Preparing the 5.7 5-45RFE swap, couple of questions.

Good morning all! I walked into a great deal on a low mileage 04 5.7 and A518 so I am swapping that into the 70 Cuda. I have done my due diligence and printed MANY pages from the tech archives here, thanks to all of you that submit! I do however have a couple of questions I'm hoping to get help with. First, having trouble finding a premade A518 center hump, if there even is one. Second, I ran across a harness made by a member for about $200 that plugs into our fuseblock and into the ECU, has all the relays etc. Is it really that simple and that is all that's needed to manage the electronics? I got the whole harness, sensors, ECU etc from the truck. Last but not least, are most people doing this swap using the truck drive by wire stock digital signal box? THanks all, cheers. I will add some pics and an update now and again as I go! Along with some more questions I'm sure!!!

Is it a 1994? If so, it would be 5.2 or 5.9. 5.7 hemi didn't come until much later and I'm not sure it was ever mated with a 518.

ah geez, sorry all, 2004!!

There was never a 3g HEMI/518 combo from the factory. Only 45/545RFE and A580 MB transmissions for autos.

If you're playing with a new hemi and it's transmission, you're going into rare territory.

The truck in came out of is a 2004 2wd ram with an auto. I guess I either misread or read bad info on the motor trans combo for that year. Like I said, got all the computer, harness etc. Research has been pretty solid on the swap, as have been the conversion parts. Just the few loose ends I mentioned before. The package is getting delivered tonight, I'll post some pics. What trans should I expect to find?

by the way Feets, Since I moved to Tucson and had all my projects packed away and moved, this motor deal has taken the place of the turbo 318 I was in the middle of that you helped me out so much on!

bump for the good info!!

The trans is indeed the 5-45RFE!!

I'm doing the same exact swap into a 71 challenger. 04 5.7 with a 5-45rfe. My harness has been professionaly stripped, and yes it does look that easy. Every wire plugs into sensor, or relay except probably about 5 or so open ended wires that are hot leads for you computer and fuel pump and so on. My engine has all the sensors, and the harness has the relays already in it. Piece of cake. Trany tunnel, I cant help you, I'll probably be fabbing mine as I go. I do plan on running the drive by wire, but I still need to find one. [any one have one to get rid of?] If you don't already know, there is no speed-O sender with this set up. I have heard of an electric signal to a manual drive converter, but I have not researched it yet, so I'm not sure if it will work here unless it produces its own electronic speed signal. I'll run my GPS for a while if I need to.

The 545 trans is huge I had to add about 5" width to my tunnel and extend it quite a few inches as well. Fabbing a custom mount is a significant job as well. I posted pics here. http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1021411#post1021411
Other members have shared good info as well on this site.

You can get a tailhousing with speedo output here.
http://www.transmissioncenter.com/45RFE_545RFE_68RFE_Performance_Transmissions_and_Parts.htm

I thought this was too expensive and I am going with custom electronic gauges in my duster.

I made my own custom wiring harness with all the relays and connections to get everything running. It just takes patience and a factory service manual.

I have had it running to test everything out, but I still have all my body work to do so I have no idea what its like on the road.

Excellent info! Who professionally stripped your harness? I might spring for the 200 custom made unit that just clips into the factory fuse block and into the ECU.

I'm going to go with an electronic speedo tach as well, much easier and want modern gauges anyway.

Hmmmm, maybe we can keep sharing this good info etc. and especially center hump recipe's!!

Speed and Performance did my wire harness. It's not cheep, but it is very well done.

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Excellent info! Who professionally stripped your harness? I might spring for the 200 custom made unit that just clips into the factory fuse block and into the ECU.

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do you have this guys info? That is the cheapest price i've seen yet for a plug and play harness - and I've been lookin for at least a year - please pm me