1985 Ram Project

[JGC403]

Some updates, been workin on the truck as I got time and money. Going to try and fire it up this weekend. Then besides a couple of odds and ends the exhaust is the only big thing left. Truck needs a bath.



KC lights:

 

[JGC403]

Interior, I had the seat covered in katzkin leather and the Ram head added. Armrest are also covered with leather. Turned out good they just covered over the original molded armrests. I need to put them on yet.



Good shot of the pistol grip shifter:

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

One hell of a truck I really love it!

 

[tallhair]

That looks great! Nice job on the interior

 

[tallhair]

Interior, I had the seat covered in katzkin leather and the Ram head added. Armrest are also covered with leather. Turned out good they just covered over the original molded armrests. I need to put them on yet.

Do the armrests bolt direct to the door or is there a trim piece that goes between it and the door. I think they just bolt on right? Can you show a better pic and give length of the ones required?

What length are they?

 

[cindybrat7]

I have been working on it (not as much as I would like) just haven't been posting.

So the plan was to go with fuel injection, couldn't seem to find something that would work with the Tunnel Ram set up, so I switched to a RPM air gap for now, along with QFI's Throttle Body fuel injection system.

After I bought The QFI kit and reading the instructions I discovered that the QFI system is supposed to be able to run 2 QFI TB, but for now I'll just stick with the Air Gap for now, down the road I'll swap it out to see a difference. I think 2000cfm thru 2 TB might be a little much for the 383 though.

The shifter linkage is connected, had to get the 1-2 rod shortened, because I switched the the ball and detent side cover, the operating lever wasn't clocked right and the shift linkage was to long, couldn't find one that would work so we had to shorten it.

I'm using the QFI system to control the timing also, so I had to get an MSD distributor, that I was able to lock out the mechanical advance.
Pistol Grip very nice!
Wrapped the headers, I know they will probably rust out but I figured what the hell. Best price i found on headers are from BPE, they are actually made by Hooker for BPE,even though the collectors neck down to 2.25", I cut the collector off where it necked down and welded on a 3" flange. So now I have a 3" collector. Still cheaper than Hooker headers with the 3" collector. Sandblasted, painted with header paint on the outside, and Eastwood internal exhaust coating on the inside, so we will see how it holds up.

We got the rest of the sheet metal painted and the hood installed.

Battery is mounted under the box on the passenger side.

What needs to be finished, interior is not even close, still have a hole in the floor for the shifter that I need to finish, hydraulic clutch, exhaust system, and a couple odds and ends. Need to make my own bed cover.

Need to find an upholsterer near Reading, PA to do my bench seat, sun visors and arm rests.


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[bear]

Look'in good ! I bet you can't wait to the first time you take it out for a ride ! By the way , Are those billet door sills or did you black out the original one's ?

 

[68GTX440]

Very nice. Can't wait to see it all finished. Makes me kinda want to paint my 84 black, that truck just looks mean.

 

[JGC403]

Do the armrests bolt direct to the door or is there a trim piece that goes between it and the door. I think they just bolt on right? Can you show a better pic and give length of the ones required?

What length are they?

The screws for the armrest screw into the inner structure of the door, the door panel is sandwiched in-between them. I used rivet nuts, hopefully this will be a little stronger.

 

[JGC403]

Thank you all for the compliments. Going to try and fire it up today.

Look'in good ! I bet you can't wait to the first time you take it out for a ride ! By the way , Are those billet door sills or did you black out the original one's ?

They are billet one from LMC.

Very nice. Can't wait to see it all finished. Makes me kinda want to paint my 84 black, that truck just looks mean.

That is the look I was going for. I didn't want to have any chrome on the outside, and just a couple of piece on the inside.

 

[MoparsOnly]

Hey JGC, where did you get the pistol grip shifter. I've been looking around and can't find one for my truck. Any Info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers G

 

[JGC403]

Do the armrests bolt direct to the door or is there a trim piece that goes between it and the door. I think they just bolt on right? Can you show a better pic and give length of the ones required?

What length are they?

The arm rest is almost 10" long and 3" tall, they come out from the door panel 2".

Hey JGC, where did you get the pistol grip shifter. I've been looking around and can't find one for my truck. Any Info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers G

I'm going to get a little off track but I will answer your question, lol.
So with the 833 OD I wanted to make it shift as smooth as possible, so I wanted to ditch the lever & interlock side cover and swap in the better, ball and detent side cover. The truck 833OD and car 833OD are slightly different one being the gear ratios; the truck has a higher OD ratio and the side covers are different and will not swap between car and truck OD cases.

To use the ball and detent side cover I had to use a car 833OD case. So I have truck 833OD guts in a car 833OD case. I had the front of the case bushed where the countershaft is pressed into the case, to increase strength.

Alright now to the shifter. The pistol grip shifter is for a 1970 B-body, aftermarket bolt on one. It was a 1 year only handle so good luck finding a original press fit one. The truck uses the same shifter mechanism as the A-bodies. But if I used that pistol grip shifter with the A-body mechanism the throws would be a mile long and you would smash your knuckles on the dash. So the mechanism is also a 1970 B-body to accept bolt on handles.

Now with the linkage and transmission operating levers, If anyone is interested enough I'll look to see what ones I have on there. Depending on what car the trans was in the operating levers are different also. So I don't remember what ones I have on there now.

But since I changed so much stuff around, we couldn't find an operating lever that would fit correctly with my combination. So we shortened on of the rods by an inch and i should of done the other as well by about 3/4 of an inch.

I had to changed so many things to make it how I wanted, so I had to do some customizing. But it all worked out in the end.

If you just want to change the shifter mechanism and go to a Pistol grip shifter but keep the lever & interlock side cover, you might not have to change as much as I did.

Jamie Passion of Passion Performance really helped me out with this. Give him a call and he should be able to get you everything you need.

 

[LocuMob]

The arm rest is almost 10" long and 3" tall, they come out from the door panel 2".





I'm going to get a little off track but I will answer your question, lol.
So with the 833 OD I wanted to make it shift as smooth as possible, so I wanted to ditch the lever & interlock side cover and swap in the better, ball and detent side cover. The truck 833OD and car 833OD are slightly different one being the gear ratios; the truck has a higher OD ratio and the side covers are different and will not swap between car and truck OD cases.

To use the ball and detent side cover I had to use a car 833OD case. So I have truck 833OD guts in a car 833OD case. I had the front of the case bushed where the countershaft is pressed into the case, to increase strength.

Alright now to the shifter. The pistol grip shifter is for a 1970 B-body, aftermarket bolt on one. It was a 1 year only handle so good luck finding a original press fit one. The truck uses the same shifter mechanism as the A-bodies. But if I used that pistol grip shifter with the A-body mechanism the throws would be a mile long and you would smash your knuckles on the dash. So the mechanism is also a 1970 B-body to accept bolt on handles.

Now with the linkage and transmission operating levers, If anyone is interested enough I'll look to see what ones I have on there. Depending on what car the trans was in the operating levers are different also. So I don't remember what ones I have on there now.

But since I changed so much stuff around, we couldn't find an operating lever that would fit correctly with my combination. So we shortened on of the rods by an inch and i should of done the other as well by about 3/4 of an inch.

I had to changed so many things to make it how I wanted, so I had to do some customizing. But it all worked out in the end.

If you just want to change the shifter mechanism and go to a Pistol grip shifter but keep the lever & interlock side cover, you might not have to change as much as I did.

Jamie Passion of Passion Performance really helped me out with this. Give him a call and he should be able to get you everything you need.

If I just swap this one thing out...

 

[MoparsOnly]

Thanks for the info on the shifter. I also wanted to say that your build is close to being done, when I'm just starting. It looks good, engine compartment looks nice and full with your 383. From what I've read so far It sounds and looks mean with the total blackout nice. I've never really been a chrome fan, I'd rather polished aluminum, anodized, or powder coating. I 'm thinking of doing the powder coating black chrome maybe? While I'm at it does anyone know where to get new rain gutter trim?

 

[bear]

Thanks for the info on the shifter. I also wanted to say that your build is close to being done, when I'm just starting. It looks good, engine compartment looks nice and full with your 383. From what I've read so far It sounds and looks mean with the total blackout nice. I've never really been a chrome fan, I'd rather polished aluminum, anodized, or powder coating. I 'm thinking of doing the powder coating black chrome maybe? While I'm at it does anyone know where to get new rain gutter trim?

But I thought you just said you weren't a fan of the chrome ? If that's the case then why don't you just leave the rain gutter trim off ?

 

[bear]

The arm rest is almost 10" long and 3" tall, they come out from the door panel 2".





I'm going to get a little off track but I will answer your question, lol.
So with the 833 OD I wanted to make it shift as smooth as possible, so I wanted to ditch the lever & interlock side cover and swap in the better, ball and detent side cover. The truck 833OD and car 833OD are slightly different one being the gear ratios; the truck has a higher OD ratio and the side covers are different and will not swap between car and truck OD cases.

To use the ball and detent side cover I had to use a car 833OD case. So I have truck 833OD guts in a car 833OD case. I had the front of the case bushed where the countershaft is pressed into the case, to increase strength.

Alright now to the shifter. The pistol grip shifter is for a 1970 B-body, aftermarket bolt on one. It was a 1 year only handle so good luck finding a original press fit one. The truck uses the same shifter mechanism as the A-bodies. But if I used that pistol grip shifter with the A-body mechanism the throws would be a mile long and you would smash your knuckles on the dash. So the mechanism is also a 1970 B-body to accept bolt on handles.

Now with the linkage and transmission operating levers, If anyone is interested enough I'll look to see what ones I have on there. Depending on what car the trans was in the operating levers are different also. So I don't remember what ones I have on there now.

But since I changed so much stuff around, we couldn't find an operating lever that would fit correctly with my combination. So we shortened on of the rods by an inch and i should of done the other as well by about 3/4 of an inch.

I had to changed so many things to make it how I wanted, so I had to do some customizing. But it all worked out in the end.

If you just want to change the shifter mechanism and go to a Pistol grip shifter but keep the lever & interlock side cover, you might not have to change as much as I did.

Jamie Passion of Passion Performance really helped me out with this. Give him a call and he should be able to get you everything you need.

Great input "JGC403" ! I like it when people make things there own and I'm not talking off the shelf items . You "made it" your way !

 

[bear]

Thank you all for the compliments. Going to try and fire it up today.





They are billet one from LMC.
Thanks , I though so , but I wasn't sure . I caught them because I'll be starting on my own interior sometime within the next few weeks myself and those are one of those lil detail's that a lot of people don't think about .

 

[MoparsOnly]

But I thought you just said you weren't a fan of the chrome ? If that's the case then why don't you just leave the rain gutter trim off ?

I'm Not but in this case it gives the rain gutter a nice finished look to it. I was thinking of powder coating it in a black chrome maybe, anyways now I'm thinking of going a deep purple with a reflective white. Like the old stripes on the GTX, RoadRunner's, etc, etc... so I might leave the chrome or polished aluminum? stainless? whatever it is, with some real cool vintage sideveiw mirror's.

 

[JGC403]

That trim is Stainless Steel. I got them from the junkyard when I was going to put it on. Then sold it when I went this route.

 

[65 sporty]

Just read your thread, great project. Any updates?