I have a 85 Dodge D150 I inherited from my great grandfather.. it’s an automatic 318.. I’d like to do an engine and transmission swap but I don’t know what to look for.. I was thinking my putting a diesel engine in it.. it’s currently gas.. just let me know what information you need and let’s discuss

 

Which diesel? The cummins trucks in that era where universally 2500, or 3500s, I.E. beefier front suspension to support that monster chunk of cast iron.... Magnum swap would be pretty straightforward....

 

An oil burner is pretty heavy. Personally, if it were me, and I could find a big block engine and matching transmission, I'd drop a 440 or similar in it. That truck was designed for big block engines and they were installed from the factory through 1978. There is plenty of room and it will fit right in there.

Something that I plan to do, if I ever hit the lottery, is find a long ram intake setup and modify it to run two small TBI injectors. Pop the hood and it's wall to wall engine. Then again, that's me and the parts are hard to find. Not cheap either.