Who has the rundown on the evolution of the LA series engine?

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Kern Dog

Kern Dog

Build your car to handle.
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I’m curious about the mid to late 80s, specifically.
As I recall, there was a time where the engine blocks had the taller lifter bores but still has flat tappet camshafts. Those blocks could use flat tappers or roller lifters. At some point, the engines went to roller camshafts and didn’t go back.
The MP crate engines were based on the 5.9 series that were built with roller camshafts originally but did the crate engines also have roller cams?
Thanks.
 
The cam you mentioned, Yes MP hydraulic roller, 360/380 HP mag
292 duration 501 lift, with a single plane intake that have dynoed at 400 hp
 
Last edited:
Inertia said:
This help ?

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Click to expand...

Thank you. It helps some but I was curious about the later 360s.
I have an engine I bought from a friend…

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He pulled it when he thought it had a blown head gasket. The casting on the right side is faint.

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It looks like 5 7 90.
It has the Air Gap intake and Holley cast aluminum valve covers. I would guess that this year should be an OEM roller camshaft version.
I’ll return soon…
 
The intake is off.

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I’m building the drama here….
I have a car that I am undecided on the exact approach that I want to take with it. It is a 70 Charger with a 383 that I rebuilt. I’d like to use an automatic overdrive to make road trips more fun. I could just go with a Silver Sport GM based 4 speed auto. The cost is a slight drawback though. I’ve considered a A-500 or 518 but they can be problematic when trying to use a modified case to fit a big block. A bigger inch LA series engine is one option that I’ve considered. I also have considered a 5.7 Hemi.
Back on point….

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I’ve thought that if I went with any LA series, I’d want to use a roller setup to drastically reduce the risk of cam failure. I have a 440/495 in another car that has had camshafts go bad and I’m considering a roller cam for it.
Here we go:
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Yay! Roller setup in place and complete. The engine came with these:

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Hughes roller 1.6 rocker arms?
What do these cost with pushrods??

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I thought these year engines came with the #308 heads. These are not 308s.

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One reads 286 and the other 273.

The heads have those big passages for Pushrod clearance.

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The ports sure seem small though.

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Small and scummy. I’ll lay the intake back on and roll the engine in the corner. I wasn’t looking for it. My buddy just wanted it to go to someone that could use it. I have room to hang onto it.
Thanks for any advice you may have on the weird casting numbers of the heads.
 
The guy thought he blew a head gasket. I will pull the heads and get a look sometime later. This one found me when I wasn’t looking.
 
Uhhhh….

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I pulled the spark plugs and squirted oil in each cylinder.

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With an old torque wrench, I gave it a spin and got a geyser out of #6. Then I spun some more…

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The spark plugs being at an angle helped me see where the water came from. Both # 5 and 6 had water.

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The intake ports had rust stains so I wonder if water went down through the carburetor base.

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The heads on this engine didn’t have the casting numbers visible. It has been awhile since I’ve paid attention to casting numbers on heads so i am out of practice.
I looked at another set of heads I had in the shed. FABO member @mopowers Made me a deal on them a couple of years back
They have the casting numbers on the other side facing the valley. #308. The heads on this engine might actually be the same castings.
 
There sure are a lot of goodies on that 360! Should make for a great little runner. I wonder how crusty the cylinder walls are. What are you waiting for - pop those cylinder heads off already!
 
I would strip it ASAP. Get the rust out of it and grease it up. Every day water is sitting in it, the block, heads get closer to being door stops. Clean it all.
 
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