[Username1]

Well, lets see, I think crusing in a '51 Ford would be ultimate cool ! ! !

For me, rust is the decision maker.... If the body & frame is not rusted, I would rebuild the Dodge engine..... My wife's '91 Accord 470K miles with pretty much no rust got an valve job this winter by me, I was surprised at how good the lower part of the engine looked, and did not touch it.... My '88 Dakota never sees winter use, and has no real rust, and the '88 was a short lived engine for some reason they made it out of a 318 and only used it 2 years.... But from all info I can gather a great engine.... Question is, how good is the '96...? is the entire thing worth it ???? In a lot of cases the devil you know is better than the devil you don't..... I always look at out cars this way.....

As for a van, if it's a real full size GM van, my wife's dad has one, a conversion van 350V8 1998 1500 pretty good, no rust to speak of, but it sucks gas big time..... And conversion vans weigh a lot.... When you drive it, it feels HEAVY.... It's so heavy the power steering is weighted down if you turn the wheel and are not moving, tears up the front tires too.... But it is nice to drive..... No doubt the Dodge will feel more nimble though....