Update for my 88 Ram 50

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06-12-2017, 01:13 PM
87RAMFIDDY

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Update for my 88 Ram 50

Hey all. I introduced myself in the intros thread a few weeks ago. Figured i'd post an update. So i got to tear into her last week and take a look at what the situation was. Pulled carb, header, intake mani, fuel pump, water pump, valve cover, timing cover (timing chain was rather lose), etc, etc, etc... Anyway got around to pulling the head. GREAT NEWS!!! What was claimed to be torn valve seals by the previous owner turned out only to be a blown head gasket! Blown in between cyl 2/3. Valves looked really good and clean. Had the head resurfaced since it was slightly warped. Didn't take much off. Can't rightly remember if the machinist said 6/1000ths or 60/1000ths. Either way it cleaned up really nicely. Now i wait on my Weber 32/36 conversion kit from Redline, my pacesetter header, and full timing chain replacement kit. Have a full engine gasket kit for when she's ready to go back together. Gooing to replace every hose on the whole damn truck Getting rid of all the unnecessary emissions shit as well. Hopefully will have her running before the weekend. After she's running i get to do the fun stuff. Lightbar in the front grill along with 2 pod leds down by the front license plate. These are dual pods that have a DRL mode and a spotlight mode. Very excited i found them. Also going to be installing a battery kill switch just in case someone decides they want to joyride my truck without my knowledge... ;) There will be other fun toys to add to her as i go along but that is my current progress and planning all lumped into one jumbled thread lol.
06-12-2017, 03:01 PM
geezer101

Onto a good start. Are you going to do any work on the ports and inlet manifold before bolting up the Weber? Now's a good time to tackle it - anything that improves flow will make the most of the headers and carb upgrade.
06-13-2017, 02:20 PM
87RAMFIDDY

Quote:

Originally Posted by geezer101

Onto a good start. Are you going to do any work on the ports and inlet manifold before bolting up the Weber? Now's a good time to tackle it - anything that improves flow will make the most of the headers and carb upgrade.

What do you suggest i do? Now is definitely the time since they are off.
06-13-2017, 03:21 PM
geezer101

You can do your own port work. Simple rules - take off sharp edges in the ports and remove undulations in the port walls. Don't open up the diameter of the ports, just tidy them up. If you are going to open the ports, only open the inlets so you can match them to the manifold. DON'T open the exhaust ports - you can clean them up and polish hell out of them if you want but increasing exhaust port diameters can severely affect exhaust pulses and gas scavenging. If you have a dremel/mini die grinder and flex drive shaft this is adequate for minor port work. If you have a power drill with a flex drive this will make life easy for smoothing out port walls with a small flap sanding drum (something that will just fit into the ports - use a silicon spray or water as a lubricant to stop the flap sanding drum from grabbing and bouncing around). The only risk of your tackling the ports is that your head has already gone through a shop and you could accidentally damage a valve seat or the machined face of the head. As for the end result, it will depend on how much you want to put into it. I spent about 40 hours on the head I'll be swapping later (another 5 more if you add the manifold mods I performed - I went over it a second time as there were a few areas I wasn't 100% happy with)