o1heavy
1974 dart sport
How deep did you have to drill the heads to reach the oil galley for the rockers
Junkyard 5.9L Magnum + Edelbrock LA heads build
- Thread starter MopaR&D
- Start date
-
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Just to the bolt hole for the end rocker shaft bolt which was then drilled as well, that part's in page 4-5 I think
o1heavy
1974 dart sport
Ok thanks I’ll dig thru
I really haven’t looked into doing this but I’ve felt there was a simple solution
Anywho good luck with the hotrod and have fun
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Thanks! Even so I'd still recommend just getting proper heads for a Magnum unless you have some really nice LA heads to use, in my case I stumbled upon a pair of Edelbrocks for cheap which ended up not being so cheap after machine work but... hey we're here now, no looking back!
j.mcconnell
Well-Known Member
Here I was coming to save the day and post that Mag/LA Head bookmark I've had for 7yrs and Toulene beat me too it.... Looks good
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Engine is finally in the car! I had some weird clearance issues, main one being my mini-starter was hitting the block and not going into the bellhousing all the way, had to cut and grind the block till it fit that took about 2 hours. I also made a dumb mistake and forgot to check BOTH headers with the engine on the stand, the driver's side needed some hammering on the collector to clear the engine mount bolt boss that's used in the later vehicles these Magnums came in.
Most importantly though, the oil lines on the back have plenty of space around them and I might just be able to remove them in the car if I have to, although I really hope not. Also figured out aluminum foil works as a decent makeshift cover for your valvetrain lol...
Most importantly though, the oil lines on the back have plenty of space around them and I might just be able to remove them in the car if I have to, although I really hope not. Also figured out aluminum foil works as a decent makeshift cover for your valvetrain lol...
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
It runs!!! Still needs tuning obviously but it didn't blow up or bend all the valves. I'll be continuing coverage of my build in my resto thread here: 1970 Duster, Trans-Am style Resto-Mod
Wyrmrider
Well-Known Member
as rumble said you are gold with the dual with pushrod oiling- helps not pushing the pushrod through the rocker
better rockers
I hope you are thinking Iron with bushings on chrome shafts- ask rocker arm rebuilders which is the current best setup
HARD triple copper> nickel > grind> chrome od home or chrome moly case hardened
forget roller tips unless you plan on relocating your shafts with a B3 kit or similar
lots of very wrong length roller tip rockers out there
in either case you are better off with cup adjusters and ball and ball (both ends round) pushrods
I've run stock rockers to the .550 area where required by the rules- no problem unless the spring pressure goes high
better rockers
I hope you are thinking Iron with bushings on chrome shafts- ask rocker arm rebuilders which is the current best setup
HARD triple copper> nickel > grind> chrome od home or chrome moly case hardened
forget roller tips unless you plan on relocating your shafts with a B3 kit or similar
lots of very wrong length roller tip rockers out there
in either case you are better off with cup adjusters and ball and ball (both ends round) pushrods
I've run stock rockers to the .550 area where required by the rules- no problem unless the spring pressure goes high
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
That gives me some peace of mind, I'm right under .550 (advertised) but the spring pressures are pretty typical entry-level stuff (130 closed/365 open). I also plan to run Schaeffer's oil after I change out this witches' brew of 4 quarts cheap conventional 20W-50, 1 quart synthetic 5W-40 and the last 3rd or so of an old bottle of Lucas break-in additive.
I will probably end up going to B3 for the rockers he sells and a geometry kit once I decide to upgrade.
Very cool! I can’t wait to get to that day.
Is your cam .546”/.542” lift with 1.5 rockers or 1.6?
EDIT: Nevermind, just saw the pic of the cam card said 1.5
Last edited:
Btw, how are you liking the engine? Would you change anything? I bought a set of speedmaster (direct copy of Edelbrock) heads during their black Friday sale and am currently contemplating what cam I wanna run. This will be going on a stick 5.9 short block so everything would be the same as yours, minus intake, carb and manual trans.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
It's been awesome, I wouldn't change anything internal with the engine but I think it would pick up a good bit of power with some longtube headers and collector extensions to the X-pipe (or convert to H-pipe, never was a huge fan of the X sound), currently have Hedman block-hugger shorties with 2 1/4" down pipes (exhaust is 2 1/2"). It's also a bit hampered by the 2.94 gears I still haven't gotten around to swapping in 3.55s as I need to be able to cruise on the freeway at 80+ MPH.
I think long-term next steps will be a single-plane intake and port EFI so I can then run a Procharger since it has head studs, Cometic gaskets and only 9:1 compression. For me personally this engine is "just right" as far as my definition of in-between street and race performance; nice idle but not obnoxious and has excellent street manners. Starts and runs great even when it's 10 degrees outside and is happy drinking regular gas, I drive it at least once a week to work. Just a really good all-around multi-purpose combo. And it always makes me laugh like a jackass when I floor it, gets me every time... I don't think I'll be looking for much more power anytime soon.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Oh yeah and roller rockers (with B3 geometry kit) would be nice, reading back through some older posts I'm kind of on the edge with stock rockers and this cam and springs. Thinking more about long-term wear than catastrophic failure, plus the ratio inconsistencies with factory stamped rockers.
Yeah I ordered a set of oil-through-pushrod roller rockers from speedway as well. Some have said they close enough to ideal geometry to not worry about on a mild street engine, but if needed, I’ll get the kit from B3.
-
