I have a 97 RC/SB 5 speed. Im looking into swaping out the dieing 318 i have and puting a 360 in it. Was told the nv3500 will bilt right up but its always good to get a second opinion

 

Yup, drop right in, bolt right up. What year is your truck? You are going to have to address the issue brought about by having more cubes than the PCM is aware of.

Need to have a flywheel specifically for the 360 though. (external vs. internal balance.)

welcome to DF!

 

I'm thinking about this down the road as well. My old 318 has never been enough to power the truck so any improvement will help. I would love to simply grab a 360 and pair it up.

So Heyyou, do you have other pointers on this swap?

Different flywheel. Do we order the one that came with 2500 360/nv4500? Will that affect the starter? How do we address the "extra cubes" situation? I was told by the Fastman that I can just drop it in and it will have more power. No need for tuning.

I think we need a end-all/be-all thread on this with every tip and trick required for effective swap.

 

i have a 99 5.9 auto and 97 5.2 5sp [nv3500] at the moment. if you need any pics or measurements lemme know.

 

What year your truck is decides how 'easy' it is as far as tuning goes. On the 95 and older trucks, you will have to find a PCM for a 360/manual trans. 96 and newer you can just flash the pcm for the larger motor.

If you DON'T compensate for the additional cubes, the PCM will tend to run the engine lean while in open loop mode. (high power demands/large throttle openings/engine not yet up to temp.) That could be bad if you are trying to get a heavy load moving.......

Yeah, flywheel for 360/nv4500 should work find. I suspect input shafts are different between the 3500, and 4500 though.... that would be something to check into.

There's a fair few auto/manual swap threads, I think there are a few 318/360 swap threads as well. Having all that info in one place WOULD be nice.

 

You will need a new flywheel, and it doesn't matter wether bought with the nv3500 or 4500. I went to rock auto, and I can look up the same flywheel with the 5.9 under my truck in either a 1500 format or 2500 format with the 5.9, as well as the clutch. The input shaflt had the same splines for the 5.9 on both transmissions. It only changed with the diesel and v10.

You also need a special pilot bearing. It has the bearing, that is pressed into a larger collar, and I think I cover a lot of these in my swap thread as well.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...sion-swap.html

Let me know what questions you have and I can most likely answer them. Read through the thread and let me know what you need.

I can also look up part numbers and such from what I bought and give a list for all considering this swap.
It's going to be easier swapping motors than it is auto to manual transmissions, but a lot of it is the same as well.

 

I didn't see any pics of the trans or mating the two together.

Got a new flywheel last year with my new clutch (which is already wearing out-stupid korean sachs junk) hoping that with everything new it would last longer.

Also did new pilot bearing so I know what you mean.

But I'm starting with the NV3500 stock, not adding it. All I want to know really is will the 360 bolt right up to the NV3500? Same block holes? Same casting? Same motor mounts? etc.

I've heard about addressing the external vs. internal balancing? What do we need to do there? The flywheel you got looks just like mine. I should look up the part numbers and compare...

 

The 360 will drop right in, and hook right up. You can NOT use the 318 flywheel though, you MUST get one for the 360. (yes, externally balanced.) May want to transfer over the sensors from the 318 though, not sure about changes from year to year.....

 

Yep the 360 will bolt right up, same bolts, same mounts and holes. Just make sure you use the manual crank sensor if the 360 if from an automatic. The auto one is longer than the manual one. 360 flywheel is externally balances so make sure you have that. If you buy a new clutch, there was a tsb or something that updated the clutch size from a 11" to if I remember correctly a 12" clutch. Only the crappy Chinese clutches are still 11", but just double check when purchasing a new clutch. I'd recommend a LUK kit, I've been real happy with mine, and overall they have a good reputation.