360 Magnum Daily Driver (but fun too!!!)

autopar3000 said
I have factory EFI on a 5.9 in my Dart, and I came here to say what others have said in recent posts.

For a daily driver you should seriously consider the factory Ram / Ram Van EFI. Using the factory EFI you will save of a ton of money over getting a Holley Terminator X, and if you wanted to you could have the OBD2 PCM tuned to support over 500 hp. But the factory tune will easily run a mild RV cam, which is probably want you want for a daily driver. You could even pony up the money for a good intake and you're still miles ahead on cost (the Hughes Magnum intake is the only one you can buy new and it's $750). Or keep the Magnum kegger and save that $750. For a daily driver you don't need all the bells and whistles the Terminator offers anyway.

I know you said you don't have all that stuff from the 5.9 you have, but they made millions of those trucks so you won't have a problem finding the parts in your local boneyard, or check the classifieds and see what people have. For example, this guy from my local classifieds is GIVING AWAY FOR FREE tons of the parts you would need for a 1993 OBD1 setup: 1993 5.2 magnum v8 parts FREE | Engine & Engine Parts | Kingston | Kijiji

You probably don't want OBD1 (but that's why I have and it works great) so check out this guy that's selling everything from the engine fan to the tailshaft from a 1996 (OBD2) truck for $1200 CAD: 1996 Dodge 5.2 V8 drivetrain | Engine & Engine Parts | Stratford | Kijiji

The point is you can find this stuff super easily, and for cheap. You would need to get a full wiring harness, PCM, intake manifold and everything attached to it (injectors, fuel rails, throttle body, all the sensors on the throttle body), the coil & bracket, distributor, and crank sensor... and I think that's about it. I would buy a new O2 sensor.

Looking at the Terminator, which is no doubt a great system, I think you would need something like this one for a manual trans setup:

Holley 550-950 Holley Terminator X MAX Engine Management Systems | Summit Racing

OK, that's $1700 (plus shipping and maybe taxes). Add around $400 for injectors. Plus $200 for some fuel rails. Add the Holley dual sync distributor for $400. What about a throttle body? I googled and can't even figure out what would work, but it looks like these are over $1000 (really???). Let's be conservative and say the parts of your fuel system that you could just get from a 90s Ram will cost you over $3000. Could that even be correct? Seems crazy to me.

You'll need some other stuff with either system (fuel pump, the Tank Inc tank you should definitely get, plus incidentals like hose, fittings, etc) but if you really want EFI I would recommend the factory setup. Other advantages are OEM reliability, the fact that you can get any part for that system at just about any auto parts store across the country, and even new parts are super cheap. And everything you need to know for this swap is in the Ram factory service manual, which you can get for free online.

Let me start by saying I completely agree with you. The following is only for more data points and ideas.

I was curious yesterday so I went and put together a cart with the Terminator, Dual Sync distributor, blank cap and CNP harness; total was $1957.80 before tax (shipping was free). Don't think an X Max is required unless you wanted trans controls, and could probably get away with the stock injectors unless the cam got too big or boost was the plan. I would just run the stock fuel rail and throttle body myself. Still, add a Hughes intake and the fuel system and you are at $3k+ easily.

Since there does seem to be a source for a 130T flywheel balanced for a Magnum with the notches, no huge reason to go to the Holley setup. Really tempting for me since I can't get an off the shelf flywheel with the notches and would have to either rebalance my motor or get the flywheel balance changed. The idea of the Dual Sync distributor would have really made it simple for me since I am an oddball LA/Magnum hybrid.

I think I paid $200 for a PCM for a stick application and robbed a harness off a rig in a Pull and Save yard. Unwrapped the harness and de-pinned it to remove most of the unnecessary things and made sure it matched the PCM (they were different years). I bought the Hughes intake years ago when it was only $600 and pieced together rails, TB and stock injectors. I'm probably $900 all in, plus less than $400 for my tank. Knock the intake off and I am like $700 all in.

If someone isn't comfortable doing their own harness, Hotwire Auto shows a price of $1080 for a manual harness. They used to sell a reprogrammed PCM as well ($500?) but don't show it on their price listing anymore.

To be clear, the only part I have used so far is the intake (plugged the injector ports and running a carb) but the harness and PCM will never get used since I changed directions to a G3.