Dan70

I do really love this forum, and everything on it pertains to my truck, except one thing. I have the 5.9 gasser. It's a great running truck and I don't really want to swap it yet due to the fact that it runs so good (don't fix something that's not broken..). so here's my question, I am looking for just a bit more power (who isn't)?? haha. but everything i've seen relates more to second gen late 90's 5.9 magnum. Could I get an r/t ecm? obviously exhaust and making a cold air intake. Thanks diesel world for any help with my gasser.

bobva

Im not telling you to go away or anything like that. There is a lot of good info here.

Have you tried http://ramchargercentral.com/

They are more intuned to the gassers.

Good luck & stay tuned

simplysmn

Best way to make power out of a Gasser is Bore and stroke it .or drop a diesel between the frame rail's ?

Dan70

thanks guys! yea i'm definitely gonna be putting a diesel in it. but since this one runs so good I don't really see a reason to pull it out and swap it until its old and tired and needs to come out anyway. Just looking to make it decent for now. lol

ChrisLib

If its a tbi 5.9 I dont think theres much of anything for it. If its a magnum (with the beer barrel intake) there are some mopar pcm`s avail (or used to be). Problem is outside of maybe a hi perf pcm and basic intake/exhaust upgrades theres not much power to be gained unless you dig into the engine itself, and at that point a Cummins swap would prob be the way to go.

I`ve owned a magnum powered truck (`97)with exh and a JET pcm chip and it had some gettup n go, also had an 85 w250 I swapped a Mopar crate motor into http://ramchargercentral.com/article...iew;article=81 (holy cow...was it that long ago? lol). That crate motor`ed truck would def move out for what it was but my Cummins would eat its lunch all day long...jussayin.

haultruck

I think every v8 gasser from the early-mid 70s to the late 90s needs headwork/aftermarket heads imo.

simplysmn

Dan70 trust me I was right where you are now before I got bit by the diesel bug had a healthy 440 the only thing I could not pass with it was a Gas Pump average 6to 8 mpg buddy talked me into a diesel and went to 17 mpg Easy yes it was work but sense then I haven't touched a Gasser yet and Won't be any more .Gasser sound's cool but diesel hand's down is the way to fly .

ChrisLib

there is mpg`s too, just avg 20-21 on a 1800 mile trip with mine, i was happy happy

Dan70

its fully fuel injected with said beer barrel intake and i'm getting 12-13 with it now. It just seems like its using a lot of fuel to not go anywhere fast. lol and the main reason I got this truck was cause I got a super super deal on it. so there was literally just no saying no to it. hehe. i've had my eye on a cat c7 that i think would be a pretty cool swap, but probably wont be for another couple years...

NE frmhnd

Simple upgrade- Magnum RT heads. Magnum engines use Chevy valvetrain (hollow pushrods that feed the top end their oil). Heads, lifters, valves, magnum-specific intake manifold, and you're in business.

If you are definitely going to swap a Cummins in, I'd drive it like it is.

I got the 90 1/2 ton with 318, I'm hoping I can get the transmission rebuilt and the engine stays together (318 never had enough power to tear much up) and see what kind of mileage it gets. Should be good sitting kinda low, fast gears, etc. If I do anything with the motor it would be later heads.

JimmieD

I feel your pain on the lack of a diesel. I've got a '90 W-350 that's a great truck, except for the 360 with TBI! My TBI engine has fairly strong power and your Magnum engine should be about 20% more power so something needs work on yours.

First question on your truck is what are the SMOG or Emission Testing Regs in Colo for that truck? I'm skewered in CA thanks to the SMOG & Emission Regs, can't do hardly anything but tune-ups.

If you can legally modify then the second question is if it's TBI or Direct Injection? If it's Direct Injection your sorta stuck because injectors are screwed into cylinder heads. About all you can do is clean with a cleaner in the tank, or remove and have rebuilt or replace them. Rebuild or replacement of injectors can make a HUGE difference in how your old girl hikes up her skirts. With the crummy gasoline now it messes them up a lot quicker. Also replace your vacuum advance mechanism. New Champion plugs, new premium points, new solid core plug wires can make quite a difference.

If you can legally do major mods and it's TBI the sky's the limit. Cheapest is to yank the old injectors [2 of them in throttle body] and replace plus exhaust mods. To get real performance more is needed. My Town Wagon in my sig had a '79 360-3 before I swapped in the Cummins 4BT and that engine was very strong! Performance torque-grind cam, the right heads, Edelbrock intake, Edelbrock 600 cfm carb, carb spacer plate to cool for denser mixture, large low restriction air filter, Hi-flo Carter electric fuel pump and large filter, Accel Super Coil, solid core Accel wires, Champion plugs, advance kit in the disto, Hedmann Hedders, tuned length duals with X pipe 18" from header flanges and low restriction muffs. She ran good and got great mileage for a gasser.

simplysmn

JimmieD what prt of Calif if your in So Cal It's as easy as putting a change of address in and you never have to worry about smog again . did it for yr's with my 85 with a 440 motor in it . it was far from Smog Legal and Never had any troubles .

Dan70

they're pretty tight here as far as emissions go, but the engine appears to be port injection rather than direct injection. I was gonna go with some plugs, wires and such. I could probably open the exhaust up and keep it legal. probably snoop around some swap meets for heads. is there certain stampings for rt heads? and its got some power in the first 3 gears but it just seems that it wont hardly keep itself in 4th and 5th when its empty and just brutal when its loaded. its got 118k on it have so it doesnt exactly have a ton of miles on it.

Would the ecm need reflashed with those heads? I cant imagine the ecm would have a whole lot of learning abilities in the early years.

ChrisLib

Being a Magnum opens up the PCM side of things, and 12-13 mpg`s is actually not too shabby. Cold air intake is pretty easy to fab up yourself if your handy and exhaust would prob depend on local laws but those two things would prob yield a slight but noticeable power gain...and it`d def sound better lol. One thing to watch for on those intakes is the lower plenum pan on the manifolds have a strong tendency to leak which will draw crankcase vapors and sometimes oil into the manifold causing pinging/preiginition and (of course) unexplained oil loss.

Heres one example of a workaround for it
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...p&partid=27091

Dan70

It sucks knowing how to do most everything and living in an apartment with no garage.. lol. I would think I could do pretty much anything with the exhaust as long as the cats stay on.

It does use some oil, but its never pinged on me, and does have a front main seeping, but never leaves drops anywhere. I wonder if i could feel vacuum through the oil fill cap?