Magnum swap plan

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remytherat

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you're gonna need one of these:

all kidding aside, i know it's a little more of a hustle, but you might be able to piece together the gasket kit seeing that you're getting the thin head gaskets and possibly save few bucks that way. but then again the full boat comes with valve seals and it's always nice to have extras of stuff.

throw a few lines in there for assembly lube, paint, and misc bric-a-brac of the cleaning festival and i think you're well on your way.
 
There is a boss on the passenger side if the block that will need to be cut down to fit many a body headers.
 
May want to rethink using the '69 thin cast iron water pump, possibly going with the later aluminum better flowing water pumps.

Screenshot_20240510-071347_Gallery.jpg


Along with this comes a radiator with passenger side lower exit, later timing cover with timing marks on the driver's side so you can see them.

Realignment of the belt v-belt pullies.

Does the magnum cam have the long nose snout to mount the manual fuel pump eccentric to, or do you need an aftermarket eccentric cam adapter? (Being Magnums had electric in the tank fuel pumps)

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Added thought:

Hang onto that '69 318, 9.2:1 cr, 230 hp engine. With the flat top pistons only .040 ths. in the hole, and light free floating rods.

The more sought after 318 engine vs the later smog era lower compression engines.


☆☆☆☆☆
 
Assuming a 5.9 as opposed to a 5.2, a couple of things come to mind.
-Don't limit yourself to the '97 and up Magnums. The later ones came with a one-piece damper/pulley, which you won't be able to use with your LA front drives. Stick with the earlier (~'98 and earlier?) units that have a separate pulley and damper, then your pulleys will bolt right up (need to oblong one bolt hole on crank pulley).
-Make sure you get the flexplate with your motor ('95 and up) as it has the external balance weights that will allow you to use your internally balanced 904 convertor (early OBDI motors had a neutral flexplate and used a balanced convertor). If a 5.2, no issues since it's internally balanced. Oblong one hole and the convertor bolts right up.
-Consider getting the cam ground on an LA roller core instead of a Magnum core- then you won't need the eccentric adapter from Hughes, since the LA roller cams all had the long snout to begin with. The adapter can be a little janky to install, but sometimes it's your only option.
-Add a heater hose/bypass nipple kit to your list. Beats the heck out of trying to wrestle the 55 year old fittings out of your old manifold.
Mancini Racing Small Block Heater Hose Nipple Kit
Make sure you get the one for early LAs so you have the correct 3/4 bypass fitting to match your water pump. Since the manifold is cut for the later, larger 1" fitting, you will also need a reducer bushing for the nipple to correctly fit.
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-Mod your existing throttle/kickdown brackets to fit the Magnum manifold.
Throttle Bracket for Magnums
-You didn't mention your plan for carburetion, but whichever carb you go with make sure you also get the correct Mopar throttle/kickdown adapter.
Edelbrock Throttle Lever Adapter
 
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You should be able to use your current throttle bracket by bending the tabs to 90 degrees in your vice. Your old valve covers will bolt up too but might need a slight trim to clear the intake runners. I just did this swap into my 67 slant six Dart. I have that same cam grind from Oregon in mine and love it, I used the same Hughes springs. With thin head gaskets and a deck/head true up shave I needed slightly shorter pushrods than stock. don't forget the fuel pump eccentric and cam snout extension like others mentioned, i dressed mine out to look period correct too. Holler if I might be of further assistance.
 
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