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[Polaraco]

Don't forget you need to have a ballanced Torque converter for that.

If you are interested, I have a good LA 360 here.  I've inspected it alrerady and was thinking of using it, but I think I'm going to go with the the 5.2 Magnum I pulled out of Polaraco.  That only has 40,000 on it.  The 360 has 70 Kilometers on it, what ever that is in miles.

Be careful on the 5.9 Magnums, they are prone to cracking, especially in a Durango or Dakota.  They crack around the lower head bolt holes, and between the cylinders.  Make sure you sniff the oil real good.  You want to look for over heating oders in the oil

[Dippy.org]

[brotherGood]

Well, if I buy it off of him, dad wants me to have him go through it and pretty much rebuild it..that's when ill get the cam. What would be the best cam for my application? And when all of that's done, then worry about the headers, intake, carb, and ignition..

[moparmuscle88]

an off idle cam, around 450-480 lift seems to take well to the LA's

id buy the motor, put headers and ignition on your car, build the motor yourself as a lerning process, then have someone help you put it in once its done and the headers and ignition are already there

[270SE]

The spacers are just washers, enough to get it to fit.

The heads are prone to cracking on the Magnums.

Are the cylinder prone to cracking too?

If you buy an LA 360 you need a short block. Chances are you'll have the same heads so those probably won't be worth taking off.

[brotherGood]

How about for the magnum motors?

[GrissomRacing]

the only cracking I've ever heard of is the heads

[Polaraco]

Well, if I buy it off of him, dad wants me to have him go through it and pretty much rebuild it..that's when ill get the cam. What would be the best cam for my application? And when all of that's done, then worry about the headers, intake, carb, and ignition..

Remind me what you were trying to accomplish.

I used this cam

 

I got these results on a desktop Dyno.  It's pretty close as I entered my own parameters.  But we think I gained more than 5 HP. 




Keep in mind, this is a 5.9 magnum with ported heads.  The heads alone are worth about 25 ft lbs and 10 hp

Hyperutectic pistons, Clevite bearings and Molly rings will reduce friction about 10% of the friction.  If the engine is rebuilt, try to go with all that.  these engines usually don't need boring, even with 100K on them.  The alloy is very good.  All you need to do is remove the ridge usually.  But I did this motor .030 over and used all of the above

[Reggie]

I don't remember if I posted this or not, but here is the Library topic for the 360 swap. Swapping in a 360  Engine

[brotherGood]

Polaraco; what I am shooting for is around 300hp, with a healthy amount of torque (350 lb-ft or so) around 16 or so mpg..at least that for 75-25 highway-city average. And obviously as budget as I can..which is why heads are out, because I have no way of doing those here, and they won't be cheap at a shop.

[Polaraco]

Then you want a high lift, short duration cam.  A set of roller rockers will help increase the lift and fix the push rod geometry.  But keep it under 500 lift. That's what is done to Polaraco.  It runs very well, even with the quirky ODP1 Fuel INjection.

All you need is a dremel tool and some grinding tips to port the heads.  It's not that difficult and easy to do.  What you have to try to do is remove the same amount in each cylinder.  That way the CC's stay about the same per cylinder.  If you want, I can walk you through it with all the pictures I did and a picture exchange.  A full dremel set is around 200, and you'll spend maybe $50 on burring tools.  There's no polishing on the intake side.  Remember, we're building a street engine.  Not a race engine.  There is a difference.  There is no polishing in a street porting job, except for the exhaust discharge

You want to do the porting before you have the heads done.  That way you can get any oop's fixed when the valves are done.

[patrickgrossman]

Polaraco; what I am shooting for is around 300hp, with a healthy amount of torque (350 lb-ft or so) around 16 or so mpg..at least that for 75-25 highway-city average. And obviously as budget as I can..which is why heads are out, because I have no way of doing those here, and they won't be cheap at a shop.

good running, or reringed magnum 318, regrind the roller cam by bullet cams using their HR259/316 lobe for both intake/exhaust, summit headers, eddie RPM air gap intake, and a 600 electric choke eddie carb leaned out 3 steps on both primary and secondary will get you there plus some, and net you 17+ mpg in mixed driving.  been there, done that, bought the t-shirt

[moparmuscle88]

good running, or reringed magnum 318, regrind the roller cam by bullet cams using their HR259/316 lobe for both intake/exhaust, summit headers, eddie RPM air gap intake, and a 600 electric choke eddie carb leaned out 3 steps on both primary and secondary will get you there plus some, and net you 17+ mpg in mixed driving.  been there, done that, bought the t-shirt
 
 
 

listen to this guy... he knows his stuff, this probably is the cheapest option, and a good addition to this would be a 518 swap in while your at it if you want to gain some hwy mileage (if you have the money)

the end result is a very streetable fun motor that starts right up every time

[brotherGood]

Yeah..I like that option. Can you get me every bit of info on that option..I really like how that one is going.

[brotherGood]

Ok..since this 318 mag swap seems like it may work and be cheaper..I think I may try and go that route. And I may be able to pick up the 318 for free. It is the same motor that was mentioned a few pages back, from the same truck. My dad is going to sell his truck and use that one, and he wants that 360 mag I mentioned earlier, and ill get the 318. Both engines get rebuilt, and ill get a mild cam in mine and it'll be fun.

So..if this works out..what should I need now for the 318? Also what would be the best option for my goals and budget for the cam, headers, intake and 4bbl. Can I use the serp. system or should I use my stuff?

[270SE]

Ok..since this 318 mag swap seems like it may work and be cheaper..I think I may try and go that route. And I may be able to pick up the 318 for free. It is the same motor that was mentioned a few pages back, from the same truck. My dad is going to sell his truck and use that one, and he wants that 360 mag I mentioned earlier, and ill get the 318. Both engines get rebuilt, and ill get a mild cam in mine and it'll be fun.

So..if this works out..what should I need now for the 318? Also what would be the best option for my goals and budget for the cam, headers, intake and 4bbl. Can I use the serp. system or should I use my stuff?

It's all in the thread except the budget on the cam/headers/intake/4bbl.

Headers, somewhere between $125 (really cheap, really uncoated and rust-prone) to $400. (really nice and rust-proof) $185 or so is a happy medium where they are just high enough quality that they'll get rust but won't leak due to rust for a long time. Intake, if you want to buy a new Magnum intake they still aren't cheap. The crosswinds are on the outer edges of quality and fairly unfinished in terms of portwork even though they are under $200. Redrillin the heads should be between $80-200. That'd let you use your intake or any number of $10-150 intakes that are decent but not costly. The majority of new Magnum intakes are the kind that don't often get resold (cheap). Cam depends on if you are going to use a roller or flat-tappet. It should be somewhere between $200-400 all said and done. The cheapest new 4bbl worth bolting on is $230. You can rebuild a carb for less or reuse yours if possible. Best to get a new carb you LOVE and spend a bit extra if you are going to get one than want to get rid of it all the time. Same with the intake. If you are actually going to spend money, it'd be good to never want to change it.