Ok, 318 cu in, First year for roller cam, were the heads small ports? Wanting to do an aluminum intake and TQ, got two Eddys one is a sp2p or something like that, small runners. Other is a performer says 318-360. What should I use? No race truck just hot driver and I do have a set of fresh late 360 heads I could use. Cam will be reground to a little better profile.

No question, use the performer and scrap the SP2P. The pre magnum 360 heads were the best until the magnum was released in '93. The factory 360 4bbl cam is Casper Milquetoast in a 318, need a bit more than that, probably a 340 type grind.

What year was the swirl combustion chamber head, did they use them on the 318? Or just 360? Reason being I do have a 92 360 LA engine-trans (od) in a Van. What do ya think of the Magnum RT cam? Big enough? It has the reg fuel pump end.

I think only the 318 got the swirl heads? My '91 360 did not have them. I don't know anything, or forgotten about the Magnum RT cam, I used a Crane custom hydraulic roller, 69HR0004 if I remember. Pretty sure the pre magnum 360's were rated 190 hp.

You are confusing closed chamber vs swirl ports. The 360 had swirl port heads, but still with open chambers. The only way to tell what the OP has is to post the casting numbers.

The 340 cam is a good general purpose and low cost update for a 318.

Be careful with lift, in stock configuration they wont go to .500. The last increment that I got to when flowing them was .450 So somewhere between .450 and .500 is seal bound. I'm thinking it was around .480 but that's just memory.

yep, the 85 roller cam 318 got a closed chamber swirlport head #302 castings. 318-4v & 360 had a swirl port open chamber head with the #308 cast being the cats meow for flow but very crack prone is the saying. IMHO, any 360 head will work.

I have been running the Hughes steamroller & whiplash roller cams for magnum engines in all of my pre-mag roller cam 318s #302 castings #714casting 360 1.88/1.60 castings with .485 lift/comp 901-16 springs I have done a couple with .500 lift but I did hit the guide with a grinder when home pocket porting them.

as far as intakes you have I agree junk the sp2p and go with the performer or LD4B or street dominator for the small port/runner heads.

360 heads have larger ports/runners/valves with pros & cons using them. stock intake or performer gasket matched or rpm air-gap would be best IMHO.


on a performer intake from the spredbore flange to about 1.5 inches before head mounting surface is 360 port size then necks down to a 318 port size. direction say to gasket match opening the first 1.5 inch and open up port to the 360 port size for best results.

I have 2 new 318s on the stands with both having the closed chamber heads #302-LD4B intake & #714-street dominator intake both home pocket ported/gasket matched 3 angle VJ with 30* back cut on stock 1.78/1.50 valves on the #302 castings & #714 casting getting 1.88/1.60 valves 5 angle/3angle VJ with a 30* back cut with comp 901-16 spring.

upping the valve size is a good improvement on the small heads for increasing the port velocity and well worth the effort for 318 street duty.

you can make any of them a little better with effort. which is best? depends on what you want from it. gasket matching and some home pocket port clean up goes a long way for a daily drive.

or the newest cats meow is the trick flow alum heads....

Great info guys, I’m learning. I do have a 360-380 on the engine stand but I really think it’s overkill for this street truck. Wife has to be able to drive it with no complaining, if you get my drift.

FYI- the 85 trucks got #302 casting heads and roller blocks flat tappet cams with 2v carb. IIRC trucks went roller 318 with TBI engines & 360 went roller in 89 trucks

I have swapped a few trucks over to roller cam with stock roller valve gear.

some other things I have found with the later model 88-89- 90-91 engines is the better casting #714 heads (Canada) #302 casting are kind of poor castings from (mexico)

also found with early 85 roller engines they had non -oil thru lifters and solid PRs and on late model 90-91 pre-mag roller engines-oil thru roller lifters and hollow PRs oiling the rockers while it still oiled the LA block/head/rocker shafts (why they tend to have a lot of oil leaks at VC gaskets IMHO )

early roller cams are a long nose style for a mech pump & late model are a short nos for TBI....I have used a short nose with the mech pump and I also have a Hughes fuel pump extension kit on one some magnum cams are NOT drilled for timed LA rocker oiling.

you cant use the non-oil thru roller lifter in a magnum engine so something to watch for with used roller lifters & PRs

some early magnum blocks 92-93 are drilled for LA rocker oiling so they can bolt on a set of LA heads.

magnum t chain cover and sep pullys all swap over to LA engines or LA cover/pulleys on magnum engines

myself I love the last of the pre-mag roller cam engines for daily street duty. why I have about 5 of them in the shed.

Do the early roller blocks use the same spider type lifter retainer as the Magnum?

yes, same roller lifters/dogbones/spider.

PRs? I would have to check hollow & solid - LA & magnum. seems I have grabbed the PRs from a magnum for a LA roller conversion. and I have had engines oiling LA rocker shafts and oil thru lifter hollow PRs with no issues other than VC leaks if not sealed up good. ( I have plugged the hollow rods for less oil in VC area with good results)

unless you want to just "say" you have a roller cam engine don't waste time/effort/cash on running the stock roller cams they just are weak. smooth but weak.

just watch for early non-oil thru lifters if building a magnum engine.

I just got 16 NOS mopar roller lifter & PR packages dated 89 and they are oil thru with a solid PR. I have 2 or 3 sets on the shelf that are high mileage and still in good shape. I have salvaged many sets from JY engines and have found many clogged/stuck/carboned up. disassemble them on the bench and clean/oil them up and run them. the sets on my shelf I will most likely not use again as I know they were around 100,000 when I got them from a JY and run them for yrs and now have 250.000 to 300,000+ street duty daily traffic use the last 25 yrs.

I trust OEM used rollers over a new china made one over the counter right now.

so far I have run up to .500 lift/comp 901 springs all stock LA engine non-adjustable valve gear with yrs of street duty. my oldest Hughes roller cam is 07' with 250,000+ miles in its 4th engine 3 different used roller lifter sets. LOL! now that's bang for my buck when I thought the 700$ upgrade/conversion to LA-pre-magnum roller cam engines from the flat tappet cams back in 07' was a lot of cash. 500$ for cam/springs and 200$ for JY high mileage roller cam & valve gear.

disclaimer is/was - Hughes did say they had no knowledge of the magnum cams in a pre-mag engine and would not recommend it or the use of comp springs or warranty if I had issues... wonder what they say now?

glad I rolled the dice and had the learning curve. now I own several of the Hughes steam roller & whiplash roller cams in LA-roller cam 318s and have run both small & large LA heads with great results.