason I paid $300 for the one I got out of that '72 was because it appeared to have J heads (it didn't) and were it a '72 block (it's not) I could've sold it to one of those morons that think the '71-'73 castings have 340 water jackets (they don't) for $500 without even trying.
 
I found a 318/904 for $150. I just need to put a new radiator in my truck and run over and yank it out. It's in an '81 Mirada, he told me it's a 360, but I doubt it.

When I finally make it up that way, and if you still have it, I'll take you up on that deal!
 
I doubt it too. Miradas only came with 360s in '80, and they're stupid rare. Totally possible that it's a swap, though.
 
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