Red x's can be quite humiliating especially if in numbers. Just sayin'
Help choosing a v8 for my dart
- Thread starter Shaun65dart
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I don't think it's naivety, I think it's fairly accurate. With EFI and modern oils, any of the older engines would look similar.
'68cuda416
Well-Known Member
The point is if anybody wants an actual "good" engine then it's going to get the all the appropriate machine work and that includes at minimum a hone and more than likely an overbore on a used block, and most all of us run modern day better oil so I don't understand that comparison, and although not everyone can keep or even get a carb to run clean and efficient there are plenty that can and lets not forget the many many reasons why even the "beloved" EFI can get out of fuel control and in many cases on an older conversion build the owner of the car may not have the ability to even realize it.
That was my line of thinking.
Sure, a modern Magnum will probably look better than most would believe. Mine was excellent for an 80K mill. How it would have looked what is now an easy 10 years later in a daily driver I couldn’t say. A lot depends on driving conditions and owner of a king care of his stuff.
Going back to that 5.9 pack have, I’ll also don’t expect my tuning skills are as good as the computer is proficient at constant air and fuel regulation. I also don’t think the factory workmanship is qualified comparable to my high performance or race built short blocks.
I think each have there place in a hot rodders or racers world. I’m not pressing my 5.9 much. Just bolts on parts that I’m sure is a 300 hp engine. That in which fits the duty of the car nicely. (Cam later…)
Had this 5.9 been a 200K+ engine, IDK if it would have those cross hatch marks. I never took apart my Dakota’s 300K engine apart. I only did a timing chain and water pump on it.
Sure, a modern Magnum will probably look better than most would believe. Mine was excellent for an 80K mill. How it would have looked what is now an easy 10 years later in a daily driver I couldn’t say. A lot depends on driving conditions and owner of a king care of his stuff.
Going back to that 5.9 pack have, I’ll also don’t expect my tuning skills are as good as the computer is proficient at constant air and fuel regulation. I also don’t think the factory workmanship is qualified comparable to my high performance or race built short blocks.
I think each have there place in a hot rodders or racers world. I’m not pressing my 5.9 much. Just bolts on parts that I’m sure is a 300 hp engine. That in which fits the duty of the car nicely. (Cam later…)
Had this 5.9 been a 200K+ engine, IDK if it would have those cross hatch marks. I never took apart my Dakota’s 300K engine apart. I only did a timing chain and water pump on it.
Older 318 and 5.2l are practically the same engine main difference is the heads which will give at least 50hp over same mods as 318. Not everyone can afford to put in a fully built drivetrain.
Nothing wrong with a good used engine especially if you fully look it over.
j par
Well-hung Member
I sold a 318 Friday for $0.10 a pound..
....
....Yes that's a decent plan, but you could also do a cheaper swap the OP wants which could be more than enough power for him. If not gives him the time to swap rear add headers airgap 750 etc... Get everything prepared for a more serious engine, so you may doubled pay for somethings but your plan could be half a decade or more for some, at least his way he gets some fun in between. I'd say depending on budget and what end goal is not everyone wants
400-600 hp plus car, but most do want 250-350hp since all modern cars fall in that range.
j par
Well-hung Member
True, just easier to do liter for magnum then spell out magnum everytime.
I'm glad you used quotations. LOL
Magnum advantages over LA
superior pan and valve cover gaskets
hypereutetic pistons
heads as good as any 340 stock ones
less rotation mass
better factory machining
metric rings
etc
superior pan and valve cover gaskets
hypereutetic pistons
heads as good as any 340 stock ones
less rotation mass
better factory machining
metric rings
etc
'68cuda416
Well-Known Member
I don't know too many people if not nobody that actually runs an original LA based engine that hasn't been overhauled so again everything you are taking your stand on is pointless and one of my big reasons why you will never see that trash in my cars is that it reminds me of the modern era when Governments instead of Men built automobiles and for that reason alone i'm good with leaving the Magnum engines in the junkyards.
Not sure I buy any of that advantage except the stuff that really does not matter, like gaskets, the LA stuff works fine. Less rotating mass, not much. Also not sure about better machining either. Ever see an engine after a hypereutectic piston fails? Nothing worth saving, maybe a crank. Heads are good but do not flow better than X or J heads, and are very prone to cracking. Plus I like my rockers on shafts with shaft oiling. No metric rings on my 5.2 magnum. Then you have to play with the front of the engine. Remember we are working with a very nice early "A" here. His plan is sound.
And this is how it all snowballs out of control. Instead you could buy the 318/904 combo: add a cam, lifters, and valve springs; brass freeze plugs; gaskets and seals; 4 barrel carb and intake; 340 distributor; high pressure oil pump spring; windage tray; check the rod bearings; change fluid and filter in the 904; adjust the bands; replace the seals; up the pressure and get a 4.2 kickdown lever; get a 66 2 1/2 diameter Charger single exhaust for the original manifolds; and be done for next to no money. If you want to up the power, even more all you need is a pair of 360 heads and a set of pistons.
How is the pan superior?
After all, you can not use a truck pan in a car.
How is a hyper piston superior to a cast piston if your not pushing the HP issue?
Better flowing heads that do not have superior rockers. Only a greater ratio.
Less rotational mass is a super minor advantage not seen big on the street.
Don’t get me wrong, I have and currently run a Magnum. It works and runs great. Excellent power until it falls on its face @4500.
After all, you can not use a truck pan in a car.
How is a hyper piston superior to a cast piston if your not pushing the HP issue?
Better flowing heads that do not have superior rockers. Only a greater ratio.
Less rotational mass is a super minor advantage not seen big on the street.
Don’t get me wrong, I have and currently run a Magnum. It works and runs great. Excellent power until it falls on its face @4500.
j par
Well-hung Member
Yep plenty of ways to skin this cat...
I've done it that way so many times I'm just done playing with all the old junk..
In the last two weeks I took two tons of scrap metal in and 90% of it was mopar parts..
I bought my first 440 big block last week and took it down to the block and took it to the machine shop and said I'll see you next year. It'll probably take me at least that long to start saving for a stroker kit.... It may be three or four years before it's actually ready to run but I have a good engine in the truck right now..
Again hundreds of ways to to skin a cat and mine was one and yours was one...
mygasser
Well-Known Member
he means the pan and valve cover gaskets are both superior, not the pan is superior. i read it twice too, lol.
He's right about the sealing. I think the chamber design on the Magnum is better than the LA, but now you have sissy stud mounted rockers like a Ford, so to me the heads are a wash. They come with roller cams which is a positive. The block is a shorter deck height for more compression, so that's a positive. The Magnum exhaust manifolds are a better design, but then, most people building for more power throw the stock manifolds in the ditch, so you can call that a wash. Now, had Chrysler machined those blocks for a one piece rear main seal, like both Ford and Chevy did, then that would have been the deciding factor, IMO, but they did not. Last, but not least, there are more Magnums layin around now as good buildable cores than LA, so by sheer numbers, they have an advantage. I'll stop short of saying Magnums are "better" than the LA, but to me, they aren't trash, either. I guess it's all in what you want and a matter of personal opinion.
I think not building a Magnum because it’s a Magnum is stupid. Same for the LA. The Magnum’s lack of a head oiling hood is small potato’s but an extra expense with the appropriate rockers & pushrods needed for the Magnum block and LA head combo.
'68cuda416
Well-Known Member
I take the same stance on the POS Gen 3 Hemi.......ugly, expensive and is modern day government built BS TRASH!!!! I will absolutely not covert my old school Mopars over to the very thing that has ruined society overall and that is Government intervention. I like my cars rough around the edges, unrefined, built by men, driven by men, and not 1 single thing on them to remind me of the overpriced **** trash that's being built today.
mygasser
Well-Known Member
each to there own, it'd be pretty boring if we all did the same thing.
'68cuda416
Well-Known Member
Not really.....we would all be cool if they were built and or stayed in the theme I discussedeach to there own, it'd be pretty boring if we all did the same thing.
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