Tech Question
Andy Powell, Perryman, MD, USA, 1987 Dodge D150 2wheel drive 318
My truck was built with the 225 slant six. I switched it to the 318 V-8. I am seriously considering putting in a 440 big block. Could you give me some ideas as what to expect? Am I nuts? Should I just gut and stuff the 318? The truck still has the factory rear with a 727 tranny.
Andy –
Are you nuts? I dunno. I guess I’d need to look at your psychiatric history to answer that one, but, since virtually every head-shrinker I’ve ever met has also been nuts….
Now that your main question is out of the way, we can talk about the Mopar-related queries. First, you do know that the factory offered the 440 in pickups for quite a few years in the mid and late 70s, right? So it could be argued that this swap was “factory engineered”.
Ultimately, what you do should be based upon your answer to this question: “What do you do with the truck”?
If it’s just a cruiser, a fun truck, a wild “built” 440, or, dare I say it, a 496, 528, etc., would be lots of fun. 600+ HP tends to make people smile – except those that eat your dust.
If it’s a heavy-duty work / towing vehicle, a near-stock, torque-built 440 (or 496) would be the way to go. Either way, parts to make this swap aren’t hard to come by. Schumacher has mounts, etc.
Building the 318, at any rate, seems futile. A 360 would drop right in, same trans, exhaust, etc. – only the left mount needs to change – and offer way more torque than the 318, which is what every truck needs an abundance of! Personally, if it were mine, for daily-driver use, I’d have a complete SMPI 1993-03 360 Magnum in there in seconds! (Okay, might take a few hours…)
Rick
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