I have an old D-50 with a crappy engine.. I was thinking about swapping the stock 4 cyclinder manual with a V8 of some kind. I was wonding if their was a engine tranny combo that would cut down the driveshaft and axle compatability issues.. Mostly just wonding if their is one setup that is going to be in sence easier than anouther..? Any comments or advice is welcome  

Back in 95 I stuffed a 360 in a 1980 D-50; I had a total of $1200.00 in it that included the cost of the truck ($200.00).  Once the bugs were worked out it ran 13.70.  It was the funnest vehicle I’ve ever owned.
Reply to this post for more tips, I might be able to scan the motor mount templates that I have.  I may also have a cost run down of the whole truck if anybody’s interested.
If your truck is 2wd a V8 swap is pretty easy; a 4X4 will have torsion bars up front that look like they’d get in the way.  Because your truck came with a manual trans it should be equipped with a 3.9 axle ratio (I think), Automatic versions of the 79-86 D-50s were equipped with 3 speed 904 Torqueflites it’s basically a 904 but the bell housing is shaped to fit the japola 4 banger.  With this in mind a 360/318 with a 904 will directly bolt to the D-50’s auto trans cross member, the D-50 auto shifter will be a direct bolt on, a D-50 auto drive shaft will slip right in and the speedo cable will hook right up.  I could go on should I continue?  Reply to this post.  

well when i did the buick, i had about a 6 inch driveshaft difference. It cost me about 360 to have it shortened, but that was with a new carrier bearing and a balancing(its a two piece) so as far as shortening or lengthening the driveshaft, it really isnt too bad of a monetary addition. prolly only cost 240 or so without bearings and all that mess. Just an option if you want to maybe save the headache in finding a more sparsly backed engine/tranny combo. 350 parts are everywhere  

Please continue, did you have to cut the firewall? I am all ears, have an 87 auto with 2.6 motor on my stand and a 360 sittin on the garage floor.  Geoff in Va Beach  

Hi; And yes please do continue!! 79asspin. I maybe need motor mounts for just such a swap,  4-banger to a 360!! I will watch this forum for more. Niizhmkwa.  ps! good info for sure.  

I didn’t have to cut the firewall but I did hammer a body seam flat in the trans tunnel area, also had to cut the lower radiator support (for pulley clearance) and added a 16” piece of 2”X2”X1/8” square tubing (forward of the cut) to tie the support back together.
    Here’s how I did the motor mounts.  Before I jerked the four cylinder I measured the center point of the crank or harmonic in relation to the frame rails, it seems to me that the engine was off set 1” to the passenger side.  Before I could drop in the 360 904 combo, I sectioned the passenger car oil pan, to clear the engine crossmember. Basically I moved the sump 3” toward the front and extended the pickup a like amount.  I guess I did this because I felt that the x-member added strength to the front suspension.  Other options would be to use a truck pan (rear sump) and spin it 180 degrees (now a front sump), this might work with a 318 pan but not the 360 (front and rear seal areas are a different radius).  When I do it again I think I'd just cut some of the engine x-member and reinforce it with 2X2 square tubing (and use a car pan). somthing like this  
    Now I was able to drop the motor and trans into place.  My 1980 D50 was originally a 2WD with a manual transmission (3.9 axle?).  I went to the junkyard and picked up a D50 automatic driveshaft and crossmember (probably 79-86 parts, not sure about 87 up stuff).  This crossmember locates the transmission exactly where it needs to be, the driveshaft slips into the tranny and bolts to the rear end, these are just stock parts, no fabrication necessary.
    With the transmission bolted in I temporarily slipped a 3”X6”X¼” flat piece of stock (wood or steel plate) between the oil pan and the engine crossmember, now remembering my 1” off set I moved the front of the engine where it needed to be.
    My mounts consisted of two pieces of ¼ X3X3 square tubing, the drivers side was 7” long and the passenger side was 6” long. One end needs to be shaped to be bolted to the “dog ears” of the engine and the other end is cut at an angle and welded to the frame rails.  I reinforced the frame area with a piece of 1/8X2X3 angle 6” long.  Pictures will explain this better than I can, but if you’ve come this far you can easily mock up some cardboard templates.  And yes these mounts are solid, I didn’t think they were to bad to live with they actually added to the exhilaration.  When you consider some of the tight clearances, solid just seemed the way to go.  I was able to close the stock hood on the whole thing (no scoop) and didn’t want the motor flopping around.  

79asspin
I'm trying to fit a 318/904 combo in to a Dodge D-50 1987, I can use all the help from you. Please E-mail me at dagsmaint@yahoo.com Thank you.  

Is your truck 2WD, auto or manual?  The D-50 I was working on in those photos was an 87 also.  The yellow one that I used for my avatar was an 80.  I know that 79-86 d-50’s used the 904 based transmission.  I think 87 and up used a misubitchy trans of some sort and I never found out if the later style transmission crossmember would bolt to my 904 or if an early crossmember would bolt to the later truck.  It is possible to fab your own crossmember but like with my 80 the factory CM placed the tail portion exactly where it has to be.