LA 360 roller engine ?

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71scamp78

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I got a chance to buy a good running 91 360 tbi engine which i believe is a roller la engine. I'd like something to throw in my car for now to play around with until winter gets here. Heard engine run and it sounds good however before install I'd like to at least throw a cam in it. Prefer to grab an off the shelf one and run it. I see some cams for a a magnum or a retro fit cam. Im assuming I need a retro fit cam. Also what sort of compression are these engines and are the heads decent or do I need to replace. Im not wanting to get to much money into right now. Be nice if I could use the stock rockers as well. Definitely would like a nice sounding cam that will perform decent. Or would I be better off with a magnum engine to start.
 
That's arguably the best LA based engine to build. Retrofit long nose cam drops in, you can retain the factory lifters and spider assembly. It will have "308" heads which are really good, but they did have the tendency to crack, just like magnums. I'd grab it in a heartbeat!
 
My 89 roller 318 still has the mechanical fuel pump mount area on the timing cover, with a block off plate. Don't know about the 91, but you may get lucky there.
 
It's a good running engine. Just wondering if I could swap out some springs and grab a cam and intake be ready to roll.

why bother if its only going to be there for the summer. seems like a waste of time and money to me. drop that ***** in and go enjoy it. it may surprise you in how well it runs.
 
Any cam recommendations. It's actually in a 64 B body with 3.91 gears. I can match the converter whatever..I currently have a hughes 2500 in car.
 
Doing similar/ my engine also has the fuel pump block off plate ,as other posts mention that Oregon cams could possibly
regrind my current roller cam to a better performance profile.
 
A couple of things you'll need to address:
1.) Oil pan, pickup, and dipstick. You'll need to swap on the passcar units.
2.) As mentioned, the mechanical fuel pump mount. I've seen them two ways: either with a blockoff plate or with an unfinish-machined mount. From what I've seen, the 318s have a block-off plate and the 360s aren't finish machined- but don't quote me on that. The unfinished one is easy enough to open up and use, though. Either way, you'll need to get in there and confirm whether it has an eccentric on the cam gear- some did and some did not. If it does, you're ready to rock. If it doesn't, it's easy enough to add but you'll have to pay attention to a couple of things. There is a special cup washer used on the "eccentric delete" motors that is deeper than the standard cup washer used on long-nose LA cams, this makes up for the extra spacing that the eccentric would have provided had it been there. Do NOT use this cup washer if you add an eccentric to the cam- it will not allow correct tightening/spacing onto the cam. Source a standard LA washer to use instead.
Standard LA on the left, eccentric delete on the right:
1748958207419.png

Don't confuse either of these with a Magnum washer for a short-nose cam, which is almost flat.
If you've got it open to add an eccentric, throw in a new chain & gears, and new front seal.
3.) You'll need to address the balance issue with the torque convertor by using the correct B&M flexplate for your transmission- 904 or 727. If it's an original '64 trans (904) you'll also need the crank adapter bushing because of the difference in diameters between early and late convertor noses and crank pockets.
4.) Don't forget to drill, tap (1/4-20), and plug the air injection holes beneath the exhaust ports.
5.) Depending on what engine it's taking the place of and your current setup, you may need to swap to an early water pump to work with your radiator, and don't forget the different depth pulleys that go along with that...
6.) Before you install, check your starter fit- some of these roller blocks had an additional boss behind the starter (used during production) that interferes with some year starters- grind it down if necessary, easier to do before the engine is installed in the car.
And while we're talking about bosses, double check clearance behind the newly-installed fuel pump- depending on the pump you use (mostly the large diameter Carter HiPo pumps and it's clones) there is a small casting bump on the block that may interfere with pump installation and alignment that you'll need to clearance, two minute job with a grinder.
 
Any cam recommendations. It's actually in a 64 B body with 3.91 gears. I can match the converter whatever..I currently have a hughes 2500 in car.
kind of a tricky situation with the dogwater compression. but you have gears and a converter... however with the weight of the car that throws another wrinkle into the mix.

a shoot from the hip would say melling spd-22, summit 6900, 6920 & 1789 all kinda fall into that 340 or 340 adjacent category.

melling 23103 would be an interesting choice and probably make gobs of torque.

i *really* like howards steetforce 1 in this application, but that's a lot of bread.

i think anything that's got under 270 and less than 112 lsa would be where i'd be looking. especially if it's just a stop gap while i had the roller core reground.
 
kind of a tricky situation with the dogwater compression. but you have gears and a converter... however with the weight of the car that throws another wrinkle into the mix.

a shoot from the hip would say melling spd-22, summit 6900, 6920 & 1789 all kinda fall into that 340 or 340 adjacent category.

melling 23103 would be an interesting choice and probably make gobs of torque.

i *really* like howards steetforce 1 in this application, but that's a lot of bread.

i think anything that's got under 270 and less than 112 lsa would be where i'd be looking. especially if it's just a stop gap while i had the roller core reground.
Interesting cams, but they're flat tappet- as long as the OP has rollers, I'd imagine he'd want to stay with that..?
OP- One thing I forgot to mention, if you're going to shop for a retro roller shaft, make sure it's an iron blank and gear, last thing you want to get tied up with is something that requires an intermediate shaft with a melonized gear; they're tough to find right now and $$ when you do. And don't even think about billet and bronze gears... Stick with something that plays nice with your stock intermediate gear.
 
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Interesting cams, but they're flat tappet- as long as the OP has rollers, I'd imagine he'd want to stay with that..?
OP- One thing I forgot to mention, if you're going to shop for a retro roller shaft, make sure it's an iron blank and gear, last thing you want to get tied up with is something that requires an intermediate shaft with a melonized gear; they're tough to find right now and $$ when you do. And don't even think about billet and bronze gears... Stick with something that pays nice with your stock intermediate gear.
indeed. flat tappets as a rec due to expense. if it's just for the season i can't see laying down $500 as a stop gap, at least i personally wouldn't.
 
Yes, honestly if it's just for the season I'd have to agree with a previous post and just leave the stocker in there.
Lotsa torque- heck, it was a truck engine! :)
 
Yes, honestly if it's just for the season I'd have to agree with a previous post and just leave the stocker in there.
Lotsa torque- heck, it was a truck engine! :)

Well was thinking this. Take it apart and and go ahead and get some better pistons along with all new bearings. Grab me some heads from IMM the aluminum street master heads and a nice roller cam, top with my 650 edelbrock avs2 carb and air gap intake..she should rock..wonder what pistons would get in that 10 to 10.5 to compression. Id imagine the combo should be good for well over 400hp
 

pull the cam out and send it off to be reground by oragon or racer brown!! ant that much money and keep the roller lifter valve train!! if ya dead set on aluminum heads them 308s would sale real easy! id love to have them my self!!!
 
indeed. flat tappets as a rec due to expense. if it's just for the season i can't see laying down $500 as a stop gap, at least i personally wouldn't.
THen the smart thing is to leave it stock as he's already been recommended to do once. But of course, as usual, it falls on deaf ears. No way would I spend the jack on another cam if I was planning on doing something over the winter.
 
pull the cam out and send it off to be reground by oragon or racer brown!! ant that much money and keep the roller lifter valve train!! if ya dead set on aluminum heads them 308s would sale real easy! id love to have them my self!!!
It's $175 for a regrind, plus shipping there and back, plus new longer pushrods.
 
THen the smart thing is to leave it stock as he's already been recommended to do once. But of course, as usual, it falls on deaf ears. No way would I spend the jack on another cam if I was planning on doing something over the winter.
i agree, but when have any of us ever done anything smart?

[mainly talking about myself here]
 
pull the cam out and send it off to be reground by oragon or racer brown!! ant that much money and keep the roller lifter valve train!! if ya dead set on aluminum heads them 308s would sale real easy! id love to have them my self!!!
when oregon did my cam it was a 6 week or so turn around.. which is why its still in the box in my basement.. not sure the OP wants to wait that long for a summer motor.
 
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I found a 90 model 360 LA roller cam engine that I'm fixing to pull the trigger on and I also found a 2000 or 99 model 360 RT Dakota with commando heads.....I'm in awe...I want em both
 
I found a 90 model 360 LA roller cam engine that I'm fixing to pull the trigger on and I also found a 2000 or 99 model 360 RT Dakota with commando heads.....I'm in awe...I want em both
I recently picked up an 89 360 roller block. starting to gather parts for my next build
 
Good choice I think those are the best ones of all 88 through 91
 
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