Trailbeast, who here has a van? LOL.....
parts list for swap ?
- Thread starter j par
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J par..... you tore your Duster apart like a model kit. There is really no more work putting a 318 mag where the LA 318 was than if you went to an LA 360. Same everything, and if you want to take a "sure way", get a 360 truck pan and pickup tube, and put them on your mag with the LA front. While the intake and timing cover is off, throw a cam with a snout in there and put it back together using the LA front. DONE! READY to RUN! PRESTO..... lol
P.S. - you will get a power increase. Best of all, you won't need to add extra Zinc
TrailBeast
AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
Yea I was thinking van for some reason.
All the same stuff applies to trucks too, since they are pretty much the same thing in the front end.
Or am I just "out there" today?
means you asked..... you're out there today.Yea I was thinking van for some reason.
All the same stuff applies to trucks too, since they are pretty much the same thing in the front end.
Or am I just "out there" today?
TrailBeast
AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
j par
Well-hung Member
I don't mind running an electric fuel pump they're cheap. Cheap enough to carry an extra one. I've used them in the past and I've only had one go bad on me and all the years. I don't want to go through removing the cam and all that. I'd really like to get the truck back into service as quick as I can without killing myself. I don't want to make it into a long strung out project. I was hoping to do this to save time and money since I have the motor. At this point I would think about just reconditioning the 318 that I have for all the trouble I'd have to go through to get that 318 out of the Durango and then leaving that vehicle as a dead dog in my yard.( remember I'm in the city) and all along here I have not only have the duster scattered in pieces now this truck scattered in pieces and now I'm thinking about scattering the Durango in pieces? Oh boy!
J par..... you tore your Duster apart like a model kit. There is really no more work putting a 318 mag where the LA 318 was than if you went to an LA 360. Same everything, and if you want to take a "sure way", get a 360 truck pan and pickup tube, and put them on your mag with the LA front. While the intake and timing cover is off, throw a cam with a snout in there and put it back together using the LA front. DONE! READY to RUN! PRESTO..... lol
P.S. - you will get a power increase. Best of all, you won't need to add extra Zinc
Either way you want it. LA 318 would be fine too, after you get rid of the nylon timing chain, figure out why the low compression (most likely heads), gaskets, seal, expansion plugs, ya know.....
Both engines will offer years of excellent, reliable service
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I know. That's where I was goin. But you knew all dat, yo.
But this isn't correct on magnums. If J par is going to put a LA pan on his 318 mag it must be a 360.
I know. You didn't make that clear in the first post where you talked about it.
TrailBeast
AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
Of course it's correct, (for LA motors).
It just doesn't apply to magnums.
I know, shut up.
I'll try to be more clear, don't want to confuse J par (isn't he always confused
? ). I re-read post #2 and post #7, thought is was clear but you are right, its J par LOL......
I'll try to be more clear, don't want to confuse J par (isn't he always confused
Yeah well.......there's no help for the hopeless. LMAO
J-par, simple swap, I have a 360 mag in my 78 W150.
The disadvantage to the serpentine set up is the power steering pump has metric fittings, and the water pump turns backwards.
If going carb, convert it to LA style.
Stock LA timing cover, add cam snout extension for roller cam, or change cam to LA style roller cam with long snout, they bolt right in.
360 LA pan and pickup, cheap from summit.
I think you have to slot one bolt hole for the converter to align, I don't mess with autos, if you would have kept the 4 speed I can tell you what you need.
But a good upgrade, from the old doggy LA 318 that only had 150 hp.
The disadvantage to the serpentine set up is the power steering pump has metric fittings, and the water pump turns backwards.
If going carb, convert it to LA style.
Stock LA timing cover, add cam snout extension for roller cam, or change cam to LA style roller cam with long snout, they bolt right in.
360 LA pan and pickup, cheap from summit.
I think you have to slot one bolt hole for the converter to align, I don't mess with autos, if you would have kept the 4 speed I can tell you what you need.
But a good upgrade, from the old doggy LA 318 that only had 150 hp.
What's the issue with the water pump spinning backwards? I'e seen this mentioned several times with magnum swaps. My 5.9 swapped dart does just fine.
I swapped a 5.9 into my buddies '74 short bed dodge. It was a 318 2 barrel auto. We reused the trans, headers, power steering line and radiator from the '74. And used factory magnum oil pan, sepentine setup, flex plate, etc. It's almost just a drop in swap. We kept the factory magnum EFI on his truck. It's a quick truck with the 727 and 3.55 gears.
I swapped a 5.9 into my buddies '74 short bed dodge. It was a 318 2 barrel auto. We reused the trans, headers, power steering line and radiator from the '74. And used factory magnum oil pan, sepentine setup, flex plate, etc. It's almost just a drop in swap. We kept the factory magnum EFI on his truck. It's a quick truck with the 727 and 3.55 gears.
nobody said there was an issue with the fan turning backwards. J par asked, in short, what's needed/to know about putting a 318 mag in place of LA 318. Not good, not bad, just pointing out things he should know.
How did you get the power steering lines to hook up?
Adapter? If so give us the info.
If I rememer correctly, the line threaded into the pump without issue. I'm using a stock 5.9 steering pump on my '70 dart and the original dart steering line fit.
replicaracer43
Grumpy Old Man
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I'll just say this, if you ever swap a la 318 for a magnum 5.2, the only thing you will ever want a la 318 for in the future is for scrap weight. I've done a few of them, I'd rather have a 250k used magnum than a fresh la
j par
Well-hung Member
Waaaay to much for to little return. To do it all with the fuel injection the serpentine belts and everything would be a colossal six-month undertaking probably LOL. To do it with a carburetor and the serpentine would still be a big huge mess or strip it down damn near to a block and heads and build it all back up with LA crap anyways? Yeah I'm definitely not doing this. I can see a couple few benefits that are in my opinion minor. But really I think what one gets most out of this is saying they have a Magnum engine where an La is supposed to be.
replicaracer43
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I respectfully disagree, have done numerous magnum swaps myself. It's no harder than installing a LA engine, and if you wanted to keep the factory fuel injection you can buy a harness or wire it yourself, like I did. They make more power stock, are sealed up better, and have roller cams so no flat lobe issues. I guess it's all in what a guy is comfortable doing.
The magnum bolts directly in place. Reuse your LA exhaust manifolds or headers. Bolt on a magnum air gap or Chinese knockoff intake. Use all of the magnum front accessories, brackets, belt, etc. The original truck power steering hose should fit. If not, just have a hose place cut the end of the put he correct fitting on. It's hardly even a "swap" as most people put it.
The EFI will complicate things a bit. But even that is easily overcome with some researching and reading.
The EFI will complicate things a bit. But even that is easily overcome with some researching and reading.
And won't you be tarring down the front of the LA anyways to replace the timing chain? And won't you take the pan off the LA to replace the rear main seal? Exact, same, process to either engine..... not that it matters to me, just saying....
j par
Well-hung Member
The Magnum Motor is in the 98 Durango that I can walk outside fill the tank and start driving to your house with. Which means I got to completely disassemble that motor and then disassemble an LA motor to put it on that motor. And get it out of that Durango and everything?
NO! LOL
And I got to buy an intake manifold? And I have to buy a truck oil pan and pick up? Or yes of course now I do have the 360 oil pan and pickup but I didn't pay $250 for that! Lol so I could pull a 318 Magnum out of a working Durango it's just not making any sense and then it really doesn't if it's not needed.
I try and look at it from every different angle and really doing this is something out of convenience if you have all the parts laying around or again you just want to say you have a magnum motor where it shouldn't be. I've made up my mind and this isn't a good swap at all. Or at least I don't feel it a good bang for the buck.
NO! LOL
And I got to buy an intake manifold? And I have to buy a truck oil pan and pick up? Or yes of course now I do have the 360 oil pan and pickup but I didn't pay $250 for that! Lol so I could pull a 318 Magnum out of a working Durango it's just not making any sense and then it really doesn't if it's not needed.
I try and look at it from every different angle and really doing this is something out of convenience if you have all the parts laying around or again you just want to say you have a magnum motor where it shouldn't be. I've made up my mind and this isn't a good swap at all. Or at least I don't feel it a good bang for the buck.
j par
Well-hung Member
And I totally respect your opinion but make sure you're not confused here. I didn't mean to leave the impression that anything was hard? Nothing on these cars are hard they're all very simple. In my opinion. And I've never had a cam lobe go flat on me, maybe others have (maybe not enough zinc LOL) certainly not arguing that a roller lifters are definitely better and the swirl Port heads I guess are better. I don't know from any experience. And I'm definitely not a fan of those individual pedestal rockers like Chevys have.
Honestly I can't see the real real difference between besides gaining roller lifters and losing shaft rockers?
Honestly I can't see the real real difference between besides gaining roller lifters and losing shaft rockers?
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