The engine is in.
To recap; it's a 94 2wd v6 Dakota that I am swapping to a 97 5.9 magnum and 727. I had to drill and tap a 1/2" plate for each side to move the motor mount forward about 2" (different for each side). Sandwiched the plate between the block and the mount.
All I can figure is the brackets on the k-frame are different from v6 to v8.
Moral of the story: don't believe anything you read on the net and only half of what you see. Other sites (not this one) said this was a "easy swap" "uses same mounts".
BTW the trans mount used is the one like 2 posts above.