Let's see how this goes

[volaredon]

I went to the Indy swap meet yesterday and came home with some thing (s) I wasn't planning on.
I already have 2 360 magnum short blocks here that need gone thru, and I brought home a 3rd bare block. At least it has all the main caps and bolts. All block plugs freeze plugs and cam bearings are gone. So that plus being so clean tells me it has been thru the hot tank as he claimed.
Otherwise just a '96 block.
Completely bare, clean block.
The seller said that it's std bore and can stay that way. It definitely has absolutely no ring ridge. And no ridge reamer damage . Supposed to have been magnafluxed, definitely has been hot tanked. Story is it was for a customer that found a complete built motor after they got this one apart and was gonna wind up costing less than building this one up.
I didn't get any paperwork,(and I asked) that said it would be buildable at std bore nor that he was telling me the truth about it having been magnafluxed. (Could be it was magnafluxed and there was a problem?) I dunno but in a total of 3 visits to his sales spot I asked him what was the best he could do and he dropped his own price from 150 originally to $100. I took it at the $100...
But if I can put the ball home in and scuff the surface rust from storage off (really not that bad, rust is minor) put my dual bore gauge in and verify what he says I think I can save money by using this block vs one of the other ones I have. And get at least as good of a result. I do have another 360 mag crank rods and pistons in the shed that would complete the short block.
The one I have that I was gonna use was a failed build at 30 over that had like a couple of hours (no more than 4) on it on a fresh build. I'm sure I wouldn't have to bore that one anymore either and is usable at its current 30- over. Just dismantle and re clean everything, re replace the cam bearings (since i feel the need to send that one thru the hot tank again), not a big deal , new crank bearings, scuff and re replace the rings ( oil was a hell of a slurry when I drained the break in oil like I've never seen)
That one had at least a couple of injectors hang open and wash out the cylinders plus some valves stuck (1 bent) as I took EQ at their word that these heads were "ready to run out of the box". They weren't.
The other one is the original 260k mile short block out of my Durango. That short block has never been apart since brand new.
Whichever one I use I feel a need to die grind all the casting flash off of the oil return holes as all have some nasty barnacles around the oval holes above the cam... So all will need at least a quick splash in the hot tank..
I went back 2x after I originally talked to the seller and walked around and thought about whether I should have or shouldn't have bought that bare block...

 

[RustyRatRod]

I would surely have it magged again. Might be he had all that done and found it cracked. It would suck to find that out the hard way.

 

[volaredon]

Yup that's why I didn't buy it the first time I seen it and it took me the time of walking around the rear of the swap to decide whether to take the chance. I know that the other 2 I already have aren't cracked. Though I don't hear much about magnum blocks cracking just the heads. .

 

[volaredon]

Got it out of the truck bed last night and onto my hydraulic lift table. (Goes "just" high enough to be able to slide it off the tailgate. About 2" short of "even with ") Coated everything with WD 40 once in the garage so that hopefully it won't rust up any more than what little surface rust is already there.

 

[volaredon]

Now to find a machine shop

 

[volaredon]

Anyone know of a decent one SOUTH of Chicago? Maybe NW Indiana? I've asked this here and on moparts and most hits are north and northwest, some into.wisconsin, which isn't south...
Streamwood, berwyn are crazy far from here.
There used to be 3 within 10 miles of me, all are gone

 

[volaredon]

Finally found one
As it turns out one of the 3 that was around back in the day still is but doesn't advertise much. It's close enough to home that I won't have to take the afternoon off every time I have to do something with them about it, whether dropping off or picking up or taking parts back n forth... Next problem is he took my name and number and told me he is 3 mo out before he can get me in.... And told me if I don't hear from them by 7/1 to call them again

 

[volaredon]

And another question
I stumbled across a set of new (still in the box) "jegs" cast iron magnum heads (bare) that I can get for about 1/2 of what it would cost me from jegs. I looked up the number and they themselves show "1 available". For the price I have enough leftovers that I could put a set together like I did with the first set of Aussie EQs I bought.
I wish I knew who made them for jegs.... DOES ANYBODY KNOW?
Hopefully they're not chinamade.... I have a message into the seller. Only a few towns away in a direction that I drive thru fairly often

 

[Tsully]

They’re China made also… I believe it’s the same foundry as the Speedmaster ones.

 

[volaredon]

About what I figured
I'm out. As in no longer interested in that set.
Would the cast iron speed masters be the same heads as the chinamade EQs? if so then even less interesting

 

[Tsully]

Yes, any EQ you get now is all Chinese… you would think that since the Chinese like to copy stuff that they would have also least copied the original EQ’s instead of just copying the original Magnum ones.

I have a set of the originals that are for the magnum intake pattern. Our only options now are either the Chinese knock offs or the Edelbrock Aluminum sets.

You could buy the speedmaster aluminum ones at thanksgiving and buy a set of the expensive rocker arms to adapt to the way the Magnums oil through pushrods, but, by the time you do that, you’re almost at the same price as the Edelbrock Magnums.

Here’s the cheapest set I’ve found so far:

MRE - Aluminum Roller Rocker Arm Kit

However, if you’re really good at modifying the oil passages you could use the standard shaft rockers. Using the original style lifters will oil through the pushrods but the trick is getting it to the rockers without killing your wallet!!!!

I guess in the end it’s just a matter of what your end goal is… daily, street/strip or bracket?

Hope this has helped!

 

[volaredon]

So the jegs heads are the same heads as the current EQ heads? Just relabeled?
For my purposes though I might like to try a set of aluminum heads I don't see much performance benefit just going aluminum vs iron with everything else about the combo being the same... I think I'll just stick with what I have.

 

[Tsully]

Yes sir! There are no more true EQ heads like the Australia made anymore few years back.

The original EQ’s had no freeze plug or expansion plug as some call it… the new EQ’s have a plug in the end just like the original Magnum ones.

So, any aftermarket cast iron head for a Magnum is of the same casting whether they’re labeled EQ or not!

Now supposedly they changed and made them better so they’re not prone to cracking at the seats like the originals, I’ve not seen or read where anyone has gotten a 100k plus miles out of them to verify that!

I can verify that I have bought a set of the cast iron ones to throw on a 5.9 and I’ve no issues. I bought them bare and did my own setup. I bought them that way because even if I had bought a set assembled I was going to tear them apart and check them anyway and I wanted to use better springs and valves anyway.

Also any aftermarket cast iron cast iron head only comes with the small valves like the originals.

 

[volaredon]

Those are still bigger valves than the LAs had except for the few that had 2.02s.. they're 1.9 something intake.
The first set of EQ heads I got I got bare and loaded them with valves and springs from several original supposedly cracked magnum heads... And that set is still running. I cherry picked the best parts of what I had saved from those original heads.
My son got an assembled set and had issues. These were all Aussie EQs
Then the last set I got I went to their shipping dock in Chicago and picked up myself. Now THOSE were crap. "Bolt on and go" ummm no
I did just that and had a couple stick open within a few hours of initial startup. Ruined a complete engine overhaul. I had to take that set in and have a valve job done just like as if I'd have taken in a set of junkyard heads. These were bought in 2016. I've heard of others having problems with EQ heads that were made around the same timeframe. So again if I gotta take em in and have wm reworked anyway what's the sense in buying brand new heads in the first place

 

[Tsully]

I had heard that about th EQ’s around that timeframe!

The Original EQ set I have were produced in 2019 if I recall correctly. They were bare and used and they came from the guy in Las Vegas that has their store on eBay.

I know @318willrun has done quite a few videos on these heads and from what I’ve seen, even though New ootb they need to be tore down and checked because of tolerances and casting crud in them.

I’ve even heard of guys buying the Trikflows and tearing them down to verify that they’re not going to give any trouble.

So whether they’re bare or assembled they will still need a tear down and inspect just to say the least, verify tolerances.

Either way we’re limited to head choices in the way of Magnum’s, which I think is a sad deal considering how many of those they made. I guess the guys that bought them just wanted low end factory torque and didn’t care about hot rodding them like the Chevy and Ford boys did with their stuff!

 

[birdtracker]

I just took a set of factory iron heads to my cylinder head guy. Cleaned, decked, ported the intake ports, exhaust ports, cleaned up inside the intake and exhaust valve seat areas, and a valve job. $800 I am going to see how they work. Birdtracker

 

[volaredon]

Damn has THAT gone up since I last had a set done