Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
:yikes: WOW! That truck is CLEAN! Bonus that is has a super clean bedside tool box to boot. Man, you might just want to leave that truck in stock form and drive the wheels off of it. Of course, if you're like me and can't keep well enough alone, a truck like yours would be easy to do a restomod with a modern powertrain because early Dodge's of that body style should have a divorced transfercase where any engine and transmission combination could be easily swapped in.
While a 440 would be cool, the reality is they are hard to come by these days and if you find one it probably would need rebuilt, which building old Mopar big blocks quickly becomes very expen$ive plus the fact a Mopar BB would not be a direct bolt in when replacing a 360. If it were mine, I would be looking at doing late model 5.7L or 6.4L Hemi swap backed by a 2wd 45RFE, 545RFE automatic or better yet a 2011 or later 66RFE 6 speed automatic or even a NV4500 5-speed manual. With a divorced transfercase the powertrain possibly are endless. Sourcing a late model EFI Hemi, ECM, harness and 2wd auto trans would probably cost less than trying to build a 440 to swap in. This truck is too clean to pollute with a heavy stinky 12V Cummins.
I would love to build an old Dodge like yours with a modern Hemi powertrain :drool:
Nice truck goin campin! I would love to add an old Mopar like that to my GM/Toyota stable
While a 440 would be cool, the reality is they are hard to come by these days and if you find one it probably would need rebuilt, which building old Mopar big blocks quickly becomes very expen$ive plus the fact a Mopar BB would not be a direct bolt in when replacing a 360. If it were mine, I would be looking at doing late model 5.7L or 6.4L Hemi swap backed by a 2wd 45RFE, 545RFE automatic or better yet a 2011 or later 66RFE 6 speed automatic or even a NV4500 5-speed manual. With a divorced transfercase the powertrain possibly are endless. Sourcing a late model EFI Hemi, ECM, harness and 2wd auto trans would probably cost less than trying to build a 440 to swap in. This truck is too clean to pollute with a heavy stinky 12V Cummins.
I would love to build an old Dodge like yours with a modern Hemi powertrain :drool:
Nice truck goin campin! I would love to add an old Mopar like that to my GM/Toyota stable