'84 Dodge Rampage Build Thread

[SteveM]

I picked up 2 more 4-speeds this morning.

[Duck-Stew]

Cornering the market?

[Tman]

Steve plans on so much HP that he will break all of them!

[SteveM]

Just a quick pic to show that I'm still making progress....



This is the re-worked shifter linkage.  Gone are the 35 year old plastic bushings and bent rods, having been replaced with metal oilite bushings, Heim joints, and threaded rod.

It needs some refinement (lock nuts, better sized bolts, a little paint here and there), but is fully functional.

Steve.

[SteveM]

While doing some junkyard searching, I did run across this prime candidate for Sports/GT type enthusiasts.  I think this 928 has a lot of potential.

[Tman]

That 928 would be fun to play with.

[manta22]

It sure would be fun to run a Porsche 928 in GT or whatever. It's engine compartment is big enough for a V8.

[55chevr]

Needs a bit of work to get ready for the salt flats ... windows are all prep'd for lexan though.




Joe

[SteveM]

I temporarily installed the doors, fenders, and hood for visual purposes.  It needs a serious dose of altitude adjustment, which is in the works.

[DND]

Hi Steve

That beauty needs to get turned into a low rider and slammed to the ground, then she be styling for the salt

Don

[SteveM]

Yep- I'm looking for about 5" of drop in the front, and as much as I can get in the back..  The crossmember and oil pan are currently at 7.5" from the pavement.  If I can get that down to 2", I'd be very happy.

New tires are about to be ordered P165/50/15 VR15's.  That's 21.5" diameter, compared to the 25" diameter donuts that are currently mounted.  There's a net drop of 1.75".

The other 3.25" of front-end drop is planned to result from an el-cheapo coilover conversion kit for the Neon front struts, in combination with the camber/caster adjustment plates donated by Gkabbt.

In the rear, I can pull a leaf or two from the spring pack for additional drop.  Fine tuning of ride height will be via a pair of Gabriel Hi-Jacker air shocks. 

I'm just about to pull the trigger on the tires this afternoon.  I hope I can get this truck done before the bank comes to repossess everything. LOL.

Steve.

[tauruck]

The Rampage looks good Steve. Can I ask why you're going smaller on tire diameter?. Is that a Kirkey I see in the truck?.

[SteveM]

In terms of tire size, I've been playing with transmission gear ratios, ring and pinion ratios, tire sizes, engine rpm's, and target speeds on a couple of spreadsheets.

I have 2 combinations that look promising to me, both of which require shorter tires for the speeds I'm looking to run and the favorable rpm window for the engine.  I'm afraid that if I went with the larger tires, the engine would "lug", and not be able to pull through the rpm range.

My thinking is to have 2 sets of matched pairs of tires, with slightly different diameters (front & back).  Then, a quick change of front tires to rear, and rear tires to front, functions like a quick-change set of gears.

The seat is an UltraShield.  This one features what they call their "Bonneville" headrest which is designed specifically to meet the lateral head restraint rules of the SCTA.   

[Tman]

The Rampage looks good Steve. Can I ask why you're going smaller on tire diameter?. Is that a Kirkey I see in the truck?.

Taurucky, I happen to be an UltraShield dealer

[Peter Jack]

Steve, back in the very old days when I ran leaf spring stock cars I used to pull the leaf springs apart. You can then re-arch the individual leaf springs rather easily. The advantage to doing that is that you would retain the stiffness of the spring which may help in maintaining the correct attitude. (You don't need attitude problems!!! )

Pete