sup, new to the forum.

used to own a 94 318 4x4 slt ext cab dakota little leveling kit, 31" tires.. 100% my favourite vehicle. And recently i decided i am going to start the search for a new one to basically build up. And do it right this time, i was young and drove my last one into the ground. HARD. What els would a 18 year old that just got his license do with such a truck, right ahha ? I pulled a favor and got it for $500 from chrysler dealership. ( had about 200k kms, needed very little for safety )

Things i know im going to do, entire front end. suspension, cab and all other mounts. body work, solid the rear axel. full exhaust - headers catted DP to straight out the back, maybe some cherry bombs like my first one. Make her clear 33s - MAYBE. and all the other basics.

but where my question is, ive never built up a motor. And im not going for anything crazy, this truck will still be a DD. I just want to add some hp, so what would i do? cams? rings? what els? Things that are a must do for a 300-350 hp NA. motor and tranny.
Not a fan of standard trans unless its diesel or 70s and older muscle cars.

Yes i do all my own ****, i love it and love learning. Between myself and friends i got all the tools i could ever need.

 

If you want the same body you had grab a 96, runs the OBDII computer set so sourcing another motor to build on the side and drop in becomes much easier as you can use anything up through 96'-02' if I recall, Ram, Dak, Durango, all used the same V8 block, different oil pans though, but all identical electronics. So in a nutshell you still retain daily driver and get to go through the motor you build without a crunched timeline, allowing you to not cut any corners.

 

The kind of horsepower increases you mention will be expensive, $3 to $6 grand worth. I wouldn't even consider starting with a 5.2, the 5.9 gives you more flexibility--you'll want to bore it out to over 400cu in, with a stroker crank and rods. High performance heads, oversized valves, fancy 1.7 ratio rockers, a mid line hairy cam, a performance intake and oversized (over bored) throttle body.

Actually try more like 10 grand. Cuz there's more, headers, a performance exhaust, bigger fuel pump and pressure regulator, fancy performance chips and a writer, because you'll want to play with fuel maps.

You'll need to upgrade your trannie to handle the power, the suspension to handle the stress, bigger and better brakes as well. Better axles with 4.10 gearing.

And then the next step is a supercharger and nitrous--which will blow up your engine and trannie and so you can start all over again.

It gets crazy. . .

You're the one who mentioned 300 to 350 hp, btw.

 

10 grand for 70 hp in a v8? I think your doing something wrong.. This is also a DD


And i have other vehicles. I wont drive this till its done.

 

I think people confuse Flywheel Horse Power, with Wheel Horse Power.

Engines are always rated at Flywheel horsepower. The 230hp of the 318 is measured right at the output of the engine.

When modifying an engine, people often don't take it out of the vehicle every time they want to dyno test it, so modified engines are rarely talked about using Flywheel horse power. They use Wheel Horse Power, which is measured at the wheels, and takes into account all the drivetrain losses of driving the transmission, driveshaft, diff, etc.

An engine that makes 230hp at the flywheel would make roughly 170hp at the wheels with an auto transmission. So in that case you are talking a 130-180hp bump, which is upwards of twice what the engine puts out stock.

Here are a couple of articles to get started:

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/t...1/viewall.html

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/113_0304...d/viewall.html

 

This topic has been more difficult than doing a cummins swap in a 98 chevy.

Obviously a difference when it comes to crank hp and whp . I shouldnt have generalized anything in my first post apparently..
Thanks for the replies i already knew what i was going to do.

 

take it from a guy who has built and rebuilt and rebuilt his engine on a spreadsheet about a 100 times. a 360 is the best way to go for a high rev engine. And a stroker is the best way to do it. Plain and simple.

 

you can shoot for close to 300, mild-heavier cam, 1.7 rockers, m1 or rpm airgap intake, 53mm throttle body, headers and full exhuast, 2.02 heads or grab the indy set from hughes. do that on a 360 and you might get close to what you want, but keep in mind the cam would make you require a new TC and a couple other things, but thats about the easiest way

 

My point in my rather long post about building up an engine is that getting a 100 or so increase in the HP of an engine not specifically built for it is expensive. Not a matter of just bolting on a few things and calling it good.

You can do it if you start with a 5.9, add a stroker kit, a cam, exhaust, fuel system changes, and electronics upgrades. Won't even run without the fuel system changes and electronics tho. Balancing the rotating assemblies is kinda important too--and with your lack of experience you'll need to pay someone to do that.

On other forums, an automatic transmission is referred to as a "Slush box." Auto trannies sap power, take control out of your hands, and are a weak point in your build (unless you spend the bucks for a comp. slush box.) Unless you have a trannie built, it'll add to your e/t in a quarter mile compared to a 5 or 6 speed (built in lag from the torque converter.) Plus the fact that street, track, or off road, you can build RPMs before you dump the clutch.