4G63 swap or keep old engine and rebuild?

[Ricekidd]

hi everyone,

i recently bought a 88 Dodge Ram 50 and it has a stock carb motor. unfortunately, the motor is toast. cylinder 3 and 4 are very low compression below the limit. so i was looking at options whether to rebuild, find used at junkyard or swapping to a 4G63?

my other question is and i know this has been asked but i looked at other post but cant seem to find the right answer, but are the stock 2.0 liter engines the same for both EFI and Carbed on the long blocks? going to try and source one out at the junkyard. also, is there a write up on how to switch from Carb to EFI using all stock parts. my truck is currently carb and if im going as far as taking the engine out, might consider converting but i just dont know what needs to be done.

for my last concern, if i switch to a 4G63 motor, how hard is it and what about getting it to pass smog? would be nice to have a turbo truck for the first time

thanks for taking the time to read my post! would really love to get this thing running again!

[geezer101]

Finding a used G63B from a JY is an option - but you can't guarantee what you'll be getting. The truck SOHC G63B wasn't available with EFI as an option but that doesn't mean it "can't be done" (using the EFI off another 4G6X SOHC engine will work, but it's not likely to pass regulations due to the crap CA rules). As for swapping your SOHC 2.0 for a twin cam or turbo, I doubt CA regulations will allow it (even if it is a newer and cleaner engine...) I'd take the head off the engine and eyeball the bores and pistons so you'll get a better idea of what you're up against. If the bores aren't damaged and there isn't an obvious lip around the top of it, you may get away with polishing up the pistons, deglazing the bores and installing new stock rings. IDK what your skill set is like, but if you have a torque wrench and you aren't scared of wielding a spanner you can totally do it yourself. It would be a good time to give the head a once over, maybe tidy up the ports and intake manifold as well.

[85Ram50]

You can run whatever idea you come up with based on what you find by the referee https://asktheref.org/ (https://asktheref.org/)
I am pretty sure if you call they will tell you what they will accept. I think a rebuild of the OE motor might be all they will accept since they are trying to get old cars off the road. But the Ref might allow a newer cleaner motor if it is stock CA emissions.
And then I have had this link saved because I might win the lottery some day.
http://www.precisionengine.com/rebuilt-engines/mitsubishi/index.html#question

[Ricekidd]

Finding a used G63B from a JY is an option - but you can't guarantee what you'll be getting. The truck SOHC G63B wasn't available with EFI as an option but that doesn't mean it "can't be done" (using the EFI off another 4G6X SOHC engine will work, but it's not likely to pass regulations due to the crap CA rules). As for swapping your SOHC 2.0 for a twin cam or turbo, I doubt CA regulations will allow it (even if it is a newer and cleaner engine...) I'd take the head off the engine and eyeball the bores and pistons so you'll get a better idea of what you're up against. If the bores aren't damaged and there isn't an obvious lip around the top of it, you may get away with polishing up the pistons, deglazing the bores and installing new stock rings. IDK what your skill set is like, but if you have a torque wrench and you aren't scared of wielding a spanner you can totally do it yourself. It would be a good time to give the head a once over, maybe tidy up the ports and intake manifold as well.

thanks for the help geezer101!

i am very well mechanically inclined. worked on cars for about 10 years and small planes for 4 (Lycoming and Continentals) but i honestly want to do the least amount of work and the cheapest just to get her running. which i considered going to a junkyard and hoping to score a good engine. i called in a local machine shop to get a quote on to rebuild the long black but its $1500. dont think ill go that route.

[Ricekidd]

You can run whatever idea you come up with based on what you find by the referee https://asktheref.org/ (https://asktheref.org/)
I am pretty sure if you call they will tell you what they will accept. I think a rebuild of the OE motor might be all they will accept since they are trying to get old cars off the road. But the Ref might allow a newer cleaner motor if it is stock CA emissions.
And then I have had this link saved because I might win the lottery some day.
http://www.precisionengine.com/rebuilt-engines/mitsubishi/index.html#question

thats good information 85Ram50!

will look into that!

[geezer101]

thanks for the help geezer101!

i am very well mechanically inclined. worked on cars for about 10 years and small planes for 4 (Lycoming and Continentals) but i honestly want to do the least amount of work and the cheapest just to get her running. which i considered going to a junkyard and hoping to score a good engine. i called in a local machine shop to get a quote on to rebuild the long black but its $1500. dont think ill go that route.

If the bores are good and pistons don't appear to be hammered, a set of stock rings and a VRS kit to do the head will come in under 10% of the shop quote for DIY. Yeah the best way is to pull the engine so you have full access to everything. You'll need to factor in other things like belts and seals too as these things always need looking at and while the engine is out, it's the best opportunity you'll have. If your field is aircraft engines, this'll be a cakewalk :thumbup:

[Ricekidd]

so just did a leak down test and the pistons and valves are toast. i took apart the motor and come to find out that the last owner left the car sitting for 5 years with a blown head gasket and all the water has pitted the cylinders. so now i need to replace the motor.

what are my options?

- find a used long block (what long blocks are usable with my CARB intake manifold?). are all the might max sohc motor identical? they look very similar as to the valve cover and short block. like i can probably just replace the long block and put my carb in and have everything working. but correct me if i am wrong

-convert everything to be EFI? since mine is carbed, and the fuel pump is mechanical, do i need to grab a efi fuel tank or can i put in a electric fuel pump?

man, i wish i had know how bad the motor was before i bought this thing... the last owner wasnt very transparent with the history of the truck. even though i only paid $500, i feel like i get robbed lol

[geezer101]

Most straight forward thing to do is find another G63B from a wrecked truck and swap it. No issues with smogging it, no mods and you can ransack your dead engine for parts if necessary. If you go the EFI route, you will need to delete the mechanical fuel pump from the 2.0 head (the pump will be in the way of the manifold IIRC) but you can get away with using an external electric high pressure fuel pump to run the injectors. It would be easier to get an EFI tank and swap it over. It might be an option but under the regulations, could you just do the 2.4 EFI swap as it was one of the engines available in these trucks? You would want to do the swap using a later model 2.4 as the 1990 ECU and engine set up apparently had issues.

*for the record I paid $450 AUD for my Gen 1 truck which had the engine sitting on a pallet covered in sawdust. Pretty much everything else was shot but for the most part, it was complete. So for $500 you've entered the game reasonably cheaply. If the engine was abused, you can bet there's other things that haven't been maintained waiting to be discovered...