The RAM is getting long in the tooth, as am I and things are starting to fail with us both. The #6 injector is intermittent so others may be heading that way too and I have an electrical issue. I am thinking about getting a carb + intake and tearing out all the computer stuff. Might have to add electronic Kettering ignition but all doable I suspect.

The clearance under the windshield rim looks like it might be tight for carb + aircleaner. Has anyone done this ?

Thoughts, help and suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks

 

Been there done that, now back to injection

put a 1995 360 magnum into a 1979 motorhome

need older distributor
electric fuel pump, try a carter pump
Also gotta use a external voltage regulator for the alternator

truck air cleaner is quite tall but with a carb try a van magnum air cleaner

now ya gotta switch overdrive and lock up converter manually

dont forget to switch over drive and lock up off every time you come to a stop!!! Transmission will make horrible noises if you forget!!!


probably easier and cheaper to just fix the fuel injection you have now!

viperdave

 

Thanks for the reply and good to hear it from someone who has actually done it.

What about just a return line loop at the tank and a pressure regulator at the engine end? I cut an access hole in the bed and liner above the fuel pump area when I replaced the pump some years back. Did not want to wrestle with dropping the tank on the dirt driveway. Life in the boonies.

Or an alternator with one built in? Even so a solid state regulator is around 20-bucks I seem to recall when I last bought one for a pump engine.

Not to sound too cocky, but an easy fix for that. I can program an Arduino micro controller with two relays and use the square-wave signal from the speedometer-sender to kick them off when it all stops moving. $20-tops.

I am not deterred yet.

 

Actually the is a kit that you can run a mechanical fuel pump. In the process of it right now.

 

Well yea, you can run a return line back to tank, just did that by the way, and use a regulator I ended up using the carter electrical pump, rather cheap and very reliable no regulator or return hose, it puts out 7-10 psi max. 3 trips back and forth from here to Pittsburgh and not one problem with pump

there is a kit to fit the magnum v8 into older cars and it uses the original v belts to keep the retro look, the new timing cover has a provision for a mechanical pump but you have to add an eccentric to the cam

i just used the edelbrock air gap and an edelbrock performer carb, kept the serpentine belt system

you can check it out on Facebook search title “terminal defiance” lots of pics and some of the finished carb system, also there are the tiny rocker switches I used to switch overdrive and lock up on the custom floor shifter

oh and as for voltage regulator, I just used the 1979 regulator and it worked with the 200 amp powermaster alternator I actually got 12-13 mpg with that thing carbureted!!, not bad for a 25 foot 5 ton motorhome

 

Thanks, I don't do the social-insanity thing so no pics for me. 'SOK though.

Is there an older version of the 360 engine that had a carb and/or vacuum advance disributor? Can I use old stuff? Distributor, manifold even a carb? What models? Years?

Yes, I am that cheap. Actually we are retired with fixed income so pennies count these days.

Does the fuel pull through the in-tank pump with the Carter or did you remove the pump? The Carter sounds like a smarter approach as a lump on the cam would mean some major engine work.

This is my daily driver so staying mobile is pretty important. We can live with it off the road a few days, but momma doesn't give up here car without a fight.

 

Early distributors will work with the magnum engine, just make sure you figure out the wireing with ballast resistor, coil and the little ignition box

as for manifold, edelbrock makes an air gap for the magnum engine, it will bolt right up, older manifold won’t work due to different bolt angles for magnum engines. You may have to do some slight clearance grimding on the aluminum bracket that holds your ac and alternator

dont know if using the carter pump will pull it through the pump in tank, my tank never had a pump in it, it originally had a 79 360 carb engine and I switched it out to a 1995 magnum engine and trans, kept the wireing for distributor and distributor and just reinstalled it on the magnum engine it worked fine, the edelbrock performer carb has a port for distributor advance

carb and manifold will run you around $600, unless you can find one used unfortunately I don’t have mine anymore, an old friend of mine bought it to install a high performance stroked 400 cid magnum into a 74 duster
he got the kit to retrofit the newer motor into the older chassis using all the v belt accessories with a non-lock up 46rh overdrive trans

thats why I’m asking, what is actually wrong with your truck, sounds like it would be way easier and cheaper to figure out what’s wrong with the factory set up you have.

Viperdave

 

We live out in the boonies and the Native Pack-rats chew through wires and vacuum hoses. It's a constant war. We park vehicles well away from anything as the rats do not like covering open ground. But, come nesting time (around 5 times per year) the Females forsake wisdom for a new home. The more wires in the vehicle the more things to chew. They make huge nests in any covered place. Snakes keep them under some control but we don't trap or poison the rats, they were here first.

Anyway, Injector #4 connector has been chewed through on one wire and there is only one strand of copper left. A while back I bought a bunch of pigtail injector connectors and I solder them in as needed. Gets old fast. Now #6 has stopped working so it may need cleaning or replacing. I can't blame the rats for that, but on pure luck I saw a posting somewhere about the main connector into the computer being unreliable. I removed it cleaned it all out and put it back and the #6 is good again.

I grew up with carbs and Kettering. I liked the simple life even if it does use more gas. But, $600 is too much to consider at this point, so I guess it is back to the soldering iron. I got lucky with a chew-through of the crank position sensor wire a few years back. It is a 3-wire flat cable and the rat kindly chewed through on an angle so I could solder them back together correctly.



Home sweet home

 

Yea the creepy crawlers can do lots of damage to a vehicle, I had to deal with a particularly bad problem on a truck the customer actualy got another harness from the junk yard, it’s not hard to remove, there are 3 square connectors on the firewall on the drivers side c125,c126 and c127, light grey, dark grey, and white Those 3 connectors run everything for the engine, one ground wire is on the front of the drivers head. And the pcm on passenger firewall After that it’s just connectors all the way back on the transmission

i took the the old one off and cleaned all the trash and crap off the engine. Then, went to my local gun store a bought 2 cans of pepper spray, when I installed the newer harness I sprayed the crap out of it where it lays between the head and manifold
and the injectors and then the harness on the trans and on top of the trans

the smell goes away very quickly but the little buggers can’t stand it!! I gave the other can of pepper spray to the owner and told him to spray it around the engine about every 30 days. It stinks, try to keep up wind when spraying but it does the job very well and keeps them off the harness and away from the engine plus after the smell dissipates to where you can barely smell it you can still work on the engine but the little buggers still smell it and stay away!!

that intake tube that feeds the air cleaner in the pic.......spray into that and all the way to the opening on the passenger fender
It is very important to clean all the trash and crap off the engine because it retains the little buggers scent and invites others to come to the party!

that should keep them away for awhile

Try to get some spray that doesn’t have a fluorescent dye

just stay upwind while spraying!!!

viperdave

 

Thanks for the tips, I pulled the long plastic duct that goes from the air cleaner through the fender wall and put a wire mesh in the outside end of that, so no more in the air cleaner. The hoses they chewed were only the small vacuum ones so I replaced them with rubber and had no more issues with that. But with so many dang wires they can feast. But, it is only about once a month they chew something important so I guess I can live with that.