Roller Block with Magnum heads???

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Bronze Barracuda

Bronze Barracuda

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So I have a 53006921 roller block, and I am thinking about putting 53006671 Magnum heads on it. But I have been reading some differing ideas on the roller block. These are things that I may or may not have to think about for this build. I am not sure if it is a 90 block or a 91 block (casting stamp reads 3 10 90) March/10/90 or 03/October/90? Long or short oil filter boss, proper length camshaft for oil pump eccentric, can it be easily converted to flat hydraulic lifters ie; are lifters longer, can i get longer oil through lifters, or should i stick with roller lifters will they work with the magnum heads? It seems like it would be a decent motor if it can be built. Or should I just find some LA heads, better yet are these roller blocks just a headache and best used as an anchor?
PS I can also have passenger side exhaust manifold off of the 93 dakota that the heads came from, will this fit on abody cars?
Thanks again for all the help? If no one has yet done this build and I go through with it I'll keep you all informed.
 
I have this same combo waiting to be built.

'86 318 roller and '00 5.9 Magnum heads.

The lifters should be the same, and interchangeable.

I also have a Lunati .518 lift (at the Magnum 1.6 rocker ratio) roller cam with a fixed fuel pump snout.

Roller cams can be more efficient than flat tappets and also have steeper lift rates.

Roller lifters also do not wear out very often and can be used on a swapped or new cam (unlike flat tappet).

Since yo do not need to buy new lifters, that money could go towards a (somewhat pricey compared to flat tappet) decent roller cam.
 
On my 1973 B body, the pass side Magnum exhaust outlet (on Dakota manifold) aimed right at the trans dipstick tube.

The Driver's side sat touching (and blocking access to) the adjustment on the top of the power steering pump.

I really wanted to use those, too.

If you have manual steering I think they will work.

Not sure about the trans dipstick location on an A.
 
LA heads are all going to be lower compression ratio... larger chambers. Also, the Magnum blocks are .015" shorter which helps compression ratio too.. not sure if the roller blocks are the same.

What are your goals for this engine/car? And dumb question on my part: Is this a 318 or 360 block?
 
as nm said the mag blocks are taller so yo may need longer than magnum oil through the pushrods pushrods
do a search
places like magnum swap
 
Wyrmrider said:
as nm said the mag blocks are taller so yo may need longer than magnum oil through the pushrods pushrods
do a search
places like magnum swap
Click to expand...
Taller? Not shorter?

@Bronze Barracuda

Sorry, never heard of a short or long oil filter boss.
I have no idea what your talking about for the oil pump Eccentric. No Mopar oil pumps are driven off and eccentric. None at all.
Hydraulic lifters are shorter than hydraulic roller or solid roller lifters. Most companies supply AMC lifters that will oil through the pushrod if need be. Then you just need longer pushrods that oil through. The magnum head will work with whatever style camshaft you choose. It’s just a lifters that must be able to oil through the pushrods.

I don’t know how you come up with the comment, are these magnum blocks better off as boat anchors. That’s one of the most insane things I’ve ever read. Since your block is an early one, check to see for sure if the death of the block hasn’t boiling passage to oil through the hedge. It should be there. IF! The oiling hole is in the block to oil the heads, I would certainly use LA heads.

I am not sure of what exhaust manifolds will work with your car.
 
Magnum is shorter by .015" ... a case of block height dyslexia LOL

Not sure on these roller blocks though.
 
He might be talking about the fuel pump eccentric? So far as I know you can use/ not use an older "fuel pump" cam simply by changing the timing cover? I don't remember how this affects the oil pan / gasket situation.
 
This block is somewhat sought after for mid-level street builds. I'm looking for one, in good shape, local and reasonably priced. Although if someone wanted to ship one for free, that'd be fine. :rolleyes:
It is a roller cam 360, LA block. Still is drilled for oiling through the rocker shafts like all LAs, but has the cast in bosses for roller rockers like all Magnums. It was only used in the transition years like '89-'91. Good base to use for a stealthy stock parts hydraulic roller 408 dressed to look like a 340 at first glance. Big choice of heads and intakes available, but the new Trick Flow head has made this less of a selling point.
 
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nm9stheham said:
LA heads are all going to be lower compression ratio... larger chambers. Also, the Magnum blocks are .015" shorter which helps compression ratio too.. not sure if the roller blocks are the same.

What are your goals for this engine/car? And dumb question on my part: Is this a 318 or 360 block?[/QUOTEMy goals are to build a small block between 325 and 375 hp.
I have a roller block out of a 1990 Ram 3/4 ton and magnum heads out of a 1993 Dakota.
this will be going into a 1968 barracuda hooked up to a 904 with a 3.55 - 8.75 rear/741 carrier.
should be a sweet cruiser.
So I am trying to work with what I got... But if building this magnum head with a roller block would prove to be unnecessarily difficult I'll just look for a 360 non roller engine to build. Currently the car has a 1972 318 block with 1965 273 heads.
Click to expand...
 
@Bronze Barracuda,
You need to make your reply ether above or below the quote tags. They look like this;



[/QUOTE] And without a backslash.
 
QUOTEMy goals are to build a small block between 325 and 375 hp.
I have a roller block out of a 1990 Ram 3/4 ton and magnum heads out of a 1993 Dakota.
this will be going into a 1968 barracuda hooked up to a 904 with a 3.55 - 8.75 rear/741 carrier.
should be a sweet cruiser.
So I am trying to work with what I got... But if building this magnum head with a roller block would prove to be unnecessarily difficult I'll just look for a 360 non roller engine to build. Currently the car has a 1972 318 block with 1965 273 heads.
Click to expand...
Building it should be easy as an LA.
325 - 375 is a huge 50 hp spread. Unlike 1,025 & 1,050.

3.55’s?
Hyd. roller cam?
Try this very sweet cam;
3B943D14-DC91-47D5-A309-C3466119286A.jpeg
 
@rumblefish360 yep I definitely made a mistake I meant fuel pump eccentric not oil pump. Thank you. I guess my main confusion or at least a big part of my confusion is, is there a difference between the 360 non roller blocks (1984 and prior) and the roller blocks between 1985-1992. I believe the 1985 to 1992 360 blocks were in fact still LA blocks but because of the rollerized lifters, were the lifter (holes/sockets?) longer than the flat lifter holes/sockets. That is why I was curious if the 360 blocks between '84 and 92 would be better used as boat anchors. What set me off on this idea? If you were to go to summit racing and search for a cam and lifter package for lets say a 1990 dodge ram 250 with a 360 you get, "no camshafts available for this engine". That coupled with the differing camshaft fuel pump eccentric, and I was in the land of confusion at that point. Then add to the fact that I am trying to bolt up a set of magnum heads to this block with the different rocker ratio and I was a little concerned with the whole geometry for this setup, and buying parts etc. I have more questions I am sure, and I am sure they have been answered before. I'll keep absorbing info like a sponge. Thanks.
 
S'cuder said:
This block is somewhat sought after for mid-level street builds. I'm looking for one, in good shape, local and reasonably priced. Although if someone wanted to ship one for free, that'd be fine. :rolleyes:
It is a roller cam 360, LA block. Still is drilled for oiling through the rocker shafts like all LAs, but has the cast in bosses for roller rockers like all Magnums. It was only used in the transition years like '89-'91. Good base to use for a stealthy stock parts hydraulic roller 408 dressed to look like a 340 at first glance. Big choice of heads and intakes available, but the new Trick Flow head has made this less of a selling point.
Click to expand...


Yes, so this block I have 53006921 apparently I need to measure the oil filter boss to determine if it is a 1990 or a 1991 block? The casting date reads 3 10 90 which I believe is 3 day of October 1990, leads me to believe it is a 1991 block being cast that late in the year.
As ottmundr said in a post titled
1992 360LA block casting numbers

1989-’90
The 360 got a new block with three cast bosses in the valley for the roller lifter holddowns. Although all of these engines had fuel injection, they continued to use the cam with the long snout along with either the eccentric or the special cup-shaped washer. Both intermediate cam journals had holes to meter oil topside. The 318 and 360 cams are different and shouldn’t be interchanged. The most common block castings are 4315830 and 53006921. The later block (53006921) was used in ’91, too, so check the oil filter boss to see whether it’s a ’89-’90 or ’91 before using it for either application.

1991
This was the year of the corporate oil filter, so the 360 block was changed along with the 238 and the 318. The oil filter boss was 0.250" shorter so both the plate and adapter were modified accordingly. The rear main cap had a dowel pin and may or may not have the recess for the o-ring. The cap was still grooved for the rear pan seal. It had the old style ears for the motor mounts. The block was the 53006921 casting that was carried over from ’90, so once again you have to physically check the length of the filter boss to be sure if it fits a ’90 or ’91

So I guess if I put in flat hydraulic lifters and cam it would be the same as using a pre 1984 la block.
Reason I'd like to know is that I've had this block for 10 years but the valve train was shot, I had the block and heads magnafluxed the block checked out ok, but the heads were garbage, cracked in multiple areas. So I have a block I know is good and a set of magnum heads. Seems to me all I need to do is order new cam and oil through lifters (keeping with flat hydraulic, for cost reasons). Also are there oil through roller lifters? Then I guess this would be a great block with magnum heads and oil through roller lifters!? I'd gladly make a trade for an older la block for this one as I will not be using roller lifters anyway.

 
67Dart273 said:
He might be talking about the fuel pump eccentric? So far as I know you can use/ not use an older "fuel pump" cam simply by changing the timing cover? I don't remember how this affects the oil pan / gasket situation.
Click to expand...


Thank you I now do recall my block had the mechanical fuel pump passage blocked off on the timing cover. So easy solution.
 
I've got two roller 360s. They can run with flat tappet or roller lifers. OEM style roller lifters are fairly cheap (I think between $150 and $200) and are supposedly good up to around .600 lift. If you have the dogbones and spider (retainer) then I'd definitely go that route. Use Magnum pushrods and Magnum heads and slap it all together.

As far as oiling, you're fine. OEM style roller lifters will oil through the pushrods. Most flat tappet lifters will too, if you use hollow pushrods. The block has an oil hole for LA style, but a Magnum head will block it off. No worries there.

Just be sure to buy a Magnum intake and you'll be fine. It's basically just like building a Magnum, but your front drive and accessories will be LA style.
 
dirty white boy said:
this block should have came with the 308 heads and thats the heads id use!
Click to expand...


Yep it did, 10 years ago when I pulled this motor I had the block and heads magnafluxed.
The guy told me, "block is ok but heads are ruined I can throw them in our scrap bin if ya like". I knew nothing about those 308 heads back then. I've often wondered if he was telling the truth. :BangHead:
 
Bronze Barracuda said:
@rumblefish360 yep I definitely made a mistake I meant fuel pump eccentric not oil pump. Thank you. I guess my main confusion or at least a big part of my confusion is, is there a difference between the 360 non roller blocks (1984 and prior) and the roller blocks between 1985-1992. I believe the 1985 to 1992 360 blocks were in fact still LA blocks but because of the rollerized lifters, were the lifter (holes/sockets?) longer than the flat lifter holes/sockets. That is why I was curious if the 360 blocks between '84 and 92 would be better used as boat anchors. What set me off on this idea? If you were to go to summit racing and search for a cam and lifter package for lets say a 1990 dodge ram 250 with a 360 you get, "no camshafts available for this engine". That coupled with the differing camshaft fuel pump eccentric, and I was in the land of confusion at that point. Then add to the fact that I am trying to bolt up a set of magnum heads to this block with the different rocker ratio and I was a little concerned with the whole geometry for this setup, and buying parts etc. I have more questions I am sure, and I am sure they have been answered before. I'll keep absorbing info like a sponge. Thanks.
Click to expand...
The “Roller Cam” blocks have taller lifter bores.
If it is a Magnum block, it will not have a head oiling passage after a certain date. (I forget.... ugh!)
Re calculate the cams lift if it is advertised as a *** lift with 1.5. Just divide the lift by 1.5 then multiply by 1.6.
 
You might want to have the valve boss areas checked for max lift if using a relatively high lift cam.

I've read from several sources that .520-.525 is the max before machine work is needed.

That's why I chose the Lunati cam that comes out to .517 with a 1.6 rocker.
 
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