Hello,


I last night purchased a 1988 Short box 3.9 V6 with 5 spd manual.


It has 120,000 miles, box is good and the truck is virtually rust free (a little patina on the roof). Plan is to restore the paint, freshen then truck up with new rims/tyres. Interior is mint and runs and drives great.


This is my first Dakota (new or old).


Looking forward to getting to know you all!

 

Let me be first to say, WELCOME!!

Nice looking truck.

 

Welcome to the forum. Even though I own a '93, I gotta say that the earlier 1st gens have a nicer looking front end. Nice truck, nice color, glad it's not rotted out!

 

Thank you

 

I was wanting a 318 from 92 onwards but the ones I saw were either rust buckets, crazy high mileage or people wanted silly money. I was happier this was a 5 seed manual as I heard the auto transmissions were not the best.


I believe a 318 swap is pretty straight forward so that could be an option.

 

Not sure where you heard that about the Auto's....Torqueflite's were some of the best transmissions ever built, and the basics haven't changed since the 60's.

 

I dunno, my Torqueflite only made 350,000 miles ...

(I won't mention the TH350 that my Dad had rebuilt at about 57,000 miles on his old 1972 Chevy Biscayne ... )

RwP

 

Read the threads here on dropping a 5.2/318 into a flatnose Gen1; it's not as straight forward as a 1992+ would be.

(It's not IMPOSSIBLE, mind you!)

Also, I'd look for a Magnum to build up (a 5.2) instead of a LA 318; because the motor mounts are already there for the Magnum (it's what your 3.9 uses) instead of having to fabricate everything.

Here's a wild idea - you can still buy the original Baby Hemi used off Ebay - the 241 and 270 Red Ram hemi's Dodge used in 1955 and so. They're the shortest Hemis made; the camshaft is about 3" shorter than a 5.2 is, for instance. This may be easier to shoehorn in *grins* And besides, "Oh, yeah, it's got a Hemi!" will cause a few double takes!

(Wild idea; I have NO idea what it would take, what to use for a transmission, etc ... )

RwP

 

Understood and corrected, thanks for the info!

 

Hey mate, cheers for all the info. I am definitely learning about these trucks etc.