Good grief, 41 minutes in to get to the diesel pick-up!

I'm guessing it's very rare, but rarity doesn't = desirable. That said, I wonder how difficult a Cummins 12 valve swap would be?

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I think there was 2,500 of them. Very little power, 125 hp IIRC, had the only factory dual battery setup I know of '71 - '93. I think a Cummins 4BT would be an upgrade?

Gutless, that's why they are rare. They were only good as a grocery getter in the flatlands.

The mining company I worked for in 1978 owned one as “gofer” vehicle for the crew to use at a coal cleaning plant. The crew members hated it because of its lack of horsepower. They were intentionally trying to kill it. Some steep grades around the property it could only climb in 1st gear.

I gave into the complaints and bought a gasoline military surplus jeep from a rebuild outfit in Memphis TN for a replacement. The crews immediately complained about the military surplus jeep pickup because of the extremely stiff leaf springs. One night two leafs mysteriously disappeared from all 4 corners of this ex-Military pickup.

We auctioned off the 1978 Dodge Mitsu forklift engine diesel, I think for $600 because of all the dents in the body.

I continued to see that black 1978 Dodge driving on the local roads around town for the next 11 years!

I think I read here on Moparts years ago that Chrysler put that Mitsu forklift diesel engine in several different vehicles in the South American markets.

A 4bt would certainly be an upgrade. But for the work and expense, just do a 6bt. You're gonna need one of those trucks for a donor anyway.

As a kid, I used to subscribe to Pickup, Van and 4WD magazine. I clearly recall seeing a Road Test article on the 1978 Dodge W-150 Diesel.
I thought the horsepower rating was under 100 but that makes absolutely no sense. I thought it took almost 40 seconds to get to 60 mph. What a pathetic performance.