1989 Power Ram 50 4x4

[PowerRam348]

i am currently rebuilding one my two 89 Power Ram 50 4x4's. the one i am rebuilding has a three inch lift that was done wrong that i have to re-do. the motor went out on me the day before christmas last year and have finally got all my parts together for the rebuild.

this where it starts
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here is the motor torn down
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here is what all the main bearings look like
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next week the block, new rods and pistons, crank, flywheel, clutch, and front pulley go in to the machine shop to have the bore pushed 0.020 over and a full engine balance. i am going to have two pounds of metal removed from the flywheel as well as eliminating the balance shafts, hence having the motor balanced. i am also going ditributorless so you will get to see how i progress with that.

[4doorciv]

Nice work. It always takes time when you wanna do things the right way. When you rush, that's when mistakes are made. Keep us posted on progress. Gl with build.

[l.k.]

looks like a nice truck man. nice work. keep it up. welcome to the site.

[PowerRam348]

here are some pictures of the transmission and clutch. thankfully i have a friend in the transmission repair field to help me on the rebuild.
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this is my center force center-fugial (i think that's how it's spelled) weighted clutch that i bought six years ago for my silver dodge. going to have it cleaned and getting a new dual friction plate and throw-out bearing
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and this is what happens when inexperience and an ego come together on a three inch body lift.
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here is a picture of my two trucks. the white and silver one on the left i've had for 11 years. the blue one i got last november.
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[l.k.]

2 is better than 1....sweet. i would love to have my bagged mighty max and a jacked up one that matched....that would be the sh!t

[PowerRam348]

i'm rebuilding the motor and transmission in the white and silver one and putting them in the blue one. what's kinda cool with my trucks is that they were manufactured only 284 trucks from them each other and built in the same month. i though that was pretty nifty.
the white and silver one now, my dad and i are gonna put a 1992 caddy 4.9 liter v8 (non northstar) in it. gonna put a turbo 350 tranny and a dana 300 transfer-case behind it. i'm gonna take off the front fender skins and take out some of the inner fender to accomidate some bigger tires. then the bed comes off and a smaller more functional box will be made and welded in place. but, that is for later.

[4doorciv]

That caddi motor should be fun. I like the fuel milage of my 4 bangers though. So you will be going with a smaller bed? You can always modify what you have.

[PowerRam348]

my white and silver one will hopefully make the rubicon trail in two years along with my buddy who has a highly modified CJ-8 scrambler. i've been dreaming about doing the rubicon in my dodge for years. i hope i get it done by then though. this has been a dream in progress for way too long. thanks for all the support and advice guys. it helps a lot.

[l.k.]

well i hope that dream comes true for you buddy. best of luck to you.

[4doorciv]

Have you been on that trail before? It would be cook if you could film you running it. Kind of like that vid of the off road racing that we have on the site.

[PowerRam348]

my friend with the jeep runs it all the time with his club. i've gone 4 times and it only gets better every year. newer, cooler, and more exciting stuff shows up all the time to run the trail. i can't wait to start fabbing the truck and rebuilding the 4.9 liter that will go in it. but i gotta finish this one first.

[PowerRam348]

got my ARP head studs and main studs yesterday. be dropping those off at the machine shop when i go into town later today.

[PowerRam348]

gonna need a new crankshaft. mine has a crack on number 4 that goes almost all the way around where the rod connects. got a new crank that will be here tomorrow. gotta love my local K-necks auto parts store for having knowledgeable people that know where to find "hard to locate" stuff.

[PowerRam348]

the machine shop is through working on my motor and i am picking it up at the end of the month. can't wait to put it together.

[PowerRam348]

got my engine and internals from the machine shop today. gonna start putting it together tomorrow. i will post some pictures tomorrow too. good times ahead.

[pennyman1]

Did you get ARP rod bolts to go with all the other ARP stuff? Just asking, as I had the bolts , but the machine shop put the bottem end together on my conquest motor without them, so I got to pull them and change them out.

[crvtec90]

Did you get ARP rod bolts to go with all the other ARP stuff? Just asking, as I had the bolts , but the machine shop put the bottem end together on my conquest motor without them, so I got to pull them and change them out.

Arp reccommends resizing the rod after installing new studs. Since they are a press fit....they slighly distort the open end of the rod.

[pennyman1]

I didn't know that - glad you pointed that out before I did it - maybe I will leave well enough be.

[PowerRam348]

yes, the machine shop installed all my the arp studs; rods, crank mains, and head. the machine shop did a fantastic job on the motor and internals.

[PowerRam348]

here she is...

here are all my pieces and parts
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here is the block just painted
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all my timing guide rails ready to install along with the front pulley, oil pick-up tube,rear main seal housing, distributer gear, the original oil filler cap, and my reference material.
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here is the crank and pistons in the block.
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here is the oil pump and the timing gear set on the crank.
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[PowerRam348]

here's some more pictures

the plate that goes between the transmission and the back of the block
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new head fully assembled
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taping it off
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painting
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ready to install
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valve cover
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flywheel; balanced and lightened 2 pounds. was 35 pounds, now 33 pounds
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clean and shiny intake. its going in to the machine shop to have the face trued up (on the off chance its not straight. it does have 200,000 miles on it) and the inside polished.
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more pictures to come in a few days. thanks again for all the helpful info and input from everyone.

[PowerRam348]

here are some pictures of my silver and white dodge torn down to the frame. this is my rubicon project.

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[PowerRam348]

cleaning all the original nuts and bolts and the carb base plates

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the carb; weber 32/36
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head with valve cover
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all my parts all painted and clean
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rear main seal installed
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ready to go. just need to get the intake and header back from the machine shop before it all goes together
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[DroppedMitsu]

Wasn't really digging the orange at first but it is actually looking bad ass with all the shiny black and cleaned aluminum.

[PowerRam348]

the color scheme was actually my dads idea. he stopped by when i started painting everything (my color idea was to paint everything mopar blue) and said "what the hell, kid. i raised you better, paint it something cool and leave the alluminum shiny". i too was skeptical at the colors he suggested, but it really has turned out nice. i think my dad had a better idea than mine.

the work i'm having done on the intake and header is; the intake is getting polished and the face trued if its warped a little. the header is the headmann header i put on this same motor 12 years ago in my automotive class in high school. i'm having it bead blasted, the pipes are getting welded at the face plate and the collector welded as well. the header wasn't leaking at all when i took it in, just getting it re-inforced at the critical areas. the intake and header should be done by the end of the week. and hopefully we'll start it at the end of next week. more pictures to come.