Welcome again to our protection of Venture Energy Laggin’! Observe alongside as we take a drained 1979 Dodge W150 Energy Wagon we present in Central Maine and remodel it from a derelict roadside attraction to a reliable, highly effective weekend workhorse that lives as much as it’s given title! On this installment, we swap the ailing LA 318 engine for our Spray Can Rebuild Magnum 360! Will it run, or did we purchase a forged iron lemon?
Final time we checked in on the ol’ Wagon of Laggin’, the unique LA 318 was knocking more durable than a pizza supply man on a Friday evening, so we opted to snag a 138,000 mile Magnum 360 out of a 1997 Ram 2500 to interchange it. We checked its vitals, deemed it “adequate” and slathered on some Chrysler Company Blue to finish the look. With the 318 getting worse with each startup, we made preparations to behave shortly to get the swap achieved. Whereas this swap is pretty commonplace on the earth of Mopars, most individuals both retain the inventory EFI from the 90’s truck or run a carb. We had been going to run our MSD Atomic 2 EFI and Holley Hyperspark ignition system, and contemplating that’s a uncommon combo on considered one of these rigs to start with, we had been in uncharted territory right here. Would we succeed, or crash and burn arduous?
We determined to go for a greater facility than my driveway to do that swap, and a great good friend of ours occurs to have a house store up the highway with a two-post elevate and loads of instruments, so whereas the truck was nonetheless operating, we loaded up the 360, all of the elements and instruments we would wish, and limped it over.
Right here’s a ultimate take a look at the 318 utterly intact. This engine made it 43 years and solely tried to kill itself as soon as throughout our stewardship of this majestic beast. After the incident final yr the place it bent 5 pushrods and a valve touched the #1 piston as a result of timing chain leaping off the cam gear, it was solely a matter of time earlier than one thing like this might occur. Take pleasure in your well-deserved retirement!
Having the elevate for the engine swap course of was key in saving time AND saving our backsides! Personally, I’m used to rolling round on the bottom to get issues achieved, however I can get used to having considered one of these! Having access to parts beneath the truck was as simple as elevating the factor up, strolling beneath, and attending to work. As Ferris Bueller as soon as stated, “It’s so selection. In case you have the means, I extremely advocate choosing one up.”
Earlier than lengthy, we had all of the fluids drained, the radiator eliminated, the headers unbolted, all wiring eliminated, the engine mounts unbolted from the body, and the throttle physique safely out of the way in which. Time to yank it out!
With the crane chains attached, it was time for the 318 to vacate its house without end. Engine load levelers are useful in ensuring you pull the engine out with none mishaps. You undoubtedly don’t need to be doing the dangling engine shuffle with that forged iron lump excessive within the air!
Quickly, with none drama, the 318 was out!
Since we had been swapping in a Magnum 360, the torque converter wanted to return out as properly. The Magnum 360 is externally balanced, and it is advisable to ensure that to make use of a neutral-balanced converter AND a weighted flexplate. The Magnum 360’s OEM flexplate got here with our engine, and to bolt it to the converter, one of many mounting holes wants massaging.
As you possibly can see right here, the outlet on the highest is simply barely off. With the three others lined up, we marked off the place we needed to grind…
…And we hogged out the outlet a bit. Doesn’t should be fairly; it simply has to work!
We additionally took the chance to interchange the entrance seal on the transmission whereas all the things was out of the way in which. Though the seal was in fine condition, it was low-cost insurance coverage to keep away from a future leak.
We then launched the 318 and the 360. Though these two seem much like the informal observer, there are lots of variations each on and under the floor. Hopefully the 318 gave the 360 just a few suggestions earlier than it was tagged in for service.
Let’s speak about Small Block Chrysler truck engine mounts for a minute. Whereas the engine was out, we changed the rubber mount isolators, which have been sitting on our shelf for just a few years. Though the rubber isolators are the identical, on LA engines, the 318 and 360 have completely different mounts. The large distinction is the motive force’s facet mount, which is narrower on the 360. Earlier than we carried out the swap, I researched whether or not the 318 ones would work with Magnum 360, for the reason that Magnum 360 retains the LA-style mounting tabs towards the entrance of the block. With out a definitive reply, we determined to seek out out the arduous means.
Reducing the engine into the engine bay was as simple as eradicating the previous one, nevertheless it took fairly a little bit of re-leveling and shifting the engine round to get issues to line up on the bellhousing.
Whereas it’s powerful to see, we had so as to add a spacer on the motive force’s facet mount to make up for the additional area. We are going to change this mount with a correct 360 mount later, however this can get us house.
With the engine bolted to the bellhousing and the mount state of affairs… properly… located, it was time to deal with the accent drive. We needed to retain the Magnum’s serpentine belt drive for just a few causes, together with the simplicity of getting one belt that’s available in a pinch, the advantage of having a clutch fan, and never having a bunch of misaligned, squealing v-belts. One factor that wanted to be stored from the previous 318 is the facility steering pump. The Magnum pump makes use of a strain line with O-ring seals vs. the flared traces on the truck, so as an alternative of getting a customized line made, we simply swapped pumps. Fortunately, the previous pump bolts proper onto the later Magnum bracket.
Utilizing a pulley puller/installer equipment, the serpentine pulley from the Magnum pump presses proper in place.
Once we went to mount the bracket to the engine, nonetheless, we forgot that the previous alternator/AC compressor bracket was a part of the bolt sandwich, so we would have liked shorter bolts. Fortunately, our buddy’s store has some machine instruments, so we reduce down the inventory bolts and gave them a taper for a simple match. Took much less time than going to the ironmongery shop!
One other spot the place we needed to improvise was the water pump heater hose connection. Once more, with out the previous alternator/AC compressor bracket, there was nowhere to bolt the outlet to. One of many previous studs from that setup that we saved simply occurred to be the proper size, so we added a nut and washer and voilà! Labored completely!
One of many advantages of operating the Magnum’s entrance costume is attending to improve the alternator. The low output Magnum alternator is a 90 amp Denso unit, which is an improve over the 60 amp alternator that the truck beforehand had. Just like the LA-style ones, they’re externally regulated. The distinction is the newer Ram vehicles regulate voltage with the ECU, and the older ones like Energy Laggin’ use Ye Olde Exterior Voltage Regulator bolted to the firewall. Seems, it’s a standard mod for later Ram homeowners to bypass the ECU and run the older voltage regulator, and it’s easy!
Each the previous and new fashion alternators use mainly the identical wiring, making it even simpler. You will have a battery optimistic wire and two area coil wires. The Magnum wiring harness additionally consists of some further grounds, however they aren’t needed right here. The largest modification required is changing the blade connectors on the sphere coil wires and the inventory plastic-shrouded loop connector on the optimistic wire with common loops as you see right here.
After which, you bolt them on identical to you’d on the previous alternator! That’s it!
After that, we bolted the headers onto the block. The Hooker Competitors headers we put in final yr for the LA 318 bolt proper as much as the Magnum heads with no drama.
Then, the throttle physique was launched to the Magnum 360, we ran the spark plug wires, and attached all of the sensors, wiring, and coolant hoses.
A crowning glory was hosing down the “patina” air cleaner with some Semi-Gloss Black. It was getting just a little grungy, and this matches the valve covers higher. Man, this appears nice, prefer it belongs in there!
To get the engine began, we needed to comply with the Holley/MSD technique of setting preliminary timing. Backing up just a little: once we dropped the distributor in, we used the particular alignment cap that got here with the Hyperspark distributor to ensure it was in there correctly. This dictates the place the number one wire is with a small indent within the alignment software. Mark the distributor, and begin putting in the cap and wires with that in thoughts.
When it got here time to start out it, on the hand-held controller within the truck, we set the timing for one thing simply seen on the timing marks; in our case, 5 levels BTDC labored for us. Then, we unplugged the gas pump relay so we didn’t fill the throttle physique with gas. Subsequent, we cranked it over, moved the distributor till we confirmed it matched with a timing gun, and locked down the distributor. Then, we adjusted it again to our optimum cranking timing and re-confirmed with the gun that it modified to what we set it to. Lastly, the gas pump relay was reconnected, and it was time to show the important thing. It fired up immediately! Except for a MAJOR oil leak from the oil sending unit falling off, there have been no unusual noises. After cleansing up the mess, we fired it again up and it ran higher than anticipated!
In the event you keep in mind our final installment, we determined to re-use the rod bearings and oil pump that got here with the engine. That brought about a little bit of a ruckus within the feedback part, with folks calling us nuts. Personally, it was my resolution. They appeared good, and the within of the engine was clear. Add to that the truth that provide chain points had been making the “good” bearings arduous to acquire on the time and with different shortages in metallurgic parts and high quality management, we determined to only ship it, realizing we might all the time repair it later if needed. Nicely, I’m completely happy to report that this engine makes no knocky noises AND has glorious oil strain. It reveals 60PSI chilly and drops to about 45-50PSI heat operating 5w30 artificial oil. For comparability, the previous 318 confirmed 30PSI chilly and about 0 PSI heat with 15w40 diesel oil and a bottle of Lucas Oil Stabilizer. In different phrases, we received a great one!
So, how’s it run?
In a phrase, unbelievable! The 360 actually runs nice. There are not any indicators of inner points, and the loudest a part of the engine is definitely the belt drive; the loafer pulley bearing is just a little noisy. The valvetrain and backside finish are very quiet, and there’s no strangeness within the exhaust notice. Talking of the exhaust, it sounded nice with the 318, nevertheless it sounds even higher with the 360 offering the rumble. It has a deeper tone because of the additional cubes, and it sounds downright MEAN!
Did it resolve the Laggin’?
YES. In comparison with the 318, this engine actually does really feel prefer it makes double the facility, which was what we had been hoping for. There’s no downside maintaining with site visitors now, and off the road, it pulls HARD. There’s extra energy in all places within the energy band over the previous 318, and it simply makes driving it a lot extra enjoyable. The kicker is that regardless that there’s a soar in energy, the 360 can be extra environment friendly! We at the moment are seeing double digit gasoline mileage for the primary time since we dragged this factor house. At one level, we had been getting 5-6mpg. Now we’re getting 10+. Nonetheless horrible, however we’ve basically doubled each its energy and effectivity with the Magnum swap!
What’s subsequent on the checklist?
There’s nonetheless lots to be achieved to this previous rig. The added energy has uncovered just a few flaws, like the necessity for higher functioning brakes, in addition to a number of upkeep gadgets we have to deal with to make it safer, like U-joints, suspension bits, and tires. We’d additionally prefer to deal with the nasty inside and change the rusty flooring pans quickly. However till then, we’ll be doing Truck Stuff!
