During my 360 teardown at 112k miles, I noticed a lack of wear indications. Only
very slight scuffing in a couple of cyls on the lower part of the cyl - not what
I expected to see considering how the small-blocks are prone to wear there.
Maybe the much tighter tolerances in the Magnum series - the piston-to-bore and
bearing clearances come to mind - they are roughly half what the LA motors were.
The heads were also in good condition. I contribute this to the excellent
casting work as of late. I had the opportunity to inspect the innards of the
water pump as well. I was prepared to replace it - not looking forward to a
cheaper replacement pump - but discovered that it still looked factory fresh.
Considering this, I decided to spend the saved money and do some durability
upgrades. I buttoned her back up w/a new camshaft (actually a used MP cam),
lifters, double row roller timing chain, windage tray, HV oil pump, pan, pickup,
thermostat and all new Fel-Pro gaskets.
Now she makes more power, cut 4-6 tenths off my previous best quarter mile times,
sounds and revs smoother and faster than from the factory (and this is a 5000+lb
truck!)
I say go for it and let what you find inside dictate your next moves.
Latr,
Shane
Michael Clark wrote:
> Careful. That's the kind of thinking that led me to doing a motor
> swap......
>
> --Mike
> www.mikesdakota.com
>
> > This is what I wanted to know. Not worth the time and $$$ with that many
> > miles.
>
> > Thanks for all the replies.
>
> > Tom
>
> > kwreimer wrote:
>
> >> Personally you have to many miles on the motor. If you do decide to do the
> >> cam swap, you need to replace the cam bearings also.
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Tom F. Buban" <biokiller@ameritech.net>
> >> To: "Dakota mailing list" <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 5:53 PM
> >> Subject: DML: Camshaft help!!!!!
> >>
> >> > I'm thinking about replacing my stock cam for one that will give me more
> >> > bottom end, torque. I want it for when I'm rock crawling. The engine
> >> > rarely sees 4000 rpm. What would you guys recommend???
> >> > Now this is a stock engine in a '98, and has 120,000 miles on it. Will
> >> > this be a problem, and what else do I need to replace???
> >> >
> >> > I went to Hughes engines, and there are way to many to pick from, and
> >> > they still haven't answered my Emails.
> >> >
> >> > Any help is appreciated.
> >> >
> >> > Tom
> >> >
> >> >
-- '96 IndyRam-HisIndy-MPI TB Pulleys RTcam MPComp HVoilpump DynaGearDoubleRoller WindageTray CompTAs '96 IndyRam-HerIndy-numbered(#142)"Track Truck" '74 Triple-Black Dodge Challenger Rallye 360 EFI R&D vehicle '93 Dakota CC 318 - soon to be mine 8)
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