Considering magnum swap

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jonnydart440

jonnydart440

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OK, so right now I'm running a low compression mid 70's 440. It's got some get up and go, but its not a real power house, plus I think it's getting a little tired. Also, I'm sick of the fender well headers and I don't want to spend $600 on TTI's or Schumachers. And I'm tired of playing with timing and carb adjustments. Ideally I would love to find a 5.9 to swap in with an overdrive tranny. But at the moment, I may have an opportunity to get a 5.2 in a 2000 ram van 3500 for practically nothing. So delema number 1: does a late model over drive Trans fit in my tranny tunnel? 2: is the 5.2 that much less horsepower than the 5.9, should I just keep looking for a 5.9? 3: if I swapped in the 5.2, could I use the computer and wiring and replace it with a 5.9 down the road? And yes! I did check out magnumswap.com! Very cool site, super helpful! I'm sure a lot of u guys are running magnums and have a lot of experience with this, and I would love to here from someone running g a 5.2 magnum! Thanks in advance guys!
 
Thanks darndart, those were some informative links! I always get a little discouraged when I see how much fabrication is involved on some jobs. I could always use a 727 behind it and put the overdrive in later.
 
I would put EFI and OD on the 440 setup.....:burnout:

No way I would consider a Magnum swap down from a BB-Abody....

my honest opinion....
 
if you used the 5.2 and swapped to a 5.9 later you would need the 5.9 pcm unless the 5.2 pcm could be reprogrammed for the 5.9. The difference between a stock 5.2 vs 5.9 is about 20 hp, but there is quite a difference in torque.

Found this on another forum.
The 5.9L is rated 245 hp/345 lb-ft and the 5.2L is rated 225 hp/300 lb-ft
 
I have a stock 5.2...but it's carbed...I wasn't about to complain though, the core was free and while it's certainly no barnburner, it has plenty enough authority to get down the road for me. The OD is a pretty common swap too--there's folks who've done the Mopar OD and a couple who've done the 200R4 swap. Either way it requires a little bit of tunnel/x-member surgery. Check out treblig and mopartoya...they've both done the 200R4 swap and I know mopartoya is pretty happy with it. The GM trans is [typically] cheaper and does not require electronics to run.

Now, the other side of that argument:

If your 440 is "tired", why not freshen it up? You'd probably spend roughly the same amount, or possibly less and you may even keep enough surplus for those TTIs...are the fenderwells that much of a PITA?

Not trying to sway you either way...just wanting to understand your reasoning.
 
txstang84 said:
I have a stock 5.2...but it's carbed...I wasn't about to complain though, the core was free and while it's certainly no barnburner, it has plenty enough authority to get down the road for me. The OD is a pretty common swap too--there's folks who've done the Mopar OD and a couple who've done the 200R4 swap. Either way it requires a little bit of tunnel/x-member surgery. Check out treblig and mopartoya...they've both done the 200R4 swap and I know mopartoya is pretty happy with it. The GM trans is [typically] cheaper and does not require electronics to run.

Now, the other side of that argument:

If your 440 is "tired", why not freshen it up? You'd probably spend roughly the same amount, or possibly less and you may even keep enough surplus for those TTIs...are the fenderwells that much of a PITA?

Not trying to sway you either way...just wanting to understand your reasoning.
Click to expand...

The fender well headers are hooker supercomps. Besides being way overkill for this mild 440 the front end has to be jacked way up and I'm limited on tire sizes. I already beat the crap out of them so I can turn without hitting but I really hate how the car sits, it looks like a gasser. No offence to to anyone that likes that look but I hate it. Plus I'm just tired of screwing with it, I feel that is I just went fuel injected then I could just fire it up and cruise around. I don't know, maybe I should just try and find manifolds for it. Does anyone know what manifolds work for these? I thought I saw someone say b body ones work as well?
 
Gotcha--I guess I could see your point being annoyed with it. I'm pretty sure you're correct with the B body manifolds...I believe rustyratrod has some experience with exactly that...

If you were to pursue a small block swap though...a 5.9 would be a good way to go IMO. Even a stock or warmed over 5.9 with the rest of the car set up correctly is 12 second capable.
 
Well thanks for the info. Maybe I'll start a thread in the big block category and see what kind of manifolds work.
 
There's two ODs with two types and I think 4 strength varieties out there. (3 500s, 1 518- like with the 3 904s and 1 727) There are non-computer controlled ODs. Some of the 518s are non-lockup. The 42RE/RH is often what you see with V6 OD setups. Pretty sure the 42RH is the A-500 in many of the '89+ 318 trucks/vans. Same bell pattern, neutral balance like a 318- lighter duty, 904 based. The 44RE is commonly seen in 318 OBD-2 apps. The 46RE/RH is the 727 based trans, the heavy duty variant for V8s. Vans are weird since they had 3spds optional for years after trucks- there are OBD-II 3spd vans of about any variety from V6 to 360.

There's so much cross-compatability with 5.2s and 5.9s that if you later decided you needed a 5.9 PCM to go with the 5.9 there's very little you'd need to change besides the balance parts. With 3.91s, I think you'd be pretty happy with the 318, especially if you put in an OD to lower the revs on the highway.
 
Just some things to consider: 1) cheap headers on 360/318 are still a pain and still hang down below the drag link. 2) The Mopar OD trans 500/518 will not fit in the tunnel without some fabrication:
oldxmemberonODtrans.jpg


....but the early versions (500/518) do not require any computer electronics to operate. 4) Wiring up the ECM for fuel injection is a pretty involved task.

I like to keep things simple... I would find/fabricate a set of shorty headers for the 440.
 
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