Whats up fellas. New to the forum. My stepdad passed away a few months ago and left his 248,000 mile 96 Single Cab Ram 1500 Sport 4x4 with a 5 spd manual tranny to yours truly. I've had an extended cab with an automatic in the same 2nd Gen style and thought it was weak so I never bothered doing anything and I was also building a turbo charged car as well so thats where the cheddar was going. The auto tranny in the truck went of course and I traded it for an 05 Hemi 1500 2x4 which was ****. Divorce however has a way of taking cool things like that away. So that brings us up to present. The 318 mated to the 5spd is way more impressive than the auto I had and I think I may have pretty sweet off road and street potential. I've been researching and it seems that the 318 has some pretty good naturally aspirated potential. However, the 400hp builds I'm finding are all carburated and mine is EFI. So, that being said, is it possible to up the compression, swap out the cams, and get some head work done like those carburated guys and reach the same power levels with EFI? Any ideas are welcome, and don't be a dick and tell me to search the thread, I'm not asking how to change the oil.

 

LOL, welcome to DF and merry christmas. Can you say 408 and search button? Sorry, I had to do it.

 

Someone mentions "don't be a dick", and zman shows up... Coincidence?

First, figger out where you want your power to be. That's gonna depend on what you want to use your truck for. Then, once you have that in mind, let us know, and we can make some suggestions.

You can do basically anything you want to your engine as far as mods go, and still be EFI friendly, you just need to do a bit more hoop-jumping to get your tune dialed in. As your truck is a 96, you have the added advantage that you can simply reflash the PCM, as opposed to having to send it out each time, or, invest in a standalone system to run the engine......

Remember, its not necessarily how much power you make, as to WHERE you make it, that determines if your engine works for you or not.

 

Damn, I don't have a leg to stand on after that response!

 

Lol, thanks guys. To be honest, 300hp is my mark. The truck already is ballsy, single cab, plus 5spd equals fun. Its that I know its on its last leg. I came home from Pa yesterday and the oil light flashes a bit. Then, at the next stop light my pressure gauge drops to zero and then kicks back up to 40psi. So I pull out the Haynes and start looking up how to inspect the oil pump and sending unit, then wised up and checked the oil. Bone dry. At 248k, the bearings are probably worn and I've gotta be burning oil. So, I know an overhaul has got to happen if I wanna keep making trips to Pa that involve drunken off roading. I would love to just grab a $2500 crate with 300 ponies already, but I can realistically only spend about $500 here and there. By that rational I guess I could save up for the crate, but I'm sure I could build it with my crazy gear head buddy for less. Basically my goal is that. I've read the main problem with this engine is compression, air flow, and cam design. So I guess that's where I need to start. I've already built a Frankenstein turbo car, I just want an easy to maintain Mopar V8 that is reliable, where terms like heat soak and turbo lag don't exist.

 

Oh, ****, and I use my truck for everyday commuting in the DC metro area, and occasionally scaring the hell out of my girlfriend on a back road.

 

Another question (and yes i tried searching this) Since mine is a Sport, that means a 3 inch lift is already on it right? And I just need a leveling kit?

 

PLENUM needs repaired , do a oil change and it should be fine . Sure your step dad didn't beat it . So Ir should last a while . There basically bullet proof . Just need plenum done and a new tune up

 

No there's no lift on the sports from the factory. The ORE came with a 2inch lift.

 

Yeah, its gotta be a plenum if its burning oil at least that is the problem 90% of these trucks have.