Hey Everyone. I have a 1966 Fury II currently with a poly 318 and auto trans. My Plan for the car had always been Magnum engine and AOD including all the fuel injection- I have the same motor and trans in my 93 D150 and have been happy with it.
I finally picked up a donor- 1991 Dakota. Of course I didnt do enough research to find out that the 1991 dakota still used the LA engine...
So now I have a Dakota with LA 318 and A500 trans. Since power output about 50hp lower in the LA than the Magnum, I am starting to questions if I should move ahead.
The poly 318 in the car runs decent but seems like a slug. Frequently need to adjust valves and I am guessing maybe could use a rebuild. PARTS FOR POLYS ARE $$$$$$
I am not wanting to spend a ton of extra money so I am not buying high $$ heads or anything like that. The options I am considering are:
1- Keep the poly 318, add in the A500 trans and call it good.
2- Swap over the LA318 and A500 fuel injection and all. Guessing performance would be about the same as now. A lot of work but would start and run smoother..
3- Swap over the LA318 and A500 but switch to Carb instead of Fuel injection- I already have a 4 barrel Holley intake laying around. would need to swap to non-roller cam due to $$ or roller cam.
4- Forget the whole thing and sell the Dakota.
So just looking for opinions. Car will be a cruiser and not really for drag racing or anything...but I do want to be able to get out of my own way. What would you do?
