Need a LA/Magnum Small Block Guru..or the like lol

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GoodysGotaCuda

Mr. Goody
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Alrighty, first off my 360 that I have for my Barracuda seems to be some kinda fluke build. It is cast on the passenger side of the block 1983, it is a Mopar Performance block, however another stamped number on the block decodes to 1987...but! Its also cast with number '53020006' which says 1992! wth?. it's also setup for a roller cam. Pretty odd block. Anyway, I'm looking to find out if I have to run Magnum heads on this sucker or will modifications be needed to run LA style. The previous owner had a flat tapped hyd cam with LA eddie heads on it. Apparently it ran good...but consumed oil...which I wonder if is related..

What can I look at to tell me if this block feeds oil to the heads via the rocker stands, or via pushrods?

Attached is a pic, again cast 1983, stamped 1987, casting number is a 1992 but setup for a roller cam. Doesnt make much sense, but ill go with it lol.

Anyway, what to look for on how the heads are oiled? And do i have to run magnum style rockers with roller lifters/cam?

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The small hole in the block by the tail of your caliper is the oil feed hole to the heads. There is also one on the other bank on the rear. I have a 85' 318
that has roller lifters. as for the serial and casting numbers I will look around for an answer. It looks like a roller cam LA that came out in 85'. toolmanmike
 
toolmanmike said:
The small hole in the block by the tail of your caliper is the oil feed hole to the heads. There is also one on the other bank on the rear. I have a 85' 318
that has roller lifters. as for the serial and casting numbers I will look around for an answer. It looks like a roller cam LA that came out in 85'. toolmanmike
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From what i've read. 360s didnt get roller cams until 1988. hmmmmm...interesting motor lol
 
I typed 53020006 into my MSN search engine and came up with a couple of web-sites that had info on that casting #. The cehighperformance site listed that casting # as a 93-95 360 Magnum truck block. The mopar1.us site explained about 1992 being a transition year and the first few years of Magnums had a lot of LA features that were eventually phased out. That's why your block had the oil passages through the deck that I noticed by your caliper.
I learned something new today! toolmanmike
 
toolmanmike said:
I typed 53020006 into my MSN search engine and came up with a couple of web-sites that had info on that casting #. The cehighperformance site listed that casting # as a 93-95 360 Magnum truck block. The mopar1.us site explained about 1992 being a transition year and the first few years of Magnums had a lot of LA features that were eventually phased out. That's why your block had the oil passages through the deck that I noticed by your caliper.
I learned something new today! toolmanmike
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So essentially it can be used as a

Flat Tappet or Roller, LA heads oiled through the block

or

Roller Cam, Pushrod oiling, Magnum Heads

correct? thats what ive come to understand, the lifter bores are taller to accept the roller lifters. :toothy7:
 
Not for sure but it looks to be true. It depends which heads you use I guess.
LA's oil through the block to the rocker shaft and the Magnums oil through the lifters and pushrods to the rockers. Your block is set up like my 318 so you can do both. toolman
 
Two more questions, for now.

Are these cam bearings setup for pushrod oiling, or rocker shaft? This is the #2 bearing, with the motor upsidedown on the stand, so thats the top of the bearing.

Also, are the lifter bores right for using hyd roller lifters? Hard to see, but there are holes in the bores..

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As far as I've ever read you can use any type cam and most lifters in an LA (jump in guys and correct me if I'm wrong)
or magnum block without modification. The pushrods are the tricky part. There have been guys post failures lately because of the wrong length pusrods. It depends on how much you want to dink around with a strange combination of cam, lifters and pushrods.I have the same thing going with my 318. It came with a roller cam but I'm putting in a flat tappet hydraulic. I haven't mocked it up yet but when I do I'll ckeck the pushrod length carefully so I don't wipe out a lobe or two when I start it up. I have all the correct parts to put Magnum heads on my LA block if I go that route.
The cam bearings are a babbit style and should work with any cam designed for your block. The oil holes in the #4 bearing come from the mains and go up through the block and heads to oil the rockers through the rocker shaft. From what I've seen and read about the hybred you own I would consider it a Magnum and build it accordingly. Good luck! Mike
 
toolmanmike said:
As far as I've ever read you can use any type cam and most lifters in an LA (jump in guys and correct me if I'm wrong)
or magnum block without modification. The pushrods are the tricky part. There have been guys post failures lately because of the wrong length pusrods. It depends on how much you want to dink around with a strange combination of cam, lifters and pushrods.I have the same thing going with my 318. It came with a roller cam but I'm putting in a flat tappet hydraulic. I haven't mocked it up yet but when I do I'll ckeck the pushrod length carefully so I don't wipe out a lobe or two when I start it up. I have all the correct parts to put Magnum heads on my LA block if I go that route.
The cam bearings are a babbit style and should work with any cam designed for your block. The oil holes in the #4 bearing come from the mains and go up through the block and heads to oil the rockers through the rocker shaft. From what I've seen and read about the hybred you own I would consider it a Magnum and build it accordingly. Good luck! Mike
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Thanks, thats about what I currently understand. Sounds good to me! I'll be attempting to budget Magnum Eddie heads for this setup, trying to make a killer little street motor out of this sucker. :toothy7: Just won a new set of said Clevite/Wolverine hyd roller lifters for $60 on eBay :toothy7:. Will be pulling the spider/dogbones out of a junkyard motor probably tomorrow morning to try and piece this thing together. Im picking up a couple magnum books, they should cover something like this (i hope) :toothy7:
 
well thats a good idea bc its a magnum block and if it says mopar on the side of it it is a magnum crate 360 the production motors dident have mopar cast into them
 
If you decide to use the LA rocker shaft type heads, be sure to check and see that the oil passages for the heads are open to the cam journals, if not - then you need to have new cam bearings installed which have the oiling holes lined up properly.

The motor is setup to accept hyd roller tappets from what I can see. What you need to install these should you choose to do so: The spring steel spider that bolts onto the valley bosses, 8 lifter retainers and of course the correct length pushrods and stock roller lifters.

Its not a bad idea to consider going the roller cam route. I did it on my commando 360 crate motor - runs really nice - lots of torque. When I did my motor nobody was making what I considered a good roller cam for mopar engines - I had comp cams send me their roller profiles and picked my own lobes etc.

Should be no issue running a hydraulic flat tappet cam as long as you have oil passages to each tappet bore.
 
66dartgt said:
If you decide to use the LA rocker shaft type heads, be sure to check and see that the oil passages for the heads are open to the cam journals, if not - then you need to have new cam bearings installed which have the oiling holes lined up properly.

The motor is setup to accept hyd roller tappets from what I can see. What you need to install these should you choose to do so: The spring steel spider that bolts onto the valley bosses, 8 lifter retainers and of course the correct length pushrods and stock roller lifters.

Its not a bad idea to consider going the roller cam route. I did it on my commando 360 crate motor - runs really nice - lots of torque. When I did my motor nobody was making what I considered a good roller cam for mopar engines - I had comp cams send me their roller profiles and picked my own lobes etc.

Should be no issue running a hydraulic flat tappet cam as long as you have oil passages to each tappet bore.
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Thanks, I will be running Magnum heads (Edelbrock) that will require the pushrod oiling setup. And probably going to Straightline for one of their custom grind roller hyd cams that they say are $330 which isn't a bad price.

Thanks for the help. :toothy7:
 
You might consider looking at hughes engines for a roller hyd cam as well. If I recall correctly my comp cam ended up being around 250$ for a custom grind.
 
66dartgt said:
You might consider looking at hughes engines for a roller hyd cam as well. If I recall correctly my comp cam ended up being around 250$ for a custom grind.
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Will do, I've heard nothing but great things about Scott Brown over there at straightline and picking his brain a little and getting his recommended cam has made a few guys i know very happy. I'll give Hughes a call when it comes that time.

I just picked up a spider and dog bones for $3 at the junkyard :toothy7: Fits like a charm :wav:

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Mike I just checked Summit's site and Comp and Crane both have rollers to fit the Magnum. All the Comp's are $289 and the Cranes are $443. Looks like they have some good street grinds. toolmanmike
 
toolmanmike said:
Mike I just checked Summit's site and Comp and Crane both have rollers to fit the Magnum. All the Comp's are $289 and the Cranes are $443. Looks like they have some good street grinds. toolmanmike
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Actually i bought a brand new set of clevite/wolverine (now crane) roller lifters for $63 on ebay! Should be here any day, thats my deal of the week.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...m=140028505385&ih=004&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT

And actually I'll be trying hughes or straightline for a cam. I atleast know scott over at straightline is one helluva cam guru and can surely pick a better cam than i can lol.



Thanks guys for the suggestions! Any recommendations on good magnum books to pickup and flip through?
 
A couple of notes about roller cams.

I assume you are using a mechanical fuel pump - If so, you need a cam that has provisions for the fuel pump eccentric. Apparently not all mopar roller cams have this feature.

The lifters weigh a ton. You need stout valve springs to work with them. Pay strict attention to the valve spring recommendation for your intended cam.

The duration at .050 figures will seem out of whack compared to flat tappet cams. Thats because the rollers have a much faster opening and closing rate. Dont be fooled into using a larger than neccessary cam based on previous experience with flat tappets cams, they are not the same animals. When in doubt go smaller.

I suggest calling up comp cams help line and pick their brain as well as straightlines. More information always helps.

The other thing I do is look to the engine dyno computer simulator programs for help in figuring out what is a "good" combo. Granted the programs are an approximation - but by changing the cam or other components one at a time you can see trends. Kind of a reality check of sorts.
 
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