Before I dump the info about the woody-invoking 360cu engine I just had
custom built, I thought I might share some background, as this is my first
post to
the DML.
About 3 years ago I attempted to join this mailing list after submitting my
info via
email, but alas, no membership. I'm not suprised after reading some of the
background about where the list *was* compared to where it is now. This all
took
place during the time I had become a little dissatisfied with the
performance of the
318 in my '93 4x4 Dakota. Figuring others probably had the same idea, I
surfed the
net and found the Dakota Mailing List. No mail came, no invitations,
nothing...so
I wrote it off and made do for awhile.
Fortunately, I have a good friend Mark, who is also a great mechanic, so the
questions
I had for the mailing list got dropped on my buddy. Some simple
modifications added
enough 'punch' to make a noticeable difference. In fact, two years went by
and I'd
never been taken at a street race against another truck. It even chewed up
its fair
share of kids in 5.0's who don't know how to speed-shift. Not too bad for a
3800lb
stock 318 Dakota 4x4. (See the Stage 1 mods on my profile under "Redgum" for
specifics.) I raced other Dak's, including R/T's and Ford's new V8 sport
trucks...
they all lost.
Then I got beat. Beat bad. Can you say chewed-up and spat-out? Yup, I went
against some yuppie geek in a yellow Mustang SVT. It wasn't till that
afternoon
that I found out it has a 385 horse 351 Clever in it. Still, the dry, salted
sting of
defeat made my belly grumble. The following week I noticed a lack of
enthusiasm
on my part. I started feeling like I was driving a Chevette again. A day or
two later
I defiantly dumped one of the new V-8 Toyota Tundra's and waved bye-bye,
but my margin was less than 300 feet after about a 1/4 mile. Something was
wrong
or I was just getting slow on the uptake.
It's a trend...one can't help but notice the impressive horsepower and
torque
ratings the manufacturers are tossing around now. The price tags seem to
match the
trend too. The SUV industry seems to be in the middle of a horse power war.
So I let the grumbling continue for awhile, but then I just up and committed
to
spend whatever it took to revive my ole 92,000+ mile Dakota.
Out came the 318, the tranny and the old dual exhaust system. Replacing the
motor is a 360 cu/in 1995 Magnum core..which was summarily torn down
and shipped off to a local machine shop that also builds Nascar engines.
While my
360 was getting the complete work-over, they displayed a 950Hp 429 Boss
which
caused Mark to instantly regress back into 5th grade, sound-effects and all.
( I met Mark when he had one installed in a very wretched looking '72
pea-green
Ford P/u with an equally hideous brown camper. That truck chewed up my 5.0
and
left me wondering if I had hit reverse instead.)
After the engine parts had been given the proper attention, we installed
some good
quality parts and roller'd the works. The engine was bored .030" over, heads
ground
down, ported & polished, all parts balanced and some clearancing done. Keith
Black pistons with the teflon skirts placed the compression at a street
reasonable
10:1. Mark wanted to go 11:1, but I don't want to carry an Avgas container
around
all of the time and the object was not to make a race track engine, rather a
tough
nut that's both street legal and very reliable. I do not want a high
performance engine
that requires constant attention. This, after all, is my daily driver and
weekend warrior.
Wednesday night I received a "crank" call. The caller mentioned Mark had a
message
for me...then all I heard was a terrifying roar followed by thunderous
buffeting. It
was the headers-only new engine deafening the remaining mechanics at his
shop.
I felt like I was having a child all over again. Needless to say, I was
across town in
a few minutes drooling over the fenders with the rest of them. While the
fuel lasted,
we swam with toothy grins in the insane, chest-thumping deafness that can
only be
enjoyed by suitably deranged horse power addicts.
The 360 (now 373) is topped by Chrysler's 1100cfm race intake, the
P5249816 -
which is the only one currently supporting the multi-port FI 4-barrel
plenum. Yes,
you guessed it...mod city. Ports for all the smog gear had to be made and
installed.
Mark's handiwork on the EGR shows his love for performance. The engine
breathes
into Mopar's chrome headers which were..umm..modified...making for a true
dual exhaust sporting 2.5" pipes going into a set of flow masters. Getting
the pipes
around and under the 4WD frame was a mind (and pipe) bending
experience...but
true to Marks ability, it's all one piece...a masterpiece...no welds except
for the place
where the headers meet them.
All that is left to do is make some linkage hook-ups to the throttle/cruise
control cables
with a special plate and the rest is debug time on the street.
With the tranny rebuild, strength mods + shift kit and 2200rpm stall
converter, I beleive I
will need better traction than that currently supplied by the 225/75/R15's
...then again
I do have 4wd if the need for speed arises... :-)
Tips, suggestions & comments most welcome. I'll have pictures, sound, and
maybe a
couple MPEG's by next week.
Cheers,
-Mike
P.S> Anyone have a spare MAP sensor plug? ( for the Magnum 360 TB ) I can't
beleive
they won't sell just a single connector...
Mike Carter
Redgum@home.com
www.pyroblaster.com
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