Thread: 87 Ram 50 Engine Swap

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I've cut down some of my own shafts before but I've always had to take them in to be balanced, so I just let the shop do it so I don't have to worry about it. i'm lucky that we have a certified power here and they do great work.

Of the 4 shafts I recall doing in the past I got lucky and only one had to be sent out for balancing. I managed to find shafts without any balance weights on them to modify, which I suspect had a lot to do with my luck. The shaft out the Ram 50 I’m using has balance weights on both ends which was also a big consideration as far as sending it out or doing it myself.

Back when I did my first drive shaft my biggest concern was how to cut the shaft off perfectly square. What I ended up using was a plumbers pipe cutter. It basically the huge industrial grade version of the tubing cutter most of us have in our tools boxes. I think mine does up to 4-41/2” pipe.




I dropped the drive shaft and parts off at the shop in Tucson today. I had always wondered if they shortened the shafts any differently that I did. I stuck around long enough to watch him shorten mine and found out I had been pretty much doing the same thing they do. He owner also showed me his balancer….all computerized read out and stuff. I think I’ll be happy with it when I pick it up on Friday I hope so anyway.

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I think I’ll be happy with it when I pick it up on Friday I hope so anyway.

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Sounds like Friday might be smoky burn out test day!

"....Sounds like Friday might be smoky burn out test day! ....."

Unfortunately, not even close. I was planning on finishing or at least getting a good start on finishing up the exhaust and running the fuel lines while the truck was up in the air and I am waiting on the drive shaft.

That was the plan Saturday morning anyway. Before I started on the little Dodge though, I figured I would pull in the El Camino and do an oil change and change out the mufflers (the pair I originally installed ended up with the guts breaking loose). The oil change went well but I seemed to have pulled a muscle in my side getting the mufflers changed out and welded. The drive up to Tucson and back this morning didn't do me any favors either.......just couldn't seem to get comfortable sitting in the seat. Anyway, looks like I'm on light duty for a day or two.

I think they lied to me about the "golden years"

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At least they aren't tarnished brass years----------

The pile of driveshaft parts turned into this.



I was impressed/happy with the shop that did the work. When I got there to pick the shaft up it was still in the balancer. He had left it hooked up so he could spin it up and show me that it was actually balanced and ran true. I’ve already referred another guy who needs a drive shaft to him.

You might notice the writing on the end of the shaft. That’s the part number for the U Joint that end takes. I figured that was a pretty good place to record it after having to replace the rear U Joint in the El Camino yesterday (abuse might have been involved ). The El Camino uses an oddball shaft and conversion joints too, so it’s not like you can go into a parts store and tell the computer jockey an application he could find. After spending a ½ hour using the caliper to get measurements then digging thru U Joints charts to get a good part number, I figured it would be a good idea to record it for future reference in a place I could actually find it again.

I’m trying to finish up the underside of the truck so I can drop it back on the ground. I’m down to running fuel lines and exhaust. Adding the 20 gallon fuel tank adds a couple of issues besides just adding the new fuel lines. I like the way the truck currently sits. The rear springs are pretty soft however (until they compress enough to come down on the overload spring). Full of gas, the new fuel tank will add around 150 pounds to the back of the truck, which is enough to drop the truck 1 to 2 inches. I really didn’t want to add another leaf, hate air shocks and besides having bad luck with the last pair of air bags really can’t afford the space (interference with the exhaust over the axle). I ended up picking up a pair of load assist shocks. It may not be the optimum solution, but it’s the easiest and least problematic.




About the only progress actually made on the truck this week was just getting the fuel tank change over valve installed. There was no good place to mount it directly to the frame and have it oriented correctly, so a bit of time was spent getting a bracket installed.






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Some progress is better than none. What problems did you have with your last set of air bags?

Ryan, I used a pair of air bags on the 76 D100 I built a few years back, the air bags I installed are shown in the first picture.

Shop Truck (True Spirit) Project

Never held air for more than a day or two. I went over the hoses and fitting several times, and it was the bags themselves. It was one of those parts I bought early in the build and by the time I installed them the warranty was done.

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Originally Posted by Mike P

Ryan, I used as pair of air bags on the 76 D100 I built a few years back, the air bags I installed

Shop Truck (True Spirit) Project

Never held air for more than a day or two. I went over the hoses and fitting several times, and it was the bags themselves. It was one of those parts I bought early i the build and by the time I installed them the warranty was done.

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I hate when that happens. I just tried to have the new windshield installed in my 48 with the new windshield gasket I bought about 5 years ago on Ebay. Of course it turned out to be the wrong gasket.

Yeah, that stinks. I've been there too. I baught a new ac comp for the wife's excursion at the half way point when I built it. Too bad I didn't remove the thing from the box until 8 months after I had it. It had been launched from a helicopter when they delivered it and the comp crank was bent. But the box looked perfect on the outside. So I got another new one from the same outfit at cost and the clutch was junk out of the box. Too bad I didn't charge the ac for 3 months after that. Yep, this time an o'riellys one went on it. The third time was the charm. What luck?

Hopefully I’m done looking at the underside of the truck for a while. I test fit the Driveshaft, then pulled it back out and set it aside for a bit so I could go ahead and finish up some more under truck stuff without banging my head on it every 5 minutes. I got the new rear shocks on and then started on the “fun” stuff.

I got the fuel lines run…….what a PIA. The Chevy fuel pump is on the passenger side and the original fuel lines were on the driver’s side, so I ended up running new metal fuel and return lines from the original tank and the one I added in the rear up to the fuel selector valve. Then I ran new metal lines from the valve up to the fuel pump on the engine. I’m running a non-vented cap on the 58 Chevy tank, so I also ended up running a vent line from the tank up to the charcoal canister under the hood.



Although I’m planning on the truck being a daily driver, there is also the possibility (probability) there will be times that it could sit for a couple of months without being started. I hate cranking and cranking on the starter to refill the carburetor so I added an electric fuel pump in the line to the original fuel tank.



The fuel lines were one of those projects that nickel and dimed me to death. Even after having both tanks in and having the fuel switch valve and electric fuel pump on hand I still needed 30’ of new steel fuel line, 20’ steel vent line, 5’ of rubber fuel line, 24 fuel line clamps, 14 clamps to hold the fuel and vent line to the frame, 20’ of electrical wire for the sending units, switch valve and fuel pump and a handful of electrical connectors.

Next I finished building the exhaust system (also a PIA). I have (had) a bunch of leftover pipes and bends from other projects plus the mufflers I had on the test stand so basically all I had to spring for was a new pair of tail pipe tips. I saved some money building it myself and got everything placed where I wanted it (something that’s sometimes iffy with the local muffler shops) but I’m getting way too old for it to be much fun.

Because of the original fuel tank and clutch cable, I ended up running both pipes down the passenger side then ran one of the pipes back over to the driver’s side after I got them past the rear end. I like the ability to split the exhaust system so I added ball and socket joints in both pipes so I can drop the head pipes if I ever need to (sorry you can’t see them in the picture).



Also on the list was building a new wiring harness for the switch valve, electric fuel pump, sending units, and electronic speedometer. While I was under there, I wrapped the exhaust pipes where they run close by the starter and the clutch cable.

So as of this afternoon it’s finally back on the ground and I think everything underneath is done……..of course you know how that goes. Although unintended, I kind of like where the exhaust tips exit. From the rear you can’t see the exhaust tips because of the bumper (can you say sleeper). It sits just a bit high in the back right now with the load assist shocks, but both tanks are empty. Filling both tanks will add almost 250 pounds to the truck.



Next week should be getting the dash back in and getting the under hood wiring started.


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Yes, I can say " Sleeper " and can up that with " Tyre Fryer " . Looking real cool too.

Nice work! Those are some big things to cross off the list!

Hey Mike do you happen to have the measurments for the stripes from your True Spirit I got one earlier this year and can't find anything about the stripes other than pictures. By the way that truck looks good!

Looks great, Mike! This should squash a lot of over-inflated egos at the stoplights once they get their ass handed to them by a 30 year old stock looking rice truck!