Alright now that I have successfully gone through 3 different 5.9's, I have obtained a low mileage 93 D-350 motor.

First thing I noticed on this one is that it's a 93, but isn't a fuel return rail. Also the full wiring harness (praise god I found a complete one) has a large 2-block kinda plug on it, and it isnt the pcm plug but something bigger. No idea what it is.

Flex Plate - I'm aware that pre-96' had the wieghts on the convertor not the flexplate. Will the later style wieghted flexplate work? or do I need to pay out for OEM stuff?

That and how does one go about removing salt rust from an engine block without ripping it apart? Besides obvious sanding, griding etc etc. Think it would need a rust-proofing engine paint?

 

"Flex Plate - I'm aware that pre-96' had the wieghts on the convertor not the flexplate. Will the later style wieghted flexplate work? or do I need to pay out for OEM stuff?"

I thought that 93 was the first year they changed the balancing when they improved the 360 to the 5.9L Magnum. If it is a 5.9L Magnum it should not have weights on the TC.

 

the first few years were like that apparently, they started with that in 92'

 

In '92 the 360 was still the LA right? And '93 was the first year for the 5.9 Magnum. '92 was the first year for the 5.2 Magnum and 3.9 Magnum. The 5.9 Magnum starting in '93 has lighter pistons so the harmonic balancer, flexplate, and torque converters are different from the LA 360. The 5.9 Magnum was the same from '93-'03.

 

Here, I found this thread that may convince you (or anyone else) that the converters will interchange, but some of the years maybe different from the RH to RE transmissions. I would check a JY and compare the 2 torque converters and see if they are weighted differently or not.

 

DON'T get "hung up" on the "gotta be a 360" train dont discount a 318. I get tired of that school of thought, personally I'd rather have me a 318

 

dont get me wrong I wouldnt mind a 318 at all. I love that anvil, but there is such slim pickins around me its insane. anything mopar around here has been vultured to the bare bones if not to nothing. 360 was the only motor I found in my price range that was in decent shape. Found a few 5.2's but they all had 200k plus and beat to ****.

 

I'm with you volaredon, I have a 318 w/ a manual in my '98 Ram and I love it. I don't really understand why people would go out of there way (not talking about you keilkravec) to find a 360 over a 318... unless they are building a performance engine, but even then there is not much of a difference between the two. The 318 is slowly becoming a more popular engine to build but I think that is because of the other small blocks becoming harder to find. The mentality that 318's are only good as boat anchors still lingers but it is being put to rest.

 

lol I like that people still see them as that..my brother old 79' D100 Custom Farm truck had a 318 that ate brand new mustangs like candy. Mind you this thing looked like it went to desert storm and came back with war scars, lotta body rust, little-no floors left, no paint etc etc lol