AMC 360 rebuild

[FSJfan]

Once summer rolls around I plan on getting my motor rebuilt, I have several questions.
I’ve heard that the oil mod is not necessary for the lower RPM that it’ll be running at is this true? And is installing a oil line to the dizzy gear worth it?
Stock heads should be fine since I’m not building a high RPM motor, right?
I have a mild cam that I don’t know what it is, the motor was rebuilt about 7500 miles or so ago by the previous owner so should the cam should be fine to keep, right?
I plan on getting a new edelbrock intake and new holley carb.
I also plan on getting headers, new waterpump, and maybe new aluminum radiator.
I want to get rid of the duraspark distributor and upgrade to something better what are some good distributors?
What are the benefits of a double roller timing chain?
I’m not expecting a lot of power but what are some other mods to get me to a dependable and solid 250-300?

[tgreese]

Why are you rebuilding if the motor was rebuilt only 7500 miles ago? Is there a problem?

[440sixpack]

Oil mods are a joke.

Stock heads are fine, just make sure to match the valve springs to the cam.

If you like the cam and it looks good there is no reason you can't reuse it. either keep the lifters on order or better yet put in new ones.

If you like headers then you like leaks and under hood heat. on a low pro engine they serve no purpose. give it some thought.

I like the simplicity of the HEI distributors. there are lots of good options.

Double rollers look cool. for your application that's the main advantage.

If you want a little more power you need a little more compression. but don't get too carried away unless you want fuel issues. do that and put your intake and a good 4V carb on and you'll have no problem meeting your goal.

I would get a 600 to 650 vacuum secondary Holley , but that's just my preference. don't let anyone talk you into anything larger , unless you're drag racing. and you still wouldn't need it.

[REDONE]

I'm in line with everything 440 said, but I'll expand on my point of view a bit, since there's nothing on TV and I'm not ready for bed yet.

Oil mods: The valley line was done by circle and oval track racers who keep their engines over 5000rpms and in a constant left turn. It's not even remotely necessary for a street engine, even steet/strip cars would have a hard time justifying the risks.

The Dizzy OIler: I am the only person on the planet that I can confirm to have done this. I'm an engineer and I tinker beyond reason (just because I'm smart doesn't mean everything I do is smart, but I get a sick pleasure out of showcasing my rube goldburg solutions). I've lunched three sets of dizzy gears before identifying the extra grooves in the the upper timing sprocket as the problem. The CORRECT solution is to find a timing set with either zero or two oiling grooves in the upper sprocket (or weld up the extras). That's how many grooves stock timing sets came with and they worked for hundreds of thousands of miles. Aftermarket timing set manufacturers don't have to warranty your dizzy gears, so they let all the oil sling out on to the timing chain that they DO cover under warranty, even though it doesn't need it (in order for the oil in the timing cover to return to the pan, it has to go through the timing chain, so it gets all the oil it needs without a bunch of slingers).

Heads: The stock heads are just fine. What I do to stock heads is mill the rocker stud bosses down 0.200" to make room for guide plates, then use standard chevy shouldered studs and Comp Cams Magnum rockers. Going this route does require hardened pushrods, but anymore it's harder to find non-hardened pushrods, so if you're buying hardened pushrods, might as well take advantage of them.

Cam: You can totally reuse the cam and lifters if you keep them in order (no way to tell where they go once they're mixed up).

Intake: The stock ones work, but they are a far cry from good. Ede' is a good way to go.

Timing Chain: Again, the number or oil leaking grooves is way more important than the type of chain/sprocket interface.

Headers: They are garbage. Our heads have "dogleg" exhaust ports, and the runners in our manifolds are huge, much bigger cross section than you can get inside a bunch of crinkle mashed tubing, welded together by a foreign child or the cheapest possible labor in the US. The 70s manifolds are the better ones, but I'd rather run a log style from the 80s than some leaky rusted headers.

Carb and Dizzy: This is where I'll depart from 440, I like fuel injection. I was a carb guy and I liked them all except the Q-jet which I will swear is garbage until the day I die (It either runs rich or runs like garbage, there is no inbetween). Now that I've gone fuel injection I'll never go back. I start it, I latch my seatbelt, check for traffic and go. Doesn't matter if it's -12*F or 112*F, I just drive it. No carb can do that like fuel injection does.

Hope this helps and look forward to the build thread!

[rocklaurence]

X2 on Redone/440.. For a good daily-driver you only need what they recommended. When I get an AMC I remove/bypass the smog and add HEI. Then I wait for a $100 Edelbrock intake manifold to pop-up on the net. I cant justify $300+ for a new one!!

[440sixpack]

While I have never had a distributor gear problem on an AMC what Redone says on that makes perfect sense. if my 360 wasn't back together I'd check it out. I've just always made sure the oil groove is open and run with it.

That said I think junk Chinese timing covers and distributor gears cause more issues than the oiling itself. stick with stock covers and American made gears and your chances of trouble free driving are 10 times better.

I can tune a Holley in my sleep but technology is my enemy. if simplicity or cost matters to you I'd go Holley, if you think you can figure it out EFI is no doubt superior. I don't think you can even buy a vehicle with a carb today there is a reason for that.

[FSJfan]

Why are you rebuilding if the motor was rebuilt only 7500 miles ago? Is there a problem?

It has to get new o-rings because oil is getting in the cylinder so if it’s gonna be out I might as well upgrade and get some more power out of it while it’s getting freshened up and is out.

[FSJfan]

Oil mods are a joke.

Stock heads are fine, just make sure to match the valve springs to the cam.

If you like the cam and it looks good there is no reason you can't reuse it. either keep the lifters on order or better yet put in new ones.

If you like headers then you like leaks and under hood heat. on a low pro engine they serve no purpose. give it some thought.

I like the simplicity of the HEI distributors. there are lots of good options.

Double rollers look cool. for your application that's the main advantage.

If you want a little more power you need a little more compression. but don't get too carried away unless you want fuel issues. do that and put your intake and a good 4V carb on and you'll have no problem meeting your goal.

I would get a 600 to 650 vacuum secondary Holley , but that's just my preference. don't let anyone talk you into anything larger , unless you're drag racing. and you still wouldn't need it.

I’ve been back and forth regarding the headers for quite some time. My manifolds need to be sandblasted after that what type of coating do you spray on it.

[REDONE]

Doesn't matter what you coat/paint them with, it'll all flake off eventually and develop a stable coating of rust, just as the Jeep gods intended. The next time I clean up a set, I'm going to try and season them like cookware. Spray them with Pam before I run it each time until it's a nice satin black.

[440sixpack]

Yes, nothing will last forever.

However I've had good results with Eastwood's high temp grey manifold coating. I sandblast the manifolds ands pray it on. I use it on all my projects , on my Challenger HP stock manifolds after 12 years it still looks great. but it's a garage queen that only gets driven on nice days, I'm sure as a daily driver it would need to be recoated now and then.