'86 Dodge Ram 50 small block swap

[Ram50]

There seemed to be some interest in my Ram 50 (D50) 360 swap, so I figured I would start another thread and go over the build as I have time.

Engine-
5.9 Magnum
Stock crank and rods balanced to pressed on forged flat tops Icons. Standard bore with a light hone and zero decked.
Double roller timing chain connected to a Hughes 238 intake 248 exhaust @ 50 hydraulic camshaft.
Edelbrock RPM heads no modifications other than heavier dual valve springs. Between the head and block is a oversized and thick head gasket to bring compression down to 10.7 to 1.
Stainless steel 1.6 roller rockers.

Topped off with a unworked Edelbrock air gap intake and Brawler 770 vacuum secondaries equipped with Quick Fuel billet metering blocks.

Exhaust runs out custom built step tri-y headers made from some small block stainless block huggers and then a couple of set of Honda Civic headers I got off eBay for $45 a piece. That all goes out past 3" cutouts, x pipe and then through some Summit Racing glass packs and a Flowmaster Big Block/RV muffler. I do drive it on the street and drone and loud exhaust doesn't seem as appealing with age. Lol.

Summit billet distributor hooked to MSD 6AL.

It runs really well and the end plan is a stroker kit and CNC port the heads. That should really liven things up and make everything work a bit better together. I couldn't wait drop the old 360 in and start playing, so parts are a bit mismatched for now.

 

[moparmat2000]

Now that's a captive import !!!

 

[Ram50]

I mentioned the ignition system above. Nothing to crazy and I was able to retain oem gauges. I did find a tach signal converter to make the four cylinder tach play nice with the newly planted V8.

Radiator fan controller below the ignition box.

Tach convertor

Instrument cluster came out of a 4x4 truck, my truck didn't come with a tach.

Coil

Rear mounted battery

Oil pressure, oil temp, volts and last gauge toggles between coolant and trans tem.

The red light original lit up as check egr, now it's hooked to a oil pressure switch. Green light was 4x4 indicator and now lights when line lock is activated.

 

[Ram50]

Coolant system.
I originally had a remote oil cooler in hopes to assist in over all engine cooling. I did not get the results I was looking for, so I flushed out the cooler and now run engine coolant through it. It tees out from the lower radiator hose to a Bosch water pump, then to a Derale 40 row cooler with a fan mounted under the bed of the truck. It returns to a Y in the return heater hose. I already had a FlowKooler high volume water pump which pulls coolant through the little auxiliary radiator no problem. No need for the pump when the truck is running so I just hooked it up to a timer and it runs for a few minutes after the engine is shut down.

The truck never over heated, but always ran between 190° to 210° no matter the thermostat and ambient temperature. After the install of the cooler it runs 180° most all of the time.

I fit the biggest radiator I could and still be able to use puller fans with a shroud and keep the hood latch.

Griffin radiator 24x15.5x3

I originally had Summit Racing 10" fans and switched to Mishimoto's race line 10" fans. But the Mishimoto's fan wouldn't fit, so now my fans are a concoction of Summit housing with Mishimoto motor and blades. The blades acually extend into the fan shroud. Tight fit but it works very well.

Tee out of the lower radiator hose.

The dual fans are attached to the trans cooler next to that is the Derale cooler now used for coolant. Mounted under the bed of the truck.

Bosch water pump. I believe it is from a BMW.

Y back into heater core return hose.

 

[Ram50]

Dual Mishimoto 10" race line fans in action

 

[RustyRatRod]

You do some very neat work. I really like it. Doesn't look thrown together at all.

 

[Ram50]

Other things hidden under the truck.

I originally wanted to go for the LA small block look, but the snout on the water pump was to long to fit. Had to settle for the magnum timing cover and water pump. Then obviously electric fuel pump

Engine only pulls 7" of vacuum at idle and made brakes unpredictable at low RPM. I found a vacuum pump from a 2017 hybrid Chrysler Pacifica and with a 18" vacuum switch I have great brakes all day long.

Vacuum pump. Don't mind the messy lines and zip ties I will get to that.

Carter fuel pump and fuel tank vent breather with check valve.

 

[Ram50]

Updated photos.

The pictures of the engine bay above were taken right after I got the engine dropped in. Snapped a few pics today. It's been cleaned up and a few thing have changed since then.

The small cable running forward from the throttle lever is a TPS for the data logger. I also have two o2s for wideband and a MAP.

 

[Jadaharabi]

Question on the engine balance. Did you neutral balance it or did you 5.9 Magnum balance it?

 

[Ram50]

Question on the engine balance. Did you neutral balance it or did you 5.9 Magnum balance it?

It's still external balanced, just balance the crank for the forged pistons. If I remember right they were 33 grams heavier than stock.

 

[moparmat2000]

That is so cool how nicely that 360 fits in there. Looks factory. I bet the power to weight ratio is insane.

 

[rumblefish360]

That is so cool how nicely that 360 fits in there. Looks factory. I bet the power to weight ratio is insane.

In his “Other Thread” the trucks weight and balance of it is posted. Heavier than I thought it would be.

 

[BVoelzke]

In his “Other Thread” the trucks weight and balance of it is posted. Heavier than I thought it would be.

That truck is awesome!!! I've always wanted to see a D50 with a small block in it, good job!

 

[Keith Mopar]

That is a nice clean build, I love that D50 build.

 

[Ram50]

Front suspension is pretty much completely stock. It was completely rebuilt and upgraded to polyurethane bushings. The original brakes had solid rotors and was I was a bit concerned at a 120 mph I might have some brake fade. I swapped out the spindles, calipers and rotors from a later model Ram 50 which came with larger calipers and vented rotors.

Swapped the brake booster and master from a Dodge Stealth for a couple of reasons. One the original master had a remote reservoir and I wanted a cleaner look. Second after the caliper swap the brake felt a bit spongy. The Stealth had a larger volume power booster and a aluminum 1" bore master cylinder compared to the original cast iron 7/8" bore. Three is was pretty much a direct bolt in swap.

I extended the original air dam down about four inches by adding a early model S10 plastic air dam. I was very surprised that the truck felt much more stable at speed. There must have been a lot of turbulence underneath before the air dam extension.

Front weight is still below the factory gross front axel weight and drives and handles very well.

Original brakes, you can see the solid rotor.

Clean and shiny

Stock booster and master

Booster and master from the Stealth.

Air dam extension

 

[93ragtop]

That is the cleanest, best looking ram 50 I have ever seen!! Could you tell me what you did to the accessory mount, and alt. to make it look like that?