Project Zero G Forums

i finally got around to actually starting to tear apart my truck, and decided to gather all the pics thus far. the plans to start with are to just get the truck running, drive it through the winter with the stock 5 speed(i have a spare just in case), and in the spring swtich to a T56 with a Billhousing, and hopefully have my disc brake 8.8 rear end built up to go in.

anyway, pics already!:

the truck; 1988 Dodge Ram 50. 2.0, 2wd, 5 speed.


DSM bucket seat swap:


REPRESENT:


$750 parts car, and aftermath:






greasy teardown:









buildup!








intercooler fits with the stock hood latch!


got some cleaning to do...


im still working on it, i'll keep you all posted as i go. ask any questions, i love to talk about it!

I like shiny pistons!

So isn't that a narrow block? I thought that the max's were all wideblocks except for the early autos?

Loooks good! I have a 88 1ton that i just did the rear 2" drop, yota front hubs (for the quest rims all around) and hope to get to pull the springs today before work.

How low are your seats from the dsm? I just put some real clean prelude ones in mine, (just set them in there) but to me they sit just a little low for my taste.

Do they just bolt in?
I looked under the carpet and the holes are already there!!

What engine did you take out? If it's a 2.6 mail me back.

Errol

77amc wrote:
What engine did you take out? If it's a 2.6 mail me back.

Errol

Its a 2.0 liter narrow block

77amc wrote:So isn't that a narrow block? I thought that the max's were all wideblocks except for the early autos?

Loooks good! I have a 88 1ton that i just did the rear 2" drop, yota front hubs (for the quest rims all around) and hope to get to pull the springs today before work.

How low are your seats from the dsm? I just put some real clean prelude ones in mine, (just set them in there) but to me they sit just a little low for my taste.

Do they just bolt in?
I looked under the carpet and the holes are already there!!

What engine did you take out? If it's a 2.6 mail me back.

Errol

the 2.0L's were narrow blocks. the seats sit lower than the stock bench, but i'm 6'1, and i like the extra headroom. they dont bolt in, i welded in box steel to mount the seats to. the seat belts buckle into the stock DSM seats.

the truck had a 2.0L, so it already has the 5 speed to bolt to the 4G. i have another 5 speed trans as a spare until next spring when i can (hopefully) have a T56/Billhousing setup.

thanks for a comments guys!

Gentleman Rogue wrote:
the 2.0L's w/manual trans were narrow blocks.

Fixed

Good luck with the build

89coltgt wrote:

Gentleman Rogue wrote:
the 2.0L's w/manual trans were narrow blocks.

Fixed

Good luck with the build

i wasnt completely sure about that- i remembered reading something about it somewhere, but couldnt remember for sure. thanks!

Are you running into any problems with the water pump pulleys clearing the Jay-Racing water neck adapter? Are you doing power steering?

so far i havent seen any problems, but i havent had everything fully mocked up yet. that'll be one of the first things i check into now that you ask!

i wanted P/S, and i still plan on trying to figure out a way to make it work, so we'll see what i can come up with. a good friend of mine does fabwork on the side and knows volumes about DSM's; i have a feeling he is going to be invaluable during this build.

run of the mill hu?
This looks like a little more to me

What are you going to do about the rear head clearance with the thermostat housing? What clutch setup will you use? Good luck, my Arrow's next. Nice Duster in the background. Small block dodges drop in too a MM pretty easy. 440's in a Duster, not so easy.

lots of updates, i'll just post the pics, and if anyone has questions, dont hesitate to ask!

Great to see you've been getting stuff done.. Mine is sitting for a while.

I did see a local here on Craigslist that had a T-56 for 500 OBO.. I didn't have the money at the time But I found a 90 supra in another yard that still has the 5spd in it

Is that a 'stock' waterpump pulley? I scrolled through and didn't see (lazy) what was the 'stock' motor from the truck? I've found a few 2.0's here and should pull the AC/PS brackets from a 2.0 for when I do this 4g61t swap.
I should've NEVER sold that AC system..

E

yep, stock '63 waterpump pulley, but i mounted the P/S V belt pulley in front of it as i am using the truck waterpump and already have the flange pressed on as far as i can and the pullies still barely line up.

i always forget to update here; few updates:

few quick updates- got the throttle cable sorted out- cant remember whos truck i saw it on on here, but i decided to flip the TB on its side, partly because the cable routing would be easier, and partly because the FIAV hose ends point down and will ease hose-routing. shortened the cable and housing, built a bracket, and voila:

Dude! you are doin GREAT!

Thanks Bill- I am hoping to pull the motor and trans back out next summer and install the T56 with your bell housing. I haven't seen it done in a truck yet, so I'll be sure to document it well for everyone.

Oh I'm about DONE waiting for friggin parts, I am ready to get my build back on track and get this turbo'd 4g64 in my truck so I can share snazzy pictures like you guys, but I got a half built lower end and the wrong connecting rod bearings

Nice job so far, can't wait for the videos of it turning 12's or better.

Coming along nicely What 8.8 did you go with? I picked up one out of a 96 explorer.

that one is from a Grand Marquis that i got for around $50, but my friend wants this one, and i think i have a line on a reasonably priced Explorer rear, so as long as the width is good, i'll probably go with an explorer one.

89coltgt wrote:

Gentleman Rogue wrote:
the 2.0L's w/manual trans were narrow blocks.

Fixed

Good luck with the build

Neg- Autos came in Narrow as well.

Hell I just scraped a Narrow auto from a D50 lol!

coltboostin wrote:

89coltgt wrote:

Gentleman Rogue wrote:
the 2.0L's w/manual trans were narrow blocks.

Fixed

Good luck with the build

Neg- Autos came in Narrow as well.

Hell I just scraped a Narrow auto from a D50 lol!

Never heard of them before, maybe you should have kept it

89coltgt wrote:

coltboostin wrote:

89coltgt wrote:
Fixed

Good luck with the build

Neg- Autos came in Narrow as well.

Hell I just scraped a Narrow auto from a D50 lol!

Never heard of them before, maybe you should have kept it

They are junk!

And for further info, a narrow Auto RWD trans was the first one in Buschur's 4G63 RWD 32 ford truck. You can call Dan and ask him about it-it was his truck.

been a while- have some more pics and a bit of progress. here goes.

started tackling the wiring; with the wires all tangled, i decided it'd be best to just lable all the wires, cut them, and start from scratch. i pretty much turned the whole harness into a pile of pigtail connectors:






starting to stretch them over the engine:


smoothing my timing cover. its a bummer i'll have to cut another hole for my T-stat housing fitting, but at least there wont be that big open hole for the motor mount that is hacked off:


in-line 255 fuel pump and filter. kindof a jank setup, but it should work for now. eventually i would like to find a spare tank/sending unit to modify to run a DSM(or the like) in-tank pump:


found a Starion in the local bone-yard and got it's fusebox for to scavenge the wire ends to add circuits to my truck's box. anyone know what the deal is with that weird slider-switch?:


thats it for now, hopefully have some updates coming up soon.

Dude that looks amazingly JUST LIKE the mess I got going on under my hood!!!

Now I see the pics I know why and how you knew so quickly that you had the resistor and pigtail that i needed... and when i got it why it was labled...lol

Thanks again for that, I hope your runs a little better than mine wants to... I cant get it over 3500 rpm