1987 Ram 50 Engine Swap

[Mike P]

Here’s the most recent project taking up shop space.






It was my daughters’ first vehicle. When the Ex-boy friend knocked the rods out of it shortly before they broke up I picked up another car for her and took this in as partial trade on it. I never got around to selling it or parting it out so it just sat in the back shed collecting dust for the past 10 years or so.

It’s an 87 Ram 50 (really a Mitsubishi Mighty Max) that Dodge imported from Japan and slapped their emblems on.

This spring I decided to drag it out and build it as a project with my oldest grandson. I’m too much of a hot rodder not to put an American V8 in it. The kicker is that the engine compartment is really short and I was determined to retain the factory AC (which meant the radiator could only move so far forward). . Although I’d have rather used a Mopar engine because of the Dodge badging after some measuring it was determined the SBC was the shortest engine out there and would let me keep the AC. That actually worked out well for me as I had a couple of Small Blocks laying around . Originally I had planned on rebuilding the 305 roller motor in the back shed but decided to go ahead and use the little hot rod 283 my grandson and I had built as a project a year or so ago.

The truck came with 3.90 rear gears so an overdrive transmission was pretty mandatory, and I eventually settled on a T5 5 speed.





Like most of my projects, this one got more and more involved as I went along. When I found out the original gas tank only held 13 gallons, I decided to add an additional 20 gallon tank between the rear frame rails (the fill neck is behind the license plate).









The T5 I ended up with was a later one that set up for the electronic speedometer and coming up with the parts to convert it to a cable speedometer proved harder than I thought it would. I eventually decided to just go with an electronic speedometer…..and of course I might as well add a tach and gauges to go along with that.







And it was a radio delete truck so it also got a new stereo speakers and wiring.






Anyway I got it running Sunday…….just a couple trips up and down the driveway for now until I get it registered. It seems like it may have the same issue as my caddy powered El Camino……traction.

I’ll probably drive it for a couple of years, then it will eventually go back to my daughter when I get tired of it (it still means a lot to her).

 

[liquidh8]

That's very cool! I love swaps like that.

 

[olds307 and 403]

I usually hate sbc swaps but you added Caddy power in your chevy. That stupid front cover makes the SBM quite long. Looks pretty mint too.

 

[Mike P]

I finally got the registration done last week and a new set of tires on it so I could finally start driving it. So far I’ve got a bit over 100 miles on it. The last several cars/trucks I’ve built have been relatively heavy with big inch torque monster motors…….it’s kind of fun to have a very light weight vehicle with deep gears and a piss winding small block again.


One of the things I was wondering about was how the clutch would work out. When I decided on using the T5 I knew clutch linkage was probably going to take some thinking and ended up doing something a little out of the box on this swap. In the past I’ve usually built mechanical linkage when I was doing an oddball swap and running a stick, which can be a major PIA. I looked at running a hydraulic clutch and was leaning in that direction, although it was not really my first choice. The hydraulic throwout bearings are expensive and although aftermarket slave and master cylinders are more reasonable, I’ve had some dependability issues with them.


The original clutch setup on the truck was cable, which got me thinking in that direction. I picked up a mid 70s V8 Chevy Monza bellhousing and clutch fork off of E Bay. As far as know this was the only cable bellhousing for the SBC that GM ever made. It kind of surprised me how many were listed……seems like a lot of guys saved them when they parted out the cars so there was a pretty good availability. There is also not a lot of demand for them so the prices are reasonable…..win win.





The cable was the next issue, the original Ram 50 cable (top) was way too short and IMO way to light for the 10.5 clutch. I had a couple of new V8 4 Speed Mustang II cables laying around and figured I could use one to get an idea on what length I’d need. It turns out the cable was perfect for the swap, and they are still readily available if ever need one (I still have 2 spares on the shelf so hopefully it won’t be a problem in my life time).





I ended up building a firewall mount/adjuster bracket and backing plate and modifying the clutch pedal bracket and I was done.







Anyway, the clutch works well and as I had the clutch cable on hand it was pretty much a 0 out of pocket cost for linkage (a new cables are going for under $50 so that would not have been a big deal)……always a plus.


I haven’t taken any videos yet, buy my buddy at the machine shop got a short one of me leaving the other day and sent it to me.


Just to prove it really does move under it’s own power LOL.

 

[ssn696]

The dash has a 'No Smoking' emblem on it. Does that include the back tires? I think the 283 is perfect for the trucklet - and you're a cool grandfather for finding a car to put it in. Awesome!

 

[ssn696]

Name it Mighty Mouse?

 

[1evilregal]

very cool build! love the sleeper look it has, and nice to see something other than an LS motor going into something!

 

[pencero]

I was surprised to see the direction you went with this swap; it looks really nice. I think a 4bt swap would be really cool on one of these little trucks too, or maybe it's just a little too big for the bay idk

 

[Mike P]

I’ve got a couple thousand miles on the truck now and it is a ball to drive. It’s been a long time since I built something this light with a piss winding small block, stick and deep gears. It’s just a completely different animal than the BB torque monsters I’ve done recently. The unassuming little truck has surprised more than one driver LOL.



With it warming up and the truck running I’ve been doing some of the little things to make it more enjoyable. First up was adding aftermarket cruise control. It took a bit of looking but I finally located an older style Audiovox unit. I like these old units for something like this, the hookup is pretty simple as it can be set to pick up the signal from the coil rather than having to hang magnets on the drive shaft and they don’t require a separate clutch switch.











I also got tired of looking at the bare floor when I get in the truck so that was next.







It’s being used mostly as a work truck so as usual I decided to go with a low maintenance interior that is easy to clean up. The seat would be done in vinyl and I wanted to go with a rubber floor mat instead of carpet.




With the modified trans tunnel I knew a stock floor mat wouldn’t fit (and they don’t seem to be offered anymore anyway). I originally hoped to find a molded mat from a full sized truck that could be cut down to fit. After doing some measuring on a few trucks and not finding anything that looked like it would work I ended up just buying the rubber in bulk and went from there. The seat got pulled and sent out to the upholster last Friday and I started on the floor.



The first thing I did was lay some insulation in.








Then spent most of Saturday pulling, stretching, trimming and gluing the mat down.







I didn’t worry too much about the wrinkles at the back of the trans tunnel as they are hidden when the seat’s installed.


The seat was finally done today and I managed to get it installed this afternoon. Nothing fancy, but a whole lot better than before!!!

 

[Bill Creller]

Mike, you are an amazing guy !! The little 283 is perfect for that little truck. !!