Hey guys, I have some engine swap questions. I am getting ready to leave Iraq after 15 months with the Army, and I have my "hard earned combat pay" that needs to be used on some upgrades for my truck. Its a 2001 1500 4x4 with a 318, and I need more power. Now i was thinking about two main swaps. I thought about a Dakota R/t engine, but from everything I've read on here, they are just stadard 360's with a different tune in the PCM. Or I could do a regular 360 swap, and talk to Hughs Engines and get R/T heads and do some of their other work. So, my real question is this: R/T motor or 360 short block with Hughs parts on top? I appreciate all your guy's help, and look forward to talking with ya'll.

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first off....i want to extend to you from the DF family a big thank you for keeping us free...

in my opinion I would find yourself a used 360 block , obvioulsy in really good shape, and talk to hughes and build it up ...

this way you can build it up the way you want it,, for whatever your going to want to run it for (higher HP, lower TQ or make it a TQ monster)

 

Hughes is awesome and have always been very helpful and honest. I am running a set of thier heads and I am very pleased with them. I have bought many parts from them and have been happy with thier prices and fast shipping, BUT under no circumstances should you EVER run one of thier cams. If you want to use them, have them build you a 360 or 408 bottom endwithout the cam. Order a set thier heads- ported or super prepped -and get a 210x(360) or 208x(408) cam from KRC. Then put it all together when you get it. I know of more than several people besides myself who have had big time problems with there cams. They are said to be good for carbed motors, but, if you run one on a computer controlled fi engine,you will hate your bottom end and clearing codes will becomea second occupation.

Edit: I forgot-+1 on shott's sentiment- Thanks for serving.

 

Hey shott, thank you guys for all the support. I think I am leaning more towards a 360 short block with hughs stuff up top. I'm looking more for low end torque with mid-range hp, cuz i mostly use it for daily driving and weekend wheeling. High-end hp is not even a concern, cuz 5000 rpms hardly ever happen anymore. Anybody have any personal experience with any of Hugh's stuff? Im mainly looking at heads. I'm looking at either the iron R/T or the Iron Ram heads. If anyone has any experince with them, I'd like your feedback.

 

ive heard nothing but great things from the hughes team and their products... dan the fastman www.thefastman.com know his stuff too..

 

Id say just build up your 318, its a great motor and can easily make 400+ horse power...

Seems like too much work and money to swap in a motor that really wont give you much more power.

Stick some nice heads, intake, headers, cam, full exhasut,PCM, 50mm TB and it may not be a dragster, but it would still haul some ***.

 

See, my only problem with my 318 is it has 90,000 miles on it, and I'm a firm believer that "There's no replacement for displacement." Now I know a 408 stroker would be killer, but if I spend that kinda money, my wife would kill me. That would kinda defeat the purpose of me getting to do all this. lol