Potential 360 build couple of questions

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mshred

mshred

The Green Manalishi
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Hey there guys,

I have a guy offerring me a 360 out of a 91 ramcharger for a really good price complete and running. I figure i mine as well pick it up, but i have a few questions.

He said its not a magnum, and i did a google search, but im not 100% sure...some say the 5.9 was not magnum until 92 some 93...im just looking for a hard number

Second, in regards to the year of block, are there any casting weaknesses by going with this year of motor, especially in terms of wall thickness or core shift.

Last, i was kinda hoping to try and reuse the bottom end if possible (I believe its external balance?) but im not sure what they are like in that year? im assuming cast crank, rods and pistons? whats the compression like?

any help with this stuff would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Matthew
 
92 and up is the magnum motors. you shouldn't have to worry about cylinder wall thickness, just a standard .030 overbore will be choice. no sense in going more than that.
 
so it could be the LA roller 360, which IMO is better than a magnum because you can use the far superior LA heads with shaft mount rockers and better flowing intake ports, that with porting have an average of 70+ cfm increase for around a 550 hp potential, Because the block has the oil feed hole to the heads

magnum heads full ported are done at 250 cfm, and thats max ported by a pro porter.
in ported form, the exhaust flows no more than an LA head.

just throwing it out there.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
so it could be the LA roller 360, which IMO is better than a magnum because you can use the far superior LA heads with shaft mount rockers and better flowing intake ports, that with porting have an average of 70+ cfm increase for around a 550 hp potential, Because the block has the oil feed hole to the heads

magnum heads full ported are done at 250 cfm, and thats max ported by a pro porter.
in ported form, the exhaust flows no more than an LA head.

just throwing it out there.
Click to expand...

Nailed it.

I'll add: A 91 is definitely not a magnum. It is a roller cam engine though. Best to build in IMO. No guess on core shift as that varies as much as you change your underwear. Most any block is fine at .020-.030 over.
 
sweet deal! so does this mean that i could easily go with a solid roller cam for alot cheaper than if the block wasnt a roller one to begin with? would the lifters still be okay, or would i have to change them out?

also, what would the compression be on a motor like this? im assuming somewhere like 8.5:1, but im just guessing

this engine is starting to look like a real sweet deal
 
no.
it means you use the existing roller lifters for another hyd roller cam other than stock, and another plus besides the the hyd roller cam...the LA heads.

solid roller lifters are all link bar style and will work in a LA or mag with maybe minor clearancing of the valley.

see thats thing people keep forgetting while pondering the better of the two, once the cam changes to a solid roller....no advantage.
they both will take the same 'after market' solid roller parts.
 
At this year's Carlisle, there was a give away engine built by Muscle Motors. They used a pre-Magnum roller cam block. It was 408" with RHS LA heads, Air Gap, Holley Street Avenger and a Comp XR286 cam which is a hydraulic roller grind. Simple build really. Sounded nasty with Shoenfeld dyno headers on it. Made around 440 hp and about 500 ft. lbs of torque.

Not sure what your goals are but it seemed like a decent, inexpensive street combo to me.

Linky here.
 
I think the compression was rated at 9.0 to 1 but knowing manufacturing tolerances it's probably more like 8.5 to 1. Just my guess. It is a good foundation to build on.
 
hey guys,

thanks for all the responses! I only thought solid roller was the way to go over hydraulic roller is because i thought that solids are more stable at higher rpms? i guess thats not true though in a roller application? either way im going to jump on this motor if i can...my plans are for now just a mild stock stroke 360, hopefully get into the low 12's with it, but i have other things to work out right now...just been keeping my eyes out for a motor and this popped up so i think its a good oppurtunity
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
you can get into the 12's with a 340, and then some...
Click to expand...

i know that, was just stating my goals for the new motor, thats all

the 340 in my car is coming out because it is my dads and it needs new work...i figure ill start from scratch with something of my own that has 20 more cubes to start with
 
If you pass on this motor I might be interested. I'm not far from you. Can hear run? Thanks
 
Are you going to use it as is and see what you can get out of it?

(Mill the heads a good bit and cam it up! LOL!)
 
rumblefish360 said:
Are you going to use it as is and see what you can get out of it?

(Mill the heads a good bit and cam it up! LOL!)
Click to expand...

hey rumble, to be honest its kind of undecided right now until i get the motor home and inspect it....if the cylinders look good , i may just pull it apart for a clean and reseal and stuff a different piston to up the compression. If its a roller block, i will definatly stick a roller cam in it, though i dont know much about rollers yet (have to look into it) and how much more money it would be to run. but yes, plan is to take as many parts from my 340 that are swappable i.e. headers, air gap, carb, etc. and stick it on the 360 with a much bigger cam (was thinking in the 550 ish lift area) with either Brians RHS heads or home ported 308's (if thats what it comes with...but then i might spend enough money on them to just instead buy the RHS stuff)....

as you can see its all up in the air lol...but its a start...if i can get the motor to run a consistent low 12 i will a happy man!
 
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