shortboxboy
01-19-2008, 01:23 PM
Hello all! This is my first posting and apologize as it is rather long. I have a 1981 Dodge short box stepside in black with a 360 / 727 driveline.The vehicle was a 3 year ground up build project. The engine has an '85 stock bottom end with a set of '70 340" X" heads (2.02 / 1.88 vv's), 2 1/2 " stainless exhaust with "X" crossover. The carb is a slightly tweaked stock '85 Rochester 4 bbl. Normally it runs pretty good, but have had some hot restart problems. I'm running a manual choke - just wasn't happy with the auto chokes. Now with the price of fuel and the temptation of hassle free fuel injection reliability / economy , I'm looking around for a '90's era wrecked Dodge pickup V8/ 4 spd automatic OD,as source for a replacement driveline. I've done a few carbureted driveline swaps before and can assume a fuel injected swap will have additional challenges. I realize all engine wiring and computer support systems need to wired in to the old tech. electrics in my truck - hopefully I can get a handle on that. I did hear though, that the early Dodge 5.2 / 5.9 F.I. set up was problematic (yes / no ?) I wonder if certain models /years would make for a better choice ? I also wonder if I could reuse my '85 / 360 bottom end with a newer F.I. top end and all the relevant hardware ? I've heard various terminologies including "swirl port heads" (what year are these and how do 5.2 heads compare to 5.9 heads?) and also the "magnum" engine series- don't think I need to go that new though. Other less important questions include- will a F.I. gas tank fit in the space I have and what about the new auto 4 spd linkage setup and PRND21 positioner display with an extra gear ? Lots of questions ! Thanking all in advance who would kind enough to share some of this knowledge with me. Cheers! :help: