Anyone swap 302 cast heads from 87" roller cam on older LA block?

[FuryKruser]

I picked up a good set of 87' 302 cast heads, cam and lifters and was wondering if anyone has put these on an older LA block with non roller cam.
Without investing in special $$$ roller lifters, can these be used with modified push rods or the roller cam,lifter combination.
There is no provision to mount the lifter retainer plate in the old block.
Also, push rod angle is quite steep for the 302 head, can the LA accept this steep angle?

My apologies if this has been covered in another post but I wa not able to find it.

Thanks to everyone for wealth of knowledge!

 

[66/440]

If you are referring to the 302 castings I have a set on an engine I built. No real issues seem to work well, responsive with bigger valves and some minor port work. Mainly you should concentrate on the valve pockets. Open them up a little and make sure you ask the machine shop to back cut your valves. Do not put the really large valves in unless you are going to run them on a 360. Really large valves ie. 2.02's will cause loss of velocity on a 318 and your low and midrange will suffer. You will need to tap and plug the air injection ports. You should also have who ever does your machine work measure the engine deck face vs the intake manifold angle. For some reason these heads seem to react more to surfacing and can cause intake manifold fitment problems, especially if you have had the block that you are installing these on decked.
With regard to the cam and lifters you would really be much happier with a more current design and a cam and lifter set is not real expensive when you consider what it takes to pull an engine apart to replace them. Plus if you use the Mopar Performance .023 steel head gaskets you can probably get a .5 compression bump which the 318 desperately needs, and with a new cam you could take advantage of the extra compression. Use shims under the rocker shaft to get the clearance you need for the lifter/pushrod issue. Shims should not be an issue unless you are building an all out race motor.

 

[moper]

Yes - done it several times. It's a great swap if you don't want to go the Magnum head route. They are 100% bolt on regardless of the camshaft type. The lifters are determined by the block you're using. If you don;t have the retainer bosses, you have to run conversion hydraulic roller lifters (expensive). You don;t really need a roller cam. Just get a milder flat tappet hydraulic like 66 metnioned. Something smaller and modern.

 

[FuryKruser]

66/440
I imagine the shims are needed only when you deck the block or shave the heads to correct pushrod length?

 

[66/440]

You are correct. Shims would correct pushrod length. Ideally you would get a custom set of pushrods or adjustable rocker arms but the shims are a low dollar way to go.