Ok, change of plans, slightly. After several days of thinking and checking on things, I am going with my original plan of putting in a 392 Hemi in the ol' Dodge. Reason being, the car's pretty much already sold. It was sold before I even dreamed up this scheme. I guess I was considering other things to do with it IF I didn't sell it. HOWEVER, the "diesel rat" will still live! Plus, it will be more along the lines of what I really wanted to do, build a way-low-buck roadster rat. I intend to do this complete project for under a grand. Yep, you heard me right. Here's the plan:

Get a krusty old Jeep, hack a chunk out of the middle of the body and weld the rear/tailgate section onto the cab right behind the doors, so now it's a 2-seater roadster pickup cab. Make a bed, easy enough. Chop the fold-down windshield frame. Hack off the front sheetmetal. Lower the rear, hack off the front diff and suspension, weld on the straight axle setup, done. There's my new rolling carcass, ready for the diesel transplant! What would it cost me? Probably about 200-400 bucks, depending on how cheap I can find a krusty Jeep. I found an old mail Jeep today, the guy wants 300.

Over the weekend I found an 81 240D, runs and drives good, but has no brakes and a rotted undercarriage for $350. Let the games begin!