I have been jumping around on ideas for my '80 D50 Sport for a while now. And finally one day I had the idea of building it to be the ultimate multi-purpose truck. I would like to add things like wenches in both front and rear, along with light bar, rhino lined body, lifted suspension, oversized tires, ext. For those of you who are not familular with my truck already, this is what I'm working with at the moment.


First decision I am trying to make though for the project is what I am going to do for engine and transmission. If I had all the money in the world and all the resources in the world, I would have the stock motor with every natural hp squeezed out of it, and I would make an AWD transmission bolt up to it. My big problem is, how much power could I pull out of the stock motor? And can I even bolt up a 4x4 or AWD trany. Is it worth it to build it, or should I go for an engine swap? The main objectives I am attempting to accomplish are: good fuel economy, good amount of power for off-road use, and 4x4 or AWD.