Im thinking about making this swap to a MPI 5.2 and a 5spd from a dakota. I just wanna know how much crossmember work and tunnel fabricating im going to have to do. the car isnt going to have alot of power. I just need V-8 sound, A/C, and be decent on gas.
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mopar or no car!! 99 DAKOTA R/T 69 DART GTS (CLONE) 69 DART 72 SCAMP
You will have to cut out the whole tunnel and the torsion bar mounts, its way too big and heavy. You would do better adapting a T-5 to it, but that would still be a lot of work, even the A518 is way too big, but it can be made to work with a little less cutting.
IMO it would be more work than benefit in an a-body. The trans is a lot physically larger (taller, wider) than a 4-speed or factory auto. Depending on the year Dakota, the speedo cable should plug right into the trans where the vehicle speed sensor was.
My dad is doing this swap in an F-body, but they have a transverse torsion bar setup so really all the trans crossmember does is join the rockers and front frame rails. He can cut it out and make something new without having to worry about mounting the torsion bars.
Adam
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Eight cylinders all mine, all right, hold tight, I'm a highway star!
T5 fits pretty good. still lots of fab work but it's much closer in size. I didn't have to pound the tunnel out too much at all. granted I had a 4 speed tunnel already so the drivers side had tons of room.
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