Call me crazy (or anything else) V10 Ram motor

[451-74Charger]

I have a lead on a complete V10 Ram motor with brain and wondered 2 things. 
1) Should I build the 451 Stroker I had planned (with the 400 block boat anchor) or.
2) shoehorn in a Ram 488ci V10

The 74 will not be original (more of a restomod), but is it worth trying or not?


Please no flaming !!

[Ryan.C]

I would definitely not go the RAM V10 route. At 300HP and 450FT LBS IMHO it would be the "boat anchor" in this scenario. I could see going with a Viper V10 just because its cool AF 

A lot of guys in the proven engine build thread on this site have put down very impressive numbers with the 400 Block 451 stroker build. And a 400 will slip right in without custom fab work.

Good luck with your build!

[Kern Dog]

I rarely use the word OBSOLETE but that V10 is just that. ALL iron and 5" longer than a big block....It would be like buying a small hat and having your head surgically reduced to fit the hat.

[CDN72SE]

....It would be like buying a small hat and having your head surgically reduced to fit the hat.

[451-74Charger]

  I think I am getting the picture. Looks pretty, but isn't the best idea.
Thanks, I justed needed the nudge to carry on what I was planning from the start.

"To eventually start working on it someday"

[alfaitalia]

300 horses from and 8 litre lump! That's 37 and a bit horses per litre.....must have taken quite a bit of skill to produce so little power with such massive displacement. It's not even that torque laden.

[JR]

Massive engine that would require major fabrication work to firewall/subframe/trans tunnel.

Lackluster amount of power given its displacement.

Expensive parts and limited upgrades available.

The car would drive like a pig with all that weight in the nose.

A massive amount of fab work for so little payoff.

I'm not a purists or anything, that's just way too much work involved for such a disappointing engine.

[darbgnik]

That motor wasn't high tech when it was new. It's too big and too heavy to bother trying to shoehorn into any car. People call the Viper motor a truck motor, even though the aluminum block was designed by Lamborghini, when Chrysler owned them, as at the time they were the subject matter experts. But that thing is a truck motor, in every sense of the word.

But to add context, I actually owned a V10 1 ton Ram 4x4 years ago. At that time, there were no trucks with anywhere near 300 hp, and the truck diesels at the time were near 200hp, and rolling coal wouldn't arrive for a decade and a half. The specs are laughable now, but back in the early 90s, 300 plus hp and 450 lb ft of torque were big numbers. And believe it or not, that truck had the best highway mileage of any full sized truck I'd driven at the time, it would just idle along, uphill, downhill, didn't matter. That being said, it was one of the worst in town, but gas was cheap then. Hahaha

[tan top]

  400ci , stroker  to 451ci , all day long   

[Kern Dog]

I actually owned a V10 1 ton Ram 4x4 years ago. At that time, there were no trucks with anywhere near 300 hp, and the truck diesels at the time were near 200hp, and rolling coal wouldn't arrive for a decade and a half. The specs are laughable now, but back in the early 90s, 300 plus hp and 450 lb ft of torque were big numbers. And believe it or not, that truck had the best highway mileage of any full sized truck I'd driven at the time, it would just idle along, uphill, downhill, didn't matter. That being said, it was one of the worst in town, but gas was cheap then. Hahaha

Great points made.
We do seem to forget that performance has jumped by HUGE amounts in the past 15-20 years. Cylinder head technology has really helped with that.
Remember the 1987 Buick Regal GNX? It was a HUGE thing that it made 300 HP. The current V8 IROC and Trans Ams were 250, tops. Dodge dropped big blocks after 1978, leaving just the 360 as the top dog until the Cummins came along over 12 years later! Dodge was ran by some real idiots....That 72-93 body style was okay but holy crap...Once they redesigned the truck for 1994, their market share really started to change. They sat with an outdated body design for way too long, stayed with outdated engines for way too long as well. The V10 was a holdover until the 5.7 HEMI was introduced.

[darbgnik]

I actually owned a V10 1 ton Ram 4x4 years ago. At that time, there were no trucks with anywhere near 300 hp, and the truck diesels at the time were near 200hp, and rolling coal wouldn't arrive for a decade and a half. The specs are laughable now, but back in the early 90s, 300 plus hp and 450 lb ft of torque were big numbers. And believe it or not, that truck had the best highway mileage of any full sized truck I'd driven at the time, it would just idle along, uphill, downhill, didn't matter. That being said, it was one of the worst in town, but gas was cheap then. Hahaha

Great points made.
We do seem to forget that performance has jumped by HUGE amounts in the past 15-20 years. Cylinder head technology has really helped with that.
Remember the 1987 Buick Regal GNX? It was a HUGE thing that it made 300 HP. The current V8 IROC and Trans Ams were 250, tops. Dodge dropped big blocks after 1978, leaving just the 360 as the top dog until the Cummins came along over 12 years later! Dodge was ran by some real idiots....That 72-93 body style was okay but holy crap...Once they redesigned the truck for 1994, their market share really started to change. They sat with an outdated body design for way too long, stayed with outdated engines for way too long as well. The V10 was a holdover until the 5.7 HEMI was introduced.

One also has to remember, at the time, most people in North America were still afraid of diesels in non commercial duty vehicles, with vivid memories of the Olds diesel and 6.2 GM diesels..... So when a guy wanted to tow, a big block gasser was where it's at. A thought almost foreign these days.

[TPR]

....It would be like buying a small hat and having your head surgically reduced to fit the hat.

[Kern Dog]

Thanks....My humor is often misinterpreted as me being rude. 

[kokxville]

Go for the 451 stroker 

[Mike DC]

  
The Ram V10 weighs 800+ pounds.  That's like an all-iron B/RB motor with a second B/RB bare block sitting on top of it.  

[ACUDANUT]

 
The Ram V10 weighs 800+ pounds.  That's like an all-iron B/RB motor with a second B/RB bare block sitting on top of it.  

I do not agree, Big Block Chryslers weigh 800 pounds plus. your talking 1600 lbs

[alfaitalia]

http://www.hughesengines.com/TechArticles/6engineweights.php

[RCCDrew]

I think a V10 truck motor would be cool. It would respond to increased compression, porting, cams, etc the same as a magnum motor but better!  Headers and aluminum could shave some weight. And cheaper than dirt.

[Bronzedodge]

http://www.hughesengines.com/TechArticles/6engineweights.php

Hmmm.  Looks like the truck V 10 is the fattie.  You'd be better of with a 1st gen Hemi and a blower.

[Kern Dog]

The V10 sounds like a bigger slant six. No thanks, I'll stick with V8s.

[Mike DC]

 
The V10s they ran in Vipers were all-aluminum.  Very different animals.  

Whatever money the truck V10 saved compared to building a B/RB wedge, it would probably make up for in the conversion to fit it into the car.  Get ready to hack stuff.  

And get ready for the F/R weight balance of an unloaded 2WD pickup truck.

[6pkrtse]

I have had my V-10 Ram for over 20 years. The truck & engine are awesome for what it was designed for, pulling & hauling in a truck. I would never waste the time & effort to stuff one in a car though. Now, a Viper V-10 is a whole different story but has already been done countless number of times already.