'84 Dodge Rampage Build Thread

[Tman]

Steve I called our local Dodge dealer on the odd chance they would have the headlight covers. Parts lady (very sharp parts person) said no but thought she heard Summit carried a version for the Rampages. Dunno if that helps you in Prod but thought I would throw it out there. Also, check your PMs

[SteveM]

There are some aftermarket (GTS) headlight covers available for the 2nd generation ('84-up) L-body cars, but they are not within the rules as laid out by the SCTA. 

Since the Mopar Performance / Direct Connection covers were available as dealer-installed options, that seems to be the thing that allows them to be considered part of the stock bodywork.

While the GTS covers would probably be cool to look at, they just don't meet the rules for SCTA competition.

Steve.

[SteveM]

Valvetrain goodies.  Nothing too exotic, but nothing stock, either.

[SteveM]

I managed to get to the local Pick-N-Pull junkyard for the 1/2 price sale this weekend.  I think I got all the suspension/brakes that I will need for the Rampage.  I was going for new front knuckles/hubs, struts/springs, and all new rear stub axles and brakes.

The reason for the swap-over from the stock rampage stuff if for several reasons...  By using later "K-Car" front knuckles and hubs, they will work like drop spindles compared to the Rampage knuckles.  The centerline of the drive axle is about 1" higher in relation to the lower ball joint.  The K-Car knuckles also use a bolt-in bearing carrier which is stronger and more reliable than the pressed-in bearings on the Rampage setup.  The K-cars also use a 5-lug on 100mm bolt pattern which will allow me to use 15" 5-lug wheels, instead of the 13" or 14" 4-lug Rampage configuration.  The brakes are also bigger, but I don't think that will be much of an issue for this Rampage.

I also grabbed some 1st generation Neon struts and springs, which will give a significant drop to the front end, and are a nearly bolt-in deal (just drill 1 extra hole in the upper fender where the strut mount attaches).  The 1st gen Neon will give the lowest ride height available from factory parts.  2nd gen Neon would be a bit higher, and the factory Rampage springs/struts sit higher than the 2nd gen Neon.  If the whole thing is too low (which I doubt), then I will change over to the 2nd gen Neon.

In the rear, I pulled the stub axles, backing plates, drums, bearings, etc. from a '90-something LeBaron.  Again, I get the bigger brakes and the 5-lug setup to match the front.



Here is one of the backing plates for the rear.  It must have been my lucky junkyard day, because it looks like these brakes have been recently rebuilt with a new hardware kit, wheel cylinder, and fresh shoes.



Front brakes, knuckles, and drive axles are from a '93 Plymouth Acclaim.  They are in decent usable condition, needing a good wire wheeling, bead blasting, and some fresh paint before being installed.



This is the "Hot" setup for L-bodies like the Rampage, Charger, Turismo, 024, etc.  These parts are much more heavy-duty than the stock L-body, and offer the improved geometry.  Here's a look at the back side of the Acclaim knuckles, showing the 4 bolts which retain the bearing and drive hub.   Since these photos were taken, I spent a couple of hours cleaning, degreasing, wire-wheeling, and generally de-griming these parts.  It was a hot, sticky, dirty, gritty weekend.
 



 

[Captthundarr]

Ooo Shiney, Shiney, Steve what is the gist of the SCTA rule for the head light covers?

Frank

[SteveM]

The headlight covers must be the genuine OEM units that were dealer installed options (Mopar Performance #P4286820 or P4286821) for the vehicle.

[Captthundarr]

Got it, not resonable facsimile there of.

[SteveM]

Listening to the live webcast from SpeedWeek, and trying to keep up with the SW related messages on the forum has definitely re-energized me with respect to this Rampage H/DT project.  Although I haven't made big strides, every step counts.



I finished welding in the floorpan sections where my little truck had rusted away.  There are no aftermarket floorpan patch panels available, and just about every Rampage in existence is rusted on the floorboards, I had to make my own, using flat sheets of 0.060" steel.  The overall contour of the floorpan patch panels is as close to factory as I could make them, but I did not have a way to roll in the "beads" that are present in the factory pans.  Seeing the work done on Gkabbt's Rampage has humbled me.  In order to re-create those two stamped in beads, I think I'm going to have to split some round tubing and weld it to the underside, in order to match the factory profile, with the humps and bumps. 

At the same time, I'm working on the engine combination. This will be a 1.5L rotating assembly in a 1.6 TurboDiesel block.  It's kind of like building a 327 or 302 Chevy from a 350 block.  If you have the right crank, rods, and pistons, all the geometry works out. In order to build a sub-1.5L diesel in a 1.6L "turbo" VW block, notches need to be milled into the 1.5 piston skirts for oil squirter clearance.  The turbo blocks have under-piston oil squirters which are not present in any of the naturally aspirated diesel blocks.  This first photo is a test notch that I milled into one of the old pistons for practice.



After milling the notch, and re-assembling the #1 piston and rod, re-installing the oil squirter, and rolling the crank over, I could tell that I need another 0.050" or so of clearance.   That machining change will be put into place for the "real" pistons, which are a set of NOS Kolbenschmidts, 0.5mm oversized for a 1.5L VW diesel.  These pistons are rare, but not unobtanium rare.  Good stuff comes in old, slightly ragged boxes.





These pistons have what may appear to be valve reliefs in their top surfaces.  However, these small pockets are actually part of the diesel injection chamber design.



Lastly, for now, here's a photo of the 4 lovelies, with the notch locations roughly marked.  These marks are not intended to be a precise outline of the machining, only to show me the correct rough location for the cut.  (Kind of like going into surgery and marking one's leg "cut here").  The blue tape is to proect the ring grooves and rings from getting any aluminum chips stuck.  These pistons have the entire ring package already installed.



That's all for now.

Steve.

[gkabbt]

Steve,

Thanks for the comment about the way my floor turned out. It was only $$$$$.....LOL! Seriously, I am very pleased with what Rod Crafters did for me.
All the work that you have done so far looks really good from here. I would shoot an email to the SCTA with pics of your floorpans and see what they say.
Looks like a really good score on the pistons and I like what you are doing to retain the oil squirters.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Gregg

PS
I'll see you in a couple of weeks on my way to WoS.

[SteveM]

It's been a while since I've updated, but have been making some progress.  I feel like I'm at a "tipping point", where I'm going to be able to dedicate more time to this project and get a lot done over the winter.  I probably shouldn't have said that out loud.

Anyway, the floorpan repairs are pretty much done, and it's time to start working on the cage.  I still haven't welded in the 1/4" pads for the roll cage landing points, but I think I'll tack them in place just to make sure that I remember to account for their height.

Here are some pics for anyone interested.



It was a good weekend to get some cutting and welding done, so the Rampage got rolled out onto the driveway.



I just recently finished re-fabbing the inner wheelwells on the front of this thing.  Cancer had infected it pretty badly, but she's solid now.  I used 16 ga. sheet metal for almost all of the patches.   The section between the subframe rail and the rocker is 1/8".  What remains of the factory floorpans is under these pieces.



This is one of the rear corners of the "cab", showing where a lot more rust was cut out, and fresh 16 ga welded in.



Inside view of the rear cab area, again showing the 16 ga floor panels.  I will weld some 1/8" steel over the top of this 16 ga, then weld the 1/4" roll cage attachment points to the top of the 1/8".



Front portion of the cab floor, with all the new metal welded in.  Again, what remains of the original floorpan is hidden under all the fresh new steel.

[SteveM]

I made the mental leap (with a lot of help from this forum), to cut the roof off the Rampage for the cage fabrication.  It was recommended to do some diagonal bracing before cutting off the roof, in order to prevent twist.





Then I formed some 16 ga panels to conform to the shape of the A and B pillars, drilled, and Cleco'ed them in place, to help with the re-assembly alignment.









Then, as suggested, I laid out a Z-type cut pattern for the pillars.



... and then, this is what it looks like in Roadster format.

[Freud]

Great progress Steve.

Hang in there.

FREUD

[Peter Jack]

Looks good Steve. I hope none of those diagonals fall where you want the cage tubes to go!

Pete

[SteveM]

I tried to avoid the obvious interference points, but there is still a very high likelihood that the tubes will want to intersect somewhere.  At that point, I'll have some figuring to do.  Hopefully, the cage will be tacked in enough places (including to the sheet metal), that the cross supports can be cut out without causing the whole body to twist.  I know the supports are going to have to come out in order to figure out the location for the seat mounts and shoulder cross bar.

Speaking of seat mounts, are there any standard practices or ideas with respect to making the seat mount frame?  It would be pretty easy to use the same 1" square tubing that I used for the cross bracing, but it seems to me that I will want something a little more heavy.

Steve.

[gkabbt]

Looking real good Steve.

About your seat mount, could do something like my chassis guy did on my Rampage?



Gregg