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318-360 Question

RDC5

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I have a 76 Daytona that just followed me home that has been sitting for a long time. Car has the original 360 2 bbl. I also have a complete 96 318 magnum I pulled with low mileage. I was wondering if anyone knows how much interchanges on these engines? Being in quarantine hanging in the shop everyday has my mind thinking the magnum heads on the old LA engine might be a neat swap, curious if anyone has tried it.
Thanks
 
The magnum heads bolt on but your existing LA intake will not there is a difference in the angle of the intake bolts.
Actually there is very little direct interchange between the two.
I'd consider changing the whole engine to the 5.2 magnum, put a Hughes intake on it and keep the EFI. (you could do the intake later)
Of course you would need a fuel system and wiring/controller to support it.
 
If you pulled everything with the 96 engine. Things like trans, controller's, wire harness. Basically the works. You would probably have less in it in the end just building the 360.
 
Assuming the 318 came from a truck you will need to change the oil pan & pickup (your 360 pan wont fit the 318) The 318 will bolt to your trans, mounts should swap, all 360's are externally balanced so you may have a balancing issue (not sure if late 318's are externally balanced - I know the early ones are internally balanced) you can buy an aftermarket 4bbl manifold to fit the Magnum motor if you want to go carbureted.
 
Thanks for the replies, the magnum came from a 2wd Dakota, and I took everything including all wiring and ecm. Didn't think too much about swapping the whole driveline, just thought the Magnum heads might flow better then the smogger 360 heads. The 318 with fuel injection would make the car a nice driver
 
I have both
318mmagnum with everything will run better than a 360 with the magnum heads which would be a lot more work
you pick up some compression but still no quench and no roller cam
I'd swap the whole drivetrain
on the 360 conversion you have to change lifters and pushrods and as siad a special carb manifold but you could bring the 318 manifold and 'efi along with the heads
which is what I would do if I swapped the heads
 
I have both
318mmagnum with everything will run better than a 360 with the magnum heads which would be a lot more work
you pick up some compression but still no quench and no roller cam
I'd swap the whole drivetrain
on the 360 conversion you have to change lifters and pushrods and as siad a special carb manifold but you could bring the 318 manifold and 'efi along with the heads
which is what I would do if I swapped the heads[/QUOTE)
If that is the intended route see post #6. Lots of extra work for little gain.
 
I believe the magnum heads use pushrod oiling for the rockers. 440'
 
Assuming the 318 came from a truck you will need to change the oil pan & pickup (your 360 pan wont fit the 318) The 318 will bolt to your trans, mounts should swap, all 360's are externally balanced so you may have a balancing issue (not sure if late 318's are externally balanced - I know the early ones are internally balanced) you can buy an aftermarket 4bbl manifold to fit the Magnum motor if you want to go carbureted.
im going thru this swap now with an M body.
this is an inaccurate statement.

coupla things,
your 360 car pan and pickup Will bolt right onto the Magnum truck motor and is the one you need to make the swap happen.
your 360 Torque convertor Weight can be removed Very carefully and then you will be able to use your original trans and vertor.
you will Have to use the flywheel/ring from the magnum motor,it is balanced there.
lay the flywheel over the face of your convertor.
one of your holes Will have to be rat filed a hair to make room for that bolt.

now,you can go all the way and install it with efi and the compooter n all that jazzz,or,
you can buy a stealth/attack sb magnum 4bbl intake for around 200 bucks.
same thing goes for the front of the motor,you can keep it stock and serpentine,
or Swap all the La motor/360 front end pieces/timing cover,pulleys etc etc.
if you choose the serpentine belt,be aware you may end up needing to swap the power steering pump from truck to a Van version,the bracket locates differently.

theres a few other details..lmk if you need help or questions.
the Best resource ive found so far for these type of Swaps is the FAbo,or the A body forum.
those guys do these swaps in their sleep practically over there.
 
I did the swap in my ‘79 Dodge Magnum. I went up from a LA 318 to a 400 B block back to a 5.9. So the Shunacher engine mounts are used. I didn’t have the Magnums flex plate at the cranks end so I used a B&M flex plate. Otherwise, it went like this....

The OE P/S pump hose swapped onto the Magnums P/S pump.
I used Hooker 1-3/4 Super Comp headers. There expensive now but when I did the swap way back when, they were $330 to the door. They fit WAY better than the standard header does.
A Edelbrock RPM intake and 600 cfm carb was used, Lokar cables move the gas pedal and trans pressure lever. An LA distributor and MP Chrome box for ignition.
I used a Summit Racing exhaust kit. It is mislabeled and wrong but I made it work.
An Edelbrock electric fuel pump designed for the carbs lower pressure was used. Purchase the pump and wiring kit. There not sold together. Sorry I don’t have any detailed pictures on my phone but if ya want, I’ll take pictures for you.

0362EA47-7CCF-4756-A273-A94A85DD7BF4.jpeg FEDB7D72-73F4-45F6-A1C9-06D25BC46849.jpeg 0DA1E4DA-AB5E-4800-95D1-923715449683.jpeg C98F223D-EAB4-46A0-83E8-0AC9038EED25.jpeg
 
im going thru this swap now with an M body.
this is an inaccurate statement.



I beg to differ - his '76 360 pan will not fit the 318 and yes you can knock the weight off the converter if you are careful. Not sure what you are talking about regarding the flywheel/ring as it is on the convertor from the car and his 360 flexplate should bolt to the 318.
 
thats fine but heres the real deal.
the first motor i put in was a 318 magnum in my car.
i found out right quick the la 318 pan will not fit period.
all the magnum motors use a 360 size pan for the application.


you have to keep the flywheel/Flexplate From the magnum motor With the magnum motor.
no,he cannot use the 360 la flexplate with the 318 magnum motor period.
the magnums are weighted thru the Magnum flexplate.
thats why i mentioned the need to elongate one hole on the flexplate.
yes he will Have to remove the weight off the vertor.

To install a Magnum motor in your car, you will need a car-style mid sump oil pan and matching pickup tube. All Magnum motors have rear sump truck-style oil pans. If you’re putting the Magnum in a truck or SUV, the existing pan will work.
The Chrysler LA 360 oil pan will bolt-up to the Magnum with no modifications, but you aren’t stuck with the typical leaky four-piece 360 Gasket. The Magnum uses a one-piece oil pan gasket. If you use the Magnum timing cover, you can use the gasket as-is. It is possible to use the Magnum gasket with the LA timing cover, but modifications to the front of the gasket are required.


heres some good reading for the Op,and any others who are curious.
http://www.magnumswap.com/
to put it into perspective,if you are keeping your car/truck a small block,
a magnum upgrade is cheaper to pull off than a complete La engine rebuild.
and if the magnum motor takes a dump down the road,
simply reuse all your parts on another dirt cheap truck magnum motor.
 
One thing to look at on the Mags is the heads cracking between the valves.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm going to read up and seriously look into doing this swap. Cracking between the valves? is that common on the magnum heads?
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm going to read up and seriously look into doing this swap. Cracking between the valves? is that common on the magnum heads?
One thing to look at on the Mags is the heads cracking between the valves.

Yes, though the cracks normally do not effect anything.
Put it out of your mind for a moment and look at the engine 5.2/5.9 you want to swap in. Does it run well? Excessive oil consumption? Clattering? Steam or blue smoke out of the rail pipe? Bad cylinder pressure/compression test?

If you answered no and it is a good running engine, use it as is. Make your intake/cam swap and don’t worry. These engines run hundreds of thousands of miles with cracks between the valves. Everyone has dire warnings and heart attacks over this non issue. No one has come up with anything to say there head is or isn’t cracked while there engine is delivering current good, reliable and emissions passing service. However, according to them, ALL Magnum heads are cracked. Nevermind when they crack. No one here can say with 100% authority that the heads crack at or before a certain mileage. Early all will just say, your heads are cracked looking down there long nose at you as if your a wacko for using them but yet they honestly have just no clue, but an absolute total of a zero clue to this reportedly disastrous engine ending issue. Which it is not.

My ‘03 Dakota with over 350K miles runs excellent all around. Dead reliable. Zero issues. But I’d bet a weeks pay the heads are cracked. I’m sure I’d win that bet.

Of course no one would out a cracked head on a fresh mill. It would be a new and fresh head or an upgraded one. If you can find one of the iron head replacements, that would be good. Otherwise, it is ether an Edelbrock or Trick Flow Head.

Again, if it runs good, leave it assembled and just swap/upgrade your part and go. These engines respond well to a cam, intake and the heads are still stock, as is. If you do a cam, get a timing chain and tensioner.
 
The motor has just under 190000 kms, I drove it 60 miles back home and it didn't smoke when first started cold and ran great, no noises from the engine and what surprised me a bit was the motor is dry, no leaks anywhere. I read the cams in these engines is very small so I will upgrade that for sure
 
Oil burning on a Mag could be due to a blown intake plenum gasket. Its not if it fails but when.
 
all i'd do in the short term is to make sure the timing chain is ok
post up a compression check before thinking cam
magnum does not need as much ex as an LA
so also before cam post up ex system
 
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