magnum,all day every day.
the Initial costs are higher than an la 360,BUT the performance versus the la is night and day.
Best way to do this,search your local fb marketplace for a 360 dodge truck thats got a bad tranny,dead rearend,whatever.
you Want to be able to hear the motor Run.
start at 1994 and go up.
buy truck,Keep/strip motor,exhaust,starter,then cash remains of truck out as scrap get money back.
if the truck has Catalytc convertors cut them off and find a buyer locally,should be a coupla hundred back there too.
now,go to ebay,buy a cheap chinese Stealth intake/200 bucks,an Electric fuel pump setup,with regulator,because the magnum block doesnt come with a fuel pump provision,under a 100.
then grab whatever cheapie ignition setup you like,i usually get the whole kit off ebay,cap rotor wires and distributor.
under 200 if you do it right.
use an edelbrock carb if you are just driving it,use a holley street demon if you plan on flogging it.
ive been down this road quite a few times.
keep in mind the stock manifold exhausts arent that great on the trucks,they have a necked down outlet,so get headers if you can,but if not no biggie.
thoughts,ive thrown damm good money at 2 360 builds over the past ten years.
the full monte,along with a decent cam,both cost around 4 Grand to build.
Both make less power than the Stock magnums ive ripped out of trucks and replaced them with.
you Should be right below 300 hp and over 400 lbs of torque,just throwing this thing together with a Stock Cam !!
your wallet is the limit there ;)
and,worst come to worst and the Stock magnum blows up?
go get another one dirt cheap and you arent out the 4 grand or more.
side notes,the magnum from the factory/tbi comes with a Dumb design on the intake manifold.
it uses a tin plate on the bottom of the intake which is Alum,and of course it blows the gasket out and starts eating oil.
Any motor you find is more than likely consuming oil,dont worry about it,youll be swapping a 4bbl intake on.also the heads almost Always Crack between the Seats,this is normal for these heads dont worry about it,just slap them on and run them.
try,to find a halfway decent mileage motor,remember these can come out of Jeeps,durangos,and full size trucks BUT the trucks are the easiest to take apart.
the durangos are a freaking nightmare.
hope any of this helps.
