I am building a 360 magnum engine for my Dakota. I am going carbureted. I tried the fuel injection this year and it was too inconsistent. Can I use the factory tank, fuel pump and fuel lines with a carburetor or will I have to use something different? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks Chris

Your going to need a fuel pressure regulator, at least. The EFI pump will have too much pressure for the carb needle & seat. After the regulator, plumb the lines as you need them to connect to your new carb. Probably already know, but you'll need a different intake as well, which might result in different or modified throttle linkage. Gene

Thanks poorboy! I was figuring on a regulator and I am going to use a Edelbrock Airgap intake along with a 750 carb. I just was not sure about the tank, pump and lines. Because if I had to change all of it I was thinking of going E85. One thing I will have to find is a linkage bracket for the throttle and ATV cable. I would like to keep the overdrive if possible and will need a bracket if one is made. If not I guess we can figure something out.

Thanks Chris

I put a carbed 360 in an 89 Dakota a few years ago and If I remember right the regulator was set at 5 lbs. and I ran a return line back to the tank which it already had the return. It worked perfect and kept the fuel circulating all of the time as the pump ran all of the time. It never vapor locked or ran out of fuel. I ran a valve on the return line and slowed the fuel to the tank down. It worked perfect. Had people tell me it wouldn't work but it never lost any pressure, and never gained any either. Held a steady 5psi all of the time. Didn't matter if I was driving normal or beating the eye balls out of it. Had a gauge on the cowl.

Just change the cable to a linkage from a 727. It fits right on the trans. shaft.

Thanks Kenworth_goose! I will have to look into that.

I also set the engine, trans back 2.5 inches. What I did was build 2 boxes and use dodge truck mounts. It was really easy and didn't have to buy any custom parts

That way I had room for a clutch fan.

I can't say if it's true, but I have heard high pressure fuel pumps for port EFI often don't live long when run at low PSI carb fuel pressure. Now whether that's true or whether that's the result of running an EFI pump with a non-return style regulator, I can't say. I would say a return style regulator is a must as EFI pumps cool by fuel flow.




Sounds like a nice setup! Although in all fairness, in stock form your TBI fuel pump wasn't putting out a whole lot of pressure either. 13, 15, something like that was TBI psi.

A 93 Dakota would have had the Magnum v6 or v8 and would have been port injected. pump PSI was in the 50 lbs range.
You definitely need a regulator with a return line or the pressure will deadhead against the regulator and will increase the pressure at the carb. (my son didn't believe me and got to buy 2 regulators, the cheap one without the return, and the expensive one that worked. Gene

Thank you all for the info. Now I have another question to ask. The engine builder asked if my fuel tank, fuel pump and fuel lines would support E85? He is telling me that I might have to run a race gas / premium gas mix. He is saying if I go with E85 the octane will not be an issue. He also said it will run more consistent and cooler with E85 and it also does not cost $8 a gallon. I know it will use twice as much E85 but with the cost of it, it might be cheaper. I have to buy a carburetor not matter which way I go.

Thank you Chris

Why do you want to go to E85?

Any details on the 360 build and why your builder thinks race gas may be needed? I would hesitate to throw e85 or race gas at something that doesn't need it.

We are going to use a 3.58 stroke crank and I beam rods. Hypereutectic pistons and the comp ratio is coming out at 10.0 to 1. He said he has seen motors in the past at 10 to 1 without race gas not survive, especially if you don't have the anti knock sensors like the newer cars. He said I would either have to run a race gas mix or go E85. The benefits to E85 are supposedly the motor runs more consistent and that is what I will be doing on the weekends with it, bracket racing. I would hate to not run race gas and have detonation and I would also not like to mix race gas with driving it on the street to the track and back.

Thank you for any information you have, Chris

10 to 1 isn't that high a compression ratio that you will need race gas. 89 to 93 octane pump gas will be plenty good.

Agreed. In stock form the magnum v8's are 9:1 I think. Unless you're putting a RV cam in there, I'd seriously question any engine builder who can't get a 10:1 small block running on pump gas.

I like to do the 360's with KB 10to1's on 273 full floating rods. They rev like crazy and stay together while doing so.