Please help a noob

The attached picture is from my sons 1982 D150 slant 6. I took the picture with my phone, so I apologize for it being upside down.

He was headed to work yesterday and had a little trouble. I was at work so his mom picked him up and got him to work. We then had the truck towed back home. My son said he heard a ticking noise from out front and then the truck died.

I found what you see in the picture when I went to look the truck over this afternoon.

So:
Option A: Replace with a new slant 6
Option B: Replace with a 318

If I do the swap to a 318 what else do I need to consider? Will it require a new wiring harness? Engine mounts? Will the auto tranny from the slant 6 bolt up to the 318? If so, do I need to change the torque converter? or anything else?



My personal project is a '67 Mustang, so I am new to Dodge world.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

Have you considered a straight six from a jeep?

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bhonshell37 said:

Have you considered a straight six from a jeep?

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If I was going to swap in something that required the same amount of fabrication as a late model hemi....it'd be a late model hemi...

montjon66 said:

The attached picture is from my sons 1982 D150 slant 6. I took the picture with my phone, so I apologize for it being upside down.

He was headed to work yesterday and had a little trouble. I was at work so his mom picked him up and got him to work. We then had the truck towed back home. My son said he heard a ticking noise from out front and then the truck died.

I found what you see in the picture when I went to look the truck over this afternoon.

So:
Option A: Replace with a new slant 6
Option B: Replace with a 318

If I do the swap to a 318 what else do I need to consider? Will it require a new wiring harness? Engine mounts? Will the auto tranny from the slant 6 bolt up to the 318? If so, do I need to change the torque converter? or anything else?



My personal project is a '67 Mustang, so I am new to Dodge world.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

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The picture isn't great as you said, but I'm assuming this is a hole in the side of your block? Tell your son congrats...he has blown up an engine that people have tried to blow up, and failed lol.

This is my domain entirely as I have done many slant swaps, and owned many old mopar muscle cars.

First thing to consider is people give away slant sixes for free....yes literally free...it's the first modification people do to any old duster, dart, etc, is to swap in a sb...so if u just want this back on the road for a kid to drive, then there is your lowest cost option. Get on forabodiesonly.com or craigslist and post a wanted ad. You will have ten offers of "come get it"

Or...if you do choose to swap in a sb...it's alot more than just throwing one in there. Exhaust, transmission, drive shaft length, motor mounts, etc... it can be done. Just alot more work. So weigh getting it back on the road vs a "winter project"

Also the cost to build or buy a 318 vs a 360 is miniscule...so hunt a 360 u less someone is giving you a 318 for next to nothing.

Honestly, I have not considered a Jeep engine.

Johnnymac2k6 said:

The picture isn't great as you said, but I'm assuming this is a hole in the side of your block? Tell your son congrats...he has blown up an engine that people have tried to blow up, and failed lol.

This is my domain entirely as I have done many slant swaps, and owned many old mopar muscle cars.

First thing to consider is people give away slant sixes for free....yes literally free...it's the first modification people do to any old duster, dart, etc, is to swap in a sb...so if u just want this back on the road for a kid to drive, then there is your lowest cost option. Get on forabodiesonly.com or craigslist and post a wanted ad. You will have ten offers of "come get it"

Or...if you do choose to swap in a sb...it's alot more than just throwing one in there. Exhaust, transmission, drive shaft length, motor mounts, etc... it can be done. Just alot more work. So weigh getting it back on the road vs a "winter project"

Also the cost to build or buy a 318 vs a 360 is miniscule...so hunt a 360 u less someone is giving you a 318 for next to nothing.

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Thank you. I had considered a used engine as an option. The kid went looking for a newer ride last night. The truck will likely end up being mine if he finds a good deal on something else. If that happens, it will sit over the winter anyways. That will give me time to do a rebuild on any used engine we get, plus any additional work.

Thanks again, everybody. You rock.

montjon66 said:

Honestly, I have not considered a Jeep engine.

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Because it's ridiculous suggestion granted the fab work required.

You'll have a long enough parts list going to a sb, but at least the parts are avail. As I stated above, if you are going to re invent the wheel to swap in an oddball engine, there are much wiser choices out there.

I'd do a 360 5.9L gasser for that truck. a

The wiring harness would be a bit different depending on what year 360 you get. Newer ones will require the sensors and computer as well.

Not sure what transmission you have now but you'll need the bell housing for sure.

New motor mounts would be needed as well as intake, carb, exhaust manifolds, etc...

I do have one question for you...is the truck worth rebuilding? If the son finds something else to drive, would you rebuild it anyway?

Good luck!

MADDOG said:

I'd do a 360 5.9L gasser for that truck. a

The wiring harness would be a bit different depending on what year 360 you get. Newer ones will require the sensors and computer as well.

Not sure what transmission you have now but you'll need the bell housing for sure.

New motor mounts would be needed as well as intake, carb, exhaust manifolds, etc...

I do have one question for you...is the truck worth rebuilding? If the son finds something else to drive, would you rebuild it anyway?

Good luck!

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I think it would be a fun truck to play with. It would just be running back and forth to work and the occasional dump run. The body has dents but it's got fresh paint and almost no rust. It's paid off.

What we have done in the 7 months we've had it:
new tires
new battery
new starter
new dash bulbs
new light switch




I can't imagine I could get much for it if we sold it considering the engine issue.

Here is a couple of pics

MADDOG said:

I'd do a 360 5.9L gasser for that truck. a

The wiring harness would be a bit different depending on what year 360 you get. Newer ones will require the sensors and computer as well.

Not sure what transmission you have now but you'll need the bell housing for sure.

New motor mounts would be needed as well as intake, carb, exhaust manifolds, etc...

I do have one question for you...is the truck worth rebuilding? If the son finds something else to drive, would you rebuild it anyway?

Good luck!

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Carburetion would completely isolate the engine from any oem wiring other than a simple switched 12v

Johnnymac2k6 said:

Carburetion would completely isolate the engine from any oem wiring other than a simple switched 12v

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Any sensors I would need to worry about?

montjon66 said:

Any sensors I would need to worry about?

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Nope. Switching to a carburetor engine with a simple electronic ignition (like msd or an HEI based type) (not some form of crappy chrysler ignition)....will completely eliminate any of the efi stuff, or sensors.

Move your gauge sender's to the new engine like oil pressure, and that's all.

With a cdi or HEI type ignition, it just needs 12v to run...with some fuel it'll run on the ground. It won't care what engine was there before it. I sell performance parts and crate engines if you want some help going this route in the future.

Johnnymac2k6 said:

Nope. Switching to a carburetor engine with a simple electronic ignition (like msd or an HEI based type) (not some form of crappy chrysler ignition)....will completely eliminate any of the efi stuff, or sensors.

Move your gauge sender's to the new engine like oil pressure, and that's all.

With a cdi or HEI type ignition, it just needs 12v to run...with some fuel it'll run on the ground. It won't care what engine was there before it. I sell performance parts and crate engines if you want some help going this route in the future.

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Thanks.
I'm in the research phase right now.

Johnnymac2k6 said:

Nope. Switching to a carburetor engine with a simple electronic ignition (like msd or an HEI based type) (not some form of crappy chrysler ignition)....will completely eliminate any of the efi stuff, or sensors.

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not a single thing wrong with the Chrysler 4 pin ignition system especially if the truck already has it. my 81 runs like a Swiss clock with the 4 pin ignition system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFz8nCsvsEs

personally i would probably go for the v8 and if the budget allowed i would probably go for a magnum v8 from a 92-02 ram truck or van and just carb it. you will need a new transmission to go with it but if you can find a 46rh transmission out of a 91-95 ram truck or van it would like be the most ideal transmission to swap in with the swap. as far as wiring goes there is really nothing much to the swap. all sensors are the same between all la engines and even the new magnum sensors will work with the old gauges. people like to use the new sensors since some of them like the oil pressure sensor on the newer engine is more compact and it can also control both the gauge and light with 1 sensor instead needing 2 sensors like the old setup. heck if you can find a 93-95 ram truck you could possibly even keep the fuel injection if you wanted. it is really not hard to hot wire a 93-95. i think you might even be able to hotwire a 96-02 but not 100% sure if everything needed to run 1 of those is under the hood or not. i just know the obd 1 trucks are stupid and everything needed to run them is under the hood.

Thanks again everybody. I hope to make a decision in the next few days. Then it will be making a parts list, saving up the money, and storing parts as I gather them.

My son decided to sell the truck. Any thoughts on a fair price given the blown motor?

Thanks again.

hard to say without seeing it in person but the bad engine definitely hurts the value quite a bit. if the body is as clean as it looks you might be able to get $2000 for it.

crazzywolfie said:

hard to say without seeing it in person but the bad engine definitely hurts the value quite a bit. if the body is as clean as it looks you might be able to get $2000 for it.

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Thank you

Here is a couple more pics.
Brand new Discoverer AT3's on all four corners. There might be 800 miles on them.