At 205,000 miles, I'm starting to soft budget an engine replacement for when the Magnum 5.2 eventually kicks the bucket. Aside from just dropping in a new 5.2 crate engine, are there other/better engines that go in easily (i.e. larger Magnum engines)? Is the Hemi 5.7 an easy swap? What about transmissions?

 

The hemi is not an easy swap. The 5.9 magnum however, is a direct bolt-in. Just flash the PCM for the larger cubes, and down the road you go.

Not much in the way of options for the trans... what with them all being electronically controlled. Sure, there are swaps you can do, but, with adapters, controllers, cost of the trans, etc. It quickly runs into thousands of dollars. Just not worth the expense. (in my opinion.)

 

So..stick with the 46RE and look at a 5.9 and ECU flash for later. Too easy! Thanks

 

Please keep in mind that the 5.9 Magnum engine can easily be stroked to 408 cubic inches with readily available stroker kits and enhanced cylinder heads for better breathing. The PCM would require updates, as well as having the 46RE enhanced for the power increase.

 

One caveat! The 318 and 360 (I'm old and not metric yet) are balanced differently. Plus, there was a change over the years in the 1990's where the method of balancing was modified.

Don't decide to write off your current engine already. Yes, 200K is sort of high mileage, but I've had them keep going much longer than that. I had to replace one 318 at 334K when I finally had to pull the plug and replace it. At 120K I had put new expansion plugs and flushed the sand and rust out of the block, distributor bushing and timing chain in it. I replaced it when the compression was even, but only 45 psi. I had to use ether to start it cold after it sat over night. Then after a few hours. Then each time I wanted to use it. It still ran okay and once running, had decent power, just too much trouble on a truck I used regularly. If I wanted to bore it out, it was a seasoned block and would have hit 500K, but I don't do much engine rebuilding as I don't have the equipment.

If you haven't already done it, a new timing set might freshen the engine up quite a bit. Metallurgy over the years has improved a lot. My '54 Coronet jumped time at 60K. A '70 Malibu jumped at 120K. My '96 Ram last summer was showing 165K (I suspect it was actually 150 or so due to a speedometer reading high) and the timing set was worn, but serviceable. It purrs smooth and even now. I've seen late model vehicles that don't run this smooth.