Running LA 360 aluminum heads on a 5.9 Magnum build- there was a set of rockers that explicitly were for this, anyone have the P/N or MFG ?

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Roadblock64

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I'm trying not to buy Chinese anything in the last few years.

I have my Magnum short block built and I forgot how much Mopar Performance stuff has been discontinued by FCA and also the krauts before them.

So I have a pair of aluminum heads for an LA smallblock. They are Mopar Performance and came assembled. I won my bracket and Mopar Performance gave them to me in 1998 or so. They are basically just an aluminum J head that Chapman ported the heck out of.

I remember Harland Sharp made a roller tip rocker setup to oil through pushrod and an AMC or Magnum 5.2/5.9 style lifter.

I remember Comp also offering something like these- shaft mount roller tip rocker oiling through pushrod and running an AMC

Supposedly PRW did too, but like I said, I'm kinda on a non-Chicom diet.

I don't have time to tear it down to a bare block to try to drill an LA oiling hole deep in the recesses of a 5.9 Magnum block- I wouldn't. I remember that failed more often than not. A lot of short track guys tried and it did not work.

I remember that there was a method to drill the block for external oiling to rocker shafts. Does anyone know of a video or a thread where this has been done ?

I want to keep the LA style Mopar Performance heads because Chapman made them flow like a mother, they're aluminum and bring compression to 10.4:1 and I have good quench, with them being aluminum they really help on heat transfer where I don't experience a ping during the year.

I would prefer not to have to dump $3000 in Edelbrock Magnum specific heads and then another $1000-$1200 for Harland Sharp rockers just for a street build.

Thanks folks.
 
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What year is your Magnum block? Last year I acquired what I thought was a 91 LA roller cam 360 just to stick in my 68 Dart to get it back on the road. After we get it on the engine stand, I realize that it's a Magnum 360 block with LA heads. It had the early 360 hermonic balancer with the big offset wedge. Was really uncertain what we had. It was a reman engine, I bought a nice bore scope. Anyway it had the LA rotating assembly LA 360 .030 over pistons, oil thru pushrods. From all the research I did the Magnum blocks up till 95 had the oil passage for the shaft rockers. So this engine is shaft and pushrod oiling. Other than this, I didn't know much about the Magnums. So correct me if I'm wrong. I have a lifetime collection of LA stuff and I think the Magnums are ugly.
 
I’ve seen pics on this site of plumbing external oil lines into the back of Eddy style heads(similar to what Indy does on the 440-1 and SR BB heads).

Member Toluene56 maybe?
 
I saw where someone didn't want to drill all the way down from the deck to the cam so they stopped around half way down. Then ran a line from the oil pressure galley to the bottom of the holes they drilled which kept it all on the inside. looked similar to the cross over mod people do but for the rockers only.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I wonder what the cost would be to have the Magnum block drilled for LA oiling?
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I don't know. I put one on my knee mill once, and drilled it that way. It lasted three races on an asphalt oval car.

It was nerveracking and despite me fussing with the owner on maintenance I think he didn't maintain the engine and it had an oiling problem and then dropped a valve and seat. I caught the blame.

Back then 5.9 Magnums were cheaper than hell, but the heads cracked, Edelbrock heads were not available back then, so he ran 5.9 Magnum blocks and J and even U and X heads. Tech knew nothing of Mopar so he provided the parts, I built it, I delivered it, I usually put it in the car, he ran GM manual transmission(may have been a T-10) with an adapter plate I made.

He originally had it an 74 Dart Sport and later bought a stripped down Challenger that had run in NASCAR Grand American originally.

But between the Challenger and the engines I built- he would not do maintenance so I got to where I told him if he wouldn't maintain what I was building and servicing- don't bring me stuff to work on. He thought I was bluffing. In fact, I was not
 
lemondana said:
What year is your Magnum block? Last year I acquired what I thought was a 91 LA roller cam 360 just to stick in my 68 Dart to get it back on the road. After we get it on the engine stand, I realize that it's a Magnum 360 block with LA heads. It had the early 360 hermonic balancer with the big offset wedge. Was really uncertain what we had. It was a reman engine, I bought a nice bore scope. Anyway it had the LA rotating assembly LA 360 .030 over pistons, oil thru pushrods. From all the research I did the Magnum blocks up till 95 had the oil passage for the shaft rockers. So this engine is shaft and pushrod oiling. Other than this, I didn't know much about the Magnums. So correct me if I'm wrong. I have a lifetime collection of LA stuff and I think the Magnums are ugly.
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I bought 5 NOS Magnum engines from a place that serviced delivery vans. 2 were complete short blocks, 3 are complete long blocks.

The casting date on them is 1998 or 1999.

I needed an engine to stick in a Challenger and drive it, I used one of the long blocks and a performer rpm air gap intake, eccentric on cam, I'm getting away with using 1.7 ratio rockers instead of 1.6, I'm using a "Purple Shaft" that says it will make power 1500rpm-6500rpm. Stout engine.

Anyway, thank you guys
 
RustyRatRod said:
It certainly wouldn't be difficult to do. Just don't loan it out, because it'll end up like the cylinder head intake bolt hole jig and disappear.
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I learned the hard way that no matter how long you've known someone, don't loan anything. It never ends well.

I loaned a pair of head torque plates for RB wedge engines. The guy got done using them, left them in his garage, he had a son or nephew living with him and his wife, the kid sold the torque plates for scrap so as to buy drugs.
 

Roadblock64 said:
I learned the hard way that no matter how long you've known someone, don't loan anything. It never ends well.

I loaned a pair of head torque plates for RB wedge engines. The guy got done using them, left them in his garage, he had a son or nephew living with him and his wife, the kid sold the torque plates for scrap so as to buy drugs.
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Thieves suck.
 
I loaned out a $500 set of injectors (in 1999 money) and the asshole gave them away to someone else...

Never trust people...
 
excellent 5 minute utube vid on LA heads on magnum block. (LA aluminum heads on magnum blocks ?? can do, pardner) EDIT still using pushrod oiling. MORE EDIT if stock rockers I would external oil as described. If aftermarket roller rockers I would do as described in the vid.
 
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I've seen pictures of how to do it, but can't find the video to save my life! :BangHead: It involves putting a T fitting plumbed out of the oil sending hole beside the distributor, then a steel braided line going to a fitting drilled thru the back of each head. How it gets into each rocker shaft from there, I can't remember. It would have to have a restrictor somewhere, or oil pressure would be way off.
 
JDMopar said:
I've seen pictures of how to do it, but can't find the video to save my life! :BangHead: It involves putting a T fitting plumbed out of the oil sending hole beside the distributor, then a steel braided line going to a fitting drilled thru the back of each head. How it gets into each rocker shaft from there, I can't remember. It would have to have a restrictor somewhere, or oil pressure would be way off.
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1769880671847.png
 
TT5.9mag

Post in thread 'Interchange questions between LA 360 and the Magnum 5.9'

Kern Dog said:
Here is another one.
If one has a Magnum block but wants to use LA pattern heads, how do you get oil to the rocker shafts? I thought that the Magnum didn't have that oil hole/passage that the LAs had.
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Option 1. You can have the block drilled, cam bearings installed with the oiling hole, and a cam that is drilled for timed oiling.

Option 2. Run external oiling, plumbed from the oil gauge port to the back of the heads. Involves drilling heads and rocker shaft bolts. Restrictors need to be made/installed because you’ll have full time oil and lots of it. I have a magnum bottom end...
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JDMopar said:
What I'd really like to see is how you drill down thru the rocker stands to get the oil up to the shafts like the factory ones do. I imagine that the process would be the same with either iron heads like the W2's above as it would with aftermarket aluminum heads.
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you drill the rocker stand bolts.. so straight in through the back of the head to the rocker stand, then drill a small hole through the bolt to get into the shaft. that's how i picture it at least..

could also just put a groove in the outside of the bolt from where the drill hole comes in and upto the shaft... I think those bolts are only 25 ft-lb so not really gonna weaken them enough to matter.
 
What always amazes me is how little oil the setup seems to need. i'm paranoid, i want my **** swimming in oil as long as i keep good pressure :)
 
I kinda like this setup since it's full time oil and not timed with the cam (not that it matters) but i know my luck and it's just more **** to leak/break :)
 
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