Cuda360-4
Well-Known Member
The original engine in my car was a 318. In 1983 a friend gave me the heads from his 340 that had just threw a rod through the block. I put the heads, along with the carburetor from a 383, and it ran surprisingly well. Good power, and never stalled or misbehaved in any way.
In 1998 I bought a 360 block with the intention of building the perfect motor using the 340 heads. I made the mistake of having the guy who built the engine build the engine.
After a rotisserie restoration to the body he delivered the engine and it was put in the car. After we started it the harmonic balancer was wiggling like a worm on an hot rock and the guys at the body shop were freaking out. The builder said that’s what it was supposed to do and at that point I knew I was doomed. Long story, but I just replaced the balancer.
The engine shook the car like a funny car dragster and it constantly stalled. Then once it stalled it was all you could do to get it to start. It would barely turn over. It ran fabulously if You gave it any throttle and had no vibration and good power. As long as you didn’t have to stop for a red light it was good. But it required two feet to and constantly shifting into neutral to keep it running at a light (automatic). The engine had almost no vacuum.
Every mechanic I took it to told me it was fine. It had a race cam. What did I expect? Only I had told the “builder” I wanted a cam exactly to the original 340 spec. So I argued it it didn’t have a race cam and had to be something else. I just started changing parts: put on an electronic ignition, three carburetors…….
Compression was good, timing was super advanced, it had almost no vacuum.
After all these years finally found a mechanic that knows what he is doing. The gaskets were way too big on the china wall and it was leaking vacuum. That was easy to fix. He measured the cam and it was some sort of insane race cam that the intake and exhaust valves overlapped and were open at the same time. That explains why the intake got so hot.
Then he found the heads had been ported. I had told the “builder” not to port the heads. He had cut into the bolt holes for the valve covers and they were leaking vacuum also.
Changed the cam, sealed the vacuum leaks, set the timing, carburetor, etc. and the car now runs amazingly - most of the time.
When the engine is cold it is golden. You can drive around all day in it, lots of power, never stalls, starts right up hot or cold.
Then when I bring it home and try to back into the garage it stalls. You know it is coming because it develops an intermittent miss. As soon as it goes into neutral it idles perfectly. Put it in gear and it starts the intermittent miss, which gets worse and it stalls.
It is worse in reverse than drive and worse if the headlights are on, so I am assuming the electrical draw on the alternator is bogging the engine a bit (changed the alternator also).
It very, very rarely will develop the miss when stoped at a light, but every single time I back it into the garage it stalls. It’s a semicircle to back it into the garage, so the power steering is putting a load on the engine.
It’s completely tolerable, since it starts right back up, and about the only time it does it is when I am backing into the garage, but other than the car doesn’t want to go back into the garage, I’ve run out of ideas! If I ever get another motor I think it will be a crate motor, but since I can actually enjoy my car now, I’m not taking any chances!
Nothing like trying to fix someone else’s “work.” Has anyone ever seen anything this crazy?
In 1998 I bought a 360 block with the intention of building the perfect motor using the 340 heads. I made the mistake of having the guy who built the engine build the engine.
After a rotisserie restoration to the body he delivered the engine and it was put in the car. After we started it the harmonic balancer was wiggling like a worm on an hot rock and the guys at the body shop were freaking out. The builder said that’s what it was supposed to do and at that point I knew I was doomed. Long story, but I just replaced the balancer.
The engine shook the car like a funny car dragster and it constantly stalled. Then once it stalled it was all you could do to get it to start. It would barely turn over. It ran fabulously if You gave it any throttle and had no vibration and good power. As long as you didn’t have to stop for a red light it was good. But it required two feet to and constantly shifting into neutral to keep it running at a light (automatic). The engine had almost no vacuum.
Every mechanic I took it to told me it was fine. It had a race cam. What did I expect? Only I had told the “builder” I wanted a cam exactly to the original 340 spec. So I argued it it didn’t have a race cam and had to be something else. I just started changing parts: put on an electronic ignition, three carburetors…….
Compression was good, timing was super advanced, it had almost no vacuum.
After all these years finally found a mechanic that knows what he is doing. The gaskets were way too big on the china wall and it was leaking vacuum. That was easy to fix. He measured the cam and it was some sort of insane race cam that the intake and exhaust valves overlapped and were open at the same time. That explains why the intake got so hot.
Then he found the heads had been ported. I had told the “builder” not to port the heads. He had cut into the bolt holes for the valve covers and they were leaking vacuum also.
Changed the cam, sealed the vacuum leaks, set the timing, carburetor, etc. and the car now runs amazingly - most of the time.
When the engine is cold it is golden. You can drive around all day in it, lots of power, never stalls, starts right up hot or cold.
Then when I bring it home and try to back into the garage it stalls. You know it is coming because it develops an intermittent miss. As soon as it goes into neutral it idles perfectly. Put it in gear and it starts the intermittent miss, which gets worse and it stalls.
It is worse in reverse than drive and worse if the headlights are on, so I am assuming the electrical draw on the alternator is bogging the engine a bit (changed the alternator also).
It very, very rarely will develop the miss when stoped at a light, but every single time I back it into the garage it stalls. It’s a semicircle to back it into the garage, so the power steering is putting a load on the engine.
It’s completely tolerable, since it starts right back up, and about the only time it does it is when I am backing into the garage, but other than the car doesn’t want to go back into the garage, I’ve run out of ideas! If I ever get another motor I think it will be a crate motor, but since I can actually enjoy my car now, I’m not taking any chances!
Nothing like trying to fix someone else’s “work.” Has anyone ever seen anything this crazy?
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