rampy

[69.5CUDA]

ok..so with the losing of the farm and all the clusterfucked bullshit that goes with it along with losing a friend...ive managed to "thin" my collection down a good chunk..ive got exactly 4 cars to still bring home and barely the room for them...the ramp truck, 74 clubcab longbox 2wd, gtv6, turbo minivan...i have to thank fishy for all the..wait no help..and leaving me with a pile of broken cars he broke
the van ill squirt black and sell come spring
the 74..well...ill sit on it for now but likely sell come spring
rampy and the 6 get kept

now the thing is..ive been moving ALOT of iron..im scraping alot of engine blocks, trannys etc..and only keeping what i have room for..which..right now aint much with other things taking up the "heavy" space...the ferarri lump is sitting under a shelf unit next to the 354 hemi..to which ive been questioning for over 20 years as to what the hell ill ever put it in...or to just sell it......hmmm

so with the ramp truck soon to be home...and then theres a running 75 diplomat MH that im going to cut the axles out of and snag the 440/727, brakes and anything else i can salvage for the ramp truck

now heres where it gets intresting..the 318 in the truck runs..and the full syncro HD 4spd works good...no brakes
the 440 in the MH is a BEAST that id have little issue considering to toss into a car and enjoy
the plan..is to swap the disc brake and heavy drums off the MH RM400 chassis(12k gvw) under the truck along with the springs..and toss in the 440 but mate it to the 4spd assuming i have the right flywheel (which ill need help id'ing later)

but i got thinking about that silly elephant....what if the ramp truck IS the thing ive been waiting for for that engine....what can you make for torque/hp out of one WITHOUT going all out silly no blowers or anything like that..just a good beastly NA engine...i suspect its not even remotely worth it compared to the allready running 440 4brl headers cam etc...but that jaw drop factor cant be denyed

 

[68R/T]

The 354 in stock configuration is usually rated about 280 hp & 380 ft. lb. tq. With multi-carbs you could expect a little more, mostly at upper RPM's. But for heavy truck usage you wouldn't benefit much from it. You wouldn't want to mess with the stock 9.0 to 1 compression ratio either. Because the domed pistons make them very susceptible to pre-ignition. The early Hemi's were built more for torque than high hp, so that 354 would be a very good candidate even in stock form.

 

[Dr.Jass]

...the domed pistons make them very susceptible to pre-ignition.

Maybe on your planet, spaceman. Here on Earth, the hemispherical combustion chamber has long been noted for it's almost-mythical resistance to detonation and preignition. Stock 426s (10.25:1) can be run on 92/93 octane pump gas with no issues or adjustments to the timing. Try that with any other iron-head musclecar-era engine and it'll rattle itself to pieces in very short order.

If you want the cool factor, by all means go for the 354. However, if you want return on investment you'll build the 440. It'll make twice the power for half the money. It'll be much easier to mate to whatever trans whets your whistle. If you bend a pushrod, break a rocker arm, or burn a header gasket the parts store can have it tomorrow. Same with just about any component. Anything 354 is going to be more expensive, harder to find, and a longer wait.

So if you're building the ramp truck as a weekend cruiser and showpiece (which would be retarded), it's Hemi all day. If you want to work it and potentially make money with it, hands-down the 440 is your engine. It's a no-brainer; stock-for-stock using 68R/T's numbers, a stock low-performance '71 440 (both an equal 9:1 compression ratio, also the last year for the SAE gross rating used for the 354) makes 55 more horsepower and 80 more lb/ft of torque. Personally, I'd have that 354 on Craigslist so fast it would make your head spin.

 

[69.5CUDA]

that was kinda what i figured the answer would be....to which ill likely just sit on the engine and enjoy looking at it now n then..its complete fan to tail shaft intake to pan..even the exhaust manifolds and mounts for the 40k newyorker it came from

any one who can pull me a part# or a pic of the balance points for a 440 flywheel knowing its a MH 440-3 from 1975/74? so i can look thru the stack...the bellhouse i figure will be easy enuf to find..since ive got a spare sync 4spd truck trans to compare to(i think its the same bell as the granny unit)

oh yeah..i was considering swappin the MH frame under the rampy..its about 3 foot too short to fit under the truck....giant dana duallys with dual pot calipers up front

 

[thrashingcows]

69...sorry to here that your loosing the farm, and that you and fishy have had a falling out. I don't know anything about what has happened between you two, but hope you can reconcile eventually?

That Reverse steer gear set-up you snagged for me...you still have it around? If you do could you ship it up to me?

Might be cheaper, and easier to lengthen the MH frame 3 feet and swap the rampy body over?

 

[69.5CUDA]

69...sorry to here that your loosing the farm, and that you and fishy have had a falling out. I don't know anything about what has happened between you two, but hope you can reconcile eventually?

That Reverse steer gear set-up you snagged for me...you still have it around? If you do could you ship it up to me?

Might be cheaper, and easier to lengthen the MH frame 3 feet and swap the rampy body over?

i considered exactly that....but no mounts for the truck or the deck...the steering box looks to be in the wrong place AND add 3 feet?..all in all i think im better off sticking with the ramp frame and just moving the running gear

i "should" still have the steer...i "think" its in the ramp truck actualy...if it is ill let you know..if not ill keep lookin..but i havnt seen it here at home

as far as fishfood goes...and the fact ive been blown off taken advantage of owed money and left with broke shit that he took apart but claims he doesnt know how to fix...parts i have to buy..and shody work on stuf he said he fixed that ive had to go back and totoaly re-do...he will have a hell of a road to make it up..but at this point hes blown me off wont return calls/txt's and put me on ignore on FB...so...id say i got the short end of the shit stick....should i mention he lived here for FREE for 6/7 years?

in all honesty..fishys path almost mirrors that of the farm owner at his point..but ad onto that a pack of lies and broken promises..so much for the land i was promised

 

[thrashingcows]

Ahh that sucks...hope you can get all your stuff out of there and salvage what you really need. At least you have a good woman who is helping sort through all your stuff....she sure seems like a heck of a lady!

Basically all I need for the RR steer set-up would be the frame bracket the steering box mounts to, and the pitman arm. A steering box would be nice, but not necessary.

Here's a pic of "all" the stuff required to put a RR set-up in a 1st Gen.

 

[69.5CUDA]

belive it or not ive managed to cram and sell alot...theres exactly 4 cars left..and very VERY little "stuff"..a couple cabs a porsche engine some axles and frame bits and a quad..otherwise im cleared out

my ladys been pushing cars haulin parts..getting on me for NOT getting her when i should have had help..runnin winch, tieing em down even haulin abnd even carrying transmissions and anything she can lift....on top of killing all the whasps nests for me on all the cars...shes put in more work than ALL of the guys ive known and worked with

i know the unit type well..my RC has the same unit..i KNOW i have a spare bracket in the RC...and this week ill be bringing home the remainder from the 40..so...ill keep an eye out for ya

 

[restoman]

my ladys been pushing cars haulin parts..getting on me for NOT getting her when i should have had help..runnin winch, tieing em down even haulin abnd even carrying transmissions and anything she can lift....on top of killing all the whasps nests for me on all the cars...shes put in more work than ALL of the guys ive known and worked with

I've got one of those women, too. Don't know what I'd do without her.

Except for the wasp killing thing... she doesn't go there.

 

[69.5CUDA]

there was a day up on the farm grabbin some wood n moving stuff for the owner..she got bit n stung soo much from red ants n wasps that she damn neer passed out..shes a trooper ..out on the quads for a day eating my dust coming home with goggle clean spot..and loving every min of it..with my head injury memory issuses she become my memory as well

my only complant....the us has made importing canadians EXPENSIVE...were over the 6k mark now...and she worked and live in the states for more than 20 years and 3/4 of her life