360 LA or 360 Magnum Whats the difference?

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Mainly the heads is the difference.There are other small differences as well. I think they started installing magnums in 92,so basically anything under that year will be an la. You will find magnum motors only in trucks as chrysler wasnt making V8 cars at this time.
 
The lifter bosses are another way to tell, but I think MA has ten bolts in the head? and LA has around 6?
Lifter bosses on a MA. are beefy, LA is beefy but has a gap between them...
I thought they made MA. back in the day also??
 
nope same amount of head bolts and in the same places. I think your talking about vc bolts. The mag has 10 and the la 5.

mags are all roller lifter,so a taller lifter boss is true

Magnum head design didnt show up until 92,but there were other la motors that had the heart shaped combustion chamber. 318's with 302 casting heads.
 
needsaresto said:
nope same amount of head bolts and in the same places. I think your talking about vc bolts. The mag has 10 and the la 5.

mags are all roller lifter,so a taller lifter boss is true

Magnum head design didnt show up until 92,but there were other la motors that had the heart shaped combustion chamber. 318's with 302 casting heads.
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I just bought a 91 360 out of a big truck. It is going to be an LA, roller hydraulic with the 360 heart shaped heads, correct?
 
It's possible the motor is a magnum even in 91 I believe there is some crossover. 360 la motor wont have the 302 casting heads,but it might have the 308 casting head,open chamber like all 360 heads but has a much improved exhaust port which breaths much better.

I know the 318 came with roller cam as early as 85,but not sure when the la 360 made the switch.
 
carb= LA, 5 valve cover bolts

throttle body fuel injection= roller cam LA, 5 valve cover bolts
302 closed chamber heads on 5.2/318, 308 open heads on 5.9/360

multiport EFI (big barrel looking intake) = magnum, 10 valve cover bolts

note the 5.2 and 5.9 magnum's are still marked 318 & 360 on the block
 
needsaresto said:
It's possible the motor is a magnum even in 91 I believe there is some crossover. 360 la motor wont have the 302 casting heads,but it might have the 308 casting head,open chamber like all 360 heads but has a much improved exhaust port which breaths much better.

I know the 318 came with roller cam as early as 85,but not sure when the la 360 made the switch.
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360 went to roller cam in 89,(http://www.allpar.com/mopar/318.html) and this is one reason I bought this motor. I was hoping the heads would be a bigger version of the 302 head my 89 318 has, but guess that isn't true. But if the exhaust port is fixed on the 308, that is great.

I need to learn more about the 308 head I guess. I have a nice Comp Cam hydraulic roller I want to stick in something. :D
 
308 is the best pre magnum head you can get. The exhaust flows as good as the mag,but the intake flows like an la head,so some good flow there.Plus no conversion,it just bolts on. Good head,Id comfirm what you have!
 
The magnum motor also uses a reverse rotation water pump and the front cover does not have provisions for a mechanical fuel pump.

The 308 head is a open chamber heads as are all 340/360 heads before the magnum head. The closed chamber magnum head when combined with a zero deck flat top piston (or step piston) allows for a very tight quench which is good for minimizing detonation. The result is you can run much higher compression on pump gas than you can with a LA head. I have 10.6:1 compression on my magnum headed 360 and run it on 89 octane.
 
An important difference on the magnums is the metric rings sets which reduce friction and bore wear. I have heard of magnums that had the heads off at 100,000 plus and still had the hone marks showing in the bores.
 
needsaresto said:
It's possible the motor is a magnum even in 91 I believe there is some crossover. 360 la motor wont have the 302 casting heads,but it might have the 308 casting head,open chamber like all 360 heads but has a much improved exhaust port which breaths much better.

I know the 318 came with roller cam as early as 85,but not sure when the la 360 made the switch.
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Yes I have a late 91 magnum that is oil hole drilled for la or magnum heads
 
I seem to recall that parts listings went from 67 to like 86 or something. also does the LA intake bolt up to magnum heads etc? In short I think the magnum was how they converted the old LA to Fuel injection just like Ford 5.0 etc. roller valvetrain Fuel injection make power more efficiently until they came up with the next gen engines.
 
Brooks James said:
Yes I have a late 91 magnum that is oil hole drilled for la or magnum heads
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wow, that engine is almost the same age as this thread


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dustoff440 said:
An important difference on the magnums is the metric rings sets which reduce friction and bore wear. I have heard of magnums that had the heads off at 100,000 plus and still had the hone marks showing in the bores.
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Mine was one of those with the home marks present. I had also heard that the injection helped with bore wear as well as superior rings.
 
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Brooks James said:
Yeah it’s a testament to the superiority of Mopar engines. I hope there any small block Chevy guys here. Lol
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the true testament to the superiority of the mopar engines is the total lack of aftermarket support
cant replace what doesnt break
 
diymirage said:
the true testament to the superiority of the mopar engines is the total lack of aftermarket support
cant replace what doesnt break
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Yeah, no support you can get sbc stuff for pennies on the dollar vs mopar. I couldn’t believe that b and m quit making .the 360 mag to 904 flex plate months before I needed one
Just realized that this is a 10 year old thread. Like fine wine only gets better with age.
 
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