Dave6T4
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The Chevy guys can never believe that Chrysler had a big block 350. With a shorter stroke than their beloved motor!
Where Are the 361 Owners?
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Use to have a good time with the parts house morons that didn't know a 383 was a stock engine in Mopars lol
Dave6T4
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A friend of mine has a 1970 'Cuda with a 383, 4-speed and 3.91 gears. The motor has been " breathed on " a little bit. He regularly runs it up to 6500 through the gears, and it sounds like a small block.
6500 isn't even getting warmed up!!!! Talk to me at 7400!
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The rr I used to run saw 7300 every pass.....stock stroke, ash can Jahns light weight pistons, Hemi rods stock 440 crank. Shifted at 6900.
Dave6T4
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I don't think the 361 was as available in passenger cars up here in Canada as they were in U.S. The V-8 options in Canada were usually 313/318, 383 2-bbl., 383 4-bbl., skipping the 361 altogether.They were mostly seen up here as H.D. truck engines, one ton and bigger.
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IQ52
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The last 361 owner I personally knew died in 1992....my Dad. His 361 powered 1959 Plymouth ran 150 mph on the salt flats in 1959.
The engine they said wouldn't run.
The engine they said wouldn't run.
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Wouldn't mind reading the rest of the story on that one.... pretty cool what there was!
Power brake, Power steering. Any other accs?
The last year for the 361 (in a car) was 1966...Car & Driver Magazine call it a "boat anchor" and Chrysler countered with making a 383 2bbl, and ditching the 361 in cars forever.
Unfair, foresure , as the 361 has the same block & crank, 383 heads were often installed at the factory...The bore was 1/8" smaller. 2bbl carb was a probably the only lack-luster feature and easily changed
maxwedgechar
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Aaaahhhh, a 361, brings back fond memories. In 1964 my parents bought a 25,000 mile red and white ’59 Plymouth Sport Suburban, 9 passenger, Golden Commando 395 (395 Ft LBs of torque @ 3000 RPM), 361 Cu In, 305 HP, Torqueflite, 3.31 SureGrip, PS, PB, Power windows, power tailgate window with the switch right inside next to the rear seat, air leveling system, the MirrorMatic electronic day/night mirror, clock, AM radio, padded dash, inside adjustable rear view mirror, Sport Fury steering wheel and doggy dish wheel covers, who spec’ed this one? We visited my grandparents on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights right outside Philly and coming home, on the Roosevelt Blvd, Mom normally drove while Dad was sacked out. The boulevard is light to light 3 or 6 lanes depending on the time period and if Mom was first at the light she was first across! She would go right up against the secondarys but not pop the quad. Her philosophy was that most accidents happen at intersections and the faster you’re across the safer you are. And yes I still follow that philosophy! My brother and I would be in the back seat laughing at the guys who got snookered off the line. One time Mom was at a traffic light and when it went green the guy in the left turn lane tried to beat her across the intersection. Operative word was tried! Mom punched the secondarys for the only time in her life and she took off down the road. The conversation after school went like “Did that ever happen to you”? “Uh, yeah Mom, once or twice”!
So then in 1968 I got my driver’s license and yes my parents let a 17 year old loose on the public highways with 300HP! I lived in Levittown, PA and went to school in Langhorne, PA. The high school is on the hill overlooking what is lovingly known in the area as “The Superhighway”. The Superhighway is a 4 lane limited access road built in the late Thirties to go from right above where the PA turnpike RT 1 interchange is to Trenton, NJ. It didn’t get to Trenton until much later. What it did was go about 5 or 6 miles and end at a stop sign TEE intersection with piles of stone on the other side of the road. At least once or twice a week, it seemed, a drag racer or a drunk would end up in the piles of stone. The deal with my parents was that I was allowed to drive to school one day a week. First week, after school, I went out and did 90 MPH! Wow! Then second week, 100 MPH! Third week I followed one of the guys in his ’61, ’62 or ’63 T-Bird and we went top end! I couldn’t catch him, but he couldn’t get away either. My speedometer said somewhere around 115. I couldn’t “peg” the needle but above 110-115 it would bang against the peg.
Every time I drove the car I was looking for a race, at a stop light, from a roll or top end. I manually shifted the trans. At first I did the second gear and drive buttons. Dad said never to use first gear button, but when I lost a heads up to a ’57 or ’58 Fury by a car length I started using first. The tough part was the car weighed about 4,000 pounds and I was giving away 400 or 500 pounds to cars like neighbor kid’s 327 4 speed Impala. He beat me one afternoon after school on The Superhighway by about a car and a half. But that was off the line, the rest was keeping up. The other thing was a cast iron Torqueflite couldn’t hold second gear. At around 80 it would upshift automatically. A full throttle upshift into drive the car would jump anywhere from half a fender to half a car on whoever I was racing. My favorite place to race was the Levittown Parkway, a four lane road from one side of Levittown to the other. One night I raced a ’64 Gran Prix from a 15 MPH roll. I don’t think it was a 421, I think it may have been a standard 303 horsepower 389. We were even, fender to fender, door to door until I went into drive and pulled a half a fender on him. And we stayed into it. It was 1:30 in the morning and we were coming up to a blinking yellow intersection. A car had stopped at the blinking red and had plenty of time to go through the light but no he stayed to see who won! We went through the intersection at about 110.
Unfortunately she did not survive my youth. My mistake was I told my new girlfriend that I loved the car and she saw it as competition! She became my wife and the car was long gone. BUT, I still have the engine, bored to 60 over, I think it makes 372 cubes now I still have the pistons and rings, transmission, MirrorMatic and other bits and pieces. I have the original tailgate, an NOS tailgate, the original, rotted out spare tire cover, the 9 passengers had the spare up inside the right quarter panel, and an NOS one.
So then in 1968 I got my driver’s license and yes my parents let a 17 year old loose on the public highways with 300HP! I lived in Levittown, PA and went to school in Langhorne, PA. The high school is on the hill overlooking what is lovingly known in the area as “The Superhighway”. The Superhighway is a 4 lane limited access road built in the late Thirties to go from right above where the PA turnpike RT 1 interchange is to Trenton, NJ. It didn’t get to Trenton until much later. What it did was go about 5 or 6 miles and end at a stop sign TEE intersection with piles of stone on the other side of the road. At least once or twice a week, it seemed, a drag racer or a drunk would end up in the piles of stone. The deal with my parents was that I was allowed to drive to school one day a week. First week, after school, I went out and did 90 MPH! Wow! Then second week, 100 MPH! Third week I followed one of the guys in his ’61, ’62 or ’63 T-Bird and we went top end! I couldn’t catch him, but he couldn’t get away either. My speedometer said somewhere around 115. I couldn’t “peg” the needle but above 110-115 it would bang against the peg.
Every time I drove the car I was looking for a race, at a stop light, from a roll or top end. I manually shifted the trans. At first I did the second gear and drive buttons. Dad said never to use first gear button, but when I lost a heads up to a ’57 or ’58 Fury by a car length I started using first. The tough part was the car weighed about 4,000 pounds and I was giving away 400 or 500 pounds to cars like neighbor kid’s 327 4 speed Impala. He beat me one afternoon after school on The Superhighway by about a car and a half. But that was off the line, the rest was keeping up. The other thing was a cast iron Torqueflite couldn’t hold second gear. At around 80 it would upshift automatically. A full throttle upshift into drive the car would jump anywhere from half a fender to half a car on whoever I was racing. My favorite place to race was the Levittown Parkway, a four lane road from one side of Levittown to the other. One night I raced a ’64 Gran Prix from a 15 MPH roll. I don’t think it was a 421, I think it may have been a standard 303 horsepower 389. We were even, fender to fender, door to door until I went into drive and pulled a half a fender on him. And we stayed into it. It was 1:30 in the morning and we were coming up to a blinking yellow intersection. A car had stopped at the blinking red and had plenty of time to go through the light but no he stayed to see who won! We went through the intersection at about 110.
Unfortunately she did not survive my youth. My mistake was I told my new girlfriend that I loved the car and she saw it as competition! She became my wife and the car was long gone. BUT, I still have the engine, bored to 60 over, I think it makes 372 cubes now I still have the pistons and rings, transmission, MirrorMatic and other bits and pieces. I have the original tailgate, an NOS tailgate, the original, rotted out spare tire cover, the 9 passengers had the spare up inside the right quarter panel, and an NOS one.
A4GTX
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I added the power discs all Mopar stuff. It was a manual brake car with p/s, a/c, full tinted glass and no windshield washers, from the factory. The 383 four barrel intake, carb and dual-snorkel were on it when I bought it, along with dual exhaust, which I redid. 86K miles, from Kansas. It’s a great car! Drives perfectly with T/As.
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RRrider
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Hey there everyone glad to see a lot of interest in the 361 ci engine. I have one in desperate need of some TLC. It is seized and rusty but complete less exhaust manifolds. Has a 4 bbl AFB carb.SN 1945429-1 LS 1.13.66.
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patrick66
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Pistons are available easily from several sources. Heads are the same as a 383. Definitely not "scrap metal". Everything that fits a 383 will fit in a 361. (Except pistons, obviously). A 361 is a 383 with 22 few cubic inches, is the only difference, overall. My '66 Coronet 500 has its original 361, rebuilt in 1984, and I'll put it up against any street-build 383 out there. I've added 1969 440 exhaust manifolds, an MP aluminum intake, Carter AVS carb, Direct Connection cam, and a shift kit. It sure acts, feels and performs like a 383 that's built identically. Why would I change to a 383??? I rather doubt you've ever owned or driven a car with a 361 to know.
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