360 swap is in the making
 

Okay guys a few of you know I was doing a tranny swap and preparing my 96 Dakota 4x4 for a 360 and I currently now have the motor and truck at the same location and the tranny is fully prepared for the swap. My current situation is I have the engine on a stand and I have decided that while I have it out I want to do some stuff to it. Im thinking about turning it into a 408 and going with f1 intake and bigger throttle body and whatever else I decide necessary. My big thing is where is the best place to buy parts from that isn't outrageous expensive but is still good quality parts. And what gaskets r usually best for these motors? OEM?

You still need to find a good source for the crank; I'd say "bite the bullet" and get a complete set from one of the bigger names (the one I know is Hughes; but they're not the only fish in this sea.)

The F1 will need to be hunted up; I'm not sure they're still being made anymore.

For a 1996, you can get a tune to use the factory ECU from Flyin' Ryan Performance; I'd call and talk to him a bit also if possible. Or at least email him for suggestions.

RwP

I heard Hughes sold the f1 intake still. And does the Hughes kit come with everything I would need ??? Including crank? And where do I find his contact info???

Keep this post updated please!! I'm considering doing this in my '93 Dakota!

I know where you are coming from!! In for a penny, in for a pound. A few things I believe you need to consider.

1. Magnum heads espically on a 5.9 are usually cracked. There is a guy who goes by magnummopar on forabodiesonly.com and he has some very good deals on EQ heads with upgraded springs to handle more lift. Go to that site and look at magnum swap section.

2. Assuming heads are ok, the cam is the big power killer on a 5.9. Lots of power left on the table here.

3. The shortblock is actually the best part of the magnum. For most applications, it serves well. With stock shortblock a decent set of heads and a cam, 350-400 hp is pretty easy.

4 Of course you will have more hp and more torque with a 408 but how much torque is your nv3500 going to handle.


For myself, my plans are to go stock 5.9 and latter a better cam and EQ heads. Even at that, I think it will really be pushing the limits of the NV3500 transmission.

Also, keep in mind, this advise is from what I have read!

This engine only has 68,000 on it so I'm thinking the heads are possibly okay I will check out the guy that has deals on the EQ heads. And I had read that the Magnum 5.9 runs a pretty weak cam and has alot of room to mod that.

As far as the block your saying that usually with factory bottom end with cam heads and things like that 350-400 is doable (safely). I liked the idea of the power I have read some are saying that the 408 is a real killer when done right.

As far as my nv3500 is concerned at this point I'm not to concerned bout it right now. If I think it needs addressing later I will but this truck won't be like towing big loads all the time or even offroading really it's pretty much just one that was my first truck and so now it gets money thrown at it and gets babied quite a bit lol it's no longer a daily either. I do want it when I drive it tho to be able to give a friend or someone on the street an occasional holy **** if u know what I mean lol

It depends on which of the kits you buy; they even have a "kit" with the block already around it! :p But most of his stroker kits can be found at http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...Ryb2tlciBLaXRz ; the others at the "crate engine" link.

Flyin' Ryan Performance is Googleable; but his web site is http://www.frptuning.com/ . He also has a Facebook page; if you're on Facebook I'd check there first. He'll be able to advise as to the best part number tuner device, and how much for the base tune.

RwP

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakota1996 (Post 3324713)

This engine only has 68,000 on it so I'm thinking the heads are possibly okay I will check out the guy that has deals on the EQ heads. And I had read that the Magnum 5.9 runs a pretty weak cam and has alot of room to mod that.

As far as the block your saying that usually with factory bottom end with cam heads and things like that 350-400 is doable (safely). I liked the idea of the power I have read some are saying that the 408 is a real killer when done right.

As far as my nv3500 is concerned at this point I'm not to concerned bout it right now. If I think it needs addressing later I will but this truck won't be like towing big loads all the time or even offroading really it's pretty much just one that was my first truck and so now it gets money thrown at it and gets babied quite a bit lol it's no longer a daily either. I do want it when I drive it tho to be able to give a friend or someone on the street an occasional holy **** if u know what I mean lol

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Well the factory crate motor 360/380 was rated at 380 hp with a stock bottom end, stock heads. The main changes was a big cam (IMO) dual plane intake with a holley 750 and headers.

I may catch some flames over this, but if you are going to go to the expense of building a 408, you really need at least ported heads to support it. Also I would be looking at going carbed or aftermarket FI.

Do your homework on some of these so called tuners. The dodge fuel injection is not the most user friendly system, especially when you increase displacement, and go with a big cam.

Just my opinion.

you don't think that the dodge fuel injection system with a tuner is capable of handling the 408? And for the 408 I was gonna put new heads on for it. All the research I've seen is saying SCT does best with dodges as far as that goes.

I may be wrong on the dodge FI. I think to answer that question you really need to get the advise of a reputable tuner. For that, I believe it is much harder to find someone to tune a 96 dakota vs a LS1 for example.
If you go with a aftermarket system such as Fast, Holley, etc. they are designed to run on modified engines and there is lots of tuning support out there for them. I would want a motor like that dyno tuned and not mail ordered.

If you dont mind me sharing my story on a totally different vehicle.
I have a 93 corvette. Built a 385ci. afr heads, custom cam, headers, etc. Ordered a mail order tune from a total con artist. After working back and forth, for about a year, I found out, that in reality, the only changes to the tune were rev limiter, fan temps on and off etc. Never changed fueling, timing ve tables etc. Went with another mail order tuner who was very good, but it turned out I had bad injectors, which he could not see from another state away...... Ended up towing the car 4 hrs away to Va. Beach and had a tuner to work with it. He kept the car for 2 months. Found the bad injectors, replaced with bigger ones. He did a very good job on the car. But, the time it took for him to tune it, both street tune and dyno time, along with new injectors was well over $2,000.00
The car now makes 462rwhp and 398tq. Runs a best of 124.6 at 11.17et. On the street, there are still some small issues, but those are limits by the cam size and the factory limited fuel injection.

What I learned was, in my case, building the motor was the easy part. Finding someone to tune it was the hard part.
Spending $1,000. to $2,500. on a aftermarket system may sound like a lot of money, but tuners on factory systems can cost you that and more.
LS1 and aftermarket computers are much easier to tune, and find someone who can tune them as well. In my area for around $500.00
And some of the newer aftermarket systems are self tuning.

Sorry for all the rambling.
Good luck with your decisions!! Look forward to seeing your future progress reports!!