318 la / mag

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67Dart273 said:
BE CAREFUL HERE. That is sloppy "recent" paint. Do you KNOW that the engine ran and oiled OK? ----Possibilities---

1..LA block, LA heads

2..LA block converted to use Mag heads WE KNOW NOT because you have shaft rockers

3..Mag block with LA heads---WILL NOT OIL the shaft rockers because mag blocks don't have the block oil passage

4..Very late "roller block" LA block with some sort of LA or original heads. these were built a few years, used factory TBI injection, used factory roller cams just like magnum, but had the block oil hole and used LA style shaft rockers. Look for the roller lifter "spider" retainers and block bolt holes down in the valley. That might explain the "both" motor mounts
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it ran a year ago pretty strong I’ll say in a friends satellite
 
Johnny71dusty said:
Yeah I don’t know what that is or how to tell unless removing it from the car . How to tell if my heads are magnum ? Cause I wanted to use them on another LA motor . This was spare motor I got . I don’t want to pull entire motor out of my car . I wanted to put hood heads from this motor as I k ow it ran and seemed to run pretty well last year
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Roller lifters are held straight by a set of parts commonly referred to as "dog bones" and a "spider" retainer. The lifters are machined taller and have flat surfaces opposite one another for the dog bones. These hold the lifters so the rollers stay 90°to the cam. The spider has "legs" that sit on top of the dog bones to hold them down and is bolted down with short bolts in the valley over the cam. Once the heads are removed all this is readily visible. LA engines have the usual flat tapper round lifters. A retro fit system is available with link bar hyd roller lifters and a reduced base circle cam for older small blocks. The link bars are easily visible with the heads off.
Chevy LS and Gen 3 Hemi engines use a different lifter guide system with their raised cam location in the block. Those with AFM or "displacement on demand" systems, should have those removed or deactivated. Some engine failures have been reported, so for the potential infantesimal economy gain, replacing an engine is not worth it.
As most know, the LA block is a carry over design from the L polyshereical engine. That engine had the lifter bore angles spread a bit to be in line with the pushrods and the single rocker shaft chanted valve heads. Those lifter angles were carried over to the LA engine, which creates a potential problem with the lifter/pushrod interface. When Chrysler redesigned the blocks for the Magnum series, they corrected that. If a cam can be swapped between an LA and Magnum, it would not run right. Because of the lifter angle difference the lobes are ground at a different spacing between the left and right banks. So you degree the cam to one bank, generally cylinder 1, but the valve event timing is incorrect for the other bank. Similar to the year Buick changed from odd fire to even fire and then another month changed how the timing gear and distributor drive gear were mounted to the cam.
 
Roller lifters with the Dog Bone & the Spider retainer.

20200608_201627.jpg
 
Here is a question for you, what do the cylinder head chambers look like?

Open chamber?
1010161825.jpg


Or Closed Chamber?
1020161036.jpg
 
So mine was a mag block , and mag hollow push rods . But stock la heads . Odd but oh well . It’s free if anyone wants it now
 
Is it set up with a manual fuel pump on the timing chain cover?

Lets see some pictures of the cylinder head chambers from the heads that you pulled off.

Cylinder head numbers in the rocker shaft area too please.

Thanks
 
How about a picture of one bank of the block with the cylinder heads off so we can see the pistons that are in it.
 
Considering your pictures, shaft rockers, and the presence of the smog holes, these are likely desirable LA heads. You likely have the closed chamber vs. the open chamber.

In the early 90's, just before Dodge went to Magnum, you had crossover years. late 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, some 93 360 were cast with the longer lifter bores and yet fitted with flat tappet cams. Also in the casting, there was provision for shaft rocker oiling required for the flat tappet. These will have an oiling hole through the deck. You have not removed the heads yet, I assume.
The bosses in the valley may or may not be drilled. You may or not have roller lifters. Magnum blocks will also have engine mounts in the center of the block with jacket drain at the driver rear of the block. LA blocks will have the water jacket drain just behind the motor mount on both sides. (Pain in the *** to drain with headers.)
 
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George Jets said:
Is it set up with a manual fuel pump on the timing chain cover?

Lets see some pictures of the cylinder head chambers from the heads that you pulled off.

Cylinder head numbers in the rocker shaft area too please.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Was set up with la fuel pump amd timing cover and water pump .
 
artr8 said:
Considering your pictures, shaft rockers, and the presence of the smog holes, these are likely desirable LA heads. You likely have the closed chamber vs. the open chamber.

In the early 90's, just before Dodge went to Magnum, you had crossover years. 91, 92, some 93 360 were cast with the longer lifter bores and yet fitted with flat tappet cams. Also in the casting, there was provision for shaft rocker oiling required for the flat tappet. These will have an oiling hole through the deck. You have not removed the heads yet, I assume.
The bosses in the valley may or may not be drilled. You may or not have roller lifters. Magnum blocks will also have engine mounts in the center of the block with jacket drain at the driver rear of the block. LA blocks will have the water jacket drain just behind the motor mount on both sides. (Pain in the *** to drain with headers.)
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block cast says it’s 91 318 motor . Which is first year for magnum . But yeah someone put this motor together as block was zero . But all guts of block are magnum - roller cam and lifter , the spider thing
 
Johnny71dusty said:
block cast says it’s 91 318 motor . Which is first year for magnum . But yeah someone put this motor together as block was zero . But all guts of block are magnum - roller cam and lifter , the spider thing
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Well that is interesting Because everything is pointing to it being a '91 318 TBI roller cam engine with the factory 302 closed chambered heads and factory mopar rocker rails.

If this is true, then it is a flat topped piston with factory 9.2:1 cr and full floating connecting rods.

Just like this '91 318 TBI roller engine that I converted to Edelbrock 4bbl carb.


Factory pistons .040 ths in the hole, no valve reliefs.

20200608_201627.jpg

Let's have a look at your Closed Chamber heads.

Resized_20200712_194110_8421.jpeg

'91 318, ^^^ roller engine, factory 302 heads.

Engine came out of a '91 W150 Dodge Pickup.

Worth hanging onto.

☆☆☆☆☆
 
George Jets said:
Well that is interesting Because everything is pointing to it being a '91 318 TBI roller cam engine with the factory 302 closed chambered heads and factory mopar rocker rails.

If this is true, then it is a flat topped piston with factory 9.2:1 cr and full floating connecting rods.

Just like this '91 318 TBI roller engine that I converted to Edelbrock 4bbl carb.


Factory pistons .040 ths in the hole, no valve reliefs.

View attachment 1715930015
Let's have a look at your Closed Chamber heads.

View attachment 1715930017
'91 318, ^^^ roller engine, factory 302 heads.

Engine came out of a '91 W150 Dodge Pickup.

Worth hanging onto.

☆☆☆☆☆
Click to expand...
Confusing - cause everyone says la has no roller cam , also not 302 heads on it for sure .
 
Johnny71dusty said:
Confusing - cause everyone says la has no roller cam , also not 302 heads on it for sure .
Click to expand...

The short block is still very desirable to hang onto especially if the stock bore/ cylinder walls are in good shape.

Everybody is trying to push their low compression 318s up to 9.5 cr. Here is the short block that will get you there. Without buying pistons and boring the cylinder walls. Plus it's a roller engine on top of it all.
 
I had
George Jets said:
The TBI 318s are the roller engines before they came out with the magnums.
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I had a 86' 5th ave (318 LA) that had the roller cam. Good running motor. My understanding was it was the 1st or 2nd year of the roller cam, if my memory is correct. Yes, I'm getting old as the rest of us.
 
@Johnny71dusty
how about some pictures of the heads (and the head chambers) that you pulled off the 91 318?

Will help to satisfy some of the conversations we are having with other members here on this site.

Thanks
 
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