Enging Build and Swap

From : robcoberg

Q: i have a 2000 dodge ram sport with a magnum 5.2 with 90000 on it. i want to build a back up motor with more oomph! i acquired a fully intact 5.9 for a song and a dance and will do a full teardown machining & rebuild over a period of time .i heard that the block is the same all the parts are interchangeable except the oil pan is this true i am hoping the ecu will be the same i want to reuse my current smpi system and all sensors. i am also thinking of using the swirl port 318 head on the 360 would that raise the compression too high any help will be appreciated rob .

Replies:

From : robcoberg

thank you for your replies so far the info will go a long way. when i was talking about parts being interchangeable i was thinking more of external parts headers intake motor mounts water pump brackets & etc. .

From : tbone

not all the parts are interchangeable or how would the two engines have a different cid!! i think that what you mean is that the two engines can be swapped with each other for a given application without any great effort as most of the mounting points and bolt patterns are pretty much the same. the computer will probably have different fuel curves to deal with the larger displacement but the sensors should all be the same. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i have a 2000 dodge ram sport with a magnum 5.2 with 90000 on it. i want to build a back up motor with more oomph! i acquired a fully intact 5.9 for a song and a dance and will do a full teardown machining & rebuild over a period of time .i heard that the block is the same all the parts are interchangeable except the oil pan is this true i am hoping the ecu will be the same i want to reuse my current smpi system and all sensors. i am also thinking of using the swirl port 318 head on the 360 would that raise the compression too high any help will be appreciated rob .

From : denny

i have a 2000 dodge ram sport with a magnum 5.2 with 90000 on it. i want to build a back up motor with more oomph! i acquired a fully intact 5.9 for a song and a dance and will do a full teardown machining & rebuild over a period of time .i heard that the block is the same all the parts are interchangeable except the oil pan is this true i am hoping the ecu will be the same i want to reuse my current smpi system and all sensors. i am also thinking of using the swirl port 318 head on the 360 would that raise the compression too high any help will be appreciated rob the 5.9 will fit in place of the 5.2 but there is nothing internally the same other than maybe the oil pump. the 5.9 is externally balanced so the torque converter is different along with the front balancer. you should be ok with the external brackets water pump timing case ect. the ecu is different also altho ive been told a 5.9 will run on a 5.2 ecu but not right. the 5.9 heads are the same as the 5.2 heads on a magnum engine. the high swirl heads youre thinking about are pre-magnum and wont fit on your motor. denny .

From : max dodge

tbone way to say alot and convey no info..... what tbone wanted to say was.... crankshaft is different as is bore. while the crank being different might be obvious the reasons they concern you are that the crank has a different main bearing size. it also is externally balanced which will mean you need to look at getting a torque convertor that is properly balanced for the 360 engine. tbone is also correct that the pcm/ecm will need to be changed to allow for the extra displacement. check to be sure that the radiator is big enough for the 360 and get a trans cooler as well. in making the engine a bit more brutish youll want to consult people who have done this before and do it as a package. that is know what your budget is and what power you wish to get and buy a cam rockers etc that will work with the engine management. in addition find out what exhaust you can use without vioating any emissions/inspection laws in your state. if you do it on a piece by piece basis your results will vary and will likely not be as good as a well designed package of improvements. a cam in the .050 duration of about 210 will be pushing the stock pcm but should work. youll want to explore a slightly larger more lbs per hour set of injectors possibly a larger throttle body. my recommendation is to have the stock 360 heads ported as a budget performance mod which will return far more per dollar invested than almost any other you will do. compression ratio will go up a bit with a .030 overbore so keeping the stock 360 heads will be a good idea to keep a very streetable truck under you. there are other options for heads a set of r/t heads will be better than stock but will also cost a bit to obtain. in short concentrate on air flow through the engine and power will follow. no real need for a huge cam but a slightly larger than stock will yield some benefits if you port the heads and have an aftermarket exhaust. -- max there are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty soap ballot jury and ammo. please use in that order. -ed howdershelt author not all the parts are interchangeable or how would the two engines have a different cid!! i think that what you mean is that the two engines can be swapped with each other for a given application without any great effort as most of the mounting points and bolt patterns are pretty much the same. the computer will probably have different fuel curves to deal with the larger displacement but the sensors should all be the same. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i have a 2000 dodge ram sport with a magnum 5.2 with 90000 on it. i want to build a back up motor with more oomph! i acquired a fully intact 5.9 for a song and a dance and will do a full teardown machining & rebuild over a period of time .i heard that the block is the same all the parts are interchangeable except the oil pan is this true i am hoping the ecu will be the same i want to reuse my current smpi system and all sensors. i am also thinking of using the swirl port 318 head on the 360 would that raise the compression too high any help will be appreciated rob .

From : tbone

just about all of the parts mentioned will interchange between the two engines. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving thank you for your replies so far the info will go a long way. when i was talking about parts being interchangeable i was thinking more of external parts headers intake motor mounts water pump brackets & etc. .