Same,.. I turned 16 in 83 and you could still buy leaded gas and Sunoco was still selling 100, 105 and 110 octane leaded gas back then. Was nothing to see 396 SS/RS Camaro's, 427 Chevelles, crazy 327 with dual carb Vettes, 428, 351c Mustangs, 440 Road Runners, 455 Skylark or Regal, the 455 Cutlass and the Multitude of 400 and 455 powered GTO's and Tempests. My friends said I was an idiot to pay $7500 for my GT500. After I sold my GTO and came across that car I had to have it. That was in 87. The term collector car and was just starting to kick in around then. But you could still buy nice small and big block powered 60's and early 70's cars for reasonable price. I only paid $2500 for my 67 GTO and I thought that was a lot. In 83 I bought my Chevelle for $700,.. he wanted $1000. You guys can ask Rick,.. back in 83 you could buy a lot of car for between $500 - $1500. $100 beaters in good running condition were common.


Hurst

 

I do believe they had forged cranks too. But its kinda like 351w's for years they was said to be worthless....now look.
As far as my buddy's Duster, It was far from "built" just TRW's, solid cam and cast 340 heads.

 

I guess I could see that point of view. The 351's were crap for so long because there were no heads for them. The 302 was in the same boat. When cast iron Dart heads came it was the only head other than the 289 heads that could even be considered a performance head. I mean think about it,.. where would 351's be today if all we had were GT40 heads? They would be turds. The 340 heads wasnt much better than a 289/302 high performance head. Other than the 340 head what else is there for a 360? Its not like TFS or AFR make heads for small block Chryslers. IMO they are still relegated to the turd pile. The wedge motors are they way to go IMO if your building a MOPAR.

Hurst

 

Eddy's makes the top notch heads for Mopar. Other than 440Source there the main people.

The 360 DID come in Challengers. My asphalt track car came stock with it when I bought it from a 79 year old man. Dont believe me, take a look... 1974 Dodge Challenger Ralley. 360 4 barrel car. Slower than a mother fucker do to no compression. But now, I wipe shit up with the high dollar crate motored chevys.

I had a old Feather Duster back in the day with the 360. That was not a car any Ford/Chevy wanted to come across (tri power or not). Only mods were a .458 cam, 3500 stall, 727 transplant, longtube headers and intake and carb swap. On those old Carlisle super slicks went low 12s. Which is those days was absolultly hauling ass.

All this talk about how slow the old cars are to the new ones is dumb. The only reason the old ones were slow was suspension and tires. How do you expect to pull good times on a 14" radial?!?!

And Hurst, I think its the other way around... The old cars were underrated (hp/tq) wise because of insurance issues. Hence why a 16 year old kid could walk into any FoMoCo/GM/Chrysler dealership and walk out and wait for his new Big block mudstain, SS Chevelle or Demon powered Duster to pull around the building for him.

 

The same is happening for the 351m/400's.

 

Windsor's are just the fad at the moment... There still junk. Just like 360's

 

The 74 Challenger was a joke. The ONLY 2 engine options was the 318 and the 360,.. and 73 and 74 were the ONLY years the 360 was offered. 73 was the last year for the 340 and 71 was the last year for any big block Challenger. After 72 all the cars, GM, Ford and Chrsyler pretty much went to the crapper. The last cars with any real effort was Pontiac's 455 Trans Ams and after 74 they too got castrated. I remember 340 powered cars were running 15's at the track. With cam and exhaust some were in the 13's. I NEVER saw any 340 powered cars running quicker than 13's with one exception. There was a guy Nailor or something like that that had a modified Tri power 340 and he was running 12's. He made a couple magazine covers for his effort too. Any car in those days running 13's or better was considered pretty damn quick. Not like today where people yawn at 11 and 10 second cars.

Not trying to get anythign started but I dont see a 360 powered Challenger doing 12's with nothing but cam, intake and exhaust. My bone stock GTO wiped the floor with them and it was only a 13/14 second car. I lived it,.. I was there. I had them. I had friends who had them. We didnt hit the track on 14 inch polyglass tires. I had 15x10 Craigars with L60 tires stuffed in the back.

You guys are confusing modified Muscle cars with factory stock muscle cars. Modified,.. hell yes they could run. Didnt take much. Almost any big block could be coaxed into the 11's with little effort. Small block cars needed some help with the exception of a select few and they werent Ford or Chrysler. Most of the high end cars were rated between 350 - 375 GROSS HP. Yes most were under rated. But 375 GROSS hp comes out to 300 NET hp by todays standards. Then deduct 12% driveline loss and these cars put down 265-ish hp to the ground. Your not running 12's in a Mustang, Chevelle or GTO with 264 whp. It just didnt happen that way. Slicks didnt magically make them a 12 second car.

The 60's and early 70's cars were fast,.. but compared to todays top end cars,.. out of the showroom floor todays cars will freight train them at the track and on the street. The 03/04 Cobra's were faster than any Mustang ever before them. Including the Shelby's. You cant take specialized cars like Holman/Moody's 427 powered cars and compare them. Thats like 20 years from now saying a Hennassy Viper was the fastest show room car around. Dedicated race cars are one thing,.. factory stock is another.

Hurst

 

Not confusing them, but to say a 360 is junk, is what I and Pinaple was reffering too. I revert to the 351w again...in stock form it is considered a turd from the factory and thats the way most see them, cause the was never offered as a "performance" engine in stock form. But with lilttle massaging, they turn into a different animal. As stated, biggest problem with performance was the compression in the 360 and the 351.

Stealth knows Jakboys Chris' old car. Heavy ass TRW flat tops, old Wil Burt Highports, solid roller and a Super Victor and the car was in the low 10'.0x's on a 150 shot. It was a long ways away from being considered "built" motor in today standards.

 

The Feather Duster made the Challenger look like a yacht... Mine was scaled around 2390 if memory serves. Very light and agile cars. Only reason Mopar dont like corners from the factory is how small the FRONT suspension parts are. Ever seen the a-arms off a stock LX platform Challenger/Duster/Charger? Its baby shit thin metal! Absolute junk. As far as the motors, all you need is a set of flat tops for the 351/360 and its all over with. Your going from 8.5:1 comp to about 10.5:1. Atleast thats what I did with my 360 with the flat tops that are in it.

I rebuilt my 5.8 in my Bronco and put a set of flat tops in it with the GT40"x" heads, big cam and rr's and ill bitch smack a bolt on fox in a 6000lb truck. The motors can deff be made to run!

 

Freindly debate

The Feather Duster was 1800lbs less than the Challenger also. Im gonna try to find a pic of it.