Hey everybody. I recently bought a '74 Charger and was thinking about building up a 360 into a 408 stroker to replace the little 318 currently in it. But knowing that stroker kits arent exactly cheap (atleast not for me considering I'm still in high school) I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me with any ideas, tricks, or relatively cheap builds to push out the most power i can without blowin my college fund. haha But still allowing me to fully bore and stroke it out later on. Anythings useful!! Thanks!

Mancini has 360 cast stroker cranks for $239. rebuild your current rods or eagle "sir" rods are cheap & adequate for the street, KB for a quench piston, magnum heads.

cant do burnouts with textbooks! screw skewl, learn a trade, get yer hands dirty, go fer broke, and get a big block fer that big car!!!!!

I was in your shoes almost 15 years ago....My parents told me that i would have more fun if i WAITED until i finished college, did the family/buy a house thing, and held off on playin with cars till i was middle age!!
IM SO GLAD I NEVER LISTENED TO THEM!!!

I did what wanted to do and never looked back!
And i had wayyyy more fun playin with cars in my early 20's than i ever could 10 years from now!

cheapest build that will make good power and move that charger with authority:

pick up any 360. get some KB107's and have 'em set up at 0 deck. get the heads redone with a good 5 angle VJ. use a lunati voodoo 60403 cam with comp 901 springs, headers. reuse the stock pistons/rods

if you're on a budget reuse the stock 360 intake...if you can afford it, get an eddie RPM or air gap.

carb, for street driving I'd pick up a used eddie 600 or t-quad

second choice, pick up a magnum 360. use the same pistons (KB107). send the roller cam out to be reground to about [Email]224-228@.050[/Email] on the intake, about 4-6 degrees more on the exhaust and about .305" lobe lift. use some gm3100 springs and retainers. use an eddie air gap for mag motors or redrill the mag heads to LA bolt pattern.

a stroker will make about the same HP as a stock stroke 360, just lower in the RPM range, and about 10% more torque, all else being equal (heads, cam, etc). power is in the heads, unless you plan on spending some coin on good flowing heads, I'd just stick with a stock stroke 360.

I would forget the small block in a big car like that. Stroker small blocks can make big power but are expensive (ask me how I know). I would go with a big block. If a 440 is to expensive a 400 can be had cheaply and with some better pistons will make good power/torque. Later on you can add the 440 crank and build a 451 stroker out of it.

If you K member is a small block you can get conversion mounts from Schumaker making this a simple swap.

Thanks everybody for the advice! And the only reason I was leaning more toward the small block was I have no clue how much of a mess, if any, I'd be getting into with SB to a BB conversion. But if its not too bad I'll be goin with the BB haha

And that is very true! Damn books take up your hands when you could be doin something worth while.. like building a killer car! haha But i'm planning on becomin a machinist anyways.. That way I'll be able to build the whole motor myself!
Thanks again guys!

Hey, you can make a 360 produce enough power to be pretty impressive in that car without having to rob a bank to do it or build a stroker. Patrick gave you a pretty good recipe and it will work well. I have one with a Crower 267HDP cam with matching springs and an lD340 intake and 750 vac. Holley in a 67 Coronet and it will make a person take notice. Guys can't believe it is a Small block. Like I say it can be done on tight budget.

It's true a 440 has more torque than a SB stroker. My 410 stroker with a mild cam .528 lift and [Email]232@.050[/Email] and 237 on the exhaust is a torque monster (500 ft lbs). Just advance the cam 4 degreees and it will pull that Charger just fine. You won't gain anything with a 400 BB. I've been driving and racing Mopars since 1961 (Yes, I'm an old fart). To install a BB you will need a trans, driveshaft mod, motor mounts and a radiator since a BB is longer. Ask yourself "Do I want more performance or am I joining the street racer crowd." A SB stroker will give you a nice ride. Patrick is a very knowlegeable guy. Ask him or Cab Burge.

If you are tight on money build a 360 with some good pistons. It will make great power and move that big car well. Later when you have more money put a bigger better engine in there.

Oh boy..now that you talk bout all the different stuff I have to get ahold of for a BB, the 360 is soundin pretty good haha. But when you guys are talkin new pistons would you recomend boring it out a little? And since I am still a noob at all this, when patrick says gettin the pistons set up at 0 deck does that mean getting the block machined down or does it have to do with doing something to the pistons. And if anybody knows off the top of their head how much does cylinder boring and decking the block usually run? I know the basics but I'm still learnin..ALOT! So anything helps! haha Thanks again!

You really haven't given alot of info to make a real choice or to be of real help,but given that as a sign that your building a street car you'll want all the low end torque you possibly can get. A 440 would be great but unless it makes a solid 80hp over the smallblock it won't be quicker. 4"stroke small block would be easy and fun for a mild street car. Quench is about 20th on the list of performance gaining tricks it's just not something to worry with. I've built small and big blocks with and without quench and it's near the bottom of the list. Just a WAG from your info,build a 4" crank 360 with any heads(except 302's) you can afford 280X.500" hyd cam,compression 9.5to1 ish ,headers,2 plane intake holley 650dp and go have fun.3000 converter and 3.91 gears would be good but again you can get by with less.

setting the pistons up at 0 deck means usally the block has to be cut slightly, which you usually do when an engine is rebuilt, to ensure a nice square deck surface.

After reading these dozen or so posts,and seeing what "stage of the game" you're in, I would suggest going the 360 route.If you can get a sound shortblock, add some magnum style heads,a cam,exhaust,intake and carb.you'll be happy with the results.Target a 1500-5500 r.p.m. range with the cam and intake,and try to get some non hiway ratio gears. If you can measure and insure that the combo will end up with some decent compression,you may not even need to bore it. This kind of low dollar-Dairy Queen/hay bailing budget- stuff is all my friends and I did back in the day,so I know how important it is to stretch a buck. Hell' gas was about half an hours wages a gallon when I was your age! Save the strokers and big block conversions as future inspiration,and have some fun within your budget now.

going to a big block will be more involved, you'll need to either get conversion mounts, or a different K frame. you'll also need a different radiator and tranny, not to mention all the little things like accessory brackets (alternator, PS, AC, etc).

if you're on a really tight budget, I'd also suggest what I have in my car: stock long block 360, with a comp XE262, eddie 600 carb, eddie RPM air gap, and headers. dulcich did an article on an engine essentially the same as this about 7 years ago in Mopar Muscle and it made 335hp. this combo pulls with authority in my 3900lb 5th ave, which I've added 3.55 gears and an A500 tranny. butt dyno it feels about as strong as a stock hemi 300C, which should put it in the low 14's, maybe high 13's.

you should be able to find a good running 360 for ~$500, and add the cam, intake, carb, and headers for another $400-800 (the lower end if you can get say the carb and intake used)

another option would be to do the same but with a stock long block 360 magnum out of a '93-01 truck, pick up an eddie air gap for mag heads, swap the valve springs with
gm 3100 springs and retainers, and get the roller cam reground to about .305" lobe lift and ~218/222@.050 intake/exhaust duration. use the hughes cam snout extender & t-chain cover off of your 318 and you can run a mechanical fuel pump.

I'd think you could find a good running 360 mag for under $800.

you can reuse your small block tranny and converter, you'll just need to get the appropriate weighted flexplate from B&M to use either an LA or mag 360

Being you are on a real budget Id saty away from the BB swap. Too many extras (Transmission, radiator, headers ect) The KB107 pistons are still under $200 new for a set of eight. Whatever you do try and use those pistons. The pistons are cheaper than decking the block and milling both head surfaces in the pursuit of real compression.

but, as I said in my last post, if new pistons and boring the block are out of the budget (I'd swagger $500 for machining costs to get a block bored/honed/deck squared, etc in a proper rebuild), you can make some respectable and fun power with a reringed/good running stock low comp 360, you just have to be a little smart on camshaft selection and not get too wild duration wise.

What about one of the many 360 crate engines available?

After reading all these posts I'm amazed at most of them ,use chebby springs voodoo cams etc. Build it simple and it will scream. I built a 77 360 I used kb pistons on 273 rods, MOPAR 508 cam, adjustable rockers set at zero lash. Stock heads, single plane intake, worked holley 750, 904 with a stock convertor, and 3.91's the dart I put it in was a full bodied car, ran 12.40's in 90 degree heat. Went 1.9's 60 foot which is terrible, and went 110-112 through the traps. Now that's a screaming 360. With a loose converor and 4.30's 11.50-11.60 would be easy. Build it simple, it is easier to build, maintain, and will last for ever. I did have to put a holley pump back by the tank but that's it. The engine had seen 7500 many times and never missed abeat. Still running today 7 years later and still runs good. Has never been apart since I put it together. Keep the rods and pistons as light as possible. I spent less than 2k on it and that included the rebuilt trans and the gear, with hooker hedders. I've heard nothing but bad things about the 408's being light on power and torque.

I'm sure your setup runs very good, but if this is a street car, 3.91's or 4.30's and a cam with 250@.050 duration (like the 508 has) in a near 4000 lb car (3rd gen charger) is going to suck doing anything but WOT 1/4 mile at a time....you'll be cranking along at 3500-4000 RPM to keep up with traffic on the freeway in MN, it'll be a dog at part throttle, etc.....

all depends on his intended usage for the car...