New daily driver

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younggun2.0

younggun2.0

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Well guys i picked up a 91 dakota with a 318 auto. truck runs decent enough and body is super straight and solid. underside is nearly perfect. interior is actually really nice other then drooping head liner.

I GOT THE TRUCK FOR FREE!

here is the down side. it smokes. BAD!!! blue smoke from the tail pipes. it for sure burning oil and has very low oil pressure. engine has 178k on it and at idle i have about 8lbs of oil pressure. do you guys think i could throw a high volume oil pump in it and take the heads off and get em rebuilt or do you think the rings are shot. i dont have a comp. testing rig. but could prob go buy one. the truck sat for 5 yrs and i drove it for the first time this week. feels strong just smokes.

also was thinking about doing a 5.9 magnum swap. what are your guys thoughts.
 
I would just pull the motor and have it freshened up. A HV oil pump may only make things worse. You could, depending on what that engine needed have it redone for a grand if you can do the work yourself, after the machining is done.
 
gliderider06 said:
I would just pull the motor and have it freshened up. A HV oil pump may only make things worse. You could, depending on what that engine needed have it redone for a grand if you can do the work yourself, after the machining is done.
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i thought about that too. but for a grand i could pick up a 5.9 magnum for 450 cash, eddy intake 300 and carb for 250 and headers for 200. the truck passed emissions, but just barely. in washington state you go every 2yrs and after the vehicle is 25+ yrs old you no longer have to do emissions. i would only drive the truck on the weekends around town as i drive a company vehicle during the week. I would like to make it a really fun dependable little rig. even the tired 318 moves this thing pretty well. If i were going to be rebuilding the 318 i would just do a 360 swap while i was at it.


one more though was the throttle body injection. do you think i could do the magnum swap with the factory intake manifold and put my existing throttle body on it? it all looks pretty basic
 
here are some pics. I think the plan is gonna be to put a carberated 5.9 magnum in. it has 3.55 rear gears and is suregrip also. going to be going with a 904 auto trans too in order to get around the electronically controlled od trans. should be alot of fun.







 
Doesn't take much to put in the magnum FI, either way a mag 360 is the way to go. Cheap and dependable with plenty of power for that truck.
 
adiffrentcity said:
Doesn't take much to put in the magnum FI, either way a mag 360 is the way to go. Cheap and dependable with plenty of power for that truck.
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i was thinking about that too but have no clue where to begin with the wiring. i want simplicity so think im gonna stick with carb. summit has hooker supercomp headers for 200 bucks. do the mag heads have same exhaust port as the LA heads?
 
Was that an electronic trans that far back? I snagged a 5.9/46RE for my Demon a few years ago. It's sitting behind my pump house waiting for me to build a shop to get working on my cars.

There is a guy on here that can build a harness ( at least for A-bodies ) to put F/I on it ( didn't that come with F/I? )

Sweet deal. Wish I had found it...

j
 
chlngr1970 said:
Was that an electronic trans that far back? I snagged a 5.9/46RE for my Demon a few years ago. It's sitting behind my pump house waiting for me to build a shop to get working on my cars.

There is a guy on here that can build a harness ( at least for A-bodies ) to put F/I on it ( didn't that come with F/I? )

Sweet deal. Wish I had found it...

j
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yes it has the throttle body fuel injection already but honestly im not very good with the wiring and in the interest of keeping things simple id just throw a carb on it.


wanna unload that 5.9? lol im in washington state. my folks joked about me getting the truck out of the driveway because they had bought new cars and were tired of looking at it in the driveway. i jokingly told em to sign the title and id have it gone. they called and told me to come get it. couldnt get there fast enough lol
 
8 PSI at idle is a ton. I don't know why everybody is so paranoid about idle oil pressure. You ever seen how much fuel 8 PSI will move? Nuff said. What's it got goin down the road? I would check the PCV system before I condemned the motor. These engines generally last a LONG time. Even worth popping off the valve covers to check for sludge. If it has some, "I' would even pull the intake and clean it out and the oil pan to clean the pickup. Might be a little labor, but you may can make it last another 100K or more. Try an actual diagnosis instead of guessing. You may be surprised.
 
Go to this site and do a search for an engine near you. It's a listing from all salvage yards across the country. Do a search for year, make, model, and part and your location and it will come up with engines near you. Some salvage yards will even give you a "short" warramty.

www.car-part.com
 
younggun2.0 said:
going to be going with a 904 auto trans too in order to get around the electronically controlled od trans. should be alot of fun.
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Why? The only thing "electronically" controlled on the A500 in there is the OD and that's a switch on the dash.
 
Lots of good ideas and info guys. I have only had the rig for 3 days. I will check the compression and look into the oil pressure at cruise. Was just thinking out loud and looking for outside perspective.

As for the trans. Can I just unhook the overdrive and put it on a toggle switch if I indeed keep it? I already have a 904 ready to go on the shelf

My thinking was that it would be cheaper in the long run to drop in a junk yard 360 mag motor and have way more power then the teen.

Keep the ideas comin guys!
 
i drive a company truck to and from work everyday on the company gas card so the ride will be my around town rig. i put less the 100 miles a month on my personal rig. so no milage is not a major concern.

it IS throttle body injection. no injectors or fuel rails. it looks like a standard 2 barrel la intake.
 
younggun2.0 said:
As for the trans. Can I just unhook the overdrive and put it on a toggle switch if I indeed keep it? I already have a 904 ready to go on the shelf
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Yup. But why would you? The switch that's in the dash is already a toggle, per se. It just turns the overdrive on and off.

And remember, the A500 is based off the 998/999. Steeper first gear and the extra clutch.
 
ramenth said:
Yup. But why would you? The switch that's in the dash is already a toggle, per se. It just turns the overdrive on and off.

And remember, the A500 is based off the 998/999. Steeper first gear and the extra clutch.
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So it is a good trans? Will it take some abuse ? Sounds like things are getting easier and easier. Found a solid running 5.9 for $450. Hear it run and pull it outta a rear ended Dakota. Can you use a aftermarket floor shifter with the a500? Would like to get ride of column shift and linkage for header clearance
 
Oh man :blob:I bet it squats and moves good or eats up the tire :burnout:
Congratulations
younggun :cheers: my 318 long box was fast and was very user friendly.
enjoy:glasses7:
 
memike said:
Oh man :blob:I bet it squats and moves good or eats up the tire :burnout:
Congratulations
younggun :cheers: my 318 long box was fast and was very user friendly.
enjoy:glasses7:
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thanks mike,

im thinking i can get this truck into the 13's pretty dang easy with the magnum motor. gonna put a eddy performer rpm on it with a 650 carb and some 1 5/8" headers. im thinking that should do the trick. i have a lil warmer cam for the 5.9 also.
 
younggun2.0 said:
So it is a good trans? Will it take some abuse ? Sounds like things are getting easier and easier. Found a solid running 5.9 for $450. Hear it run and pull it outta a rear ended Dakota. Can you use a aftermarket floor shifter with the a500? Would like to get ride of column shift and linkage for header clearance
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Yup. Pretty simple trans. It's a 998/999 with an OD tailshaft. Built a bunch of 'em (and 518's) that'll take some abuse. Got two of 'em out in the shed waiting to find homes.

Aftermarket floor shifter shouldn't be an issue. Like I said, the switch turns the OD on and off and it's pressure switch that controls when it shifts into OD once it reaches 45 or so. All hydraulic with the switch on the dash controlling the on/off feature. Other than that, it's the shifter that controls the first three gears.
 
ramenth said:
Yup. Pretty simple trans. It's a 998/999 with an OD tailshaft. Built a bunch of 'em (and 518's) that'll take some abuse. Got two of 'em out in the shed waiting to find homes.

Aftermarket floor shifter shouldn't be an issue. Like I said, the switch turns the OD on and off and it's pressure switch that controls when it shifts into OD once it reaches 45 or so. All hydraulic with the switch on the dash controlling the on/off feature. Other than that, it's the shifter that controls the first three gears.
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Dude you rock! Does that trans have a lock up converter? Is the converter neutral balance? Sounds like it will bolt right up to the new 5.9 magnum.
 
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