Small-block Mopar muscle tips........

Small-block Mopars fall into two categories the "LA" series built from 1967-91 and the "Magnum" series built from 1992 to 2004. The "Modern" 5.7 liter Hemi became the go-to V8 in Dodge Trucks and Chrysler 300s and Dodge Chargers after that. Unless your restoring a '67 Barracuda to the nth degree I'd forget about a 273. Their just too small for serious performance work. This leaves us two options-the 318 and the 360. If you have a really light car-i.e. a Duster or Dart a 318 can provide great performance for low bucks. If you have a "B" or an "E" body-their heavy enough that a 360 is about the minimum size engine you'd want. The high-performance 340 that was produced from 1968-73 is a great engine-if you have one in the car or can buy one cheap then definitely use it. If your trying to chase one down, they can be expensive and hard to find. The 360 makes a great street / strip engine. 6 inch rods are the hot setup in Nascar for small-block Chevys. 360 Mopars have 6.123 inch rods from the factory. Angle-plug heads are the hot setup for Small-block Chevys. Mopars have slant-plug heads from the factory. Hardcore Nascar racers use a stud girdle to stabilize the rockers on sbc's. Mopars have shaft-mounted rockers stock.  #1 Bottom end. The small-block Mopar bottom end is very tough in stock trim. As long as revs don't go over 6,500 rpm you'll have no trouble. Eagle and a couple other comapnies make stroker crank and piston kits to punch them out to 410 cubes if you so desire.  # 2. Cylinder heads. Use the heads that came on your engine unless your going for aftermarket aluminum ones or later "Magnum" iron heads. If you want a quick 20-40 hp boost 92 and later "Magnum" heads breathe better than any factory head and some aftermarket ones. These will bolt up to earlier blocks, but you'll have get a "Magnum" style intake. Edelbrock makes "Magnum" compatible intakes for performance applications that cost about $200. # 3. There's plenty of induction choices for the small-block Mopar. Besides the stock 4 bbl intakes, Edelbrock, Holley and Weiand make manifolds that work with old-style and Magnum heads. You can still buy the manifold, carbs and linkage to build a "Six-Pack" setup like the 1970 Challenger T/A had on it's 340. At a retail price of around $2,200-compared to maybe $600 for a 4bbl carb and intake it's kind of a buy-it-if-you-want-it showpiece. But they do look and sound cool. # 4. Cams. A great cam for a 360 street engine is the old 340 high-performance cam. Works great with an automatic and is really sweet with a 4-speed. You can still buy it from Mopar Performance and Crane and Lunati offer reproductions of this cam. Otherwise follow the cam maker's recommendations on compression, gear, and converter stall speed and you won't go wrong. 92 and later "Magnum" engines have hydraulic roller cams from the factory. If your running one of these engines, then I'd stick with the roller. Otherwise use a flat-tappet style cam. Their cheaper and make just as much power for the most part. # 5. Exhaust-same as with other engines-if you want to to put up with headers their worth 30 to 40 hp. Otherwise, a good dual exhaust system behind stock manifolds will help. Mastermind