Cheap power

Eliwab22 · Nov 16, 2016

Hi, I am looking for the cheapest way to get power out of a 360 magnum. I am in the midst of swapping it in my 98 ram 1500, it had a 318 in it originally, I'm sure you know the term "no replacement for displacement", anywho. I am already planning on installing a new muffler, maybe a cat delete (because Iowa). Any other suggestions? It's a rear wheel drive, quad cab, Laramie SLT, with an automatic transmission. I don't need a crazy amount of power, maybe like 25-50 more hp.

dapepper9 · Nov 16, 2016

Hey Iowa! I'm in sioux city.

Regarding the swap, use the 318 converter and the 360 flexplate. 96+ the converters are the same but the flexplates are different. I know you didn't ask but everybody and their brother seems to think the tq converter needs changed. 94 and 95 that was the case but after 96 it's not.

Best few things you can do quick on a budget:
-Year matching 360 pcm for your swap, the programming is slightly different
-Plenum gasket and tune up with copper plugs and some summit 8mm wires
-52 or 53mm throttle body (i have one for sale or there's a guy on Facebook making em from factory cores)
-Shorty headers
-Can port the intake during plenum gasket job
-1.7 Harland Sharp rockers, only requires valve cover removal and the right sized socket to turn the engine while you do em and that's not a huge deal
-if you're really wanting to splurge an sct time will give you the largest difference/benefit
-as far as cold air intakes are concerned, a k&n or equivalent filter that drops into the factory box will do the same for you.
-i personally like moving the IAT out of the kegger and into the intake tube. Kegger heat soaks it so regardless of temp going in its going to read around 150 degrees once up to temp regardless of outside temp

chrisking318 · Nov 27, 2016

15hp and 30 pnds tq aint worth a swap IMO, unless u get that 360 for dirt cheap near free and swapping the motor make u ***** lol. Overbored TB and cam would make more #s without the displacement and extra fuel of the 5.9. Don't get me wrong here, yes the 5.9 i more powerful then the 318, but not by much, not worth a swap.

Eliwab22 · Nov 27, 2016

chrisking318 said:
15hp and 30 pnds tq aint worth a swap IMO, unless u get that 360 for dirt cheap near free and swapping the motor make u ***** lol. Overbored TB and cam would make more #s without the displacement and extra fuel of the 5.9. Don't get me wrong here, yes the 5.9 i more powerful then the 318, but not by much, not worth a swap.

I swapped it because the 5.2 that was in the truck when I got it was blown and it would have been the same price for the smaller motor

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

chrisking318 · Nov 27, 2016

then its worth it lol! as for hp gains, cam & a descent exhaust should do the trick, dont go too aggressive on the cam profile tho youll lose low end tq a lot.

dapepper9 · Nov 27, 2016

chrisking318 said:
15hp and 30 pnds tq aint worth a swap IMO, unless u get that 360 for dirt cheap near free and swapping the motor make u ***** lol. Overbored TB and cam would make more #s without the displacement and extra fuel of the 5.9. Don't get me wrong here, yes the 5.9 i more powerful then the 318, but not by much, not worth a swap.

Problems with that logic:
1. 360s are a dime a dozen
2. Swap isn't hard and is very direct
3. Tb $150, cam $350, springs $250, tuning $450, wideband $150....sooo.... $1350 to do a cam the right way
4. You're already in the hole $$$ wise. You're also forgetting the fact that the factory keg and heads won't support more than a 30-35whp gain from a cam swap no matter how big you go

dapepper9 · Nov 27, 2016

chrisking318 said:
then its worth it lol! as for hp gains, cam & a descent exhaust should do the trick, dont go too aggressive on the cam profile tho youll lose low end tq a lot.

Depends on the cam profile. Aggressive is a very generic explanation. Lift, duration, lsa all have an affect on the powerband

chrisking318 · Nov 27, 2016

Agreed!! what i meant to say was unless he had access to a 5-700$ motor theres other options to gain hp with the old 318, since its a blown motor my reply was useless.. didnt knew he had a blown motor lol

dapepper9 · Nov 27, 2016

chrisking318 said:
Agreed!! what i meant to say was unless he had access to a 5-700$ motor theres other options to gain hp with the old 318, since its a blown motor my reply was useless.. didnt knew he had a blown motor lol

No worries. I'm from Iowa as well and i can find GOOD low mileage engines for $600 tops all within a 2hr radius. Most are about 3-500. There's a good 96 with 105k or some **** in my town 10 minutes away for 600 already pulled

chrisking318 · Nov 27, 2016

dapepper9 said:
Depends on the cam profile. Aggressive is a very generic explanation. Lift, duration, lsa all have an affect on the powerband

Not looking to argue here.. but aggressive is a common term aint it ? Some cam grinds are more street oriented ''low end'' some AGGRESSIVE cams are more top end ''track'' oriented.

dapepper9 · Nov 27, 2016

chrisking318 said:
Not looking to argue here.. but aggressive is a common term aint it ? Some cam grinds are more street oriented ''low end'' some AGGRESSIVE cams are more top end ''track'' oriented.

That's what I'm saying lol. You can have an aggressive 114lsa and an aggressive 108lsa but the 2 perform very differently. The 114 is much broader and smoother but with much lower overall tq with the majority being higher up. The 108 however will have arguably the best hp/tq numbers but in a much narrower power band and the lopey 108 is much more concerned with good tuning

Cheap power

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