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Where Are the 361 Owners?

Dibbons

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Any Mopar 361 Fans on the forum? Let's see your vehicles and hear your stories. Should be a good opportunity for us to expand our knowledge of Mopar history. I hope to read some interesting responses. Thank you.
 
Way back in the 60's friends raced a 60 Belvedere with a 361. Car ran in the mid 14's. The car was from south western PA.
It was lettered with the name MR.PERIOD.
As of late I had gathered parts to build a 63 Fury hardtop to run in NSS/E or F with a 361. Sold the car and all the parts several months ago.
Had almost all the Mopar engines in many cars and wanted to do a 361 for the sake of it.
Hard pressed to find much of a performance difference between it and a 383.
 
Someone before me put a 361 in my Coronet. It ran pretty good with a intake, carb and dual exhaust.

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My 361 HP 61 Fury golden commando 3 on tree 331 SG
Still has the original silver paint on engine. It’s my fair weather daily driver.

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Granted they are historical. But why use one? Piston availability has to be poor. Heads are lousy. 383 cores are dirt cheap. Unless it was a matching number or running motor that needed no work, it would be scrap metal in my book.
Doug
 
In the early 80s I gave a friend of mine a rusty 71 Charger shell that he made a circle track dirt car out of. Track motor rules called for a 365 CID limit.
Every car in this class was a small block except for his was a
361BB. Used to dominate the class. Everyone used to scratch the heads trying to figure it out
 
Any Mopar 361 Fans on the forum? Let's see your vehicles and hear your stories. Should be a good opportunity for us to expand our knowledge of Mopar history. I hope to read some interesting responses. Thank you.
Here's one I recently had rebuilt with Egge pistons. Everything new or rebuilt with J11Y Champion plugs.

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I found and wanted my 64 Fury when I was 14 years old, and finally got it when I was 29 years old! I lived next door to the original owner when I was growing up, and became friends with him. Told him I liked and wanted to buy the car when he was ready to let it go. I was able to finally buy the car from his son many years later after he passed away. I saved the stock wheels and hub caps, and added the Magnum 500s. It has a 361 with push button trans. I swapped a 4 bbl intake and an AFB carb from a 383 to it. Converted to the hi rise HP exh manifolds and a 2-1/2" TTI exhaust. I recently converted to disc brakes on the front with a dual master cylinder, and changed all lugs to RH threads. The latest repair/improvement was the installation of a new stainless steel fuel tank.
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Dodge designers in 1962 decided to make the 361 hp the standard engine in the Polara 500. I removed the one in my 500. It had seen its better days. The decision to replace it was mainly the cost factor and a little bit of wanting a 440 that I've never owned before. 361s and 383s were the norm for me throughout the years and I thought a Big Block would be a good marriage for this car. (Post #11)

Removing the 361...
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Where it now resides...
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I have a 66 Coronet 500 with a factory 361 and ac. Someone put a 383 or 361 intake and 4 bbl carb, but it has lots of torque,runs smooth and is a fun car. It's far from fast but it's sat for 20 years before I got it running and driving. It had a broken stud on the exhaust manifold that I had to repair, and a cracked manifold too boot. Cylinder walls didn't look real hot, but it runs. It will get rebuilt and holley sniper too.
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Our 64 Sport Fury has the 361 and there’s plenty of power with a mild purple cam and 4 bbl. It’s pretty much the same as the 400 in the Charger.

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In 2006 my daily beater was this '64 Chrysler Newport. It was a factory 361 2-bbl and 3-speed manual on the floor...other than redoing the seats, it was all original...ran it for years with no problems... smashed it into a deer and sold it off

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A lot of Mopar guys don't realize that there was a 361 HP. It had a 4bbl, lumpier cam, and dual point distributor. I didn't know about it until about 2011 when I bought one out of a '62 Polara to get the BB cable shift 727 that came with it.
 
One of the few Mopar engines that gets less love than a 400.

Shame.

...and often gets mis-identified as a 383, especially by people trying to sell a car.
 
My brother's 62 Sport Fury convertible was a 361 with dealer installed 2 4's.
Had to wind that thing up to about 50 MPH before kicking in the second 4 bbl.
 
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