Thread: 87 Ram 50 Engine Swap

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"....... 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! ......"


Especially driven by 60+ year old long hair (OK I had hair once)


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Well one more item checked off. I spent the last couple of days getting the dash in and interior wiring done.



Besides the new gauge cluster, tank selector and fuel pump switches, there was a fair amount of other wiring I ended up doing. The truck was originally radio delete, so a stereo, 4 speakers and a CD changer was added. I took the delete plate put hinges and a lock on it and used that for a door on the storage compartment under the stereo.



I also added a cigarette lighter and because that wasn’t in a convenient place added a second lighter receptacle for the GPS/phone charger etc.

That just leaves getting the wiring and plumbing under the hood done and it should be able to move under its own power. Then I get to put tires on it, install a new windshield, do the brakes, hook up the AC………then I can think about things like upholstery and paint



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It looks like a fun project.

Being gone the last couple of weeks and catching up on stuff when I got home, today was the first chance I had to get back to the Ram 50. There were just a couple of things left to do to make it run and I got those taken care of this morning.

The first thing on the list was getting the radiator hoses on…….I basically found some with the right bends and cut them down to fit.



Next was getting a battery cable over to the starter. As the starter is on the opposite side from the original starter, I had to go all the way around the engine compartment which took 11 feet of cable. On long runs like this I usually like to use Arc Welder Cable, it’s pricey but you don’t get near the voltage drop that normal battery cables that long have. Rather than have the cable hot all the time and also run a separate solenoid wire to the starter, I used a Ford type solenoid mounted by the battery, and built a jumper wire across the battery and solenoid at the starter. This way the cable to the starter is only hot when the starter is engaged.



My go to alternator on most swaps is still the old GM internal regulator 10SI. I’m going to also retain the original charcoal canister mostly as a place to connect the fuel tank vents too, but as that interfered with the alternator I had to relocate it in front of the overflow and washer bottles (I still need to run a section of rubber line from the hard line to the canister).



Once I had that done all that was left was adding fuel and anti-freeze and starting it. It fired right off (the exhaust sounds really good) and with a couple of exceptions everything worked well. There are way too many cops around to put it out on the street without registration and insurance (something I’ll take care of next week) so I didn’t go any further that up and down the driveway a couple of times to verify the clutch and brakes.

There were just a couple of minor issues. One was a minor fuel leak that just took tightening a fitting. The other was that once the engine started it would not shut off with the key. I’ve run into that before with the 10SIs. The alternator will feedback into the ignition system once it starts charging. The cure is simple….just a diode in the circuit. They make a near adapter that plugs in line to take care of the problem.



I’ve actually got a couple of them around here…….I just can’t find them. Being as how I’ve got a couple more on order now, I’ll probably come across them the same day as the new ones show up.

So anyway it was a pretty good day, and tomorrow I can pull it out of the shop to do some cleanup.


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Great progress Mike. How'd it feel on the short runs?

"......Great progress Mike. How'd it feel on the short runs?........"

We may have traction issues

Actually I was a bit worried that with the low first gear ratio combined with the 3.90 rear gear and relatively short tires that first gear would be about useless but it actually seems to work pretty well.


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Great work! I'm sure it is a good feeling to have it back together and running again. I'm sure it is traction limited.

Looks killer, Mike! Even has a/c; very cool.

"Traction Issues". Is that another name for "Fun Factor"?

What does the grandson think of all this?

Thanks guys. I think the 283 makes good use of what was essentially wasted space



Cade hasn't seen it run yet, but his mom (this had been her first vehicle) was over Saturday. I had her come out to the shop and let her start it. She likes the rumble it has now.

With luck I'll get the registration taken care of tomorrow. While I'm at DMV I'm going to add her name to the title.......that way there will be no question on where it goes if/when something happens to me.


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Originally Posted by Mike P

I’ve actually got a couple of them around here…….I just can’t find them. Being as how I’ve got a couple more on order now, I’ll probably come across them the same day as the new ones show up.

I can show you how to do this diode trick yourself for less than a couple bucks..

Thanks 36 but I pretty much already know how.

I used to pick up a hand full of diodes from the local Radio Shack every once in a while (I'd need them for some of the circuits I used to build for adapting cruise controls in addition to the occasional anti-feedback circuits). Unfortunately that Radio Shack closed and the one that's left is more a phone store than anything else (both in what they stock and the knowledge base of the employees .

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Here is a mail order source that has great prices and fast reasonable shipping.
Electronic Parts Online Store - Tayda Electronics

I finally did the first test drive on the truck this afternoon. Getting the title and registration done took a bit longer than I expected.

I also didn’t trust the 10 year old tires that were on it. I already know what happens to the rear fenders when one of them comes apart so this morning I picked up a new set of tires for it. The selection of 14 inch tire sizes suck. After hitting 3 of the local tire shops I finally found 4 tires to drag home and mount and balance.

Anyway I got the tires on, filled the gas tank and calibrated the speedometer. I’ve got to admit setting the electronic speedometer sure beats setting a cable driven one. The road test was pretty short, just about 20 miles. I’m taking it relatively easy on it until I get some break-in miles on the engine and clutch and transmission. That being said, it does run good….and it looks sooooo stock.
I didn’t set up for any videos, but my friend took a short one of me leaving his shop this afternoon and sent it to me. I’ll get a better video of it later, but at least it proves it will move under its own power LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDF9CjzH18M

I think the next project will be doing the interior (with no floor mat or insulation you hear every rattle in it).

Not a bad day.



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Very nice work! You did an excellent job on the build!