View Full Version : Project Midlife crisis
My mid life crisis project just got delivered.
1978 Dodge Ramcharger SE
Factory 440 4bbl
air conditioning
100,000 miles
727 3sd auto 203 tcase, full time 4wd
factory am/fm CB radio.
factory roll bar.
First plans is to get the minor rust cleaned up, POR 15 the floor boards, they are solid but I want them to last. Have truck repainted back to its two tone Red.
Get the glass pulled and resealed, its the glass seals that makes old Dodges rust in the cab pillars and what not.
I have a 440 core, it will be going 535 cid, victor heads and EFI, with a Haltech E11v2 I have. Install my old Dana 60's from my other truck and convert rear to discs.
I am on the look out for an NV4500 if anyone has one and a 205 or 241 Tcase.
How much to ship it to Japan when you retire?:)
ekguy
01-31-2014, 08:44 PM
does this have the removable top? cuz if so....
:love: :drool:
Tik-Tok
01-31-2014, 08:56 PM
I would say it does, judging by the lines.
Good project truck, congrats.
Yes, Removable top.
I had the same truck in Highschool but a 1977, it had the vinyl removable top which is sadly no longer available.
I don't think it will be coming to Japan, I can sell it when I decide to go and probably make a pretty good buck off of it. The pop top Ramchargers, especially the SE's are commanding a pretty good price in good condition. I think this was a good buy.
Its actually too nice a truck for me, since I am going to bastardize it.
Tik-Tok
01-31-2014, 09:03 PM
Originally posted by Maxt
Its actually too nice a truck for me, since I am going to bastardize it.
I feel the same way about my '77 Ford. So many things I want to do to it, but it's pretty original, so I'm going to feel bad about doing it :( :) :(
Yeah its a tough call, wondering if you should wait to see if you can have that Barrett Jackson experience in your future, or just have fun modding the shit out of it.
I know none of my mazdas will ever be collectors so I just went to town on them.
spikerS
01-31-2014, 10:20 PM
Originally posted by Maxt
Wrist shot Friday!
That picture wins the internet!
I had no idea that Chrysler made a stock AM radio head unit that was also a CB radio!
Mind = BLOWN! :eek:
This thread cost me ~$20
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOT-WHEELS-1980-DODGE-MACHO-POWER-WAGON-SIMON-SIMON-BDT79-NRFP-MINT-2013-/370995626038?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item5661100036
Tik-Tok
01-31-2014, 10:38 PM
Simon and simon :rofl:
What about Fallguys chevy? Gotta get that too.
Offroad
01-31-2014, 10:40 PM
Originally posted by 78si
This thread cost me ~$20
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOT-WHEELS-1980-DODGE-MACHO-POWER-WAGON-SIMON-SIMON-BDT79-NRFP-MINT-2013-/370995626038?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item5661100036
Silly....they have those and other tv cars under $10 at the die cast car place in Crossroads Farmers Market.
Originally posted by Offroad
Silly....they have those and other tv cars under $10 at the die cast car place in Crossroads Farmers Market.
I'm gonna hit that up for sure tomorrow.
Originally posted by spikers
That picture wins the internet!
I had no idea that Chrysler made a stock AM radio head unit that was also a CB radio!
Mind = BLOWN! :eek:
Haha, yeah, I had to post my fancy time piece with something exotic like all the other ballers..
AndyL
01-31-2014, 11:09 PM
well at least its a convertible... but... son... I am dissapoint...
Midlife crisis = not practical car...
:rofl:
And every truck in the 70s had a cb option usually with the 8track :) Rather rare to find one still installed though!
It'll be pretty impractical once I am done with.. :D
I'll have a set of 35x12.5x16.5 bfg mud terrains at 80% tread for sale if anyone is looking.
Whats the rules for hands free and CB's?
Tik-Tok
02-01-2014, 08:00 AM
Originally posted by Maxt
I'll have a set of 35x12.5x16.5 bfg mud terrains at 80% tread for sale if anyone is looking.
How much? That's what I've currently got on my ford, but the sidewalls are cracked to shit from age.
Rat Fink
02-01-2014, 01:38 PM
.
Originally posted by Tik-Tok
How much? That's what I've currently got on my ford, but the sidewalls are cracked to shit from age.
I dunno, 160 each?
Originally posted by Rat Fink
Did you part out your old truck? Do you have the NP435 kicking around?
I will have, any interest in going to big block power, I have all the parts to do that.
The truck ran rough when I got it and it wouldn't start in yesterdays -12. Just fired up and chugged for 10 seconds or so. I did the plugs out in the cold and its like a completely different truck. I forgot how smooth a mild 440 is, it has zero vibration.
It sat out all day, then last night in -22 it started right up not plugged in, it doesnt have a block heater. It runs quite well, today I am have to fix the heater, and some other stuff to pass insurance inspection.
Interesting that the listed curb weight for this truck is 4288 lbs, when compared to my Srt8 jeep, its a lightweight, the Jeep listed curb weight is 4788 and as tested by Edmunds was 4819lbs.
Cast iron big block, and solid axles still don't make up for all weight of the safety equipment and luxury options in the jeep.
http://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/dodge/ramcharger_1gen/ramcharger_1gen/1978.html
Chrysler didn't know what aluminium was in 1978 and apparently still doesn't.
Rat Fink
02-09-2014, 11:37 AM
.
Drop a stroked big block in it, and have some fun :D ...
Yeah new vehicles are much more refined than these old trucks, but I myself could never see myself without one of these machines around. It really is a time warp for me every time I get in that Ramcharger, as I grew up being a passenger in one, and had one in high school. I am turning into one of those old guys that likes nostalgia and I am really at odds with my habit of modifying vehicles when it comes to this truck.
I am just digging around for a good a-518 core and transfer case, it looks like my old truck will be coming apart around the end of April.
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/1979-dodge-power-wagon-convertible-roof-comes-right-off-to-windo/571061777?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
:bigpimp:
corsvette
03-01-2014, 09:40 PM
Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Simon and simon :rofl:
What about Fallguys chevy? Gotta get that too.
I'm on it! Already bought the brown GMC! Not going to have the custom box though.
That Ramcharger is sick! About 6-7 years back I was unloading my bike at the Edworthy parking lot, this absolutely MINT Ramcharger Canyon Sport pulled in next to me. Old fellow owned it, had around 30,000 kms on it. I asked if He'd sell it, told me he bought it to transport his two chocolate Lab's to the park for walks....when the Dog's died the truck was up for sale cause He'd have no use for it anymore.
It was green like this one.
http://i58.tinypic.com/21jpssj.jpg
corsvette
03-01-2014, 09:43 PM
Originally posted by 78si
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/1979-dodge-power-wagon-convertible-roof-comes-right-off-to-windo/571061777?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
:bigpimp:
You know that things a bargain at $20k. It sounds like a ton of dough for one of those trucks, but you could never build one that looks that clean for that kind of cash. Unless its full of bondo, that is one awesome clean looking charger!
Originally posted by corsvette
You know that things a bargain at $20k. It sounds like a ton of dough for one of those trucks, but you could never build one that looks that clean for that kind of cash. Unless its full of bondo, that is one awesome clean looking charger!
The one I just bought got valued at 25,000.00 by my insurance company, even though I told them I paid 3k for it. Apparently the 440 se is a pretty rare truck.
smog era big block dyno :rofl:
schurchill39
07-07-2014, 01:00 AM
Updates with pictures????!!!
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New tires for ramcharger 37x13.5x17 on promcomp rims
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So I had this worn dana 70 that i got the centre section repaired on. It had big axles, 32 spliners, i ended buying a 60 because i couldn't find a decent 70 rear disc brake kit. Then i saw that 60 rears were using chevy front discs with no parking brakes or cadillac brakes that everyone was complaining about.
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So i see this 2nd gen dodge rear on fb market for 100 bucks, with disks and parking brake from factory, but its nearly 6" too wide.
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So i rounded up some metal, and machined some dana 60/70 alignment pucks and made an jig for axle housing modification.
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I then cut off the disk brake hubs off the 2nd gen diff and turned them in the lathe to match the first gen center section tube diameter. I could have used the 2nd gen center but it had the dread thrust surface wear.
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The home alignment tool worked pretty good.
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Set the hub flanges to the same as 2nd gen dodge.
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Did one , tested the axle for binding and runout, looked goo, did the other side.
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1st gen dodge rear with factory disks and parking brake, some people bolt 2nd gen rears straight into first gen trucks but end up running huge wheel spacers on the front axle, probably not a great idea with 37's.
Next up is maching a set of anti wrap spring perches out of 4" block.
Some pics from the body shop of the main body restoration.
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Darkane
05-17-2020, 07:36 AM
Nice work.
Clever
05-17-2020, 10:06 AM
Looking good, I’m looking for a body shop to repair rust on one of my cars, might give those guys a call.
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Pulled a 440 block out of an old parts truck i have, started stripping it down today, the pistons at TDC were more than a 1/8th down in the hole, lucky if it was 7.5:1 compression. I'm putting the original drivetrain in storage and build this motor up with a 47rh and np205.
Team_Mclaren
05-17-2020, 06:43 PM
6 year bump!!! Maxt you are my hero.
90_Shelby
05-17-2020, 08:14 PM
Cool build. When I was a kid we bought a new ‘86 Ramcharger “Prospector” addition with a 360. I loved it!
6 year bump!!! Maxt you are my hero.
Took me awhile to get going on it. Rust started to appear on the lower quarters, so it was of those if i am going to save this truck, i better start it now before there's nothing left.
ThePenIsMightier
05-25-2020, 07:45 PM
Subscribed. This looks interesting.
Built the perches out of solid block so I won't have a slide in lift block sitting between the perch and the spring. I'll weld these directly to the axle once I get the driveline angle established.
Been picking away at stuff every night lately, feels good to finally make some headway on my own projects, always seem to be bogged down with other peoples stuff and problems.
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Had to machine the tracklok rear lsd to use a tone ring for speed pickup.92749
Made some dummy bearings, the hard material and carbide are pretty exciting.
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Fitting the 5.13 gear set.92751
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Dana 70 is complete. 1st gen width, factory 2nd gen disc and parking brake, 32 spline axles, powerlok lsd, 5.13 gears.
Rear calipers have been on backorder for 2 months locally.
On to the front 60.
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Started on the front 60, gears are set, working on the knuckles
Tore into the used NP-205 I got for a 100 bucks and started the overhaul.
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JRSC00LUDE
07-31-2020, 01:22 PM
I hope I have the disposable cash to buy this when you're ready to sell it.
ExtraSlow
07-31-2020, 01:41 PM
I still like this so hard.
BerserkerCatSplat
07-31-2020, 11:40 PM
That front carrier looks like it got up close and personal with the pinion at some point.
Yes, the front diff had at some point, suffered a serious injury, probably the pinion yoke nut came loose and the pinion dropped into the case. It was put back together by someone that had no idea what they were doing. There was no carrier bearing preload at all, the oil slingers were missing,and the original gears had about .030 of backlash. I may put a truetrac in the front in the future.
BerserkerCatSplat
08-02-2020, 05:01 PM
Jesus, some real rocket scientists there. Front Tru-Trac FTW.
Stuck for parts and time now. Too busy at work to do any real grunt work on the project, and I have had parts on order for 8 months now, what a shit year for doing a build.
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Got my unicorn drivetrain together.
Big block 47rh to Np-205 transfercase.
BerserkerCatSplat
01-24-2021, 05:26 PM
Sweet, I assume you cut down the 47RH for the bellhousing conversion yourself? Any upgrades to the internals?
Yes, brought out the sawzall and carved it off. Its got the usual stuff like upgraded clutches, 5 now instead of 3, steel planetary, upped line pressure, 5.0 apply lever, billet band and modified valve body. Tcs converter with 3400 rpm stall.
BerserkerCatSplat
01-24-2021, 07:14 PM
Yeah good upgrades there. I went with 4 clutches on that drum as the 46RH doesn't have the high-capacity unit that allows 5 and frankly I don't have enough power to need it. 5.0 lever is nice but can cause issues with 2-3 overlap if you're not careful with the front clutch setup, can be managed with band tension and/or VB orifice work though too. 3400 stall is pretty wild, you must be aiming for a pretty top-end powerband in that 440.
With the big torque it'll probably stall earlier than that I think. The nice thing about the 47 rh is I can lock up the converter when I want to using a compushift mini. I'll use the stall to get the engine up onto power, the cam isnt massive but definitely a lot more than what they usually spec for a truck application.
BerserkerCatSplat
01-24-2021, 10:49 PM
Only one way to know for sure I guess. IME 3400 stall is usually for engines with a powerband from ~3000-6000RPM, so if your cam is set up for that (~280 duration) you're golden. YMMV obviously, it all varies by weight, gears, etc.
Almost exactly that, 281 degrees. The cam is a custom grind to have power at 5k-5.5k to maintain wheel speed in the mud, but also has a wider lsa so the truck will cruise at 2200 rpm in overdrive without bucking. I have to run a hard rev limiter close to 6k because of trhe valve train weight and instability.
BerserkerCatSplat
01-25-2021, 05:32 PM
Hell yeah, that's going to be a beast. Where did you get the converter from and how much was it?
TCS converter, 870.00 . I have one of these in my cummins and its been pretty good so far, has about 250k km's on that converter. It's going to be interesting playing with the lockup on the controller. Some run them off line
pressure switches and a vacuum switch but I hear its a bit hit and miss, the compushift is about 500 bucks, but seems like the better solution.
colsankey
01-25-2021, 08:51 PM
Are those bullet holes in the door or old fashioned sidemirror brackets.
Old school mirror mounts. Have to make sure the bolts get sealed up after paint, the rust always starts there on these trucks.
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Next is valvetrain, fitting the promagnum rockers to the trickflow heads. I have to mill some clearance into the pedestals where they are touching and shim the rockers to center the rollers onto the valve tips. Its a lot more work than I anticipated.
I bought a new to the market brand 4150 style carb that turned out to be complete junk, stuck secondaries right out of the box. The original intention was to buy a cheap carb and send it to a carb shop in the US to have it modded to their specs. The cheap carb needed a lot more work than I intended to have done, so in the end it was cheaper to buy a quick fuel 880 and just do the tuning.
The lifter bores were too far gone so they had to be bushed, the rotating assembly was balanced and I had to grind a lot of clearance into the block to get counterweight clearance.
Tires got mounted and balanced, went with the bean bag balance method.
I degree'd the cam and had read about some of the timing chain sets having he markings on the gears way out of whack. This is a Comp timing set, and the marks were off one tooth to get the intake lobe at 107deg center line.
I ended up with a rocker to retainer clearance issue, and when I did a full sweep of the valvetrain with checker pushrods and springs, the scrub pattern wasn't perfect on the valve tips, it started in the center and went to exhaust side then back with a scrub width of .069. It would work but would load the guides more, so I am now waiting on a geometry correction kit that will also raise the rockers and fix that issue at the same time.
Frame is stripped bare and readying for blast and paint.
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Deep sump pan with windage tray.
The timing marks with the engine at TDC and the cam in the right place.
The defective carb with the stuck secondaries, they didn't even seal equally when close.
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The valvetrain geometry ended up needing some correction. I got the chassis back from being powder coated.
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Engine complete, I'm looking for engine dyno time now.
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I put the suspension on with the chassis upside down the flipped it with the tractor.
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Rolling chassis , bending up new stainless lines and putting all the heat shielding back on.101410
Sentry
08-28-2021, 04:44 PM
What brand was the carb, a quickfuel?
That was a F.s.t. brand, who offered to fix it, but with cross border shipping and brokerage headaches on service and return parts, I couldn't take the chance of it coming back with other problems, so I returned it to Summit for a Quickfuel. A few hundred bucks more,but the Quickfuel has everything operating smoothly out of the box. I have to say Summit is excellent to deal with, any problem and they take care of it quickly.
firebane
08-28-2021, 08:48 PM
That was a F.s.t. brand, who offered to fix it, but with cross border shipping and brokerage headaches on service and return parts, I couldn't take the chance of it coming back with other problems, so I returned it to Summit for a Quickfuel. A few hundred bucks more,but the Quickfuel has everything operating smoothly out of the box. I have to say Summit is excellent to deal with, any problem and they take care of it quickly.
Quickfuel is good and holley based so lots of parts. Not cheap to change stuff on but super easy to work on.
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Drivetrain is in the chassis.
I ran into an issue with the front driveshaft running into the crossmember. Had to come up with a 2 piece driveshaft for the front.
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Darkane
02-15-2022, 08:58 PM
Great work
That.Guy.S30
02-15-2022, 11:03 PM
Is the chassis painted or power coated?
JfuckinC
02-15-2022, 11:27 PM
I feel like your skill level on this is crazy. Love it. Are you a machinist or something?
Sentry
02-15-2022, 11:29 PM
Overdrive adds a good foot onto the back of the transmission, it's quite the drivetrain stack. My jeep has the same setup (with a less beefy tcase)
legendboy
02-18-2022, 10:55 PM
Built the perches out of solid block so I won't have a slide in lift block sitting between the perch and the spring. I'll weld these directly to the axle once I get the driveline angle established.
Been picking away at stuff every night lately, feels good to finally make some headway on my own projects, always seem to be bogged down with other peoples stuff and problems.
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Good brute force effort with great end results! Love this
I started on the exhaust finally. I bought the cold cut metal saw which really made cutting stainless tubing a super easy task.
The headers terminate on a really bad angle on the outside of the frame rails, so I had to do some custom radius pie cut pieces to correct the plane of the exhaust, and fit the big muffers in there. I chose dynomax 3.5" mufflers in stainless, basically only thing I could find in stock. I am not sure how loud it will be, but i'm guessing it will probably set off it's fair share of car alarms.105867105868105869105870105871
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Darell_n
04-24-2022, 05:02 PM
I started on the exhaust finally. I bought the cold cut metal saw which really made cutting stainless tubing a super easy task.
The headers terminate on a really bad angle on the outside of the frame rails, so I had to do some custom radius pie cut pieces to correct the plane of the exhaust, and fit the big muffers in there. I chose dynomax 3.5" mufflers in stainless, basically only thing I could find in stock. I am not sure how loud it will be, but i'm guessing it will probably set off it's fair share of car alarms.
Better quiet it down with a couple of turbos before the neighbours get mad at you.
Better quiet it down with a couple of turbos before the neighbours get mad at you.
I thought about doing something like that, then decided I would have a tough time cutting up my rad support for an intercooler.
I have a 2wd 85 dodge sitting here, I may do a twin turbo gen 3 hemi build on that one at some point since Holley is making all the parts to do that swap now.
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Made the downturn tail pipes.
brucebanner
05-01-2022, 09:59 AM
That's some very acceptable welding right there
Tacked together, one last marathon of welding to do.
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gretz
05-02-2022, 10:45 AM
Killer work right here, master manual man for sure
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Test fit, need to add some leafs and the body lift.
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Truck is home for now. I had to buy springs with 2" more arc to level out, the front springs seem to be way stiffer than the rears, even the engine weight didn't drop the front. I also moved the rear axle and inch rearward to center it more in the wheel well. The urethane body mount kit wasn't in right, I redid it and the truck gained an 1" of height over and above the spring change. Next is get the engine fitment finalized.
Made it to the dyno.
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Darell_n
03-01-2024, 07:32 PM
What's the engine again? 505 ci? Great torque across the board, what's it do lower than 3300 rpm or is that the converter stall speed?
arcticcat522
03-01-2024, 07:35 PM
You still have a BlackBerry! I'm jealous. I miss mine every day. Also BlackBerry Hub. Still using that on Android, but it's not working well with both my emails.....
Looks like good power there too!
What's the engine again? 505 ci? Great torque across the board, what's it do lower than 3300 rpm or is that the converter stall speed?
Yeah, 505. It was difficult to load it lower than that, that seemed to be where the dyno would flash to. I'm not sure how the converter choice is going to work out now, it's making about more torque at a lower rpm than was anticipated. When I ran the numbers before, I calculated 620 ftlbs and torque peak of 5000 rpm.
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You still have a BlackBerry! I'm jealous. I miss mine every day. Also BlackBerry Hub. Still using that on Android, but it's not working well with both my emails.....
Looks like good power there too!
I have such hard time with callused hands and touch screens.
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