5.9 engine swap - questions / advice requested

Hey guys; here's the situation:

My Ram used to be a plow truck in Philly. Has 97k on it. Not too much rust, but occasionally in inconvenient places. On the driver's side of my Ram I have an exhaust leak... turned out to be at the manifold.

I pulled the manifold off, but only got (the front) three of the bolts out successfully. The other three all twisted off more or less flush with the head. Of course, with only three bolts on, I have to drive around with the windows down because a fair amount of exhaust comes in the cab since I can't honk down on the bolts to hold the manifold snug to the engine...

This past weekend I tried to extract the three bolts... I successfully drilled out the centers of them, but in two cases when I put the stud extractors in and twisted, the extractors just snapped off flush inside the bolt.

SO at this point it's looking like I would have to get the heads off and have a machine shop drill them and tap new threads.

My buddy suggested I just swap out the motor, because I should be able to get one for not too much and it'd probably have less rust on it. Called around and found one for $600, but they want $1200 to swap out the motor. I'm hoping I can do it for less in a weekend. I watched a Youtube video of a guy pulling a cylinder head on one of these and it seemed more complex than just doing the whole engine...

1) Is $600 a good price for a 5.9 with about 140k on it?
2) What else should I do while the motor is out? I don't want to drop too much coin since this is just a beater work truck, but I recognize there are some things that are just going to be a million times easier without a motor in the way.
3) Tips? Opinions? What am I overlooking?
4) (Less seriously) if I were to swap in a Cummins... how much extra work would that be? Probably a different tranny, and computer, and...? (Not worth it, I think....?)

Thanks in advance!

if it runs great and has great compression than yes if not than no i got one for $350 and went and redone it just because when i go through it i know what im getting when i do it u could just drill it out and tap it your self with a slightly bigger bolt just take your time and it will work and make sure u get the drill as straight as u can when drilling it drill slow not fast

these engines are easy to work on dont let vids and pics scare u if u have ever worked on a ford or chevy engine basically same thing meaning a 350,305,302.351 well to me its the same but i been doing engines for a long time

Problem with any used engine is that you have the high probability of running into cracked valve seats in the heads and you're right back to square one.

Make who ever is selling you the engine do a compression test RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU so you can see the numbers first hand, I wouldn't buy an engine with anything less than 150psi of compression and it had best hold it.

Bank on having to do a tune up and replace the plenum. Hell, since you'll have to do that, I would pull the oil pan and replace the pump and clean the the pickup tube and pan, replace the rear main, crank seal etc....timing set, water pump, and belt and valve cover gaskets.

If you're going through the trouble of swapping an engine, you might as well make sure as few things can go wrong with the engine itself as possible.

Change two heads is 15hrs work if everything goes right. R&R a motor is around 5hrs.

Best tip I can offer when changing out a motor is; Lift the front of the motor, unbolt the motor mounts from the block and remove them. This will make your job 100% easier. Going back in get the motor bolted to the tranny then install the motor mounts to the block and then lower it into place.

listen to these guys they know what they are talking about merc and dodge dude trust me they are right what they say

dodge dude94 said:

Make who ever is selling you the engine do a compression test RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU so you can see the numbers first hand, I wouldn't buy an engine with anything less than 150psi of compression and it had best hold it.

Click to expand...

Got it. I'll talk to the guy at the salvage yard; never done a compression test on a motor not-connected-to-a-starter. Will have to look into it.

Bank on having to do a tune up and replace the plenum. Hell, since you'll have to do that, I would pull the oil pan and replace the pump and clean the the pickup tube and pan, replace the rear main, crank seal etc....timing set, water pump, and belt and valve cover gaskets. If you're going through the trouble of swapping an engine, you might as well make sure as few things can go wrong with the engine itself as possible.

Click to expand...

I'm 100% with you here. I know there's stuff that's a million times easier to do with the engine out, so I'd like to knock that out as well.

Merc225hp said:

Change two heads is 15hrs work if everything goes right. R&R a motor is around 5hrs.

Best tip I can offer when changing out a motor is; Lift the front of the motor, unbolt the motor mounts from the block and remove them. This will make your job 100% easier. Going back in get the motor bolted to the tranny then install the motor mounts to the block and then lower it into place.

Click to expand...

Cool.

I'd like to build a list of all the incidentals I'll want to take care of.
I'm sure there's these:

* Cooling lines
* Heater hoses (same thing, really)
* Belts
* Plugs
* Plug wires
Then you tell me:
* Valve cover gaskets
* Timing set (what is that?)
* Front & rear seals (how easy or hard is that?)
* Oil pump

What else? Probably the top-end stuff I could work on in the evenings before I go in to the shop to install the motor. Leaning towards a new motor due to the rust and (several) broken-off bolts in my existing one..

Thanks again for all your thoughts so far!

If you have the time, you could paint the replacement motor before bolting it in. Maybe a nice glossy high heat black. That'd look slick. Check out the factory service manual for a lot of the stuff you mentioned. You're planning on reusing the stuff from the old motor, right?

Yep, and yep. I'll probably get new motor mounts too, but mostly reusing what isn't junked.

On the RockAuto website:

Do I want the water pump WITH or WITHOUT the "threaded heater port?"

Also.

Motor mounts: all I see on rockauto are "Front Left" and "Front Right." No "rear?"

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Pending additional feedback, here is a tentative Shopping Cart; please let me know your thoughts:
Belt Drive :
Belt Drive Component Kit
GATES # ACK070975 {#DBK070975} Accessory Belt Drive Kit (Rebate/Promotion Available!) w/A.C. $82.79

Cooling System :
Radiator Lower Hose
GOODYEAR # 62070 I.D. 1.690"; Length 25" $5.28
Radiator Upper Hose
ACDELCO # 26239X {#88908936} 1 7/16" x 36 3/16" $6.35
Thermostat
ACDELCO # 12TP1E {#19114386} Professional Temperature: 192F; OEM Recommended Temp; $3.99
Thermostat / Thermostat Housing / Water Outlet Seal
ACDELCO # 12G10 {#19114527} Professional Thermostat Housing Gasket $0.27
Thermostat Housing / Water Outlet ACDELCO # 1510673 {#19144665, 19193953} Professional $11.20
Water Pump
BOSCH # 98170 w/o Threaded Heater Port $41.79
Water Pump Inlet Tube
DORMAN # 56399 {#55036160} Heater Bypass Tube Located in water pump $8.43

Engine :
Conversion Gasket Set
FEL-PRO # CS98982 Conversion Gasket Set - Gasket set for the lower half of the engine block. Typically includes oil pan gasket, front and rear crankshaft seals and the timing cover gasket. PermaDry $46.79
Intake Manifold Gasket
FEL-PRO # MS953921 Set Lower set; Upper set incl.; Manifold bolts not incl.; Manifold bolt replacement recommended $19.51
Motor Mount
Front Right
ANCHOR # 2829 (Only 6 Remaining)
Front Left
$21.79 $21.79
ANCHOR # 2830 (Only 4 Remaining)