And they call me the "King".
Excellent info there Austin!!
- Bernd
> This is for anyone that is considering doing a 360 engine swap in their
> dakota. I see alot of people are considering this swap and now that I've done
> it myself, I believe I have enough insight to give you guys the downlow.
> If you have a 318, it's fairly straightforward. The computer, harness,
> tranny, etc are already in place. All you really have to do is change the
> engine itself, which should be able to be done in a few days. Personally I
> wouldn't do the swap. I believe that the $$ used on this swap can find more
> horsepower if you soup up the V8 you already have. But that's just me.
> If you have a V6, you should seriously think before you take on this
> project. It is a HUGE undertaking, and I don't recommend it for the light of
> heart. Unless you have a truck you've done serious modifications to, or just
> can't part with it under any circumstance (as I am) I'd suggest just selling
> it and getting a V8 truck. In the end it'll come out cheaper, trust me.
> If you DO decide to do this, you will need alot more than you think you
> do. You'll need the engine, tranny, computer and the harness. If you get the
> 5.9 it won't be out of a dakota, so you'll have to get a Dakota harness. No
> other harness will work. If you have an automatic you should be ok with the
> current tranny you have, but if you have a 5-spd you'll have to get either an
> auto or an NV-3500. The AX-15 WILL NOT WORK with the V8, I found this out the
> hard way. The flywheels are different sized and the bellhousing is larger to
> accomodate it. Also you will need to either get your driveshaft shortened or
> purchase a V8 driveshaft. The difference is 7" between the 2 driveshafts. In
> my case I had to modify the wiring harness for some of the sensors. It is
> highly recommended you know how to read wiring diagrams and own a service
> manual to do this. Hayes won't cut it here. The oil pan will have to be
> changed if you get the motor out of anything other than a Dakota. If your
> changing from a stick to the auto, you will have to get either a new radiator
> with the tranny cooler lines built into the bottom, or a 3rd party tranny
> cooler. Most likely your tranny lines will have to be custom fabbed by
> yourself, unless you want to pick up the factory hard lines. If you wait till
> after everything is installed to put these in, my hat off to you, it's nearly
> impossible to do so.
> Please be advised that you will most likely need alot more than just
> these items, depending on your situation. If you have to change your oilpan,
> you will also have to change the pickup tube, just take that off the V6,
> that's the one you need. The oil dipstick is longer on the V8 than the 6, so
> don't get rid of it. If you get a rebuilt engine, check out the timing before
> you install the motor. Turned out my rebuilt had the cam installed 180
> degrees off. Doesn't run too good like that :-) . Be very careful when
> installing the motor, I galled the hell out of the master cylinder resevoir
> in the process and had a ball trying to stop the resulting leak. The best way
> to install if yo take ALL of the front body panels off the truck. Both inner
> and outer fenders, and the entire front assembly. This way you can slide it
> in much easier, and you'll have an easier time installing the accessories. I
> had problems installing the y-pipe and now it hangs down too close to the
> ground, so I'll be getting a new custom one made when i can get around to it.
> Take this opportunity to replace EVERYTHING you can afford to. Water
> pump, starter, O2 sensor, and PS pump are all easier to replace with the
> motor out. Things like the alternator are easy to change and you can wait to
> later to switch if you so prefer.
> Thats about as much as I can think of. I hope this all aids in your
> decision on swapping motors. It's long as hell, but you guys help me out
> alot, and I don't want to see anyone sitting there with useless engineless
> Daks in their garage cuz they took on too bog of a project. If you decide to
> do the swap anyway, good luck with it and email me with any questions.
>
> -Austin
> Vipertruck
>
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