Thats what I am thinking. Can anyone tell me if a 2.2 or a 2.5 out of a k-car or mini-van will bolt up?

Is it 5spd or Automatic? The Manual transmissions are a weak unit in these trucks, so be careful. You may be up against a transmission repair in the near future if it's got high miles or was abused.

BanditX back again, still puttin around in my 88 Montaro, the same one I got on this forum so many years back, when I still lived on ya'll's side of the pond, but I love it so much that I took it with me when I put all my stuff in a container and moved back to my ancestral homeland Latvia, where we got back our ancestral homestead, Daudziesi, abig house and barn on 200acres, my little truck is a great little workhoursewith the 33/12.5 GY wrangler MT-Rs rear LSD and 500watts of bass and a webber carb.. The other year, the third cylinder shaft snapped, and since you wont find too many 2.6ltr. bottom halves I found me a 2.5ltr turbo diesel moter from a 4door Pajero, that came with the tranny too, put that in, but then the old hose to the oil cooler cracked and that motor went to the big scrap yard in the sky, and then I put in a 2.3ltr. turbo diesel that I am very happy with.

You do not have to remove the crossmember or diff. Take the nuts off of the two motor mount studs. Jack the engine up. remove pan bolts. Reach in and remove the oil pump pick-up tube bolts. remove pan from chassis. What do you hope to accomplish by just replacing the bearings?
Conner

Its a lot easyier with the cross member out of the way. Removing four bolts to takes little time.

Okay, the transmission is an automatic.

It sounds like if I end up deciding to purchase this little beast I should either rebuild the engine that is there (and install a clearwater? head with a starion head gasket) or track down another 2.6 from a d-50 or Raider, or Montero.

From what I have read it sounds like a Weber conversion is also a good idea.

I have asked around among people I know who are into Mopars and I have heard some very mixed reviews about the reliability of Raiders. Some guys say they are okay, others claim the 2.6 and the Raider itself are junk and to be avoided. Who is right? What are the known weak spots (besides the manual transmission and cooling system)? What areas should I check for rust?

Thanks again for your patience and time! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I have had three Raider/Montero donors to my project. All from rust prone areas. They all had some rust, each in different areas!

Most common would the rear bumper, the edges of the wheel wells, the top of the rear wheel wells, and at the bottom of the rear door jams (where run off would make its way down.)

There isn't anyone here who would question the longevity of a well maintained SWB. There are some here that have seen well over 200k miles on original engine. Lack of maintenance, and the cooling system in particular, is the main culprit.

They say a Weber coversion will not pass smog in most places.

If you really want to have some fun, with minimal fabbing, consider the turbo swap...

The 2.6 has had some issues but then again many aluminum head motors have. The big ones are head cracking over time and if you overheat and ballance shaft bearing failures if you run out of oil. Also the ballance sahft chain drives the oil pump and if allowed to run really loose it fials, the pump stops spinning and life is bad.

That said a reasonalby maintained 2.6 will go 120,000 to 200,000 miles or more. A new head will get you years of useage, odds are it will outlast the rest of the vehicle. basicly these mtors can be rebuilt to be very reliable.

The down side is cost, a rebuilt engine is not free and a new head + parts for the rest of the engine can add up. If you shop well it can be done on a budget, just not the same one as a chevy.

The motor has a number of strong points like the bottom end is way over built, forged crank, beefy block, rods.. etc. With a turbo you can get an easy 180 to 260 hp and a lot of torque.

With a carb you can get a low cost fun to drive vehicle that has acceptable performance.

Rust depends o nwhere the vehicle lived. My california Raider is very clean. Get one from the salt belt... and expect dammage.

Kevin

I'm in the process of putting a Mercedes 5 cylinder diesel in a 87 Raider. I have the engine mated to the Rader running gear. I will be hooking up the radiator and start test driving it next week

Cool, keep us posted. Someone else here did a MB diesel swap. User name was D300 or similar...?