Engine swap advice?!?!?!?
 

Hi everybody I'm new here. I'm sorry if this info is somewhere, I cannot find it. I've searched and searched and searched and I can't find the information that makes me feel confident in making a decision yet.

I hope some of you can help me.

I have a 1974 dodge power wagon W200. It's got the 360 in it which is crazy gutless. It has an after market intake and 4 barrel carb, stock everything else.

4 speed manual with granny low. Divorced t-case. Sorry I don't know the model numbers.

I am trying to find a frugal way to increase the power in my truck.

My choices are:

90's magnum 5.9(360)
400
440

I know the 400 and 440 were options in my truck.

My main question which is the least complicated swap and is the 400 worth it power wise over the 360?

is the 440 or the Magnum going to nickle and dime me to death to get it to fit and working?

I've never done an engine swap before and I appreciate your input. Please be detailed I don't know all the acronyms or abbreviations.

either engine would cost you about the same to stick in the truck. i would first look at what you got and go over it. check compression and figure out what carb you have. i know lots of people seem to complain about there trucks being gutless but they run carbs that are too large and and run aftermarket intake that are ment to operate in at a higher rpm range than the truck will ever see. i know my truck never goes above 3000rpm and the only time it does that is when i hold the skinny pedal down and keep the truck in 2nd gear until 80km/h.

I know you posted over a years ago but I thought I would offer some advice. First of all I'd stay away from the 400 unless you are strokin one with a 440 crank. The 400's are mostly low compression engines. So to build a 400 to run takes some work. I had a 90 model RC and I put a 440 in it with a 518 overdrive behind it using an adapter kit from JVXRacing.com. I spent a lot of time researching different factory parts to accomplish this with very few modifications. I ended up spending about 5K to get it done but it did not nickel and dime me to death.
If it were me on a budget, I'd keep the 360. Find a set of 360 "J" heads. and four barrel spreadbore intake. The ideal carb is a Carter 6488S. It is an 850 cfm basic Thermoquad. Forget Rochester Quadrajets. They're crap!!! Install a Mopar Performance cam, 484 lift 280 duration. For pete's sake, get rid of that granny low junk and find a complete standard 4 spd setup. A set of Hooker headers and dual exhaust will make your 360 stand up a be noticed. You're looking at about $2500.

Holy crap. Delete.
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