New to the Forum
 

Hello everyone. I have joined to look for advice in restoring my father-in-laws 1980 Dodge Pickup Truck D150. It has 56K original miles on it but the engine (318) has seen better days. My thought is to drop in a newer fuel injected engine from Jasper.
Has anyone ever done anything like this and what are the "watch outs"?

I have fooled around with this stuff and went F.I. to carb on one truck. For the new F.I. engine you'll need stock parts and computer or aftermarket. Lots on the internet about putting newer engine, overdrive transmission and computer in older vehicles. After hours of looking at new and old wiring diagrams the two road blocks when joining the two are dash instruments and charging system.

I kept the computer basically to run the dash instruments but it would not operate the charging system, so I put in an old system, alt, volt regulator etc. It was agony but I figured out the computer needed input from many sensors, some I had eliminated, to operate the computer internal voltage regulator.

You going the other way may want a donor vehicle for all the stuff plus maybe the modern dash instruments and fuel tank/pump assembly. This is why companies are selling new engines with trans, computer, dash/steering wheel and pedals as the whole system is integrated and computer controlled.

Sorry, no easy answer from me.

Welcome to the forum, that's great job bringing it back to life! Make sure to create a build thread so we can follow your progress.

Best bet is to get a later magnum engine that has all of the sensors, so find a wreck and get the drive train & computers then the fun begins getting every thing to work