Hey guys new to thus little ram 50 of mine

Hey guys my name is Hunter. I'm an avid car enthusiast, mostly Volkswagen's. I bought a 1989 Dodge ram 50 2.0 5spd 2WD a few months ago. Been a good little truck. When I bought it I was told the fuel filter was bad, and that was why it sputtered sometimes, but after noticing the diesel like black smoke poring out of the exhaust, I knew that could not be it. Checked all my vacuum lines and came up with nothing. Took the carb off and sprayed the crap out of it with carb cleaner. Runs great and is way better on gas now!

Anyways I bought this truck so I could put my VW down for a while and swap in a new motor. I have a 1982 Rabbit 4dr LS, bought it back in February I guess, and have only driven it a few times. It had a little 1.6 diesel in it, that the rings were fried and it ran away on me. I junked a previous rabbit of mine and had and still have a tonnage of parts, and decided to swap in a 1.6 turbo diesel. After going through the whole motor and putting it in, there was no oil pressure and fried the bottom end (only ran for maybe 10 min total). So thats been an ongoing project. I'm awaiting the new motor for it, a 1.9 turbo diesel out of a 1996 jetta. I'm sure some of you are familiar with these vw motor as they are great swaps for small trucks. I am getting the Canadian AAZ 1.9 so it is and easy swap. I don't plan on rebuilding it, seeing how the last one went, and because I just want my car running!

So once I get this thing done and can daily drive it, I want to do something with this truck. Yes a 1.6 turbo diesel and an adapter plate for my d50 trans would be simple and not too hard. And seeing as I have a bottom end, and the know how to source the parts cheap, it would be a cheap rout. But I'm thinking something much bigger..

I can bet that a V8 has been swapped into one of these trucks before? Maybe a place to buy the mount kits? But how about a V8 turbo diesel? I'm not sure what kind of truck to get one out of, but I know I want a V8 single/twin turbo diesel. I don't want to make it 4WD, and I don't want a stupid diesel stack. however I do want that "jet engine" sound. haha.

I do plan on having bracing to the frame done. I dont want to 'race' this thing but if I get a big ol superduty with an 8in stack next to me, I want to show him how dumb all that big stuff is. :grin:

So any Ideas? Links? Maybe a better forum I should be posting on?

My Rabbit!
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My Truck and some of the ways I use it ;]
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Welcome nice truck and vw. You could always swap a turbo 4g63t(from an eclipse) in there as it will bolt to your tranny. Much more work is needed than that tho, check out my build thread link \/, projectzerog.com, and hotrodcoffeeshop.com for more info on the swap.

heh... been dealing with MK1's and MK2's myself for the past 10+ years.

Weird knowing I can lock the drivers door without the key and put a wheel on the truck and it will hang there. :grin:

hahaha i know right! No DSM's! All I hear about those motors is bad.

What is wrong with DSM motors? Learned most of the headaches of the new Volkswagens ranging from 94~2001 and much prefer my awd eagle talon. But that's me. Welcome to the site.

I use my truck as a mini mule as well. The back end always sits more level with the front when I put some weight in the bed.

Whats that other truck youre towing with the dolly?

Another Volkswagen from the looks of it.

I have a VW also :)

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Everyone I see with talons or eclipse' are always broke down. Maybe thats just the croud I see.. I no longer buy vw's newer than 92. They do suck, I had a 89' gli with a 1.8T swap big turbo SDS stand alone, the whole nine. It was too much of a worry on my shoulders with things that could go wrong. haha.

The other truck is a Vw Rabbit pickup or "CADDY". That particular one was set to be cut in half to be made into part grill and part trailer.

Sweet Beetle I was looking into the ABA swap beetle a while ago. Figure if you can put an ABA 2.0 in on then surly you can put a vanogon turbo diesel in.

I'm a big diesel guy, and thats why I want to do a big diesel swap in this truck. If nothing else I'll have the 1.6TD block I have machined and put it in my ram. But I dont think it will be big enough. I want something that sounds nasty at idle let alone when I womp on it. Although I doubt the motor would ever have enough load to spool the turbo in this little truck haha.

I see here DSM with transmission problems. Mine was down for the longest when my clutch almost separated. The springs were that close to popping out of the hub. It's down right now because I believe I snapped the input shaft. Maybe a 4 puck unsprung disc with a fidanza flywheel was too much for it. Motor still strong. Motor in my truck still strong.

4 puck clutches put too much shock to the driveline for a daily driver as you found out. The starquest forums advise against 4 puck clutches for that reason. But the tranny will survive with a less aggressive clutch disc with the same pressure plate and flywheel.

You can always try to stuff a Detroit 453-T into it. No one has ever done that. You might need to build a frame and suspension to hold it. But it could be cool if done correctly. Nothing like a 2 stroke diesel spinning at 6500 RPM With the stock gear ratio in the rear end it would push 100 MPH

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jagerauto

Everyone I see with talons or eclipse' are always broke down. Maybe thats just the croud I see.. I no longer buy vw's newer than 92..

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I buy them for parts to keep the pre-93's running. :grin:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by camoit

You can always try to stuff a Detroit 453-T into it. No one has ever done that. You might need to build a frame and suspension to hold it. But it could be cool if done correctly. Nothing like a 2 stroke diesel spinning at 6500 RPM With the stock gear ratio in the rear end it would push 100 MPH

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4cyl diesel... I was really hoping to stuff a 8cyl in! lol

I'd be surprised to find out that no one has put a small block in one of these trucks... And if that can be done then surely I can cram in a 8cyl turbo diesel?? I know it sounds stupid, or maybe not, but I want something that is very reliable. Also being able to hook a computer to the thing would be nice! Yea mechanical diesels are easy to work with and simpler to swap, but that's not what I'm going for haha. I want some POWER!

Of course I would have to put a huge ram hood ornament on the hood! ;]

Yes small block fords and chevys have been put in no problem, so an 8cyl diesel should fit.

fit yes - weight wise, not so much. Although you could do like one guy on the old forum did and widened the cab and bed to fit a full size frame - that would be different too...