eagledak
Dodge Dakota
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8/15/2005
05:25:57
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 Subject: problems during engine swap
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Message:
Hello, havent been on here for months. I have given up trying to find a used transmission for my '89 v6 dakota. I have gone through 5 transmissions (1 was the orginal, 1 we screwed up the pump, and 3 non-working). Me and my father can replace an a-500 transmission in our sleep now. My old name on here was Tony (if any could remember my past frustrations).
Anyways, my best friend had a '93 Ramcharger and he replaced the engine a while back with an '84 318 (the original '93 magnum engine was was blown and the computer was shot). I bought the engine and tranny for $500, and he is helping me do this swap. We have the v6 out of my dakota real quick since it was sitting without a tranny, and we just got the 318 and tranny pulled out of the ramcharger.
I am putting the intake manifold onto this 318 that was from the blown magnum v8 so I can go with a TBI and fuel-injection. Also, we have to put on new rod and main bearings on there since the existing ones look like crap. We are almost done. We're waiting for a harmonic balancer puller to do the mains.
I know that this 318 is about 4-5" longer, but the engine mounts are going to be the biggest problem. The existing mounts on the dak's frame are offset by about 4", and the engine mounts on the '84 318 are not. How much of a problem is this going to be? We may be able to get one of the mounts on one side to work, and an adapter can be made for the other out of an old set of engine mounts, but the firewall may have to be cut a little to make way for about 1-inch of the engine. Is this going to be a big problem considering that the heater core is in there, too? I am too cheap right now for those fancy engine mount conversion kits for v6 to v8 swaps. I may be able to get some mount adapter fabricated for me, but thats a big maybe. Also, aftermarket electric cooling fans are out of question ($$), although I may find some from a junkyard, but do those flex fans work good? Which are the best?
The ramcharger was a 4x4, so the auto tranny (that works) has a bulky transfer case. Will I have to cut into the floor for it to fit? Will I have to modify the crossmember to support this? I know I will have to get my driveshaft shortened or extended. I dont know by how much. What does it cost, on average, to get the driveshaft changed in length? Also, I have the stock dakota fuel pump, a v8 TBI (with v8 fuel regulator), and a brand-new distributer for the OBDI computers. Will my v6 computer (OBDI pre-mag) work for the time being? Should I get a v8 one instead?
Is there something else I need to know about now to make this swap happen? The oil pan isnt a problem, and I got an awesome deal on a pair of headers so nothing should clash ...right?
Finally, with this '84 318, stock TBI, open-element air filter, headers, and straight-pipes going to two purple-hornies (glasspacks), and sitting in a lighter dakota, how much HP should I be looking at?
I am confident that this swap will work well, but I wanted to make sure it will work well without a huge problem or excessive work. Any reply with tips, hints, etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
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RE: problems during engine swap