Dodge: engine swap?, jeep grand cherokee, dodge ram van

Question
Dear Ram Man,
   My dad has an 88'Dodge Ram Van sporting a 318 with 225,000 on the clock.  As you can guess it's getting a little exhausted.  I just recently picked up an extra 98' Jeep Grand Cherokee for it's chassis, but thought I'd give the engine and tranny to my dad, seeing it that he doesn't have a lot of money.  The Jeep has a MPI 5.2L with a 44RE Trans.  Would this work to swap in place of the tired old 88' 318 and his trans?  Or would it be best to swap in the short block from the Jeep and put his old manifold and wiring on it?  Could I use this 44RE trans in place of his, even though it came off a 4 wheel drive vehicle and is going on to a two wheel drive, seeing it that it only has 60k on it?  Any comments would sure help because I'd like to give my dad a hand making his van come back to life! Thanks a lot!

Answer
The short block would work a lot easier than just trying to bolt it in,because of the wiring differences.You'd save a lot of headache and time doing it this way.As far as the transmission,i'd check the van to see what the transmission is in it.I know Dodge had at least 3,The reason i'm saying this is because of the weight of a van.Although the transmission will work.There is really no difference in 2 & 4 wheel drive transmissions as far as mounting one in a van,this would be a transfer case issue.But i would check the numbers on the van transmission and call a dealer and ask them what the difference was in the 3.One was a heavier duty transmission.