Can a magnum oil pan be used on an LA 360 block 1975 vintage (4x4 truck application, I'm making the assumption that the sump fits) ? I see a lot of different stuff on this and it has me confused . I know someone knows the exact difference, or problem area and reason. Thanks!

I can say for sure it works the otherway.

I took a 360 pan and use it on a 5.9 mag.

the oil pick up would have to match the pan, and the gasket would have to match the pan.

those are the only gotcha's I am aware of.

IIRC the pan fitment is the same but you use the mag gasket with the 5.2/5.9 & an LA gasket with a 360. Spend some time makeing sure the front/rear black seals are fitted dead on especially the front one & some pans (more of an aftermarket issue) have a shallower "halfmoon" & the flat ends of the front black seal may need to be shortened a bit & sometimes the side gaskets need to be "sectioned" so the bolt holes are dead on and the 4 corner mini pieces can need trimming.the thin rear black seal may be a bit too long & need sectioned then some good cement at that junction. As you know oil leaks are the cats' ass/worth the prep/trouble.

The LA timing cover has two one inch long extensions just before the timing cover gets to the pan rail. The Magnum timing covers do not have those, so the pan either needs to have them flattened or fill the voids with silicon etc. Consequently, the Magnum pan wont fit over those LA extensions without modification to clear them.

As mentioned above, its easier to use an LA pan on a Magnum, but you have to fill the 2 voids in some manner.

Here are a couple pictures of my LA pan and the one piece Magnum gasket & the 4 piece LA gasket. Notice how the blue Magnum gasket effectively hides the 2 gaps with the flaps of the gasket. It took me a while to figure that out.

^^^ Good info

wonder if a magnum gasket would work with the magnum pan and la 360 timing cover?