What's a good LA360 donor for my 74 Charger SE?

[jogirob]

My engine is getting up there in miles and I've been looking into an easy as possible straight up swap since this would be the first time I'd be doing this. Currently I have a 74 Charger SE that came with a 318. The previous owner swapped in a 74 LA360 from a Chrysler Imperial* hundreds of thousands of miles ago. It should have the necessary bracket already.

From the research I've done so far it looks like the 74 LA360's w/ a 4bbl are the most powerful. What other years or car models should I look for?

I did a search on car-parts.com for a compatible (according to the website) LA360's and I get a few options from Dodge Truck 100 & 200 series from 72-77. A quick wiki search shows that these third gen trucks equipped with a LA360 only made 180hp. Would any of these be an externally balanced engine like what I have now? Any particular years I should stay away from? Is it merely a matter of swapping over my current intake manifold + carb to unleash more HP?

Thanks all.

 

[aeon280]

All 360,s are externally balanced, most of the power loss was due to the introduction of smaller diameter intake valves in the heads in the early yrs. of the malaise era. The 360 from 74 also had the cam from the 340 which boosted its hp. After 74 they went back with a lower performance spec'd cam. That said you would need to swap your intake, cam, lifters etc in order to get back to those factory spec'd 240 ponies but then again who is to say all that stuff is not already worn out. Really your best bet is to either rebuild your motor if its not trashed or do a magnum 360 swap. Magnum motors are strait swaps when it comes to the mounts, trans, exhaust. You would need a new intake because it wont bolt up to the magnum heads. You could even keep the factory fuel injection if you grab the computer. There are plenty of resources out there on these swaps The magnum 360 was factory rated at 300 hp and they can be sourced from late 90s early 2000,s Ram trucks and vans and Durangos.

 

[jogirob]

...

Absolute gold! Thanks for sharing your wisdom

 

[Don Frelier]

Just a minor note a "Magnum" engine is referred to in metric units. So a Magnum 360 is a 5.9.
(Not that I'm a fan of metric)
Note that other than bore and stroke the Magnum engines have almost nothing in common internally with the LA series.

 

[PRND21]

Not knowing your budget, I’d look into crate engines that many companies offer. They come in any horsepower level that you’d want. Even Jegs and Summit offer them.

 

[beanhead]

Damm dude. Wish this would have come up 6 months ago...there was a 74 plymouth with it's factory 360 4-barrel sitting in a local junkyard. Everything looked fairly clean and untouched, I myself scavenged quite a few good parts off that car...last time I went out there they'd crushed it

 

[coronet68mx]

Try to find an 80' s Mexican 360, no pollution regulation here, and this engines produce 300 hp with a carburetor, more than decent power IMO.

 

[coronet68mx]

Take a trip to Tijuana to find one of this engines

 

[jogirob]

Not knowing your budget, I’d look into crate engines that many companies offer. They come in any horsepower level that you’d want. Even Jegs and Summit offer them.

Oh just $500 - $1.5k in parts and machining services. The cheaper the better but I'm willing to shell out a little more for ease. I have no aspirations of building a track monster but I also don't want this big ole B-body to be all bark and no bite.

I can get one off the local Pick-n-Pull for $144, not sure if that includes heads, cams, intake etc. The LA360s I find on car-parts.com, at yards near me, run between $300 - $500 and I wouldn't have to deal with their removal but all these options will probably get me one of the neutered 360's. I'm leaning towards using my $500-$1.5k budget towards freshening up what I already have though. My current engine does run fine at 220,000 mi + but compression is on the low end especially on one of the cylinders. An engine rebuild kit runs around $450 w/ pistons. New cams & lifters look at be about $250. I can give the valves a lil spit polish and I can throw the rest of the $ at the machine shop to surface the head (no idea how much this runs).

 

[NoCar2023]

http://www.hughesengines.com/TechArticles/7junkyardjewelmakeminea59.php
Loads of information on 5.9 magnum builds here... maybe within your budget.
More good info-http://www.magnumswap.com/