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318 Swap.. Finally...

8K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  DwnDak 
#1 ·
Well the Hemi I bought turned out to be shredded inside like my ex-girlfriend after a drunken Saturday night, so I scrapped that for now.. Found a re-manned motor with low miles on it (up here we say kilometres) with a harness for basically free, so I'm goin to throw it in and clean up some of my rats nest wiring I did about 15 years ago.... Just get the truck outta the garage its been in for 5+ years with 266,000 original kms on the V6 its time to let her go..
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Also removed the inner fenders so I can run a bigger wheel when I'm deflated... I'll eventually put some aftermarket trailer fenders in and cover the tires, but for now.... try to stay outta the rain so it doesn't get so messy. And in the Summit box.. Mopar Valve covers.. Always loved them in wrinkle black...

Now I need some wiring help!
It looks as though they've changed the connectors and colours from the diagram's and connectors I have currently...

I've got the flat bar style male ends, and they use a newer round gromet style (with the blue rubber seal) .... I can't find which wire does what so I can cut my old connectors off and put them on the 318's harness... They come out of a 91 4x4 truck originally, I don't have A/C or power anything, but I need the fuel sending wires, tail light wires... Can't figure out for the life of me what does what from the new connectors!!??!!

HELPP!!!
 

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#3 ·
Back on track.... using the 3.9 throttle body with the 5.2 motor and 5.2 OE spacer which apparently even's everything out.... A friend is a tech at the stealer.... So I've got insider info... Cleaning up my own wiring done 12 years or so ago and then back to the motor job.... Provided it runs as well as the previous owner stated, she'll be rolling end of the month... Hopefully.
 
#4 ·
Alright... Motor is all gasketed and painted... Got my MoPo valve cover gaskets on.. Gawd I love how they look... Dropped the motor in... hooked up the transmission.... Note to self... or anyone reading this. The flexplate bolt holes are offset so it can only go on one way... I knew that was the case for the back of the motor... DID NOT know that was also the case on the flywheel... Dicked around for a while to get the combination right.... Finally bolted up. If your going to do it.... free fit your flexplate, mark the hole that lines its all up... less dicking around after.
 

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#9 ·
Fired it up for the first time today... a bit of cranking and she lit right up....

Alternator is pooched, so I'll have to replace it, but over all... If I can get some time next week, I'll be rewiring my switches/relay's and compressor.. tiding up the engine bay a little and off to my buddies shop so he can fab up a new Y pipe for me, and order my electric fan.. and on the road by next month.. maybe..



Yeehhawwww
 
#12 ·
And thats how a TBI V6 to V8 pre-mag swap is done apparently...
Now I've gotta decide how to build the trans, as I've got a parts list for a 400hp 318 build burning a hole in my wallet (had this list for about 10 years now.. So that could be interesting with the TBI.... since its a carb'd build list..


And that will be winter of 2015.

Spring 2015 is a southern box, paint, and ohh ya .. wheels again.. Last night on the way home from work, a MASSIVE chunk of concrete came off a truck, rolled under me, bounced off my cross member, and over to my passenger wheel.. MASSIVE bend, and a crack... sooo there's that .. Last day of driving before its stored for the winter too.. Just my luck!
 

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#15 ·
I'm doing a V8 swap and was planning on buying a crate magnum engine instead of taking the time to build a scrap one up. My truck (like yours) has been sitting WAY to long. Do you think i'll be alright going this route and still using a computer/harness from a junkyard doner? Don't mean to hi-jack. After i get everything ironed out i plan on posting a thread.

What year engine did you swap in? I thought the Magnum motors were only a direct swap. Looks great BTW!!

Thanks,
JW
 
#16 ·
I'm not certain on the Magnum motors as they ended up going with an MPI system rather than TBI so I can't really say much to that effect, however grabbing a donor harness and ECM out of a wrecker truck won't be an issue.. I'd go with something from a 91-96 second gen, which SHOULD almost be a direct swap over other than a few things that I found different which was the fuel wiring issue and rear tail lamps/stop lamp section of the harness. Also I THINK if I remember right the O2 sensor plug was different as well on the 91 harness. I ended up using my stock body harness and mating it to an older Ram SMEC computer, and it worked out flawlessly. Also using my 3.9 throttle body and injectors as they were the same from Holley for both the 6 and the 8 ... Only difference was the MAF sensor on the 91 which my 88 did not have. Which also would have been an issue using the 91 harness if I had went that way.

As far as the crate engine is concerned all the MoPo crates you order from teh dealer are set up to run carbs.. And they recommend which ones to use for that set up .. For example if your going to go for the 405hp 360 they offer They give you part numbers for the Holley Dominator carb and the MoPo header's to get that 405 that your paying for. Also on that note, it could be cheaper to build an engine rather than purchase a crate motor most times. Your looking upwards of $6000 bucks! without the carbs or exhaust... They offer an 'easy 2.0" or whatever TBI set up 408 which runs well over $12k.

You can build a nice 300-350hp small block for $2-4 grand ...

Also the only difference really between Magnum and LA Pre-Mag is the oiling setup, if your building a motor your likely to go with bigger valves and better flowing heads then the LA offers, depending on what size you want to run, you can go with a stock magnum set which flow better than LA's or if you want aluminium heads, its cheapest and easiest to grab Magnum ones from the wreckers instead of aftermarket ones, which is really where the 'magnum advantage' comes in. Depends what your building.


I'm goin to try and retain my TBI when I build the motor next winter, so thats where my challenge may lie.
 
#17 ·
Any thoughts on this? Do you mind if i PM you? I don't want to hijack your thread. I've done a lot of research but it also helps when someone else has already gone through the whole process so i'm not picking up different things from different sources (which is what i've been doing for the most part).

Thanks for all the info.....

PrecisionEngine.com:



Please review the following quote and specifications to your custom-built performance longblock: 318 Dodge magnum 300HP to 350hp / 325 torque


Dodge 318 (5.2L) Magnum Crate Engines (1992-2001 Dodge Trucks) with 300 horsepower and 325 ft-lbs of torque.

Dodge 318 block bored, honed, decked and align honed
Cam bearings
Performance camshaft: (specifications subject to change)
204/204
.420 lift
112 lobe center
Matching roller lifters and springs
Resized rods with ARP rod bolts
Reground 3.313 ” stroke
Crankshaft micro-polished less than a 12 RA finish
Pistons with Molly rings
10 to 1 compression ratio
Matched weight balanced rotating assembly with balancer
New timing set
New high volume oil pump
New performance gasket set
New push rods, and stamped rockers
New head bolts
Cast iron cylinder heads will include the 1.94 /1.50 stainless steel valves
110 lbs. springs
3 angle seats
Bronze guides
Positive seals
Pocket porting
Stage 2 porting(add 695.00)

Price: $ 2795.00 plus core and shipping
 
#18 ·
Thats actually not too bad, but it sounds like they are doing something close to what I had in mind, but charging you for different heads and of course assembly. That is also an MPI motor, which you'd need to do in your truck .. I would say honestly if you can get a donor truck for $5-700 range, you could do all the wiring and swapping over you would want, and personally I'd even do the newer dash (sure it'd take modification to work/look good) but I think a newer style dash conversion would be sweet looking anyway. Then when your done, you've got $200-300 scrap value, essentially you've paid $300-400 for a motor, and any other goodies you steal off it.

Here's a link for you to read over, that would probably end up close to the same cost as the build you just put up..

318 Engine Build - A Parts Book 400HP 318 - Mopar Muscle Magazine

You can PM me if you'd like to sure!
 
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