Discrepancies in information on LA and Magnum series oil gallery plugs
I’m also going through the same process and have been wondering the same things as Kern Dog. I have a 70 340 that I’m going through that was “rebuilt” and ready to run when I bought the car. But since I have been working for ma Mopar as a dealer tech since 87 I don’t trust many “rebuilt” items. It’s been 10 years or so since I have rebuilt an LA engine and have forgotten more than I will ever remember. During disassembly I find that the timing marks are lined up incorrectly so I know that was not “rebuilt” correctly. Then I remove 4 valve cover bolts from the thrust plate and find one that matches Kern Dogs 360 style with a drip notch on the back drivers side of the plate. No drip tab and no oil galley plugs behind the thrust plate. So then I start looking and find many people say yes to installing the plugs and many say no to the plugs. And the same goes for drilling small holes, the factory drilled bolt and the drip tab. It seems that this is a definite rabbit hole with no clear path or explanation of what to do. Digging through some very old Mopar Performance books and service manuals I come across these pics and explanation but only very few words And it’s for a 3.9 build in the MP engines book. I also dig through and find some NOS MP parts for LA’s that I bought back in the late eighties when I had a 360 Aspen R/T (lol) when I first started for ma Mopar. I found a thrust plate that is exactly like Kern Dogs 360 and a LA engine small parts kit with core plugs and such and inside that unopened package is 3 oil line plugs as the paper says. I also have a 318 short block that I have had since the late 90’s and it’s never been apart and it has the plugs in it. Like I said I have been working on these things for a long time and have forgotten a lot but I’m pretty sure IIRC most LA’s had the plugs so I am going to go with that route and use the plugs and the drip tab (which is still available through vintage parts ) and let’r ride. Just my two cents but every mechanic has their own way of doing things
I’m also going through the same process and have been wondering the same things as Kern Dog. I have a 70 340 that I’m going through that was “rebuilt” and ready to run when I bought the car. But since I have been working for ma Mopar as a dealer tech since 87 I don’t trust many “rebuilt” items. It’s been 10 years or so since I have rebuilt an LA engine and have forgotten more than I will ever remember. During disassembly I find that the timing marks are lined up incorrectly so I know that was not “rebuilt” correctly. Then I remove 4 valve cover bolts from the thrust plate and find one that matches Kern Dogs 360 style with a drip notch on the back drivers side of the plate. No drip tab and no oil galley plugs behind the thrust plate. So then I start looking and find many people say yes to installing the plugs and many say no to the plugs. And the same goes for drilling small holes, the factory drilled bolt and the drip tab. It seems that this is a definite rabbit hole with no clear path or explanation of what to do. Digging through some very old Mopar Performance books and service manuals I come across these pics and explanation but only very few words And it’s for a 3.9 build in the MP engines book. I also dig through and find some NOS MP parts for LA’s that I bought back in the late eighties when I had a 360 Aspen R/T (lol) when I first started for ma Mopar. I found a thrust plate that is exactly like Kern Dogs 360 and a LA engine small parts kit with core plugs and such and inside that unopened package is 3 oil line plugs as the paper says. I also have a 318 short block that I have had since the late 90’s and it’s never been apart and it has the plugs in it. Like I said I have been working on these things for a long time and have forgotten a lot but I’m pretty sure IIRC most LA’s had the plugs so I am going to go with that route and use the plugs and the drip tab (which is still available through vintage parts ) and let’r ride. Just my two cents but every mechanic has their own way of doing things