Engine rebuild advice

FORENSICS

MEMBER
1993 DODGE DAKOTA
5.2L
V8
4WD
MANUAL
198,000 MILES

Hello to all who read,

I'm in the process of engine swapping my truck from the v6 to the Magnum 318 v8 that also came out of another 1993 Dodge Dakota.

I am on the verge of having every essential item for my engine rebuild I am only missing a set of lifters and the v8 ecu for the build.

I have very little knowledge of the in's and out's of the motor except that everything on it appears to be Mopar genuine down to the plug wires and that its covered in years of dirt and oil and has absolutely no rust. So hopefully a good buy.

All I'm looking for now is good rebuild advice, I have new pistons, rings, engine bearings but if the engine internals are in good condition I'd like to go about doing the gaskets, oil pump, timing chain, water pumps, etc and a good painting. I have a few books describing the magnum rebuild and even performance stuff my biggest worry is making sure things go back together right such as torquing, making sure the engine is timed right, and which bolts to use thread locker on, what I should or shouldn't lubricate, etc.

Mainly I'd just like a professional opinion on how I should go about my build don't want to throw an engine in and have it explode or bend something due to my mistake.

Thanks to all who read or reply, have a wonderful day.

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Great questions. If you have a book that takes you through the rebuild then you will be just fine. However, the things you want to do are get assembly lubrication and use that rather than just oil. You can coat the bearings and things in oil but assembly lube holds up better upon first start up.

Keep in mind when you first start the engine there will be no oil from the oil pump for a couple of seconds until the oil gets through the engine. The only protection you will have is what you have put on the bearings. You will want to put this on any moving part that is metal to metal. Keep in mind you can't really get this in any wrong places except for where a gasket goes. Clearly if there is a gasket then you don't lubricate that.

Another thing you need to check is the oil pump. I included the process on how to check it. Pay particular attention on the priming of the oil pump when putting it on the new engine.

Look through the attachments and let me know if you think you need something else. I included all the torque specs on an engine rebuild and the timing marks. Again, let me know if you need anything thanks.

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