Crate Motors

[american_revolution_2005]

I was wondering what would be an interesting small-block or big-block to drop into an 89 Dodge Dakota? It is that old Dakota Sport I found a while a go. It needs work but I am trying to give my teacher ideas for a custom Dakota. For our next school project, he wants to rice up a Civic so I need something that could turn him away from that. What motors would fit? I was thinking something bigger than a 350. A 454 would be interesting but would it fit? One could be easily pulled from an older pickup around here. Just give me suggestions as to what may fit or what would work nicely. GM motors as well as Mopar suggestions would both work. My idea is to lower it, rear disc brake conversion, new engine, more sporty interior which refers to getting rid of the bench seat, creating a console if possible, and recolouring the interior which I believe Vinyl can be painted. Overall, drivetrain would probably be the biggest part of this project, new engine and tranny conversion to a manual. I was also thinking a Viper blue with the white racing stripes and SRT Magnum or Charger rims. This project would be pretty costly but involves lest bodywork than our Mustang needed. What do you think?

[Camino LS6]

Keep it all Mopar - it will make for a more viable project.

[american_revolution_2005]

What Mopar crate would you recommend as well as tranny?

[Satty]

You should be able to drop a 318 or 360 in without a problem. A Cummins or a Viper V10 would be far more interesting and more difficult.

[BigPontiac]

Sounds as though your trying to recreate a Shelby Dakota

[american_revolution_2005]

Not really the Shelby Dakota. A little more interesting than them. A 318 would be really easy to find and a newer 5.9 V8 would be nice as well. Other than that, I was thinking of a 5.7L Hemi crate.

[Camino LS6]

Sounds as though your trying to recreate a Shelby Dakota

Which means its been done so the parts are out there.

As to which Mopar crate to use, I'm out of my element there. This project will need Mopar fans for support.

[american_revolution_2005]

I was thinking 318 but that is the same motor as the Shelby so now I am going towards a 360 or maybe something bigger like a 383. If I had the money, I would buy it and do this but I would try to fit a 6.1L HEMI which there is one on EBAY, but unfortunately it is $5200 US and the truck itself is about $400 but they would go less. As for my teacher, he would try to find something from the junkyard.

[balthazar]

Crate motor possibility is obviously going to be determined by the budget.

318, 360, 383 would be fine, so would a 340 tho those are harder to find. You could go with a 273, but performance parts (ie: a 4bbl intake & a decent cam) are going to be tougher to find than for the 340, 360, 383, I would have to believe.

[Camino LS6]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I once had a car with a 273 and it would be best described as anemic. I can't imagine swapping one in on purpose.

I had a 340 too, now that one would work but I suspect be a bit harder to come by.

[american_revolution_2005]

I was doubting the HEMI but I really am looking to telling him about a 383 or 360. It depends on what one could be found. The budget for these isn't too much. Our Mustang project and Chevelle projects were quite a bit and they required a lot of bodywork. This one may need some but is overall in better condition. It is mostly paint needed. The interior could be done cheaply with not much work. Most of the budget would go to powertrain. My teacher rebuilt a 351 Windsor with new performance parts from Ford Racing. It puts out about 350+ hp now and it originally came from a Grand Marquis. I have seen a 360 done before but I think a 383 would be more interesting.

[daves87rs]

A 318 from a similar year Dakota or a 360 from a similar year Grand Cherokee would be the easiest to install because the electronic bits and pieces will be interchangeable. Trying to swap in a Hemi is going to require a new transmission, a custom-burned computer and more fabrication than I'm sure the school would be willing to pay for. Heck, the 5.7 is around $7,000 for a complete engine. Not to mention the engine bay in a Dakota isn't that large, so there would be cooling issues to deal with as well.

If your shop teacher wants a cheap project, tell him he can find a Jeep with a 4.0 liter, bore it .030 over, swap in a 258 crank and rods, port the heads and get squeeze 300hp out of it even before he fine-tunes it.

Hope that helps and keep us updated.

Cool!

[american_revolution_2005]

Ok. I have seen many Dakotas with the 360 anyways so there may even be a tutorial. It is a 5.9L so that could work. I just need to convince my teacher somehow. Our Mustang is a year or so from being finished but he should think about ideas and maybe get new parts or track down the parts.