Thread: 361, Should it stay or should it go

Tweet

I am restoring a 65 Coronet 500. It was my first car when I turned 16 (27 years ago). My dilemma is, should I leave in the 361 big block or step up to a 383 or 440. My heart says leave it in, but my right foot says move up to the bigger inch engine. My machine shop guy does not recommend trying to build up the 361 because I'll just be disappointed. Does anyone have a good recipe for building a 361 to make at least 350hp or more. Any advice would be appreciated. Good or bad. I can take it.

Thanks

thats a tough call, i would say if you are restoring it i would leave the 361 in. if you are fixing it up to have fun in i would go for the 383-440, after all its no fun if you think your engine sucks.you could think of it as a gift your car always wanted . is a 361 a rare motor, i havent heard of that before.

Apparently the 361 was discontinued in the cornet in 67. In stock 2 barrel incarnation, the motor was good for 265Hp and 380 ft-lbs. @ 9:1 compression and a factory carb, this is nothing to sneeze at. Seems to me, if you were to shave the heads, tune or replace the carb or even bolt on a 4 bbl intake, hook it to a decent exhaust, there could be some life in this motor. And it would be a numbers matching car too

361-----383----400 all are called the B series Lo Block. Almost every part is interchangable. The 361 has a 4.12bore . The 383 has a 4.25 bore and the 400 has 4.34 bore . All have the same stroke 3.38 I dont know how far You can bore the 361,but it would certainly be worth looking into. I would think You could build a hard hitting motor out of what You have. If You refer back a couple weeks to my thread comparing a 302 ford , 305chevy, 318 chrysler,You will see the 318 made 349 horsepower. I would think 400 plus horsepower is not out of the question with the 361.If I had had that car with that motor for 27 years,thats what I'd build. There is a Direction Racing Manual that You can get from Chrysler that would be very helpful to you, You can buy just about everything You need across the counter At your local Dodge/Chrysler store.Hope You can buy your parts wholesale or know someone who will get them for you. Good Luck!!

1965 361 has 265 HP stock 230 ft lbs of torque, 9.0-1 comp ratio, and a 2bbl carb ( just looked it up ), to gain power, I'm not farmilliar with this engine, if it's the same block as the 383 and 440 big blocks, you could bolt on a set of 383 heads, cam, intake, headders and a 4bbl carb and you'd have around 350 hp with the 361, I think the 361 is a rarer engine as the 383 was more popular. Now, if your thinking it would be easier to switch to a 383, answer is, if you want 350 hp at least, could be but, not cheaper, the reason is, as I'm looking at the www.carnut.com specs for the 361-440 through 1969, the 1965 383 2bbl makes 270 horse, the 4bbl version, 315 or another 4bbl version with 330 HP, 1969 383's made up to 335 HP but, in 1969, that year is basicly the best year to get high perf engines because it was when the hp got real bigand those motors are high priced. If you buy a 1965 315HP 383, your still gonna have to put a few parts in it to make 350, which mainly would be a set of good 440 heads, possibly a cam and headders, just about the same amount of work for the 361 but you have the engine arleady, you don't need to buy it.

Originally posted by drg84
Apparently the 361 was discontinued in the cornet in 67. In stock 2 barrel incarnation, the motor was good for 265Hp and 380 ft-lbs. @ 9:1 compression and a factory carb, this is nothing to sneeze at. Seems to me, if you were to shave the heads, tune or replace the carb or even bolt on a 4 bbl intake, hook it to a decent exhaust, there could be some life in this motor. And it would be a numbers matching car too

due to the rare motor and numbers matching thing i may jump the fence on this one and say leave the 361 in .

hell leave the 361 & give it some extra muscle. i had a stock one in my 64 plymouth sport fury & it was a runner in stock form w/the 2barrel. all i did to it was add an aluminum intake w/Holley Carb & some big tube headers w/Hush Thrush mufflers, sound damn good too....joe

Had a 361 in my 66 Charger originally and swapped it out with a 440. Only because I wanted to build a "Go very fast" engine. Not taking anything away from the 361, which is a big block, but I knew I could get much more power out of the 440. If it was me and I was looking to just have a quicker, get up and go car, I would keep the 361 and put a little into it. As others have said, put some 383 heads, (not sure if 440 heads fit, ask around) bored. 030 over, a new cam, aluminum intake and Edelbrock carb and you should be very happy with the end result. And while yer at it, throw some headers on it for a little extra impact.

Plus you'll save a chunk of change not having to buy another motor.

Thanks for all the input. Your replies have pretty much confirmed my original thoughts.

Thanks again