who wants to build a race truck?

[Chyrio]

Been wanting to build something cool and unusual and have always had a fancy for mini trucks built for racing like the Datsun Sunny they had on Jay Leno's Garage. So i went up to Fairbanks and picked this up for 200 bucks. Debating about putting a Weber on the factory G63b or swapping something in like a turbo v6 or replacing the head with a DOHC, I'd like to hit around 200hp. But thought I would start a build thread for conversation's sake so here she is! 1986 Dodge Ram 50, Last receipt i found in the glove box was from 1996 so I'm assuming she has been sitting for around 20 years or so.

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Has some rust but i think ill be able to fix it before it gets any worse
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Engine turns over (manually) belts look good which is surprising its missing some things like plug wires, igniter, oil cap, simple stuff. The oil looks like its reverting back into dinosaur poop though ha ha.
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After I pressure washed some of the crap off of it. Unfortunately some of the pin striping came off with the dirt :/ but aw well I'm gonna have to wash and wax and I already found a paint scheme i want anyway...
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[Darklord]

I'm excited for this thread. I think keeping the stock motor, putting a DOHC and a turbo on it would be really cool but that's just my 2 cents

[Chyrio]

I'm excited for this thread. I think keeping the stock motor, putting a DOHC and a turbo on it would be really cool but that's just my 2 cents

I'm not that familiar with carborated engines to be honest. when you swap the DOHC whats the engine code im pulling it from? is it still carborated or will it be converted over to FI? how do you set up a turbo on a carbed engine? same way it works with a FI?

[Darklord]

I'm a novice so those are questions I can't answer at this moment but I'm sure someone else on here can answer them

[geezer101]

If you're planning on using the 4G63/G63B engine and going turbo look up LSRMike's truck build (this is one industrial strength truck). These engines can be swapped to injection without too much head scratching. The 4G63T twin cam engines are injected standard and the heads/manifolds are different to the single cam engine. There are a heap of sources for a 2 litre twin cam engine - they can be found in Mitsubishis and Hyundais. Do a search here and you'll find plenty of info on which engine types and how to do it, and check out the build threads as well. There are some really outstanding projects that have unique modifications to fire your imagination

[Chyrio]

Will any 4g63 block bolt up to the transmission in the truck? Say a evo iv engine?

[Chyrio]

also besides the oil squirter's in the block is there anything different strength wise with the turbo 4g63t's in the block? like would it be more beneficial to buy the whole 4g63t engine from a talon or a evo and swap it in, or would the block be able to handle the added power if i just swapped head and manifolds and stuff.

[geezer101]

You're limited to Evo I - III but don't forget early VR4 engines are much the same deal. Make your life easy and do a whole swap. It can get tricky with heads. Talon would be a good donor vehicle and should be easy enough to source. You will need to modify inlet manifolds and external coolant galleries/manifolds but these mods are regularly performed so there is a ton of info on them. Now is the time to start using the site search function!

[Chyrio]

You're limited to Evo I - III

But from what i have read the evo iv had a 4g63t? isnt that the same block as the g63b in my truck?

Anyways...

Honestly i expected there to be more rust under the carpet! pleasant surprise!
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Nasty
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Skittles bag from 96! ha ha
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[DroppedMitsu]

no thr Evo IV and up have a different block. Even the 92.5(I think) and up(7 bolt) blocks are different than the 92.5 and older(6 bolt) but still have the same bellhousing and motor mount setup. The Evo IV+ is missing motor mount provision(1 I think) and has a diff bellhousing pattern as far as I know.

[geezer101]

Here is another member who really knows his stuff and has built an awesome truck (riposa in pace ). His build thread is an invaluable guide -

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post39877

[pennyman1]

Geezer - you meant the truck rest in peace, right?

[geezer101]

Oh hell yes pennyman! Merrill is alive and kicking but his beautiful truck... It was an amazing piece of engineering.

[Chyrio]

I cant seem to find anything about power figures for the different ways to get some more power. from what i can find a whole dsm setup on ebay is around 1200 bucks but looking into it it seems like there are alot of factors to consider. and im looking around 200hp with bolt ons (1g dsm) obviously it would not be hard to make more power with this setup. But how does it compare to running a weber carb and aftermarket cams. from what i can find it would cost me less and be less of a headache if i could still make around 200hp. so how much theoretical power can you make with say a weber carb, electric fuel pump, rebuilt motor with high compression pistons, full exhaust, higher cam timing, the works. I do love the idea of some good old N/A power

[geezer101]

If you're prepared to spend that kind of coin to build an NA tuned engine, IMO you'd be better off hunting down a wreck with all the turbo stuff and making power straight out of the box. This is just based on an economics point of view.
You can make 200 hp with a single cam engine but it will be a pig to drive on a day-to-day basis. I would try something a little different and use a set of 39mm bike carbs on a custom fabbed manifold. The paired port 4G63 head is ideal for this kind of induction. Add a Shneider cam, hunt down a cheap eBay adjustable cam sprocket, give the head a serious rework with the ports and buy a set of these bad boys - http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post27148

[LSR Mike]

Porting the head and getting the cam re-ground are the first steps, the main problem is there is absolutely NO AFTERMARKET for the SOHC 8 Valve head 4G64. anything you do will be one off. I went doen the road of N/A in the beginning, switched to Turbo simply because there was a much better bang for the buck.

[geezer101]

I did it again - didn't realise it's a 4G64 (user tag says 6G72 but meh...)

[BradMph]

Turbo, like Mike said and be sure to strengthen the motor with Turbo tested parts. Then your going to want to beef up trany, then rear end, then brakes, and then, and then, and then, lol.

Are we having fun yet?

Nice truck, looks to have potential.

As for Skittles bag of '96, there are still Skittles on the shelf dated '92, lmao

[crvtec90]

That's a cool truck for 200$ I passed up a first gen because it had no title. After it was scrapped they found the title.

[Chyrio]

I did it again - didn't realise it's a 4G64 (user tag says 6G72 but meh...)

6g72 is in my second gen MM

[dash]

who u gonna race with 200hp ?
there is a ton of detailed rwd DSM swap info on the net.... way too much for spoon-feeding
dohc is a little above entry level imo
starion 2.6 swap probably the easiest path to a "200hp" fun street truck. Close to 300 ft-lbs tq is where the magic is
U can still find running donors or drivetrains on starion forums, from folks swapping to bigger badder setups
pretty much bolt-in, basic wiring. Will have to rig up a clutch master cyl if keeping starion 5speed

[Chyrio]

who u gonna race with 200hp ?
there is a ton of detailed rwd DSM swap info on the net.... way too much for spoon-feeding
dohc is a little above entry level imo
starion 2.6 swap probably the easiest path to a "200hp" fun street truck. Close to 300 ft-lbs tq is where the magic is
U can still find running donors or drivetrains on starion forums, from folks swapping to bigger badder setups
pretty much bolt-in, basic wiring. Will have to rig up a clutch master cyl if keeping starion 5speed

So that would be the 2.6 g54b swap?

[pennyman1]

yes - look for one from the intercooled models, they are 188 HP stock. 89 starquest (starion / conquest) ECMs are the best as they don't have a fuel cutoff when the boost is increased. Will be helping a friend do this very swap soon - pics and details to follow.

[Chyrio]

yes - look for one from the intercooled models, they are 188 HP stock. 89 starquest (starion / conquest) ECMs are the best as they don't have a fuel cutoff when the boost is increased. Will be helping a friend do this very swap soon - pics and details to follow.

Sweet, I'll be looking forward to that info.

So I have done some fine tuning to my plan of what i want to do here.

1st I would like the truck to have around 200 to 250 hp
2nd I still want decent MPG as i would like to take road trips with the truck
3rd i would prefer to keep the tranny (KM132) I already have in it.
4th aside from minor body modifications I don't really want to do a hack em up and weld kinda job here looking for more of a drop in with tweaking kind of solution.
5th I'm kinda limited to what I find on EBay and online stores with shipping to alaska (stuck up here for a while unfortunately) this kinda limits my ability to buy things from forums and such as most people parting stuff out are not willing (nor am i willing) to pay 500 bucks in shipping for a 500 dollar part.

So knowing this from what i have read on the forums here I'm looking at a few options correct me if I'm wrong on any of these

1. Find a DOHC DSM head, accompanying turbo, exhaust manifold (could make something if need be), intake manifold, throttle body, ecm, wiring harness, pistons, etc. and use the block i currently have (6 bolt g63b with 91k on it). from what i can tell this might be a viable option as most of these parts i can find around the Internet and get them shipped to Alaska.

2. Find a whole dsm 6 bolt engine with harness and ecu, which would be the ideal option however, I cannot seem to find one, there is one on ebay, and it seems like all of the JDM engine depots are fresh out. Would buy the one on ebay but i dont have the 1300 bucks at this very moment so it will probably be gone by the time i do. my point is finding the whole engine for the swap seems to be kind of a rare thing.

3. Find a g54b 6 bolt from a conquest or starion, now this seems like a good option but i am also unable to find any used engines with most of the stuff with them I can only find blocks and such that are built for performance but its gonna be a while until i have 2500 to 5k to drop on just the block ha ha.

4. I have read about putting a DOHC 4g64 head on the 4g63 block which the 4g64 seems to be a little more common of a engine and i could find those heads easier but then we go back to option 1 with buying all the parts.

So if any of you guys have opinions on these plans or have a better place to acquire parts please let me know even if its just to tell me i'm a idiot and just typed a bunch of gibberish for 10 minutes.

[geezer101]

#1. simplest option - Conquest/Starion 2.6 + hardware. Already configured for RWD and will bolt in.

#2. DSM 6 bolt turbo complete with harness and hardware. Needs to be modified for RWD but a ton of resource info and parts available.
*remember these twin cam engines are also found in Hyundais and Kias minus turbo stuff but it opens up options.

I might have this wrong but there aren't any 4G64 twin cam heads, only 16 valve optioned heads VS 8 valve.

#3. 4G63 single cam turbo. Will be hard to find but a no brainer to build.

Your weak point will be the transmission, But if you keep the power figures at a more conservative level (under 300 hp) it will last depending on how you drive it. Make a stonking thick steel plate for a transmission sump to reduce case flex.