308 Engine transplant. 355 vs. 360

Rather then muddy someone else’s thread I thought I would ask the question here. With regard to a 308 engine transplant, why is the 355 preferred over the 360 engine? Would think on maintenance alone the 360 wins hands-down. Have no intention of ever doing this but would be interested in everyone’s thoughts as well.

 

My opinion is that the 360 engine management is messy unless you go all out with an after-market ECU.

 

I would think this would apply to 355 management system as well?

 

I'll reserve the 355 to those that are more knowledgeable than I. On the 360 engine with OEM engine management, you'll need to transplant harnesses and other electronic control units to make it work as well as the instrumentation cluster.

 

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It has been done and the last time I heard from the guy who did this, he said the car runs great now.

 

you cant fit a 360 drive train without extending the wheelbase significantly. its much too long on a 308gtb/s a 355 axle outputs are much shorter in length because of the transverse gear cluster and location rear clutch assembly.

i think the 360 unit feels much stronger than that of a 355, more so than the 20 so hp would suggest, especially at the low end

folks tell me its a 360 more reliable unit but the noise coming out of the 355 might be worth the effort.

 

It's so much easier to just turbo charge a 308 engine (QV). You can make all the power you can afford or that the chassis will handle.

 

I think I'd just take the crank out the 360 & do a number on the original motor...

 

Thanks guys for the comments and info. Was just curious why these owners pick the 355 Engine over the 360.

 

Mike is that a 360 engine?

 

A 355 drivetrain with twin turbos

 

Figured it was 355 but wanted to confirm. Thanks! Would like to see a YouTube video of this machine!

 

a qv motor its also heavier and sit 4 inch higher up in the chassis over the 355 because of the inverted transaxle.

that 355 transplant in a gts qv pic is done by carl at blackhorse... i saw it a few years ago before they added the turbos

 

Yes that’s correct

 

I don’t have any pics but I saw a Mondial with the 355 Motor as well.

 

360 engine requires an expensive stand alone engine management system to control the variable valve timing. 355 is a simple engine to manage in comparison.