Has anyone done this yet? We have a fuel inj. 318 in it now with the 4-speed man. tranny. I've done some research with the early A-body Mopars, but haven't seen one in an early body truck. Any pics?

 

Really? Nobody? There's no way someone hasn't done this yet. It's practically a bolt in to the tranny and there's computer kits to manage the engines. I guess if no one has then we will have to forge the way. My son and I like the TBI 318 that's in it, but we want to do something different, yet keep it fuel injected. We figure since our motor should be rebuilt anyway (not that it runs bad with 175000 miles), we figure it won't cost too much more to put the hemi in it, since we were going to build up the 318 or build a 360 for it. We like the Fuel inj. for the offroad duty this truck will see as well, it already has a 5" lift and 35" tires, but we might bump up to 38" and a bit more lift if needed. We have a whole year to get it done, but was just trying to see if there was anyone who has done it, so we could get an early heads up on any problems they might have had.

 

a loca guy around me in eastern, pa has a 5.7 hemi in his mid 80's ram... it's sweet, but i dont have pics.

 

power-ram, If you know this local guy ask him to come on the forum. This could be a very informative thread.

 

well i dont know him personaly, but i seen his truck at a few local shows and around town, it's a mid 80's ram with a 5.7 swap... i did once spot it on the net with a few pics, i think it was on cardomain "it's a black short bed"..

 

I guess I'm a little surprised that nobody here has done it yet. Seems to be all the rage on the bigblockdart forum. I will be doing this to my 68 Dart as well. I will get a thread started on it this summer when we get the new engine. There is more and more aftermarket stuff for these swaps everyday it seems. It should be a breeze. I have an '01 Ram Sport Off Road Edition that might see this as well someday. Its a 360 truck now, with 120K on the ticker. I'll get some pics of my trucks (3 generations worth) up on the site soon.

 

"we figure it won't cost too much more to put the hemi in it"

Good luck but I will be amazed if this doesn't cost at least twice what it would cost to rebuild your 318.

 

I guess you could be right about that, if you add the cost of buying the hemi, easily. But I've done a little figuring and if I already had the hemi (which I don't), and all I needed was an aftermarket computer, engine mounts (which could be fabbed), a salvaged tuck radiator and a flywheel, the costs would be close to that of completely rebuilding the 318 to the same HP rating as the hemi, possibly a bit more, but come on, it's a hemi! Did you know that the aftermarket roller cams for the TBI 318 are around $900? And, you would have to upgrade the computer and throttle body as well. If you can get past the initial cost of the hemi (running salvage around 2000-2500) the costs to install it into the truck would be comparable.

 

Here is what I'm starting with:

1990 W-150, Long bed, Reg Cab, TBI 318, 4-speed manual tranny. This thing has ABS too, but has been by-passed before I got it. Generic interior, manual windows and a rubber/vinyl floor. This thing will go just about anywhere, just not with these bald tires, LOL.

Crap, I guess my pics are too big...

 

What I am hearing you say is you want a hemi. I also had a craving for power and speed. You don't want to know how much money I put into my 1970 Road Runner back in the day, but it was way more than the vehicle cost me. LOL. I am not trying to rain on your parade. I wish you luck and look forward to hearing about the process. I only stated the obvious truth about the cost. You will end up with a $4000.00 engine in a $1500.00 truck but if it makes sense to you and that is what you want, have at it. To each their own. If I can be of any help I will gladly be here for you.