1987 dakota questions

I have the same engine in the '03 Dakota. It has over 220K on the odmeter. The only thing I have done to the engine is the water pump and timing chain and tensioner. It burns a little oil. Not much to be concerned about between changes.

The engine is the 318 minus 2 cylinders. It was a band aid fix for not having a V6. Engineers have notes it isn't the smoothest engine. And I agree. But it does work well.

I use the 4X4 abilty most every winter so far. Not every winter there is snow here on Long Island. It is easy to run through it though. The most I have driven through is 2 feet worth. My fav tire so far is the Cooper A/T3 Discoverer. No issues with the trans or the transfer case. Though you need to be stopped and pointing straight to engauge or disengage the unit. You can break it otherwise. There's a sliding colume (I think it's called) that can break on the axle. If I have the terms right.

Your older truck should be very similar. Even though there's 15-16 years between them.

How much room is I between the fan and the radiator? I have a good bit of room. A swap to a V8 shouldn't be to hard room wise. I do beileve I have the physical room to do the mechanics of it all. My computer and fuel injection is another story.