• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Donor Dakota RT

747mopar

Well-Known Member
Local time
9:25 PM
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
13,792
Reaction score
19,178
Location
ohio
When this was offered to me for $500 I couldn't pass it up, looks like the daughter's 72 Satty is getting a 360 with overdrive. I'd love to fix the truck because they're badass haulers but it sat in a yard for years and would need a complete donor truck to even be feasible so donor it is. I knew I wanted EFI and OD for her so for $500 I got it all, I'll freshen up the 100,000 mile 360 and replace the tranny seals and filter and call it good.
20200127_164237.jpg
 
If ya keep the efi get the Hughes intake plenum kit or you'll be pulling the intake to fix it. Unless its been done.
 
You might want to hang on to that silver r/t it has pretty low production numbers.

F3Qzoxuj0o9DXupYwavhjpmcGTCiZ0WkoKn9ZADWM5jngdo3jE17lza9WXY2sC12mP_q5ohzE8QkwYunrL=w1227-h749-no.jpg
 
Mtost of the 2nd gen (some say 3rd) have rusted away by now.
My 92 has only just started to rust. That's the exception.
 
My neighbor bought one used for his son. The kid beat the hell out of that thing for years. He drag raced it at LVMS for about 6 years and won street class 4 out of 6 years. I've never seen something take a beating like that truck and keep on going.
 
I bought a brand new silver R/T CC in 2001. Love that truck. It is a blast to drive. Parked it last year with 92k miles because it started hanging on the 1-2 shift - front band is going. Plan to dig into it this winter and decide whether to fix it or sell it as-is.
20190728_160011.jpg
Considering using that drivetrain in my 67 Belv. in place of the 318/727. Interested in knowing what it takes to do that swap.
 
Last edited:
I have had several 2 black club cabs 1 Deep Amethyst they are pretty cool little trucks. The silver ones are low production colors. I think only slightly higher than the rare white RT trucks.
 
I have one of the 163 2000 Amber Fire club cabs.

A 100,000 mile Magnum is just broken in. Should not need any freshening.

Mine is at 168,000 and has the same power and torque that it did when I bought it with 30,000 on the clock.

It is the most dependable vehicle I have ever owned.

The trans OTOH has developed a small issue not wanting to shift when cold unless you let off the gas.
Minor and goes away when warmed up.

Trans was the weak link on any early 90's to mid 00's RWD.
Many were repaired/replaced under warranty and after.
I got lucky and mine has never been serviced.
I have heard from multiple sources that the R/T models got a slightly different trans with a "different" second gear.

The worst part of the entire drivetrain, however is the heater core placement, which causes all sorts of issues.
Mine does eat water pumps and to a lesser extent, radiators.
You shouldn't have that problem in a 72 sat.
While it's out- check the freeze plugs.
I've lost a few, but they were all (fingers crossed) easy to get to.

Another common issue is the IAS motor (and the MAP/MAF sensor).
 
You might want to hang on to that silver r/t it has pretty low production numbers.

View attachment 905564
It's bad, frame has rust pushing parts apart, missing driver side inner fender rotted the cab pretty bad, bed is shot.... like I said to fix it I would basically be transferring the drivetrain into another truck.
 
It's bad, frame has rust pushing parts apart, missing driver side inner fender rotted the cab pretty bad, bed is shot.... like I said to fix it I would basically be transferring the drivetrain into another truck.
Well damn that sucks... Didnt realize it was that bad off. In the pictures it doesn't look bad..
 
There's a pretty decent following in the Houston area for those trucks. A car dealer buddy and I took a 99 early production reg cab truck out to the track and had a pretty good time with it. It was yellow and when I first heard about it being yellow, I thought yuck but it looked pretty. Didn't know so many yellow ones were built. A buddy has a red reg cab but he uses it to haul scrap and man, that thing is beat to hell! Years ago he did some mods to it and it still runs hard but looks like crap inside and out. No rust though!
 
Well damn that sucks... Didnt realize it was that bad off. In the pictures it doesn't look bad..
It's pretty deceiving, when he first offered it I was excited then I looked it over:eek:.
 
It's pretty deceiving, when he first offered it I was excited then I looked it over:eek:.
One good thing about having the whole vehicle is that you have everything needed to do a working swap. From what I understand, you'll have to make room in the trans tunnel for the OD....the rest should be no problem as the small block still has the old style motor mount ears.
 
When I had mine I did the typical bolt on stuff to it but at that time it was my commuter truck and I went from bad to worse on gas mileage. Went from around 15 mpg to 9 mpg, mopar M1 intake, K&N cold air, Mopar performance computer, Harland Sharp 1.6 Roller Rockers. Gave you lots of help up top. But low end torque suffered badly. I pulled a trailer full of wood working equipment after I added all the goodies. It was like pulling a tank down low. So to get some low end torque back I installed a turtle in the bottom of the intake to help get some torque back.

Here is my old truck

DSC00002.JPG
 
When I had mine I did the typical bolt on stuff to it but at that time it was my commuter truck and I went from bad to worse on gas mileage. Went from around 15 mpg to 9 mpg, mopar M1 intake, K&N cold air, Mopar performance computer, Harland Sharp 1.6 Roller Rockers. Gave you lots of help up top. But low end torque suffered badly. I pulled a trailer full of wood working equipment after I added all the goodies. It was like pulling a tank down low. So to get some low end torque back I installed a turtle in the bottom of the intake to help get some torque back.
What rear gears did it have? IIRC, the RT's came with 3.9 gears or was a 3.55 optional?
 
I honestly don't remember.. But most people would do the same combo but install 4:55 gears I couldn't afford to do that portion of the swap since the Mopar M1 intake was a little over 600.00 at that time. I ended up getting one from Mancini Racing for 459.00 which I thought was a steal.
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top