Re: 92 Dakota 5.2L 2wd a/c 46rh 176k miles

From: Orange383 (orange383@comcast.net)
Date: Mon Oct 18 2004 - 04:05:41 EDT


Keep in mind that if your truck is an auto and you swap to a 360 you will
also need the 360 torque converter.

Will,
I don't know what your budget is like, what your mechanical ability is or
what you are interested in doing with your truck, but if I was doing this
(again) and (still) on a budget I would stick with the 318. In stock form,
the 360s don't make much more power than the 318s. Assuming you would spend
around $750 for the 360 and atleast another couple hundred for the computer
and torque converter you are already at $1000. Since it sounds like the
motor is just a little worn with no major problems, it probably wouldn't
cost more than a few hundred dollars to have the machine work professionally
done on the motor. When I had mine done it was around $250 to get it
cleaned, inspected, machined (just needed to be align honed) and bored .020.
Another $100-$200 or so on the rebuild kit and that leaves approx. $500 to
add to the rest of your budget that can be spent on performance
modifications. And it shouldn't take much modifying to put it past a 360
power wise. As for strokers, I believe (double check with some others on
the dml) that the MP stroker crank can be used in both the 318/360, but just
has to be balanced to spec. It's only $400, but you would still need
pistons. However, pistons can be had for $600-$800 which puts you well
below the $2000-$3000 for the stroker kits.



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