1990 Dodge Dakota

hello,

recently the wiring on my Dodge Dakota fried itself. so i need to replace most of the wiring. the truck is a 1990 ext cab SE. it has 225,000 or so miles on the original engine, and it still gets 18 MPG. city hwy. which i found out is factory milage. so the engine is still good. but it only has 125 hp( if it were new.) not sure at the moment. anyway i want to replace the engine with a new one or rebuild the one i have. i am leery about rebuild only b/c i have already had to replace the head gasket from it going out on me. so i know there is a posible damage to the block. getting a new engine is a bit rough for me since i am not savy on engine related knowledge, and don't want to get one thats too big. also i am replacing the transmission and ring & pinion. as well as all the front end bushings and bearings. i also thought about giving it a 2" body lift, but that is not high on the agenda. well any help i can get for this would be kool. i am doing most of the work in my garage, with limmited tools at the moment. but i plan on getting an Air compressor to aid in the work. i plan on taking it down to the frame and rebuilding it from there. well hope i didn't ramble too much.

thanks,
Craig