2.6 liter swap question

[RoadRanger]

quick question, any info would be appreciated!

long story short the 2.6 in my '89 Ram 50 4x4 has a bad cylinder head. spent most of the summer looking for a donor only to find a late 1980's dodge caravan a block from my house with a 2.6 liter engine. will the front wheel drive engine (or even just the cylinder head) work in my truck? are there any differences between the FWD and RWD engines?

thanks!
-Ryan

[pennyman1]

there are all kinds of differences between the caravan and the truck motor - the head can be used, but I would not waste your time with it - just buy a new head and be done with it. also be sure to buy new head bolts - they are torque to yield and cannot be reused.

[RoadRanger]

there are all kinds of differences between the caravan and the truck motor - the head can be used, but I would not waste your time with it - just buy a new head and be done with it. also be sure to buy new head bolts - they are torque to yield and cannot be reused.


so I would not be able to swap the entire caravan engine into the truck using the truck's engine for stuff like the accessory drive and such... well shoot. I may still give it a go at least with the head swap, truck was free and the van is free if I want it, making my total investment $0, hahaha. worst case I can junk the van and mostly cover the cost of a reman head... speaking of...if anyone has any suggestions or reccomendtions for a reman head i'd appreciate it. it needs to be complete with the camshaft & valves, as mine are wasted ( cam chewed up a bearing in the head, may have bent a couple of valves too... )