Cost of a swap

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I can tell you exactly to the penny.....

way more than you ever imagined

way more than you estimated

way more than everybody else says

way more than the last three swaps you did.

This is not meant as discouragement. It is meant as a landing into reality LMAO
 
Don't count. You will feel better when people ask how much? you say," I don't no."
 
It all depends on your experience and resources.
I'll cover a couple of the big ones you will be up against depending on how you would like to do it.
You can do all Magnum style with EFI and the serpentine belt system, or carbureted with LA motor Timing cover, water pump, pulleys and intake with aftermarket heads with LA pattern intake bolts like I am doing.

1. Almost all running Magnum heads are cracked or going to crack.
You can get by with cracked ones some of the time, but I hesitate to say most of the time.
(There are a lot 5.9's with cracked heads out there that run just fine)

2. If you plan on running the serpentine belt system and don't get it all with the engine you will have to come up with it somewhere.

3. You either have to get the 5.9 balanced flywheel or buy one, or use a balance converter if you plan to use your existing trans.

4. You will need to deal with the drivers side motor mount being a bit different (It can work with a few spacer washers) or you need new mounts.

5. I you plan on running EFI then you will need the entire fuel and computer system to run it including the high pressure "in tank pump" with built in regulator.
Otherwise you will have to buy an aftermarket EFI controller system.

6. Most cooling systems that work fine for a 318 may not for a 5.9 (they produce more power and therefor more heat.
Those are about the biggest and if you can't do any of it, the most costly items to deal with.

I am in the installation stages of a performance 5.9 and A500 overdrive (42RH) swap right now, but I'm going with the LA style carburetion and belt system so if you have specific questions of going either way I can help if needed.
 
The first swap I did was in my 71 Swinger. Picked up a wrecked 2001 Ram 2500 for $1200. Front end was totaled out, but everything else was great. Pulled the motor and trans, and every single wire harness out, including the dash. Also pulled the heater/ac box, gauge cluster and HVAC controls, and the fuel pump from the tank. Once it was stripped out, I put what was left on Craigslist and sold it for $800. So at this point I only have $400 invested. Bought a set of Schumacher motor mounts for $150, and set of tti headers for $700. I went thru the harnesses and deleted the evap, abs, and airbag crap myself, and shortened it up so it would fit the engine compartment and not have wires strung all over the place. All in after buying a condenser and shortening the driveshaft, miscellaneous bits here and there I was right around $1600 total invested. Now I had a car with modern efi, overdrive trans, and air conditioning! Not bad. As long as you can do the majority of the work yourself, it can be done for cheap.
 
Shamrock--WV2NC said:
What is the estimated cost of swapping a magnum 360 into a 72 dart swinger? It currently has a 318. Thanks
Click to expand...
Need more info like what trans do you have in it now?
Do you plan on using magnum trans MT or AT?
I would not recommend factory pump into stock tank install, just get a real tank with pump installed unless your time is only worth $2/hr.
Decide serp or V belt.
FI or carb(carb sort of defeats purpose of modern engine, but many here will disagree because they dont understand FI or are scared of install)
Motor mounts, flex plate and manifolds are all pretty small deals.
Read magnumswap.com and check out our site magnummopar. they both have a bunch of info on swap. We also have all the parts needed if you dont want to spend hrs on net searching for each piece, we beat scummit on most items. PM if you cant find us online. You can also call shop as this is what we do here. Just Magnums, all day, all week, all year for last 17 years. Its pretty simple and can be as cheap as you make it, $500-$3000, just depends on how you do it and what you do to engine/fuel system. Evan
 
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