RE: 360 ID

[hlhneast]

Hey Y'all, new kid on the block here, so much info on this site and it will take forever to absorb what great stuff is here. I picked up the Oil Filter Adapter from Matt on eBay and I found a great resource BBS. I am sure somewhere somebody has a place on the WWW that AMC block serial numbers can be dechiphered to find out what year and application my newly acquired 360 was bolted in as the seller couldnt tell me a whole lot. I would appreciate you Vets pointing the newb in the right direction. TIA!

[tufcj]

The 360 block will have a casting # of 3195528. They're all the same, no matter what it came out of. The casting # is the same from 70-84 (probably all the way thru 91, but my book stops at 84). It is found on the drivers side bellhousing web at the back of the block. The same casting # was also used on 390 and 401 blocks, so the only way to be sure is to measure the bore (4.080" on a 360, 4.165" on a 390/401). The last few years (88-91?) had an extra set of freeze plugs in the rear of the block, under the flywheel.

The only way to tell the year is to look at the heads. On most (but not all) is either the last 1 or 2 digits of the year (a 1 could indicate 71, 81 or 91, but the 91 block would have the extra freeze plugs). You have to remove the valve cover, it's between the 1-3 or 5-7 cylinders, the casting # of the head will be between the other pair. 70-73 heads used Chevy style rockers, 74 up used the bridged rockers. 1970 heads (casting # 3196291-c) were high compression, the rest are all about the same.

Bob
tufcj