First truck 15 years old 87 Power Ram 50

Disclaimer: I have been driving stick on dirt roads since 8, first truck i ever drove was a 86 yota 22re 5 speed. dont hate, i aint gonna ruin the truck. I aint gonna squat it and put in LED strips and 25" wheels and all that crap. 15" looks good to me!

So I am 15, turning 16 march. My first truck is a 87 D50 my uncle gave me for my birthday. It has a blown gasket. It has ran hot over 5 times now (i have 3 receipts for head replacement and 1 for the gasket and my uncle blew a head too). I am in the process of swapping the motor out the 82 into the 87. it will be a simpler setup with WAY less vacum hoses and wiring. Attachment 24087Attachment 24101Attachment 24102Attachment 24103Attachment 24104Attachment 24105Attachment 24106Attachment 24107Attachment 24108Attachment 24109Attachment 24110Attachment 24100Attachment 24099Attachment 24098Attachment 24088Attachment 24089Attachment 24090Attachment 24091Attachment 24092Attachment 24093Attachment 24094Attachment 24095Attachment 24096Attachment 24097Attachment 24111

Both are POWER RAM 50 trucks, but i think the 87 is in sport or a custom trim due to the options it has on it. :shrug:

It will be a 4G54/G54B engine with a Weber 38 38 syncromesh carb and an exhaust system with a reverse flow muffler and cat/egr/res delete. It will be paired to a KM145 transmission and a 1.944:1 transfer case, through to a 4.22:1 rear end on 235 75 15 tires mounted on 15x7.5 rims. it will be LEVELED in the front, so that it doesnt look like a 3rd world hot rod. :grin:

the door sticker says it weighs 4650 lbs, need help on that.

I cant retrieve the photos off my phone, so i emailed them to myself and took screenshots and cropped them all to size. they are attatched below.

ok so the pictures kind of randomized. so the ones on the trailer and the open bed and engine bay and interior shots are are the ones that came first, then the cot, then the one with the bed on the table, then the pics of the 82, then the pics of my work on the 82, then the tires on the 87

the 4650 is gvw, not actual weight empty. Truck weight is 2800-2900 lbs at rest. How bad is the 82? 1st gen 4x4s are getting rarer by the day - 82 Power Rams were a 3 month model...

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Originally Posted by pennyman1

the 4650 is gvw, not actual weight empty. Truck weight is 2800-2900 lbs at rest. How bad is the 82? 1st gen 4x4s are getting rarer by the day - 82 Power Rams were a 3 month model...

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the 82 is actually pretty bad, all the panels are really thin and rusted, the floorboard is gone for the most part, the bed is full of junk and held together by plant roots and dirt, the body lift has exposed the interior and the seat has been chewed by rats, the engine bay is covered in mud and it was bought new by a 16 year olds dad, who sold it 10 years later to a 16 year old ,who sold it to the junkyard, who sold it to an old man dad works with, who sold it to me. 4 owners 2 youth (3 if you count me but i have been using a stick since 8 unless you count dirt bikes, then 4) so the trans is slippery and makes some noise. overall pretty bad shape and ready for the scrap yard. the frame is starting to crack in one spot because of the rust. the cab would need some fab work. the bed COULD be fixed the trim area is shot rusted and the floor needs to be replaced. you might could fix the 87 motor, idk if its a cracked block or what. i could include it if you are interested, it would be about march before i could get rid of it tho lol.

the door wouldnt open at one point and i had to kick it in so it would open.

as it turns out its a 3.91, hooray for gas mileage!

all 4x4s are 3.91s unless it was a later truck with the SPX package - those were 4.22s with a LSD

Interesting, my 82 is actually a positive rear end, I had it in 4L but I forgot to lock the hubs, and there is 2 spinning marks in my backyard, no tread imprint. I had it confirmed in a mud hole, my cousin wants it now for his 2wd. He has 2 d50 trucks, a 84 with a 4 speed and a 85 MM with a 2.4 FI and 5 speed it it, he wants it fir the MM. That MM is pretty fast with that 2.4 in it, it's a slammed weight reducted long bed truck but it's a pretty quick one. He was looking at a turbo setup like I want, I am gonna go on rock auto and buy the parts, just to make it easy and not worry about worn out parts. I still need one for the ECM unless I can find that too.

Sorry I haven't updated this, but my plan is a turbocharged d50 R/T or SRT4 knock off. I got the G54B out and I am gonna get the other one out sometime hopefully tomorrow if I have time. I also have a twin core twin fan radiator and all that.

SOLID PLANS PEOPLE! SRT4 POWER RAM 50!!!

Here are my renderings of a SRT4 truck (I can photoshop if you need like a visual on something email me its bustedknuckles2004@gmail.com)

Ools forgot attatchmants here:

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Ok got my 82 motor out today, my clutch is solid pale blue luje it has been overheated completely and multiple times. So new clutch is on the list. The 87 manifold is higher flow, so it's getting swapped. Eventually I want to go with a MPI setup so i can use a conquest turbo setup AND the factory ecu. I might go find me a short bed 2nd gen 2wd ram 50 and modify it to be a SRT4, but I am dropping that plan for the 87, it us still getting the turbo. Not the gauges and all the fancy trimmings. Not a moniker, that's for something thats more fitting to be a SRT4 truck.

Conquest/Starion turbo setups are known to be a bottleneck in performance builds. The Conquest/Starion exhaust manifolds are notorious for cracking and warping. The Conquest/Starion intake manifolds are swapped for obvious reasons when going MPI. Can I ask why you would go this route?

the trick to the warping and cracking starquest manifolds is to cut the flange between the runners. Yes you can swap out the original intake with a modded Magna manifold or aftermarket barrel manifold, or you can mod the original intake by putting bungs in the runners for injectors and use the throttle body to regulate the air. Not everyone wants a 4g63 motor swap - the g54b motor fits nice under the hood like it was made for it, because the starquest block is the truck block.

Show me a common example of a Starquest with average miles that doesnt have an already warped exhaust manifold and Ill give you a cookie. Im new to MM's... Not new to Starquests. I was simply asking him why he would choose to go that route when there are cheaper,easier,and more tunable options out there.

The g54b's stock fuel mapping cant keep up with more boost from a completely stock turbo setup. It requires an 88-89 ECU and a MAF-T to be able to utilize the added boost. Megasquirt or custom fuel management is an absolute MUST when running MPI. If the goal is to swap in a stock Starquest setup including electronics for a comepletely stock setup I can understand. But to swap in a g54b with the intent of making it an MPI powerhouse is just kind of.... crazy.

But... What do I know?

oh i was going fuel injection, bigger injectors, etc. but you can go MPI and make decent power. it just isn't as good as it could be, and thats OK. I don't want every bit of power possible lol

i am going this route because it is a near factory replacement, but I have an upgraded turbo. its like 65ish mm if I recall correctly. spool today boost tomorrow. I'm sure itll get out of its own way.

Again... MPI isnt easy or cheap for a g54b. Throwing bigger injectors at an already taxed Starquest fueling arrangement isnt ideal. Sure, you get more fuel but you cant use it. The fuel map in the stock Starquests "brain" is nearly at its limit on stock fuel/air intakes. You bump a stock Starquests boost more than 2.5psi and you will see what I am talking about.

No doubt the block and internals are capable of making big numbers. A simple swap to a Starquests setup would be awesome. Taking a Starquest setup, putting it in a MM, and then modding it for power is an unnecessary step is the point I was making. Can it be done? Sure. Is it awesome when done? Absolutely. Is there much cheaper and easier and more powerful setups more readily available? Damn straight. I didnt ask to start a war. I ask because I was genuinely curious as to why you'd go this route to make power.

i ain't tryna start a war lol. not tryna be rude, just straightforward. I was looking at 9ish psi boost, maybe more. idk what these cars made for boost lol. I am not too good with boost, but trial and error and this forum and I should be good to go. I am actually getting a custom tune for the truck, a local bodyshop/engineer is gonna get it done. but it ain't cheap lol.

Stock 88/89 ecus begin to cut fuel and do all sorts of funky things at 10lbs and up. I've been through the trial and error (and countless dollars in the process) and that's why I asked.

A custom tune? What fuel management system is he going to tune?

ETA;
Stock 86 and 87 made 7psi. The 88/89 made use of 9.5psi

its a custom tune of his own design.

he is one of the best engineers I know. (also a fab man, owns a body shop, halfway child genius, and a true southern man) he made a OBD II chip that plug into OBD II ports and it connects to a special program he designed and basically you can adjust stuff like max throttle position, ignition timing (if applicable) AFR, and apparently he has figured out a way to swap a OBD I car over to a OBD II car, and his custom sema pickup is the candidate. idk if someone taught him or if he taught himself or if he read it online but he said he is gonna experiment on his sema truck (link below) and if it works once mine is done he will do that for me

I actually have the chip. I used it on dad's 08 f150 and I managed to get 50 hp by setting the throttle from 75 to 100 and correcting the AFR. there was also a shift thing I forgot the name of that makes it shift harder, so I went all the way and man it shifts good. 0-60 went down to like 7 and a half or 8 seconds. but thats a V8 car. I am doubling the power of my d50, so its a bit different.

crazy stuff

https://www.google.com/search?client...+brutally+sexy

thats the Google link you can just tab to images and find out what he has done.

basically its a 36 chevy made into a pickup with a 24V Cummins diesel

Starquest ECU's do not have OBD ports of any kind. They have an early and rudimentary version of a diagnostics port. The chipsets in the Starquests are burn only eproms. Meaning, they are programmed at the factory, and thats that. This was the reason I asked why you would retain the Starquest brains for the build.

The fueling issue and boost cut experienced by Starquests with more boost is due to the MAF not being able to interpret the inlet air and create a clean enough signal for the ECU to use. With the added boost the MAF does its thing up until the threshold is reached in the fuel tables of the ECM. Once the MAF is supplying (inaccurate and mixed) signals to the ECM (that no longer has fueling maps that high) the ECM essentially cuts fuel to the injectors, and things go bad in a hurry.

Just saw your post, that makes sense. I could try to rig a MAP sensor off a boosted car and see if it will work.

Anyways got my engine pulled apart and #1 has way more carbon that 2 3 or 4. But the gasket was actually blown on #1 so idk if that has anything to do w the popping on idle.

Anyways here is a pic of the engine completely apart on the floor. And damn those are some big pistons I had no clue!

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