I had an unfortunate event happen last week, had to drive the truck about 125 miles, when i left everything was dandy, when i arrived there was a bad knocking in the motor. Its not worth rebuilding the 318, I do realize that I could buy a used one and swap it in. But that will still cost a min of $500, plus i was planning a manual swap because i hate the auto, which would have cost around $1500. At the end of the day its not worth putting the money in, when I can get a "new" truck with what I want (which is a w250 CTD 5 speed) I have put a lot of money in the truck and I realize I wont get it all back. The truck is a 91 w150, 4 speed w/ OD auto. Transmission has at most 20k miles since PO rebuilt in 2010. In October I replaced entire cooling system except for waterpump, and redid brake lines and brakes. Has 6" skyjacker lift that is only 6 months old, cost about 2k, 33x12.5x15 cooper stt on 15x8 MT sidebiter rims that have less than 500 miles on them, were about $1900. Is LE, everything works except passenger side mirror, Interior is clean w/ no rips in the seats. Body is a bit beat up, only bad dent back of the bed on the passenger side, Has rust, rockers and back of front quarter panels are badly rusted. It is the truck in my sig. All in all, its a great truck, rest of the motor still runs strong, hate to sell, but if i buy the w250 i would have to loan some money from my family and I would need/want to pay it off as quick as possible. Would like your input on what I could realistically get for it.

 

With a knocking engine.... not much. Sorry man. I wouldnt buy anything with a knocking engine for more than about $700 or $800. You could get more for it by parting it out, I'm afraid.

If the engine was solid, with no noise, I could see $2500 or a little more maybe. Unfortunatly, the money we put into them isnt even in the same ballpark as what the worth usually is. Trying not to sound like a killjoy, but thats what I would pay for something in that condition that needs an engine. It may be worth your time and effort to find a cheap used engine, and then sell your truck running well. I think the increase in overall value will more than offset the cost of a used engine.

 

Thats what i was afraid of, how many hours would I be looking at to do a motor swap, if it isnt outragous that might be the way to go.

 

If there was no issue with the motor or rust you should be able to get 2500 not problem. More than that. You know it better than anybody, people want these trucks, they are great trucks and rare.

You can price it a little higher and wait for the right person, or lower and sell it quicker. Without seeing it in person or having more pictures its hard to say a price.

The rust and the engine problem is gonna be what holds you back.

You might be better parting out the truck. Do you have the stock 9.25/d44 axles under there?

 

I would think parting out the truck would bring more $$$, but i dont really want to go to the work of pulling it apart and selling everything seperate (I know that sounds lazy). It does have the stock 9.25 rear end, a local 4x4 place once told me it was a d60 front, but i dont believe that, im pretty convinced its a d44 (i never swaped it, and the PO did not seem like someone that would do that). The way is sounding my best bet is to find a used motor.

 

swapping engines is not too bad of a job. if you have all the tools to do the job you could probably do the job in a day. i would go for the engine swap unless you are able to find a standard to stick in it. then you may just want to buy a parts truck and just swap everything in.

 

With trucks of this vintage, engine swaps can be done in an afternoon. That is having everything ready... all new fluids ready to go in, extra hose clamps laying around, all the tools needed, engine hoist (fork-lift, backhoe, whatever it takes)... ect. Try to think about all the little stuff that you will need. Those are the time killers. Another thing that keeps engine swap times low, is to find an engine that is as close to the original engine as possible. That way, all of your sensor wires, fuel lines, throttle cables and such, will be a direct plug-n-play. Fortunatly, Dodge kept things pretty much the same for a long time, so having the exact year engine isnt as important. Worst case, you could swap intakes and use your original. (As long as you arent switching from magnum to LA, or visa-versa... That gets more complicated)

I hope you go this route, because I always hate to see a good 'ole Dodge bite the dust. And besides, it will be a fun and rewarding experience to swap that engine. Let us know what you decide, and what we can do to help!

 

Well, I threw it up on craigslist for $2500 just to see what might happen, I already got a couple inquires on it, but nothing major. Today a guy texted and we went back and forth for a while, but he wouldnt move off $1800 and Im not willing to let it go for that quite yet , dont need the money that bad and im still attached. I may yet decide to put a new motor in, would be using a tractor for an engine hoist (which is easier in my opinion) because the truck is at the farm and sits over a 100 miles away from the auto shop i have access to. I have a friend that may be interested it, she said she would be willing to pay $2500 later this summer, her uncle works at DCTC (a tech school) so she can get rebuilt motors for almost a jar of dirt. If i do the motor swap, how far back can i go before things change, will la's from the 70's work, or do I need to stay with motors out of rams. Thanks for all the input!

 

i think any la engine should work. you could even get one out of a car. i think you could even use a magnum 318 out of 92 or newer ram truck or van. i think you would just have to get a carbed intake for it since TBI is a lot like a computerize carb and stock magnum intake are not setup for fuel to just be dumped in it where the carbed ones are.

 

If you use anything other than a 88-91 block, it won't have the roller cam that came with the TBI. If the grind on the older style LA, and the roller LA are similar, it might work, but if you put in something with a largely different cam profile, it might not play nice.

I think I'd want the roller cam setup and the nicer heads that came on the TBIs . . . unless of course you were upgrading, but as far as a "stock as it can be without going backward" replacement, I'd want an 88-91.

You can always put your top end on the replacement motor, that way you can toss in any LA 318 you want.