oh man, I'm gonna dream good tonight!!!!!!!!!
____________________________________________
Jon Smith-Raleigh,NC-http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jdsmith4
'95 318 auto CC 4x4: Accel Supercoil, JBA headers,
dual glasspack, 14x3 FABM, F&B Stage I TB, !EGR,
MSD 8.5's, self-moded intake, 180 degree thermo,
ASP crank pulley, 16" Hayden elec. fan, MP SBEC,
BEST: 0-60 in 6.3 & 1/4mi 15.4@88.95
207.2 RWHP, 276.2 RW ft/lbs
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Carter <Redgum@home.com>
To: <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Sent: Friday, November 05, 1999 1:11 AM
Subject: DML: Bit the bullet, now it's almost Christmas...
> Before I dump the info about the woody-invoking 360cu engine I just had
> custom built, I thought I might share some background, as this is my first
> post to
> the DML.
>
> About 3 years ago I attempted to join this mailing list after submitting
my
> info via
> email, but alas, no membership. I'm not suprised after reading some of the
> background about where the list *was* compared to where it is now. This
all
> took
> place during the time I had become a little dissatisfied with the
> performance of the
> 318 in my '93 4x4 Dakota. Figuring others probably had the same idea, I
> surfed the
> net and found the Dakota Mailing List. No mail came, no invitations,
> nothing...so
> I wrote it off and made do for awhile.
>
> Fortunately, I have a good friend Mark, who is also a great mechanic, so
the
> questions
> I had for the mailing list got dropped on my buddy. Some simple
> modifications added
> enough 'punch' to make a noticeable difference. In fact, two years went by
> and I'd
> never been taken at a street race against another truck. It even chewed up
> its fair
> share of kids in 5.0's who don't know how to speed-shift. Not too bad for
a
> 3800lb
> stock 318 Dakota 4x4. (See the Stage 1 mods on my profile under "Redgum"
for
> specifics.) I raced other Dak's, including R/T's and Ford's new V8 sport
> trucks...
> they all lost.
>
> Then I got beat. Beat bad. Can you say chewed-up and spat-out? Yup, I went
> against some yuppie geek in a yellow Mustang SVT. It wasn't till that
> afternoon
> that I found out it has a 385 horse 351 Clever in it. Still, the dry,
salted
> sting of
> defeat made my belly grumble. The following week I noticed a lack of
> enthusiasm
> on my part. I started feeling like I was driving a Chevette again. A day
or
> two later
> I defiantly dumped one of the new V-8 Toyota Tundra's and waved bye-bye,
> but my margin was less than 300 feet after about a 1/4 mile. Something was
> wrong
> or I was just getting slow on the uptake.
>
> It's a trend...one can't help but notice the impressive horsepower and
> torque
> ratings the manufacturers are tossing around now. The price tags seem to
> match the
> trend too. The SUV industry seems to be in the middle of a horse power
war.
>
> So I let the grumbling continue for awhile, but then I just up and
committed
> to
> spend whatever it took to revive my ole 92,000+ mile Dakota.
>
> Out came the 318, the tranny and the old dual exhaust system. Replacing
the
> motor is a 360 cu/in 1995 Magnum core..which was summarily torn down
> and shipped off to a local machine shop that also builds Nascar engines.
> While my
> 360 was getting the complete work-over, they displayed a 950Hp 429 Boss
> which
> caused Mark to instantly regress back into 5th grade, sound-effects and
all.
> ( I met Mark when he had one installed in a very wretched looking '72
> pea-green
> Ford P/u with an equally hideous brown camper. That truck chewed up my 5.0
> and
> left me wondering if I had hit reverse instead.)
>
> After the engine parts had been given the proper attention, we installed
> some good
> quality parts and roller'd the works. The engine was bored .030" over,
heads
> ground
> down, ported & polished, all parts balanced and some clearancing done.
Keith
> Black pistons with the teflon skirts placed the compression at a street
> reasonable
> 10:1. Mark wanted to go 11:1, but I don't want to carry an Avgas container
> around
> all of the time and the object was not to make a race track engine, rather
a
> tough
> nut that's both street legal and very reliable. I do not want a high
> performance engine
> that requires constant attention. This, after all, is my daily driver and
> weekend warrior.
>
> Wednesday night I received a "crank" call. The caller mentioned Mark had a
> message
> for me...then all I heard was a terrifying roar followed by thunderous
> buffeting. It
> was the headers-only new engine deafening the remaining mechanics at his
> shop.
> I felt like I was having a child all over again. Needless to say, I was
> across town in
> a few minutes drooling over the fenders with the rest of them. While the
> fuel lasted,
> we swam with toothy grins in the insane, chest-thumping deafness that can
> only be
> enjoyed by suitably deranged horse power addicts.
>
> The 360 (now 373) is topped by Chrysler's 1100cfm race intake, the
> P5249816 -
> which is the only one currently supporting the multi-port FI 4-barrel
> plenum. Yes,
> you guessed it...mod city. Ports for all the smog gear had to be made and
> installed.
> Mark's handiwork on the EGR shows his love for performance. The engine
> breathes
> into Mopar's chrome headers which were..umm..modified...making for a true
> dual exhaust sporting 2.5" pipes going into a set of flow masters. Getting
> the pipes
> around and under the 4WD frame was a mind (and pipe) bending
> experience...but
> true to Marks ability, it's all one piece...a masterpiece...no welds
except
> for the place
> where the headers meet them.
>
> All that is left to do is make some linkage hook-ups to the
throttle/cruise
> control cables
> with a special plate and the rest is debug time on the street.
>
> With the tranny rebuild, strength mods + shift kit and 2200rpm stall
> converter, I beleive I
> will need better traction than that currently supplied by the 225/75/R15's
> ...then again
> I do have 4wd if the need for speed arises... :-)
>
> Tips, suggestions & comments most welcome. I'll have pictures, sound, and
> maybe a
> couple MPEG's by next week.
>
> Cheers,
>
> -Mike
>
> P.S> Anyone have a spare MAP sensor plug? ( for the Magnum 360 TB ) I
can't
> beleive
> they won't sell just a single connector...
>
> Mike Carter
> Redgum@home.com
> www.pyroblaster.com
>
>
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