by Ramcharger87 » Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:34 am
Hi all. Just figured I'd introduce myself. I'm Brian and I'm located in north-central Ohio. I picked up my latest project vehicle a year and a half ago... a 1987 Ramcharger 150. It's my first RC but definitely not my first Dodge. Someone had started to put some money in it before his son poked a rod through the 318's oil pan. It's got a 4" (I think) Skyjacker suspension lift, trimmed front fenders, 3/4-ton Chevy axles (corporate 10-bolt front <boo!>, 10.5" 14-bolt rear <not boo!>, 4-wheel disc brakes, 16-inch aluminum wheels with new 35" Yokohama A/T's, NP435 trans with hydraulic clutch hooked to the above-mentioned blowed-up 318 on the front end and 208 t-case at the other. Front winch bumper w/ stinger. Nice receiver hitch out back. Picked it up for $1200, so I don't think I got hurt too bad.
My plan WAS to pull the perforated 318 and replace it with a mildly hot-rodded Cummins 4BT so I could actually afford to drive it when gas hits $4.00 a gallon again. May or may not scuff it down and paint it.
I ended up abandoning the 4bt idea. I still think it would be a killer re-power but, I have had ZERO luck figuring out how to get the NP-435 to mate up to it without a very custom (and very expensive) adaptor.
While I was banging my head against a wall on the 4bt idea, I went ahead and built another 318 gasser so the RC would at least be self mobile. I found a good 1977 truck engine. Compression checked great. Oil pressure was decent, so I took it home and pulled it apart. Bottom end bearings looked like new and all Plasti-gauged well within spec, so I torqued everything back to spec, installed a new oil pump and called it good. The cam was a different story. All the lobes were severely eroded and #4 cam bearing was completely de-laminated. I changed out the cam bearings and stabbed in a new Comp Cams Extreme Energy cam (Advertised duration: 250-intake / 260 exhaust, Lift: .432 int / .444 exh. with an RPM range of 800 - 4800) with matching lifters, valve springs and timing chain. I topped it off with a Mopar 4-barrel iron intake, quadra-jet carb, HEI distributor and long-tube headers.
I did the required cam break-in then changed the oil after about 50 miles with Rotella 15W-40 diesel oil. Engine runs STRONG and has no trouble turning the 35's over. Hills in 4th gear are easy. I put a bit over 200 miles on the 318 when I found a reason to take it all back out again!! A 1993 5.9L Cummins with 518 trans, np-205 t-case, all the adaptors, mounts, intercooler and tubing, radiator, oil cooler, shifters, linkages. Everything!
So I now have the Cummins cleaned up with just the basics replaced. New water pump, lift pump, Killer Dowel Pin addressed, New timing cover seals. New front and rear crank seals and valve cover seals. I pulled the pan off the trans to take a peek. It all looks brand new inside! I had my buddy / transmission take a look around. He say it appears it's been freshly gone through. Won't know until it's in the truck what all, if anything, has been upgraded.
I'll be tearing the front off the RC hopefully this week to pull the 318/np-435/208 and sitting the Cummins in.
I picked up a Dana 60 front axle set up for cross-over steering a couple months ago. I'll stick it in place of the Corporate 8.5" 10-bolt once the diesel drivetrain is in and I can gauge what suspension enhancements will be required to handle the extra weight.
It's got some small rust holes on the front fender lips. I'm debating on repairing them or just buying new and re-cutting them for the larger tires. I'll ultimately be running 37" BFGoodrich military tires on 24-bolt Hummer wheels by the time all is said and done.
I'll post some updated pics below in a short while. Thanks for looking!
Last edited by
Ramcharger87 on Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
1987 Dodge RamCharger, 1-ton axles, 4-inch suspension lift, 35's and soon to be, a 1993 5.9L CDT / Getrag 360 / NP-205 combo.