360 LA or Magnum?

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JoeDust451

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Which would you preffer, i can get either a 95 360 Magnum, or a 70s 360, both were supposidely rebuilt with low miles, there both around 400.00 for either one.
 
magnum would be more bang for your buck (roller cams kick a$$) but don't forget you need the aftermarket intake for a carb
 
Magnum = electric fuel pump (low pressure for carbuetor use) + intake manifold (that accepts a carburetor and bolts to the Magnum heads) + carburetor + car oil pan.

The 5.9L Magnum is a much better choice over the LA360 though.

Lighter rotating assembly, roller camshaft, good flowing heads (even though they all crack), thin piston rings for less internal friction...
 
I'm going to look at the Magnum tomorrow, he is trying to stay at 400.00 for his bottom $$, he bought this engine 3 yrs. ago but never used it, came out of a wrecked truck, he knew the people who owned it, i told him its really hard trying to sell an engine for (a running price) without hearing it run, he understands, one guy already backed out awhile back, offered him 300.00 & he turned it down.

If i do get it, what intake will i need, is there a part #? & will my 71 318 oil pan/pickup work on the Magnum?

Also, will it bolt up to my 71 904 trans, will the 318 converter/ motor mounts work, stuff like that.
 
The only Magnum intakes out there are the Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap dual plane, Mopar Performance M1 single- or dual-plane, and the Professional Products Crosswind dual-plane. You'll also need an oil pan from a passenger car LA 360, some 360 engine mounts, a Magnum 360-balanced torque converter, and depending on what you're putting it in either some good headers or properly-fitting exhaust manifolds. It'll have much more potential for power compared to an LA 360 though, especially if you get a good cam.
 
IMO, for simplicity and budget, the LA version is the way to go. The Magnum has the roller cam, but even that adds to cost when you have to do the "bolt ons" bit.
 
It also depends if you want it to look stock or not. The LA can be dressed to look stock or like a 340 if you want, the magnums just never looked right to me with the different valve covers. If you don't care about originality, I suppose the magnums can make more power with the proper mods.

Will you be installing as is or will you modify first? If you're going to just drop one in, what compression were each built for?
 
1967DartGT said:
It also depends if you want it to look stock or not. The LA can be dressed to look stock or like a 340 if you want, the magnums just never looked right to me with the different valve covers. If you don't care about originality, I suppose the magnums can make more power with the proper mods.

Will you be installing as is or will you modify first? If you're going to just drop one in, what compression were each built for?
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You can bolt LA valve covers to Magnum heads and nobody would ever know the difference. 5 of the 10 bolt holes are in the exact same place as the LA heads.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
You can bolt LA valve covers to Magnum heads and nobody would ever know the difference. 5 of the 10 bolt holes are in the exact same place as the LA heads.
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I've heard this but never tried it. Are the stock covers tall enough to clear the magnum rockers?
 
I bought that 95 Magnum, it looks pretty good, got it for 370.00, it has everything on it, pulleys/AC/Alt, only thing he took was the PS pump when his went out on his 01, even have the starter, i'll be pulling all the stuff off i won't use, even the intake, so basically i'll have a long block, this guy told me these 360 Magnums are "screamers" stock, he was pulled over running 136 in his 01 4x4 Ext. cab.

By the looks of things, doesn't seem i'll need to change much to drop it in, glad to hear the LA VCs will work, i noticed the extra bolts on these. I've never driven a 360 Magnum before, but i did drive a 94 full size van with the 318 Magnum, that 318 felt like a 360, i had to check to make sure, so i can only amazin how peppy the 360s are, should kick it in a 71 Dart.
 
You can't use the 318 pan on the Magnum. You need a 360 pan.

You can use your front cover from the 318 on the magnum if you want to keep the mechanical fuel pump. BUT you have to go with the stock accessories if you do this.

Id use the stock Magnum flexplate and have a neutral balanced converter.

Does the balancer have the integrated serpentine pulley?
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
There close enough at least....but they are not better heads so I don't see the point.jmo
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They're better at least for the more modern port design and closed chambers, even if they (arguably) might not flow much more than a good pair of J's. Not including the cracking issue too...

One thing nobody has mentioned yet, because Magnum engines were designed for SMPI none of them have exhaust crossover passages to heat the intake plenum on a carb'd setup. You'll either just have to deal with it in cold weather (or only run it when it's warm out) OR rig up some sort of coolant-powered heating system for the plenum.

Another thing, if you're going to use a mechanical fuel pump you're going to need to swap to a cam that has the longer "snout" to turn the fuel pump eccentric. The stock Magnum cam end is too short and won't work with the old-style fuel pump.
 
Hughes sells a piece to remedy the short camshaft issue with a mechanical fuel pump.

Of course, the only way to do it right is to get a custom camshaft (designed for a 3500 pound car instead of a 4500 pound truck) and just specify the long snout.

The Magnum swap is a lot more involved than it first appears, I'd highly recommend reading up before going too far with it.
 
From what i've heard before doing this was, it wasn't a bad swap at all, ralatively easy, i've also heard from a few that parts were a nightmare to change on my 97 Z28 like installing longtube headers/Opti spark changes/clutches, i found it to be fairly easy, just time consumeing, it all work out pretty good, even installing the 9" rearend, piece of cake, i'm not in a hurry to do this, i still have a roof to fix.

What might seem hard to some, isn't that bad for others, i'm that other lol.
 
LXguy said:
You can't use the 318 pan on the Magnum. You need a 360 pan.

You can use your front cover from the 318 on the magnum if you want to keep the mechanical fuel pump. BUT you have to go with the stock accessories if you do this.

Id use the stock Magnum flexplate and have a neutral balanced converter.

Does the balancer have the integrated serpentine pulley?
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I'll most likely run an elec. pump, not in a hurry to change cams just yet, unless the truck cam is total junk, i'm just looking for a cruiser with alittle kick, the converter will be mild, so will the gears, most likely 3.55s.

There is a seperate pulley on the balancer (serpentine), the balancer looks like the old style in the 70s, no counterweight, so i can use the flexplate?

So if i use an elec. pump, can i keep the magnum timing cover & still hook up all my old pulleys/WP, all that stuff?
 
JoeDust451 said:
I'll most likely run an elec. pump, not in a hurry to change cams just yet, unless the truck cam is total junk, i'm just looking for a cruiser with alittle kick, the converter will be mild, so will the gears, most likely 3.55s.

There is a seperate pulley on the balancer (serpentine), the balancer looks like the old style in the 70s, no counterweight, so i can use the flexplate?

So if i use an elec. pump, can i keep the magnum timing cover & still hook up all my old pulleys/WP, all that stuff?
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The stock cam is OK, stock Magnums are kind of doggy on the top end mostly because of the intake (basically longhorn cross-rams curved into a barrel shape).

If you use the Magnum timing cover you'll need to keep the serpentine belt setup because the Magnum water pump turns in the opposite direction of the LA one.
 
JoeDust451 said:
From what i've heard before doing this was, it wasn't a bad swap at all, ralatively easy, i've also heard from a few that parts were a nightmare to change on my 97 Z28 like installing longtube headers/Opti spark changes/clutches, i found it to be fairly easy, just time consumeing, it all work out pretty good, even installing the 9" rearend, piece of cake, i'm not in a hurry to do this, i still have a roof to fix.

What might seem hard to some, isn't that bad for others, i'm that other lol.
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I didn't say it was hard, just involved. It depends on what you're going to do. if you're going to stay serpentine, keep the stock cam, don't have cracked heads, and convert to electric fuel pump and carb. it'll be a bolt in deal. change the oil pan to a 360 style, get 360 mounts, elongate one hole on the magnum stock flexplate, get a Pro Products intake, use your stock 318 dizzy and off you go. you'll want to use your stock thermostat housing and dipstick as well.

Good Luck

Steve
 
Ok then thanks guys, i'll just use my timing cover/pulleys & belts off the 318, the reason for this is, i'm sure the AC still works on this car (the magnum AC pump was exsposed to moisture), plus its missing the PS pump, mine doesn't leak.

Now can i long-gate any one of the flexplate holes?
 
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