AMC 360 Engine Build - Short Block Assembly

We used Chevy-style small-journal 6-inch rods for their low price, stronger material, and their length, which means less side loading of the piston and more dwell. They are narrower than stock, so JMS recommends welding material onto the rods for no less than 0.007 and no more than 0.020 clearance between them.
We used Chevy-style small-journal 6-inch rods for their low price, stronger material, and
If you scan down a list of AMC engines, you'll notice there are changes in bore and stroke and a major increase in deck height in 1970 to 9.208 inches. You'll need the tall deck block for this combo. The beefy mains use 1/2-inch bolts that torque to 100 lb-ft (Chevy and Ford small-blocks use 7/16 bolts torqued to 70 lb-ft).
If you scan down a list of AMC engines, you'll notice there are changes in bore and stroke
The piston was custom made by Lunati. Its bore is 4.1065 with a 1.453 compression height. They are forged (nitrous, heh heh) and use Ford style 1/16 rings. With 53cc heads, we had 10.5:1 compression.
The piston was custom made by Lunati. Its bore is 4.1065 with a 1.453 compression height.

The big Lunati cam only delivered 8 inches of vacuum at 900 rpm, so it's good we have no power brakes. It has 254/259 at 0.050 with 0.555/0.567 lift using a 1.6:1 rocker ratio. That is right at the edge of what Edelbrock recommends for maximum lift, but we wanted to see what they could do.
The big Lunati cam only delivered 8 inches of vacuum at 900 rpm, so it's good we have no p
The Edelbrock heads can be used on both early (7/16) and late-model (1/2) cylinder blocks and comes with parts for the late block.
The Edelbrock heads can be used on both early (7/16) and late-model (1/2) cylinder blocks

Combo One: Small Carb, Small Headers, And Edelbrock Heads
The first run consisted of a pair of out-of-the-box Edelbrock Performer RPM cylinder heads. They are an aluminum design using an exhaust port similar to dog-leg heads you've heard about with 2.02/1.60 valves and an 185cc intake volume. At the Westech flowbench with a 4.150 bore, they flowed 252/162 at 0.500 lift. With a 53cc chamber, they are slightly larger than the stock 51cc production heads.

For a little throttle response and street usability, we used a Holley 600-cfm DP carb with a manual choke, 1 5/8 shorty headers to allow for ground clearance, and the new Edelbrock AMC RPM Air-Gap manifold. The Air-Gap takes all the low-end torque characteristics of a dual-plane intake and combines them with high-rpm flow usually providing more torque as well. On this engine, the intake should beat the old Torker style in peak horsepower and make the same peak power without the sacrifice, a claim tested in Combo 3.

Power
Peak HP: 455.5 @ 6,000
Peak Torque: 440.8 @ 4,100

Although stock rocker arms can be used with new locknuts, why bother? We used a set designed for a 302 Ford with poly locks, but you can also use long-slot roller-tip rockers such as Comp Cams PN 1416-16.
Although stock rocker arms can be used with new locknuts, why bother? We used a set design