1992 5.9 LA Roller Cam Motor Build?

Hi all....was curious if any of you have built one of the non magnum roller cammed engines? I have a 1992 360 out of a Ram truck. Needs rebuilt (again) as the previous owner did some sort of re freshening and upon start-up had little to no oil pressure and smoked the bearings. Looking to put this in my 65 Dart down the road.

I built my 408 using one of these blocks, they are a great platform. In my experience these blocks have better machining and finish than some of the older blocks, bores are usually in decent condition due to fuel injection. For those wanting to use the roller cam setup, the factory retainer system and replacement lifters are great, eliminating the need for costly retro fit roller lifters. My cam is .580 lift with no issues, I've heard of others using this setup at .600 lift. Also, this eliminates the risk of a link bar breaking, or coming undone. Flat tappet cam and lifters can be used in these with no changes required. I've read of people shimming factory roller lifters and using solid roller cams also, though I have no personal experience with this.

That is a great motor to build. It's got 308 heads and the roller cam.
As you tear it down check an see if the rear driver side oil galley plug is missing or if the oil pump is not sealed to the main cap correctly.

Jadaharabi said:

That is a great motor to build. It's got 308 heads and the roller cam.
As you tear it down check an see if the rear driver side oil galley plug is missing or if the oil pump is not sealed to the main cap correctly.

Click to expand...

Yes, I totally forgot to mention the 308 Heads, good call!

I built 89 318 roller engine, 9:1 comp factory, better heads, with roller set up, ended shaving the head got to 9:5 installed a regrind roller camshaft close specs to the magnum R/T specs advanced the camshaft, 3.55 gears getting 14-15 mpg city driving couldn't be happier. Quick engine lots of torque. So I can only imagine the roller 360.

I will have to check that plug after I get home. Thank you for the tip! 408 you say??? Smells like money....lol.

I too have a roller cam LA 318. Installed it in my1988 D350 truck. Came out of a Dodge Diplomat 1985.I often wondered why Chrysler made them (318/360 LA rollers)when they were coming out with the Magnum. All I know I'm glad they did.
Now when I hit the pic-a-part I'm looking for them.A stroked 390/408 built for torque will be nice for the truck in the future.

If the crank is smoked you can buy a 4 inch stroker for the same money as a 360 crank.
Check for the plug under the oil sending unit and for plugs under the cam retainer plate too.

A bit of an old thread but I'll add my build:
This was a motor out of a 1990 Dodge Ramcharger that I save from the Recyclers for $500, Sold the rest of the Ramcharger for parts to a young 17 yr old Girl who had an 87 Ramcharger for $400.
So basically I started with a $100, 1990 360 LA roller.
Stock bore at 4.0" (the motor only had like 60,000 miles on it). Stock stroke at 3.58.
Pistons are Speed-Pro: H116CP, on my engine the pistons are about .027 below deck.
My 308 heads were milled a bit some time in the past the chambers were measured to about 67cc. So my Compression is around 9.6:1
Cloyes Double Roller timing chain.
Lunati Voodoo Retrofit Roller cam: 20200711 - Duration (Int/Exh): 270/279 ;Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 219/227 ;Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .515/.530 ;LSA/ICL: 112/106 ;Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd ;RPM Range: 1800-5800
- This cam has very good Low to mid-range torque but I think I should've went with the 20200712: Voodoo Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Cam - Chrysler 273-360 282/290 better mid-range to high-range stats IMO
The 308 heads also had some very light porting in the past, I machined the valve area to put on Comp 996-16 springs.
I currently have a Weiand Action Plus intake which is real good, But I just acquired an Eddy Air-Gap for a steal, going on this weekend!
I have Hooker Comp headers (free, came with car).
Street Demon 750 tuned to 4500 feet alt.

The A999 trans came out of a 1988 Dodge diplomat.
Performance rebuild kit with Alto Red Eagle clutches and Kolene steels. Turbo Action's Cheetah stage 2 valve body. Hughes 2000 stall TQ converter (the only yuck part, but it was free).
3.21 rear gears for now. A 3.90 with an A500 4spd is in the near future.

Overall, I put on a very happy 40,000 miles on this motor, but I know there is more potential to this motor to be had. Which is going to happen real soon, with a bore job, new pistons, bigger cam. And either a full port job on the 308 heads or get aluminium ones.
City mileage ranges from 9 to 11 (depends if I'm froggin' the throttle or not)
Highway mileage ranges from high 14 to around 17+ (between 2700-3000 rpm) 65-70 mph with 26.5" rear tires (245/60R15). Wind, hill's, construction & temps all play a factor.

Partial list:
Voodoo Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Cam - Chrysler 273-360 270/279
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-996-16
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/clo-c-3028x/make/dodge
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/slp-h116cp/make/dodge

The spikes were my trips to Colorado and back (1000 miles round trip) & a hunting trip to my father's property and back (272 miles round trip). I did get a best of 17.2 mpg in July 4th weekend of 2019, but wasn't tracking it on this app at the time.

I'm in the process of rebuilding an 88, 318 roller motor for my ramcharger. I bought it off a guy who thinks 318's are junk for $100.00. It's a stock rebuild and other than adding a cast iron TQ Intake and cleaning up the ports lightly, its bone stock. It was so nice on the inside when I tore it down it only took a few seconds with a hone to clean the cylinders. I'm excited to see how it will run compared to the tired 2bbl in the truck currently.

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