Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: ChallengerGary]
#2341152
07/21/17 08:46 PM
07/21/17 08:46 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,306 Laveen, Arizona
GTSDart340
pro stock
|
pro stock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,306
Laveen, Arizona
|
5.9 Magnums are cheap and easy to find. Plus they last a long time.
1949 International KB-2 "Mater" - 302/T5
1968 Dodge Dart GTS "The Drat" - 340/727
2006 Dodge Magnum R/T - Hemi
2016 Dodge Durango Limited - 3.6
|
|
|
Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: ChallengerGary]
#2341201
07/21/17 10:32 PM
07/21/17 10:32 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 7,664 IN
ahy
master
|
master
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 7,664
IN
|
Bought my 16 year old son a 1989 Ramcharger a couple of weeks ago. He killed the 318 in less than a week. Overheated on the highway and then developed a wicked knock. Can't necessarily fault him since we have no idea on the actual mileage etc on the truck.
Now, I have to decide to either:
A) rebuild the 318 (been quoted $1500 for rebuild with new pistons, stock sized cam, a valve job, new rings and bearings)
A $1,500 rebuild is... well... a $1,500 rebuild. If the guy who offered it is trusted and experienced may be OK. How about the carb, distributor belts, hoses ect? It may turn out to be a $2,500 rebuild if the basic engine is reasonably OK to start with
B) I have a buddy with a 340 he puled out of a car 20+ years ago that I know for a fact ran really well before he scrapped the car. He has offered me that engine for $1500 "or so" That was 20 years ago... how about today?
C) Find a 318 or 360 Magnum motor to swap in a good option if you can find a good one
D) not really an option due to finances but my son wants to put int a newer 5.7 Hemi A bit of a science project... how is the rest of the truck? Also expensive.
E) scrap the truck and find him something else How is the rest of the truck? May be a good option as well.
Thoughts? Comments added. How much of a project do you want and how is the rest of the truck?
|
|
|
Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: ChallengerGary]
#2341763
07/23/17 12:26 AM
07/23/17 12:26 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,228 Colleyville
3hundred
I Live Here
|
I Live Here
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,228
Colleyville
|
Swap in a magnum, either one, had both, don't have a serious preference 318 or 360, both very good. Have the 5.7, very expensive but LOTS of fun, maybe too much fun. 2ยข
Robert
'68 Fury Convertible '69 300 Convertible '15 Durango 5.7 Hemi '16 300 S Hemi
|
|
|
Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: ChallengerGary]
#2342332
07/24/17 11:11 AM
07/24/17 11:11 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,920 Richmond, Indiana
19swinger70
master
|
master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,920
Richmond, Indiana
|
I would think you could find a used, running 318 or 360 locally. Since its for a new driver, I'd get one for a couple hundred bucks and throw it in. Make him do the work while you watch. My dad did that to me - and 25 years later, I am still playing with cars.
1970 340 swinger. sublime 1967 barracuda fastback BB 55 Plymouth Project
|
|
|
Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: ric3xrt]
#2343906
07/26/17 09:15 PM
07/26/17 09:15 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,376
dogdays
I Live Here
|
I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,376
|
I do not agree. Every kid wrecks his or her first car. The truck needs a 318.
Go to where there are retirees (I know, hard to find down there) and buy a Fifth Avenue, preferably with the hydraulic roller cam, meaning '86 or newer, maybe '85 will have it. My Mom's Fifth had a little over 100K and you could still see the honing marks in the cylinders. I could have reused the bearings, they were all very good. Dress the engine with the stuff from the RC.
The later model two barrel 318s are more efficient than earlier ones, better chamber. I mean the ones in the Fifth Avenues.
Add dual exhaust from the manifolds but nothing else until he's been driving it for a while. He'll have to live with the 2-barrel carb. The Fifth Avenue's exhaust manifolds have 360-sized ports so no need to change, if they fit in the chassis.
The 318 is known among car people as the engine that is too tough to die. So this kid must be super talented. Don't give him anything you aren't willing to have come back as scrap. No 340s and no Hemis. You'll live to regret either of those.
Replacing in kind is the quickest and least likely to result in a dead RC gracing your driveway for the next four years.
R.
Last edited by dogdays; 07/26/17 09:16 PM.
|
|
|
Re: Trying to decide engine option on Ramcharger
[Re: vdubee]
#2346102
07/31/17 10:13 AM
07/31/17 10:13 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,143 Port Saint Lucie, FL
ChallengerGary
OP
top fuel
|
OP
top fuel
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,143
Port Saint Lucie, FL
|
Are you getting rid of the TBI? Not sure. I want to keep it as cheap as possible, so I will probably keep it. Thoughts? I found a 1990 318 TBI locally that I can get for $250. Guy says it ran great and was in his RC as a daily driver but he got a wicked good deal on a built 360 so he swapped it out. I figure I can do timing gear & chain, water pump, gaskets, and freeze plugs on it for around $100 and get him back on the road.
|
|
|
|
|