360 magnumblock?

I meant to post more last night, but the kids started up and I never got back to it.

Anyways, I've built a 5.9 Magnum block that I hope to be dropping in shortly. I'm putting mine in an A-body (Dart). If you're not, not all of this will necessarily apply to you.

I was in the same boat as you and had this great idea. The Magnum comes with Magnum heads, has a lighter rotating assembly, presumably better machining (factory stuff, not a rebuild), readily available in the yards cheap (with a warranty no less) etc. I found one with 40K miles really close to home for $800.

Well, got my low mile Durango motor home and the head was cracked between the seats on #1 cylinder. Never would have found this if I hadn't done a leakdown on the motor. There are improved cheap replacements available, but it kinda sucked. My wife bought me some Edelbrocks so it turned out okay. :toothy10:

The stock magnum rockers are non-adjustable pedestal style, just like the 5.0 Fords come with. Having built a lot of Mustangs, I wouldn't agree that the pedestal stuff is more stable than the stud mount. The non adjustability is also a pain if you're planning on running a decent camshaft. I have the Edelbrocks, which come stud mount, but Crane does sell a conversion kit for the Magnums.

For the mechanical fuel pump issue, I had Comp grind me a custom hydraulic roller cam on an LA core. The stock Magnum cam is very much truck oriented, and not a performance grind, so it needs replaced either way.

You'll need an LA style timing cover. Got one at a swap meet for 30 bucks.

You'll need an oil pan too obviously, as Magnum engines only came in trucks. There is no stud on the main cap for the car style pump pickup to bolt to. I was unable to source one, so am trying to convince myself that if the pickup unscrews a quarter turn and comes to rest on the bottom of the pan it won't be a big deal.

All of the later Magnums came with a balancer that has an integrated serpentine pulley, so you'll probably need to source a Magnum specific balancer for a car application. I got a stock replacement from Mancini after a lot of looking. SFI ones are more readily available, but are $$$ (though I've got more than $100 in this stock replacement if I remember right).

The flexplate is another issue. Hopefully you can use the one that comes with the motor, but I don't know for sure and it depends on your converter (I have no clue what to do with a stick). The other solution is to buy a neutral balance flexplate and have a Magnum specific weighted converter built.

The magnum distributor is of no use, as its for EFI, so you'll have to get one of those too.

The LA style motor mount bosses are on the block, so at least that's no issue, but remember that the 360 uses a slightly different mount than the 340/318. I went with the Schumacher parts. What the hell, its only money...

I don't know if the 340 style oil filter elbow will bolt up or not. I've been told it does, but haven't done it myself. Dipstick is waaaaay too long for use in a car.

It is more of a headache, but I think (hope) the advantages will be worth it.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to warn you about the land mines I've tripped over so far.

Steve