OK, This post is simply me wanting to share my excitement on getting a major rebuild project done on my 1999 Ram 2500 / 5 speed. My old girl was showing her age and the years of abuse after +250,xxx miles. Time for some major work. So my two sons and I spent the last week and a half doing the following...
Got everything finished and buttoned up last night and am so happy to say that after some minor adjustments and some parts swapping, the truck is running like a champ. No more burning as much oil as gas, it has gobs of power and it drives straight and true again. The truck is a real pleasure to drive and I'm looking forward to being able to use it again for towing and hauling.

The overhaul was not that bad and we learned a lot about the mechanics and Dodges in general. The good thing is that all the parts were still available, you have tons of options to upgrade and they won't cost you an arm and a leg (unless you want to go that way). (I estimate that I`m into it for something around $2K). I am so pleased with the results and am falling back in love with my girl again. Up next is some bodywork and rust repair and then she'll be good for another 250K!

Dodges ROCK!

Where did you find that engine?

Sounds like a solid amount of work to keep the truck going. How did you get basically an unused engine?

What else do you have planned? Post some pics!

My sons (who also own 2nd Gen Dodge Rams) are big supporters of New England Rams and the Mass & Gas forums. They are always on them, buying, selling and helping others who need parts and work. They found essentially a brand new built up long block from a fellow who swapped it out for a diesel. I have the paperwork on it and he paid close to $3900 to build up this engine. He had it in his truck less than a year and put just 4K on it during that time. I couldn't pay him the $1100 asking price fast enough.

I was not impressed with the engine builders, who have a great reputation in this area. While I was prepping the engine, I found that they reused a keger that had never had the plenham redone. As a result, I swapped it out with my own keger that I had just done the plenham job, put new injectors in and refurbed the fuel rail on. When I pulled the original manifold, they hadn't even spent the few bucks to get new front and rear manifold seals! They just used a ton of RTV, which ultimately leaked, leave the front and rear of the block covered in oil.

I replaced the oil pan and valve cover gaskets (standard procedure with the engine out) and was much happier to see nice new, shiny insides and the compression and leak down tests proved that it was tight, fresh engine.

Now that we have the mechanicals sorted, it's time to focus on the body and frame. Some work has already been done by the previous owner including new cab rockers and cab corners. We hope to replace the cab mounts (now available..YEAH), patch the driver's side floor and grind down the rest of the rocker panels and give them a good coating with Monsta Liner. The frame is very rusty around the spring mounts and I'm still researching how best to address that area. Any ideas out there??

Scott: I'll post some pics shortly.

That's quite the deal you got, and if the engine was only ran with the plenum like that for 4k you should be good to go.

I'm at a very similar point with my truck, I just finished repairing/replacing the timing chain, water pump, plenum, valve cover gaskets, spark system, and once it gets a bit warmer out I'll start on the body work. I already had cab corners and rocker panels welded in but I plan to put bedliner over the bottom quarter like you too.

Good luck with the truck I'll be following along.

You asked for pics, so here are some. More to come.





1999 Dodge Ram 2500 ST / 5 Speed & PTO





Out with the old engine





If you don't have a gasket, make one with RTV. Pretty poor on a $3900 engine job!





Fresh engine ready for installation





Truck sans engine





Pulling the steering column is so much easier once you've taken the seats out. (New seats going back in).

Great job! I have the little brother to yours: 1500 ST, 318, 5spd, and I'm at 197,400 miles as a daily driver. Been fixing a lot of little things lately but engine is still strong and when she goes, I'll just drop another in. Let's keep these gear jammers goin! 2008 was the last year for any manufacturer to make a V8 with stick.

I want my allison 8-speed with paddle shifters.

Thanks Ramman18! I went looking for this specific layout in a Dodge truck several years ago. Found it up in Maine and bought it from the second owner. It was definitely a work truck, but they seemed to treat it well enough. Pretty cool that they were using the PTO to run a saw mill. It's a stripper ST model, but it suits me fine since it's not a daily driver. I use it to haul crap around and tow my car trailer to car shows.

I think the reason they got rid of it was that they knew the plenham was going. Many people freak out about that, but the job is not terrible to do and everything is pretty accessible. I did new 4 hole injectors and refurbished the fuel rail and cleaned the throttle body when I did the plenham. Also a great time to do a distributor cap, rotor, wires, plugs and cam sensor, since everything is a lot more accessible with the plenham off. Don't forget fresh spark plugs while you're doing all this work. You might even consider doing the crank sensor on the bell housing as it will never be easier to access and it sucks to do otherwise.

This was a big job, but I'm blessed to have a large hobby shop to work in and sons that are into Dodge trucks (a 5.2L gas and a 24V diesel). It was a good experience and the results are absolutely worth it. No one should be scared of this type of work, even it they have only moderate mechanical skills.

I still run my 99 Ram diesel about twice a week. It's the 98 most of the time,
with it's wonderful 12.8 mpg's. Keith

Good job on the replacement!!