Need some opinions on if I should swap..

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?

I THINK you lucked out and have the perfect donor drive train. Should be OBD I and although not a Magnum motor, still a roller motor. Smarter folks than me will soon chime in. Consider this a bump...

The 91 318 has the 302 heads or a later casting number version. It has one of the smallest cams known to man. You are building a cruiser. Here's what I did with my '86 318, basically the same engine.
1. New rings and bearings. Very little wear visible after 115K miles, no ridge in the cylinders.
2. I swapped camshafts for a 360 roller replacement cam. Something like 200 degrees at 50 lift and .400 total lift. The 360 roller engine used the same springs, no need to change them. I actually did because I wanted to be able to run a larger cam down the road.
3. I home ported the heads. Steve Dulcich wrote a very good article about porting the 302s. If you cannot do the work yourself move up to Magnums, the 302s are not worth paying someone else to port.
4. I used the oil pan and pickup from the Poly motor because it fit the chassis and the block.
5. I bolted on a mid '70s 360 Thermoquad intake. Heavy but it works really well. For carb I used a Holley Street Avenger I had been using with the last engine.
6. I used exhaust manifolds that fit in the truck. I believe one was from a 1971 pickup and the other came on the '86 engine. I ran dual exhaust, 2.5".
7. High performance curve distributor with vacuum advance, I set total timing around 34 degrees.
8. I used the Mr. Gasket 1121G thin head gaskets.

Results: This engine increased mileage from 15 to 21 over the 318 Poly I had been driving, same vehicle. Also the distributor, exhaust system and carburetor were the same ones.

What happened bad: I had reused the '64 oil pump and it starved the engine for oil, took out the #1 rod bearing and burned the crank. DO use a new pump and DO check the pickup tube for cracks.

I was the world's third biggest Poly supporter and they're still pretty cool, but for a daily driver on a budget they'll kill you.

R.

I'm a big fan of efi and would swap it in over a carb any day of the week, just to get rid the the carb! Its too bad you didn't get the Magnum, the extra power would be nice, but it is what it is. The OBD! system works well and is a pretty simple system.

If the poly was in better shape then it sounds like it in, I would have considered adding the aod, and the efi to the poly!

At this point, we are ASSuming the la 318 is in good condition, I swap it with the efi & aod trans into your 66 Fury and enjoy the ride. Gene

Hi Everyone- I REALLY appreciate you all taking the time to give your opinions. Definitely good stuff to think about.

Poorboy- The Poly isnt bad really just old. Runs smooth as long as I keep up with the valve adjustments about every 6 months.

Also the LA318 and A500 in the dakota runs and drives now. Bad front pump leak on the trans and lots of oil leaks on the motor but everything seems to work good. Supposed to be only 110K miles on the engine but dont know for sure.

Dogdays- Appreciate the list. I have port matched heads before, but never any bowl work. Swapping to Magnum heads would require a new intake, pushrods ect. I can get the stuff from the local pull it yard, but the intake would probably need to be bought.

I currently have a Holley aluminum intake for an LA engine and holley carb. I also have a set of headers that are meant for the 80's D150 that will bolt to the LA318 but not sure if they will work in the car. Always an option to try.

I believe stock Mag pushrods will work with your earlier 318 roller cam setup.

There are a few ways to go on the intakes and the first way is to use one of the Chinese copy intakes that are not too expensive and have holes for both configurations. The second is to redrill the holes in the head using some sort of a jig. You'd fabricate this yourself, setting it up on a LA head and welding it up. The jig that was around several years ago is no more so it is out of the picture. But it was homemade in much the same way. You need a tube at the right angle to aim the drill bit.
The third is to use the LA intake, elongate the holes, and make some angle spacers for the angle between bolt head and intake surface.

I'm a big EFI fan too but IMHO it's important to get this project on the street. Trying to add factory EFI could take another year and by then the project dies.

R.

There used to be a Jig for this that was floating around the board for a few years , no idea who has it now though .

I would slap on the fitech efi throttle body and call it a day. your looking for a cruiser, you got it. add the realibility of efi and you're all set. nothing wrong with a poly 318. do you need od? maybe get another converter for the trans, something that's a little more modern, little more stall. you can home port the poly heads if want to get that far into it. maybe slap in a new cam.

really just depends how far you want to go.

Sell the Dakota and find a donor with a Magnum

Why go through all that work to only put in something you don't want.

" There used to be a Jig for this that was floating around the board for a few years , no idea who has it now though. "

I know who built it in his garage and know it turned out to be a hassle for him, both when he was lending it out and after he had sold it to whoever has it now. That's why I said in my post that it was no longer available.

BUT, it was built in a garage by someone who was not a metal fabricator, just smart. And whoever wanted to build one could do it with a hacksaw, a welder, and a few other tools to measure and clamp. Start with a bare LA cylinder head and work out from there.

Keep the Poly? Sure, as long as you are OK with $650 intake manifolds, $285 new camshafts and out-of-production pistons. Or, the increased fuel consumption.

R.