As I said in another post, my van is like new but I want it to be faster.....I did a smog pump system removal with cat. delete and that made it quicker and more responsive to the pedal........
My question is, without changing the tbi fi system, and not tearing into the engine.......what can I do with bolt-on parts to make this van faster and better???????????

 

Conversion vans are usually a 3/4 ton chassis with 5.2 or 3.9 engines and the rear end gearing usually is chosen to deliver the best mileage. Vans are relativly heavy, conversions more so. If you desire more towing or off the line power changing the rear end gear and or modifications like adding headers would help with your LA engine with little effort/expense. The heat and noise of headers may be a bother though and in the end you may find yourself underwhelmed with your results.


10 years ago I owned a 89 B350 passenger van and installed a 1973 360 engine bored .60 over with forged pistons, stainless steel over sized 202 intake 188 exhaust valves a Direct Connection recreation cam , balanced and blueprinted the rotating assembly. Additional modifications like decking and line boring the block and many more expensive parts ultimately produced a very reliable motor that pulled 350 hp on a dyno. That van was not quick though great for pulling trailers up long grades but was hardly faster than my current dead stock 1994 B350 also important to note the 89 never got better than 10 mpg.


The average van is not designed with speed in mind, there are better ways to spend your money IMHO.

 

1.7 roller rockers were noticeable...


new cylinder head design seemed to help...


and a PCM without the death flash helped a lot...


my tiny little v6 according to my g-tech is putting down 175 to the wheels...not too bad...

 

Well I don't have experience with LA or Magnum V6s but 175HP at the wheels is very impressive. Anyways the 318 (5.2) is a great motor with impressive reliability and as funair02 did if your installed high flow aftermarket heads, there will be a huge difference in power 50+HP but the expensive must be considered. Pre Magnum or LA motors are much more costly to build.


A 400hp Magnum crate motor can be purchased for 4K conversely you can spend 7K on a pre Magnum LA motor and not see close to 400 drivable horsepower.
Stock Magnum heads flow as well as very costly aftermarket LA heads Also Magnums come with roller cams which allow higher valve lift and are still able to idle. (318s 85-93 and 360s 89-93 WERE rollers) another advantage magnums have is their stock exhaust manifolds flow so well headers are only needed in extremely modified high RPM motors.


Point being is increasing your vans LA motors power significantly will be costly and send you down a path where you will be spending more money. I prefer everyday vehicles to be as stock as possible for reliability and ease to diagnosis problems.

 

As recently mentioned, the rear axle could be your hangup. There are Dana and Chrysler Corp rear axles. These come in several gearings'. I know of the 3.55, 3.92 and 4.10/4.12. There is a 3.32 or it's a 3.23 or just something less than the 3.55. That would give you the most bank for speed. BUT, the torque applied to the wheels will be much less. If you can find a 3.55:1 rear axle for your era of Ram Van, that would be the way to go. This may be the Dana rear possibly.

 

so you guys think adding header and a chip module is the ticket......
Do you know of a cold air intake for my TBI,,,,,,because I thought fuel injected vechiles get some extra power....

 

The '89 already came stock with a cold air intake.

Headers mostly help at high rpm. I've never seen my '89 van go above 3700 rpm and I think redline is mid 4's or something so I can't see headers doing anything for a stock 318 but waste money and rust out and loosen up and breaks studs in the head.

The '89 does have a roller cam.

Making a lead brick with the aerodynamics of a barn door go faster, is a wasted effort in my opinion.

Good luck modifying the Engine computer, and the a-500/42 rh transmission is hardly a robust unit which can handle a lot of power.

You wanna go fast, get a different vehicle. It will be less expensive.

 

Landyacht thanks for correcting me on the roller cam I just checked the Allpar site now know the roller cam were introduced on the 318 in 1985. As the saying says you live you learn.

 

I also did the Cloyles timing set with the 2 deg. of advance along with a high flow cat..