[440 4spd Power Ram]

Have a part number handy?

For which part? The fuel pump part # is 11569 but far too high pressure for the stock TBI at 14psi Vs 90psi for the pump I'm running for the Sniper.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Seeing as I'd locked the mechanical advanced in the distributor years ago I simply removed the vacuum advance and retarded the pickup 15 degrees and locked it in place by drilling through the lower plate and bolting the two together through the original wiring clip hole. Didn't see any need for some fancy aftermarket distributor when the original worked just fine with the MSD I installed last year when the HEI conversion started eating modules. A vacuum advance block off plate from a '88-92 TBI 5.2/5.9 distributor was the only part needed besides the 10-32 bolt and nut which was installed with threadlocker and cut flush for clearance.

Not my pictures but the same basic idea.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

The wiring for the Sniper is pretty straightforward, during the installation I was looking at the options for mounting the fuel pump relay and fuse, found this leftover bracket from a engine swap that was just perfect to mount both to from one of the brake booster studs, ended up mounting the relay for the voltage regulator to it as well.

Reworked both battery terminals using soldered on heavy-duty ends, looks like a rats nest still but shouldn't have any low voltage issues to either the Sniper or MSD box that's now hiding inside the fender behind the battery.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Sorry for the poor sound quality but this old gal is loud when simply cruising, accelerating uphill at half throttle and 5psi it's obnoxious since the driveshaft failure took out the tailpipes right at the rear axle.

Full throttle testing of the new fuel injection to look at fuel and timing as well as verify the rev limiter.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Since the old voltage regulator that came with the truck years ago failed I've been fighting the dreaded voltage pulse issue that seems to be related to cheap replacement regulators, only one that didn't fluctuate was a old Echlin VR-36 that was on my '55 Dodge truck since converting it to an alternator in '95, unfortunately it died after a few weeks taking the alternator with it.

Cold start and as seen in this video the voltage is swinging from 13.6-15.2 very rapidly, so much so that all the lights flicker in time with the highest voltage spikes, it's annoying the fool out of me now that it's getting dark enough to need the headlights in the evening.

Only this old regulator had nice steady output, waiting for a genuine Mopar regulator to see if that cures the pulsing.

 

[mopar65pa]

LEON! YOU'RE BACK!

Dude I called your old work asking where you where at, I called Paul. You fell off the earth as far as I knew.
Glad to see you are back.

My youngest son took the Charger from me. and is in the middle of stripping it down. Engine is out, front clip is off. He has fiberglass front fenders for it, is looking for a bulge hood, engine is out and I guess he's going to steal my 78 motorhome 440 to build for it. I told him not to build the original 400 since it's a numbers matching car with 78K miles on it. I put a 2wd truck 727 in it and it drove. I have the original trans in the shed waiting for a rebuild. The trunk floor is gone so he's working on that too. But he can't find a rear tail light panel for it. Due to the trunk lid it rotted out.

Pics before the teardown and during. Those wheels I got got it look awesome!

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Yeah I pulled a disappearing act for certain, and honestly had pretty much forgotten about this place until I was doing some research on the EFI swap and come across Mad Max's Dakota build, shoulda known if anyone would drop a 440 into a Quad Cab Dakota he would 😆 (I won't mention my Wrangler with the 440 I built in the late '90s)

Glad to hear about the Charger, still have mine as well, it's on the list of "want to do" but way down as I'm enjoying the W350 too much still. Speaking of Crew Cabs whatever became of your '78?

And no he can't have my Power Bulge hood

 

[mopar65pa]

Well like you I went through a divorce. I'm remarried now with an awesome wife that bought a 2000 5 speed ext cab short bed Cummins that she drives daily right after we got together. LOL..............
The hood, I want the whole car now that he took mine!

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Just a quick list of all the parts donors and what was used from them for my W350. I'll try to keep this updated as parts are slowly updated to later/stronger components.

1968 Imperial Crown, 440 engine

1982 Ramcharger, NP435 transmission, clutch pedal + linkage and steering column

1976 W200, big block 4spd bellhousing and all big block truck swap components, 12" clutch and linkages for frame mounted Z bar

1978 W100, 4" Rough Country lift

1989 Ramcharger, transmission/transfer case skid plate

1989 W150, 30 gallon efi fuel tank, short bed

1989 D150, alternator + wiring, ECM mount

1987 D150, front clip - left fender, both doors, tailgate and rear bumper

1977 W200 CC, parking park hardware, transmission crossmember riser

1973 Duster 340, automatic driveshaft

1977? Winnebago, RV Turbo turbocharger kit

2003 Ram 2500, 17" rims and 305-70 tires

2001 Ram 1500, front driveshaft

1993 D250 CCC, rear half of rear driveshaft, 1410 Cummins u-joints

1998 Ram 2500, front half of rear driveshaft

1992 Dakota, starter, coil and steering u-joint coupler

1971 Charger, HD 26" 4 row radiator, since been replaced with an aluminum radiator for the same application

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

For those wondering why I don't have any overheating issues without a fan shroud it's because the block was cleaned completely and any casting flash or irregularities were removed from all water passages. Being from an Imperial the 440 already had HD cooling, which is a massive eight blade water pump impeller Vs the much smaller six blade pump on standard big blocks and most replacement pumps.

The wrong water pump causes more heating issues with a heavy duty 440 when towing than anything besides a clogged cooling system from my experiences, so I only use RV style water pumps on all mine.

RV pump I'm currently running after the original Imperial pump finally started leaking.

Standard pump Vs HD cooling, there's several more types of pumps but these are the two extremes in OEM pumps.

Picture from the web.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

The next major modification to the W350 is going to be a 5spd transmission conversion, had a gear vendor's type overdrive in it for a few years but the torque capably in reverse wasn't enough to prevent slippage so it was removed.

Looked at the typical NV4500 swap but frankly I don't care for the transmission at all, too many issues and the shifting is much like my current NP435, not exactly a smooth shifting transmission so I've been considering the Tremec TR 4050 as it's a new transmission not a old rebuilt or used unit that's been out of production for 15 years or so.

Problem is the same as with a NV4500 swap, big block bellhousings are limited to just the one scatter shield at nearly a grand that I really don't want. The new cast aluminum bellhousings could work with the TR4050 but will not clear a 12" clutch, something that's pretty much mandatory with the torque output of a boosted 440.

From looking at the new transmission case it's cast as a multi fit just drilled for the NV4500 pattern, it's available with the 5-1/8 index so that should fit the original BB bell, three of the four mounting ears look like they could possibly be drilled for the NP435 bolt pattern, the fourth however is going to be a problem.

If nothing else I'm thinking about having the cutout between the two drivers side mounting ears filled in if none of the other locations for mounting it to the bell housing line up, not ideal but better than waiting for a new bellhousing to be made just for BB trucks that probably won't happen anytime soon if ever.

I will not be modifying the BB bellhousing, I'll buy the aluminum one and see if it can be ground for clearance with a 12" clutch before doing anything irreversible to the transmission as well. This will be a springtime project at the earliest as it's currently my DD and I don't want to be without a 4x4 this winter.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Well like you I went through a divorce. I'm remarried now with an awesome wife that bought a 2000 5 speed ext cab short bed Cummins that she drives daily right after we got together. LOL..............
The hood, I want the whole car now that he took mine!

Sucks we both went through a divorce, but that's just how life goes sometimes, I've put mine behind me and am happy with life once more.

I might very well be interested in getting rid of the Charger as it's unlikely I'll be doing anything with it in the near future, haven't really decided yet.

 

[Mopar572]

I talked to the Silver Sport Transmission guys at Carlisle this year, I was unimpressed with them and the price of that thing.....Almost $6K

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

I talked to the Silver Sport Transmission guys at Carlisle this year, I was unimpressed with them and the price of that thing.....Almost $6K

I'm not dealing with them, or paying another $2000+ for a "kit" that does not exist when I can fabricate anything needed myself or have any of the local machine shops do what I can't.

The transmission is available from several sources, $3100-4600 depending on markup.

Parts needed, Mopar long input shaft 7.5"x .75 - 10x1-1/8 spline (haven't checked for price) a GM 12" 10 spline clutch plus a late Mopar pilot bearing, definitely not worth 2k.

My NP205 bolts directly to the tr4050, so nothing needed there, making a transmission mount is easy enough, the transfer case shifter mount will have to be fabricated, simple as well.

Anything else will be dealt with as needed, and before I even think about tearing my truck apart for the swap.

 

[Mopar572]

That’s good to know you can get it from other sources, I didn’t look into it much after my discussion with them, I found them arrogant and less than helpful, seemed like they only wanted to deal with installs into $100k rigs with all new parts.

 

[neil4224]

I would personally look at getting an nv5600. I think it may hold that torque better than that tr4050. If you can get it to adapt. I think the np435 and nv4500 get some much credit because they hold up so well. Honestly the 435 is legendary for its ability to hold torque and pull loads. Its when people started getting complex ideas with overdrives are where things fell apart to meet regs.....

Neil

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

I would personally look at getting an nv5600. I think it may hold that torque better than that tr4050. If you can get it to adapt. I think the np435 and nv4500 get some much credit because they hold up so well. Honestly the 435 is legendary for its ability to hold torque and pull loads. Its when people started getting complex ideas with overdrives are where things fell apart to meet regs.....

Neil

The NV5600 is far too large and weaker than the TR4050, 550 ft-lbs Vs 600 ft-lbs constant torque rated, plus the headache of finding a good NV5600 and a 29 spline Cummins NP205 never mind making one fit a 440.

If I wanted to go to that much trouble I'd use a NP540 OD and a divorced NP205, another long obsolete transmission that shifts poorly.

All I'm looking for is a overdrive manual trans that doesn't shift like a log truck and still has a decent low gear, and can withstand 5k RPMs and high torque loads, something the TR4050 has been doing since the '90s in heavy-duty trucks in South America.

 

[mopar65pa]

Sucks we both went through a divorce, but that's just how life goes sometimes, I've put mine behind me and am happy with life once more.

I might very well be interested in getting rid of the Charger as it's unlikely I'll be doing anything with it in the near future, haven't really decided yet.

yes life is life and the kids are out of school now so it's all good and this is the happiest I've ever been so.

Hey Leon, I'm serious about the car. Message me and we can talk.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Might have finally killed the 46 year old clutch today, hopefully it was just wet from all the rain over the weekend as I really don't want to replace it only to do so again when I do the 5spd conversion.

Running 5-7psi consistently now at part throttle were before it would not come on boost without the secondaries opening definitely isn't doing the clutch any favors, having rusted to the flywheel twice it's amazing it works at all.

First time was when I bought the '76 snow fitter for the BB 4spd conversion parts, had to break it free back then but it worked fine after being cleaned up, then a mouse made a nest inside the bellhousing while the truck was parked and completely blocked the drain in the dust cover, huge rusted together mess that time and it's been very iffy ever since.

Edited, the clutch was indeed wet, no slippage this morning so hopefully it'll hold until spring or so, by then I'll know if the TR4050 is workable with the original bellhousing or one of the aftermarket ones that's not the scatter shield.

 

[neil4224]

It will be sweet to see if that 4050 will bolt up using a stockish bellhousing. I would just be concerned about the aluminum case on those newer transmissions. For that money though it should hold about anything. What kind of power you estimating you are making with that turbo moho 440?

Neil