Thread: 87 Ram 50 Engine Swap

Tweet

It was one of those weeks. Monday I got around to putting gas in the tank I added when I built the 87……. and promptly draining it back out because of a pin hole I hadn’t seen.

After doing some shopping, I found a new reproduction 58 Chevy tank. The good news was it was $93 and free shipping. The not so good was that it’s only 16 gallons instead of 20 gallons like the original tank was.


Physically the tank itself is identical to the original. The loss of 4 gallon capacity appears to come from the filler neck being placed slightly lower on the new tank. I’ve run into this before on 5th Gen El Camino gas tanks, the factory offered both 16 and 20 gallon tanks…….the tanks were the same but the filler necks were located differently. Although I’m not real sure if it was by design or not the lower capacity does allow for more fuel expansion, which is definitely something that happens with ethanol fuel.







Anyway getting the new tank in was a pretty simple deal; I had to add the return fitting to the new tank, and then redo the opening where the fill neck is behind the license plate. So I’m down to 30 gallons of fuel……..14 in the original tank (which actually holds a gallon more than it listed at) and 16 in the add on tank.

I’ve haven’t checked fuel mileage yet…….I’ve been having way too much fun doing things that are not conducive to good gas mileage or tire life. It should still get me a fair distance down the road.


.

There are probably a couple of cross county trips in the Ram 50s future so I picked up a universal cruise control off Amazon. It’s either a copy of or a re-boxed Audiovox CCS-100 which I’ve used before and had fairly good luck with.

I kind of like these units because you can run them solely off the tach signal (no magnets on the drive shaft or VSS wire) and they don’t require a separate clutch switch. It also has the style of control switch I wanted for the truck. The down side is that the instruction while good for doing the hookup and wiring leave a lot to be desired as far as setting control switches for specific vehicles. Fortunately as I’ve used these units in the past, the trial and error was pretty minimal for me. I got it figured out this morning and the unit works well.

The under hood install went easily enough,







The under dash wiring for the switch keeps getting harder for me every year though



.

That's pretty cool, I didn't think anyone made those anymore.

“…….That's pretty cool, I didn't think anyone made those anymore……”


They’re getting harder and harder to come by. I suppose as cruise control is pretty much standard on almost all new cars and more and more hot rods are being built with CC drive trains, old dinosaurs like me who want one for a carbureted engine with a distributor have become pretty much a niche market.


On the last few cars I’ve built I’ve been modifying and using the 70-80’s GM Cruise units…..the ones that use an inner fender mounted transducer and 2 speedometer cables. I was kind of stuck on this build though because it’s an electronic speedometer. When I started looking for a cruise kit the only thing I was finding were the Rostra units (for about $250 by the time you got everything you needed to install it). The problem with those is unless you have a computer controlled car, you end up having to hang magnets on the drive shaft, which I’ve never had any luck with.

Anyway I like this unit; both the way it functions and the way it installs. I ordered a second one last night just to have it the shelf (they’re only about $120). Over the last several years it seems a lot of sources for the accessories I tend to use on a project dry up and I’ve found myself wishing I’d bought 2 of them, so if the price is right I tend now to buy a spare if I can afford it. If nothing else it’s nice to know I got spare parts on the shelf.


.

I happen to have a nos type CC set up I purchased for my 72 and now I don't know if I'll use it on it now. I need to get it out of it's hiding spot and make sure no rodents have attacked it.

Originally Posted by Mike P

“……. I suppose as cruise control is pretty much standard on almost all new cars and more and more hot rods are being built with CC drive trains, old dinosaurs like me who want one for a carbureted engine with a distributor have become pretty much a niche market.

Anyway I like this unit; both the way it functions and the way it installs. I ordered a second one last night just to have it the shelf ..

I'll have to admit I've not considered C.C. for mine.. but I can see it's value, especially since the daily driver has it and it is in use for at least 50% of my daily commute.

Next thing you know.. I'll be installing heat/air/radio!!!

I got tired of looking at the bare floor when I get in the truck so now that’s it’s warmed up a bit I got back on the little Ram 50 again this weekend.



It’s being used mostly as a work truck so as usual I decided to go with a low maintenance interior that is easy to clean up. The seat would be done in vinyl and I wanted to go with a rubber floor mat instead of carpet.

With the modified trans tunnel I knew a stock floor mat wouldn’t fit (and they don’t seem to be offered anymore anyway). I originally hoped to find a molded mat from a full sized truck that could be cut down to fit. After doing some measuring on a few trucks and not finding anything that looked like it would work I ended up just buying the rubber in bulk and went from there. The seat got pulled and sent out to the upholster Friday and I started on the floor.

The first thing I did was lay some insulation in.




Then spent most of Saturday pulling, stretching, trimming and gluing the mat down.



I didn’t worry too much about the wrinkles at the back of the trans tunnel as they are hidden when the seat’s installed.

The seat was finally done today and I managed to get it installed this afternoon. Nothing fancy, but a whole lot better than before!!!




.

It looks great! Really... it came out very nice.

That's very nice!

Usable, economic, handy, and a little scoot to boot; what more could one want in a work truck?

.

Looks great, Mike!

Looks great, Mike!

With the problems with my right hand and the possibility of surgery in the future, I started prioritizing what I wanted/needed to get done. Pretty high on the list was getting the AC working in the truck.

The truck came with AC and the system was even still pressurized after sitting 10 years in the shed. I had to relocate the condenser forward to make room for the radiator and though it was pretty tight in the end worked out OK. I had already flushed the components, added new oil and all I really needed to do was have a couple of hoses made up and install a new receiver dryer.





Everything went pretty well……I had the usual aggravations about waiting on the right fittings I needed and having the hoses crimped etc but I got everything buttoned up and ready to charge. That was going pretty well too…….clear up until the condenser decided to rupture. I’m not sure what happened, I hadn’t even gotten up to 100 PSI on the high side yet, so I was still well under the operating pressure so who knows (I’m figuring with internal corrosion from sitting or possibly I nicked that tube during the installation). Anyway the rupture occurred on the radiator side of the condenser with the engine running so all the refrigerant and oil sprayed right into the fan where it was evenly deposited all over the engine compartment.




I always figured it was factory AC in the truck (it sure looked like it), but when I started looking for a new condenser for it I’m beginning to think is a very good dealer installed unit. The condenser in the truck looks nothing like the one shown in the parts book or (thru any supplier) and the compressor is a Sanden 508 instead of the Chrylser unit it’s supposed to have.

After striking out finding a condenser like the one in the truck which would have made life so much easier I ended up digging up one from an earlier Ram 50. It’s small enough to fit (and they are still available new if the used one I have doesn’t work out), but is just enough different that I have to rework my mounting brackets and have one of the new hoses re-done again. Oh well, with any luck I should have it back together again in the next day or two.


.

Well I got the "new" condenser to fit.....I had to redo the brackets and the high pressure hose needed to be re-made, but I got it in. The old compressor had been a little noisy so I figured what the heck and ordered a new one, flushed the system again and buttoned it all up. I now have AC.....just in time for the week long cold snap we just had.

There were actually 2 of the earlier ram 50s at the wrecking yard with factory air. I wanted the gas pedal/emergency brake assembly out of one of them for the 37 Dodge, so while I was there doing that I went ahead and picked up the AC condenser out of the other truck. Hopefully I'll never need it, but the truck will probably stay in the family for a long time and you can never have enough spares.

.

I’m still plugging away on things I want to get done before I have any surgery I need for my hand. One of the things was to get a bed cover on the Ram 50. I want to carry the spare, jack and tool box in the bed along with having a place for suitcases when I take it back to Illinois.

I ended up getting a Peragon folding cover because I like the way it folded into a nice compact package and can even be removed if necessary.

Of course Peragon doesn’t offer a cover for the 87 Ram 50, so after talking to the tech people to find something close to fitting I ended up ordering one for a Ranger. It wasn’t a direct bolt in, but there weren’t too many mods necessary to make it work.








From what I can tell so far I’m going to be pretty happy with it.


.