What engine for my new Town Panel?

What engine should I plan on using?

  • 5.7 Hemi

    Votes: 11 61.1%

  • Slant Six Turbo EFI

    Votes: 4 22.2%

  • 5.2 Magnum

    Votes: 3 16.7%
  • Total voters
    18
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If you going to swap motors, buy a parts vehicle.
Do you know anybody with a dealers license, if so have them go to a salvage sale.
My cousin just picked up a 06 Durango 4x4 that was wrecked with a 5.7 hemi, still starts right up and runs for $1000 delivered to his house for the complete vehicle.
I don't see swapping any engine/trans combo cheaper than that.
 
I'm putting a blown 354 hemi and t56 in my 64 town panel. Hopefully my kids will be able to pay for college on their own. This is the crazy way to go had a running brand x motor but I couldn't stand it.
 
druid318 said:
What year did they quit making the 318? 91? So 26 years old. I just assume I won't find one that is in good shape. I don't see many locally at least. I'm not really interested in doing a rebuild at this point if I can avoid it. I put the magnum on there, since it is somewhat newer. Whatever I put in here will be EFI. Carbs are just not reliable for the way I plan to use this vehicle.

I love the 318 though, I would throw one in with EFI if I can score one in good shape.
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Technically the 318 went until 02 or 03 (5.2 magnum) simplicity wise I'd say 5.2/5.9 magnum would be your best bet but a 5.7 would offer better power and mpg but I too think a cummins would be the altimate swap.
 
I cannot imagine why you would need to chop up the floor for an OD automatic. Surely those have a large enough tunnel.
 
druid318 said:
So i bought this 1964 Dodge Power Wagon Town Panel. It has 55k original miles, as far as I can tell it has the original slant six engine and 3 speed column shift transmission. It was restored and painted once, around 1997 or so. It has been out in Nevada for a while so the paint is peeling, and it has a couple of spots where old body work is cracking. All in all the truck is in great shape.

I sold my 2014 Challenger RT and my little Ford Ranger, so this is my daily driver. My goal for the truck is to set it up as a people hauler. It currently has a nicely done minivan seat as the middle row. From the factory these could have 3 rows of seats so that is the plan. I'm thinking maybe 3 rows of captains chairs, or going back to a bench with flip up passenger seat in the front. I'm going to put in carpet in the back to cover the wood floor, and add A/C and a radio. Eventually it will need power brakes and power steering, I will possibly swap to disk brakes, but I have not researched doing that with 8 lug wheels.

My dilemma is that while I like the truck a lot, this 3 speed is terrible, and with the 4.10 rear it really feels like it is struggling to move under it's own weight at times. I can see why the truck has so few miles. Basically this thing needs to be altered to be really driveable. I want to be able to take this thing on vacations. I want to be able tow a utility trailer, small boat, or maybe a fairly light car hauler. I want to keep the 4wd, but it is a divorced transfer case, so that doesn't really seem to matter much. I want to be able to drive this thing to the beach, or the mountains, distant car shows, etc.

So I'm saving about 550 bucks a month not paying a car payment and insurance on the Challenger, so if I save a couple of months I have some money to work with. I have thought about a couple of engine combos. I' sure a diesel would be just about perfect in this thing, but I'm ruling that out, as it seems to be more fabrication work than I want to do.

So from my research it looks like I can pick up an overdrive a833od and hook that up to any of the three engines I was thinking about. If I'm missing a better transmission option someone please fill me in, the 833 looks like it should be a drop in on this truck. I see the Passon 855 also, but I don't think I want to spend that kind of money yet, and that might still be an upgrade option later if the 833 is lacking.

Engine options....
5.7 Hemi swap, most expensive, but would give me plenty of power in stock form.
Original slant 6, switch to EFI, hang a turbo off the side. Probably run megasquirt.
5.2 magnum swap. Sort of splitting the difference here. I'm guessing this would be cheapest. I'm thinking this would probably be worse mpg and worse horsepower than the hemi option, but cheaper if I can find one in good shape.

I want power, reliability, parts availability, etc.
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it's no wonder the 5.7 is leading. Build a 408, .
 
You will have to fab motor mounts about any way you go, along with exhaust and transmission mount. That being said, if it were mine I would go with the lowest mile 5.7 Hemi that I could find from a newer 4WD truck. Call Chris at Hotwire, and see if he has a harness available for the 8 speed automatics, in case you find a mashed parts truck with one of those in it. I know he makes one for a 545RFE. If the front yoke on the newer transfer case lines up on the same side as your existing front differential, jerk all of the old stuff out and use all of the new stuff. If you're really wanting an 833OD, get one of Jamie Passon's 833OD conversions instead of trying to us an original one. The original 833OD would never stand what your goals for the truck are. Good luck, and have fun.
 
famous bob said:
No real suggestion here, or help, but if I were going to go to the trouble of a gen 3 hemi, it would be the biggest made !
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None of the choices are cheap nor ideal.
5.7 is the only thing that would move a vehicle of that weight, most expensive however. Stroke the 318 mag...but in my mind it's hard spending stroker kit money on a 3.91 bore. Turbo slant... underdog complex Lol I love the slant but it will never grow 2 more cylinders or a better port. 85 lb crank flinging tiny little 3 inch pistons around, let's turbo that, great idea. lol
 
Well, if it were me...

I'd drop a 6.1L Hemi with a NAG1 trans in it. You can pick up good used ones for around $5k with trans, ready to run. 425 hp with 420 lb-ft torque.
 
Find a 90-93 3/4 ton pickup with a cummins already in it, remove said truck body and bed, and drop your body on it. the earlier cummins is basically all manual, no electronics on engine and parts are cheaper.
 
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