i have a 95 dakota all stock my first truck. it is all stock with a 3.9l 6 banger in it and that gets the job done expecally in a 2X4 truck. Our friend next door has a garage with a dakota that was rear ended and the guy didnt feel like fixing so he gave it to this garage. this dakota has a 318 5.2l in it and is also a first gen dakota. when you turn it over the pistons dont crank witch all it is is a broken timing chain. i wanna put noisy cam gears in it but every website i look on i cant find nothing. how hard is it to swap motors and will it bolt up and i wanna get some power out of it. Any Suggestions

 

Welcome to DodgeForum!

If the donor truck is a '94 or '95, it can't be easier! You could have it done in a weekend. You need to take the engine, transmission, computer, radiator and shroud, and engine harness. Everything is a direct bolt in, shouldn't have to do any fabricating.

If the donor truck is a '92 or '93, its a little trickier, because the computer and harness is just a little bit different, and the speedometer in the '92-93 is cable driven whereas yours is electronic.

If the donor truck is a '96+, I would personally forget about it. You'd either need to do way too much work to swap it, or get too many other parts from a junkyard to make it worthwhile.

But as far as should you go to the v8... absolutely. The gas milage difference is far less than the power gains! If you think that v6 feels good, you should drive a v8 dakota!!!!

 

It is a 94 but could be a 93 cause it got dodge across the tailgate in big letters i will check tommarrow where do i find what year it is isnt their a plate on the door frame and if it is a 92 or 93 am i gunna have to splice wired

 

There should be a sticker on the drive's door jamb that says what year. Anything in the upper months of the year is the next year's production model.

So in your PM to me, you said it is a 4x4... that could present you a problem with the transmission! The transmission behind your v6 won't handle the torque of the v8 for very long, but the 4x4 transmission can't be swapped with a 2wd. One idea is sell the v8 4x4 transmission and transfer case and put the money into either buying a 2wd v8 transmission or building your v6 transmission with performance clutches and a shift kit so that it can handle the v8.

Also, I don't mind you PMing me, but you may get better responses if you leave discussing this project to the open forum! Other people may have better input.

 

im new to this so sorry yea i dont know what to do cause i want a v8 dakota but it might be simple to just keep the v6

 

Lol, the v6 would most definately be simpler, but where is the fun in that!!

You can make it work without too much trouble if the donor truck is a '92-'96, as long as you don't mind collecting some parts before you start.

Here is what I would do if it were me...

Grab the truck and tow it your house if you have a garage, or somewhere else to work on it if you dont. Pull the engine out of it, put it on an engine stand, and fix whatever needs fixing. Check faq and faq2 for links for parts to rebuild it. While you're working on that, try to sell the transmission out of the truck and keep an eye out for a 46re (a518) if you have an automatic, or a nv3500 if you have a manual. Both those are v8 transmissions... and make sure its 2wd. If the donor truck is a '94 or '95, grab the engine harness and computer out of it. If the donor truck is a '92 or '93, you can still use the engine harness, but you'll need to look for a '94 or '95 computer. Also take the radiator and shroud out of the donor truck. Once you have your transmission, wiring harness, computer, radiator, shroud and get the engine fixed, then tackle the swap.

It really is worth the trouble.

Also, while you're picking parts off the donor truck, take all the little interior trim peices and anything else that looks like you'd never be able to find in a parts store from it! You can never have too many replacement parts in store for trucks this old!

 

well the doner truck is pretty ripped apart as it is but all the things i need is still there cause my dakota was sitting at the garage to get inspected cause the garage is about 100 yards from my house and my dakota got hit by a plow truck but the guy paid for the whole thing to get fixed and painted and it dont look to bad cause the garage also has a body shop. yea i was driftin my v6 yesterday first time i ever hit the rev limiter. but i drove an old truck with a 318 in it the old carborated one and it would spin them in 3rd gear no prob and put u in ur seat. thats y i wanna put it in this light dakota. yea i wanted to get it on the stand in our basment cause we are building a 327 for our 37 chevy and already have a big stand. maybe ill look at harrys u pull it or something

 

the truck year is 8/92 so what problems am i gunna run into

 

I love that junkyard! I was up there last weekend. Made me so mad, there was this beautiful 93 Dakota with a V8, excellent condition. Cash for Clunkers, so they won't sell the engine. AAAH!