Joined: Tue May 02 2006, 12:23PM
Location: Ridgecrest Ca. (China Lake Naval Weapons Center)
Posts: 140
After reading "bad I dea #1" I had this hairbrained idea...
I've got this 340 short block sitting in my garage. I wonder how it would do in my '64 300? Moderatly built (maybe 416 stroker?) Weight wise it would pull a lot off the front end for handling (getting to that magic "50/50"). My '64 isn't much heavier than some B-bodys runnin around and they seem to do okay with small blocks.
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 01:49PM
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Posts: 421
I like it. Put an arm in it like you suggest, some decent heads, Edelbrocks should do the trick without breaking the bank and look out, plenty of them making BB numbers...4 spd OD behind it and you'd have some pretty serious grunt along with decent gas mileage.
The 340 is a great motor,but.......if you are going to build a stroker,this is what i would do. Take that 340 shortblock and sell it. Get a 360. These 340 motors are scarce and getting a premium dollar should be no problem. I have had all forms of small blocks,and one real problem with the 340s is piston weight. 720 grams for the 340 vs. the 584 grams for the 360. That 140 grams extra weight has a lot to do w/reliability. As strong as the 340's connecting rods are,I've ventalated more than one block in my time. 20 extra cubes to start with also. People are looking for date correct blocks now,and i wouldn't be surprised if you could get a nice set of Edelbrock heads for that deal. I've got a good 340 in my monaco now,but if i hear that unmistakeable KLANG sound,rest assured i'm lookin' for a 360 as it's getting impossible to find 340s anymore.