98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

as far as I know, nobody has one of these lol. But with a curbweight of 3481lbs and 500-700lbs to lose, not counting the weight savings by going from ironblock/heads to LS1 (and most likely a lighter trans) We'd have to be out of our minds not to do this

After barely beating my high 14 sec D.D. 97 saturn sc1 (with SC2swap) from a dig and losing to it from a roll a few weeks ago, my buddy asked me the big question- "would it be worth it to put $3K towards heads/cam/etc to run 11s?" I told him "Hell no, But it'd definately be worth it to spend $3 grand on a 2000LS1 motor, trans, and PCM/wiring!"

He welds and fabricates for a living and he enjoys going fast, so needless to say, It didn't take much convincing at all lol.

Between work and life, we dont have much time to work on his truck, but for the few weekends we put in on this project, we are making progress like a ****!

We did the best we could with research on putting a LS1 in this particular vehicle, but it turned up no results. No problem

We had the stock boat anchor and trans removed in 2.5 hours


cut the old motor mount crap off of the frame and made our own pedestals, utilizing the LS1mounts (this was before the excess was removed and cleaned up)


Had to notch the Kmember and modify the oil pan so it could fit. This was before we cleaned it up and painted it



plenty of room now


Rough idea on what it looks like. My buddy Donald and owner of the vehicle on the left, our buddy Chandler aka "Token" on the driver side


pics of it secured in engine bay

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

custom trans crossmember for the 4l60E

SVTconfused

dodge knew that there trucks would have motor swaps... hence the removable tie bar that allows you to sit on the bumper and remove stuff

V8Rumble

iTrader: (9)

LOVE this swap, since I used to have a '99 (Crew?) cab with the 318, & it was an utter TURD as far as any sort of performance goes. Hell, it might've been a great truck with another 200 ft/lbs of torque, but as it was, it was just aggravating...

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

LoL and we also see how much of a turd the 5.9 is as well! and that removeable piece made it that much easier to remove/replace the powerplant heh. I told my friend (who is a mopar fan) about what we're doing and his reply was "Blasphemy!"

He ordered a DIY header kit, so he should have those fabbed up and on the vehicle by this weekend. we also had a 3.5"-4" stock aluminum DS from a dodge ram laying around his shop. that will be shortened up and fitted with the proper conversion U joints & Fbody yoke and balanced of course. fuel tank will be dropped, walbro 255will be installed, then connect the fuel line, wire it up and then a bunch of other little miscellaneous things. a few more weekends and it will be alive! And I will be sure to post video of it

Verz

iTrader: (21)

Where is the weight savings coming from that you mentioned? Ive always loved the looks of dakotas and had fun i a rt back in high school so this has been a swap that has crossed my mind. Subscribed for future reference, goodluck with build.

S10xGN

iTrader: (11)

Odd, my single cab '98 R/T weighs 3780. But I will have to admit, that 5.9 truly sucks! 10.1 MPG in town and 13.5 MPG overall while ripping off a career best ET of 14.89...

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

I asked my buddy about that and he said the dakota rt forums has a weight redux list.


lol he was getting 13mpg as well! im thinking 18-20mpg with the ls1

zipster

iTrader: (5)

It is funny how bad the 5.9 sucked, I was at the drag strip with my 99 Sonoma with a v6/auto, some mild bolt ons, I went 15.4 and the guy next to me in his 5.9 r.t and he went 14.9, I looked at him and chuckled. I said " Wow, a half a second difference. I only have a v6!" Needless to say the Dodge guy went home.

I always liked the RT, the LS swap will be very cool.

tfi racing

iTrader: (2)

Cool,was toying with a Durango or Grand Cherokee swap,they can be picked up for next to nothing around here with smoked 4.7's,the biggest challenge will be mating up the electronics to retain the stock guages and accessories.
Keep us posted!

samuel642000

iTrader: (2)

I've been wanting to do this swap for a long time, I'll def be watching how this turns out

btownws6

thats awesome cant wait to see some vids

tnewton

I have one done already and it's an easy swap. 1st time at the track and it went 13.7x untuned lq4 with at tko on street tire

richsplace

the electrical will be of interest. make it all work

Motoracer838

New guy here, I have a '99 "Dogkota" ex cab R/T, would love to know more about interfacing the GM electrics with the Dodge, was thinking about a Hemi swap, but really like the Idea of tweaking the "purists" with an LS swap.

Joe

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

i meant to take some pics of it tonight but forgot. It's coming along nicely for only being able to work only on weekends. he built his own longtube headers, connected his xpipe and true duals among other things. We just need to hook up the wires, install his fuel pump, electric fans and a few other minor things. as for interfacing the gauges, I dont think he is going to do that. Not 100% sure on what's going to happen there. I was trying to talk him into using a gauge cluster and wiring from my 99z28 lol

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

Thats good to know. when did you run it and do you know the raceweight/60'?

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Awesome build...wait, the black guys is named "Token." That some funny South Park ****...lol. Looking forward to the details. Buddy has an '03 Ram 1500 with the putrid 4.7 and a swap may wake it up. LQ9\L92 heads and 4l80e I say.

trav-tech

iTrader: (1)

Im collecting the parts to do an lm7 in my 95 grand cherokee with the tired 5.2L. So far I have the motor, ls1 intake mani, ls6 cam/springs, ecm, 4l60e, transfer case adaptor kit. only need a harness and maf oh and the time to start the install.

Good luck on the rt swap should be way faster....

98TADRIVER

iTrader: (36)

also, do you have any pics or video of the swapped R/T? I'd like to see/hear it