I have access to a free 6.1 L dump truck with a shot tranny, and was wondering what I could do with this thing for a drag motor. I was thinking of a MII front end, or aftermarket coilover, and then building this thing up for big cubes, I would guess near 400ci? Is this a reliable block, and are good parts readily accessible?
Something around 390-ish. If it is a reliable block, it should be able to be bored and stroked to over 400, or even just bored over. Stroked should be somewhere around 440? Just not sure if it is a good engine to do this with. Originally, the owner thought it was a 351W and I was going to yank it and 393 it. But upon closer inspection, it was 6.1 L (or somewhere around there). I started a thread on this when I first found the motor, so this might be a repeat. Just a little more serious about it now.
That is a 370 cid engine (385 series which includes the 429 and 460) however I am not sure what changes were made to it to adapt it for medium duty use. Likely produces good torque
370 truck engine. It's got a 4.05 (like a 390) bore and a 3.59 (same as 429) stroke. It's as big as a 460 and just as heavy. Might as well find a 460 block and make a 514 or 557 out of it.....it'd have about twice the power with the same weight.
So the consensus is that I have access to a free 390 ci piece of trash? Not worth building at all...too big, won't work for high revs and HP
Well..consensus is: they're not bad engines. They're big, heavy, low output V8s that were designed to move thousands of pounds of gravel, etc....NOT designed for high RPM by any means. It's basically a small bore 429, if that tells you anything. They weigh around 700 lbs where a 351w weighs what....500? BUT, the 370 is based on the 385 series engines (429,460) so it's possible to build pretty good engine out of it. I don't know about the 370 heads, I'd venture to guess that they're similar to the E7 460 EFI heads (small valves/ports). I've never seen 370 heads...only the block, which, is quite weird looking with those tiny bores in that big ol' block. With the mods needed to make it fit and work, I think a better solution would be a stroker windsor or even a cleveland.
Let me rephrase my question... Is the BLOCK any good for building into a high revving, high HP/torque motor? I don't really care about how it is stock, but can I take the block and add new heads, cam, bore/stroke (or just bore, since it has plenty of ci as it is) and make a decent engine out of it. Just need to know if it is a healthy block or one of those "if you build it, it will crater" type blocks. I was planning on taking my 302 and rebuilding to a 347, or more likely taking a 351W and doing a 393, both requiring TOTAL rebuilds. But, since I have this block for free, is it worth using instead. MII or coil-over front end replacements are not part of this equation, since I will do that either way. Could I bore it out to a 429/460 and have a good engine?
take it and sell it as a truck motor, unless you plan to add a highboy to your vehicles. use the money to buy the 351.
I doubt you could bore a 370's 4.05 bore .310" to make it a 429-460 size. IIRC, the 370 had a pretty thin cylinder wall..like a 351w. That said, most big block heads have 92cc chambers, and the early 429 heads had 72cc chambers. Combine that with the 370's small bore & "short" stroke and you'd have to have some custom pistons made to get the compression up where it would need to be. Flat tops would get you ~9:1 where flat tops in a early head 460 will get you around 11:1. Then, the small bores would generally be in the way of the larger valves that come in the 385 series heads (unless you used the 370 heads--which would be kind of defeating the purpose) and using aftermarket heads with 2.20 and larger intake valves would be simply a collision waiting for a place to happen. Lots of 370's are out there...and they can be sold to a guy that needs one to replace an old truck engine. Some of them had a neat vacuum-operated governor, which makes them pull like a diesel. In all honesty, If it were me, I'd sell or trade a 370 for a 460, even a car 460 (truck 460's had a little better rods) and you'd be happier with it's performance over a 370...and the 370's new owner would be happy that he's got an engine that'll replace the one that's in his dump truck. Add up the costs to build even a mild big block and you could have built a 600+ HP windsor. I remember pouring money into my old '83 F100's 460 swap. Eventually the "cheap" build (could have built a pretty nice 351w) broke some rings and I put together a 514. Even the 514 ran pretty good, but for the $$$ invested, it was a slug. Probably had more to do with the C9VE heads--which are pretty good heads--but they will only move so much air and the exhaust ports SUCK! It was definetly faster than my Lightning, but considering what windsor parts cost these days, it would have been money ahead to put together a 408.
NO. It's an industrial truck engine. Now quit being a cheapass. If you want a BIG engine then just do a 460. Simple. Low buck 460 with flat tops, a hydraulic camshaft, single plane intake and an 850 Holley. Mid-10's at 3000#. No problem.
With my bills vs my income, I am forced to continue being a cheapass Otherwise, I would have bought a Prowler or little two-seater Cobra and called it a day
My two cents... If anything go with an FE series. They are lighter and can be buit up to to 400+ CID. I don't know why you would need any more than a 427. That would be perfect.
