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Rebirth of the Orange Krate

4K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  Evil87GN 
#1 ·
It's been a few months since I popped in, and unfortunately, it wasn't for good reasons. I ended up breaking the car back in August, and it's taken a while to get the funds/parts together to start the rebuild. No, it wasn't a tuning issue that caused her broken heart....it was a combination of working a 12 hr shift, being up for 20+ hours, and 90* garage. Not good for the concentration, and it bit me square in the ass. I had the throttle body off to check on oil buildup, decided to clean up some flashing on the inlet. Old habits die hard, and I stuck a rag in the opening to catch debris. Yep, put her back together and forgot the damn rag. #5 piston found it for me, then exited the bore into the oil pan. No head damage other than 2 bent valves, and a bent pushrod. Expensive lesson in paying attention, and don't tinker with the car when hot/tired.

On to the good stuff. Rebuild is finally underway, and she will be healthy. Here's what is going into the build:
MMX forged rods/pistons
ARP main studs
ARP head bolts
MMX NSR lope 3 cam
Full MDS delete with HC lifters
Comp hardened pushrods
87mm t/b
ported intake
1 7/8 long tubes with high flow cats
Trinity T2 for tuning/logging

If she lays down similar numbers to other NSR equipped cars, I will be stoked. Best part is she will be ready for boost or bottle, with no worries about hurting a fragile OEM piston. Once she starts going back together, I will update the thread with pics/vids. One good thing to come out of this mess....now have a diesel tow pig/driver so she can rest easy in the garage. And yes, it's a Dodge with a Cummins..lol.
 

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#3 ·
sorry to hear about the mis-fortune but looks like she will be better than before.
If you have the time while it's apart gasket match the intake & heads, it'll take a little time but is good for a few hp.


...and I'm jealous of your tow rig :) my 01 Ram gasser is drinking 93 like it's going out of style...
 
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#4 ·
Rebuilding a newish car wasn't high on my list of things I planned to do, but hey, crap happens. I just had to suck it up and find the silver lining in it all. She will be much stronger than oem, and should sound pretty nice at idle to boot.

Mine is a '03 2500 quad cab 2wd, auto trans, SLT trim with the 5.9 HO Cummins. High mile truck, currently at 255K, but runs like a champ and very little blowby. I needed a truck for stuff around the house anyway, and this kinda pushed me into getting one. I looked at a few 4th Gen 1/2 ton Rams with Hemis, but decided I wanted an ol rattling Cummins again..lol. So far, she's been a good one, and makes a pretty decent daily until the car is done.
 

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#5 ·
hows the build going?
 
#6 ·
Slow...lol. I'm ordering my ARP head bolts today, and debating on going with the Edelbrock Victor II intake instead of porting the stocker. I'm planning on boost or bottle at some point, and the V2 would be a much better intake for either. No flow distribution issues to worry about with those, unlike the stock variable runner setup.
 
#12 ·
Not to worry, Surgeons do this all the time....... and they have help! Other people staring........
 
#15 ·
It looks like Kenny found a good temporary fix for his Victor's appetite for oil..lol. I decided to just clean up the stocker, since I don't have a lot of core shift and casting flash, then decide later on if I'm going 6.1 or Victor. It's more of a hoping to find a deal on a roots blower thing + started thinking about the heat soak issue with aluminum vs composite.

Still in a holding pattern on mine....damn machine shop is backlogged, so it's a whole lot of hurry up and wait. Good racing weather is about gone here in FL, so now I'm not as concerned about when she gets done. I mean, she's only been down since mid August....what's a few more months...lol. Frustrating as all hell, that's what.

On a positive note, my front skinnies came in. 17x4.5 Vision 571 Sport Star II in a polished finish. Uses regular spline drive lugs and clears the Scat Pack front brakes. Tires are going to cost more than the damn wheels did...lol.
 
#16 ·
It looks like Kenny found a good temporary fix for his Victor's appetite for oil..lol. I decided to just clean up the stocker, since I don't have a lot of core shift and casting flash, then decide later on if I'm going 6.1 or Victor. It's more of a hoping to find a deal on a roots blower thing + started thinking about the heat soak issue with aluminum vs composite.

Still in a holding pattern on mine....damn machine shop is backlogged, so it's a whole lot of hurry up and wait. Good racing weather is about gone here in FL, so now I'm not as concerned about when she gets done. I mean, she's only been down since mid August....what's a few more months...lol. Frustrating as all hell, that's what.

On a positive note, my front skinnies came in. 17x4.5 Vision 571 Sport Star II in a polished finish. Uses regular spline drive lugs and clears the Scat Pack front brakes. Tires are going to cost more than the damn wheels did...lol.
I feel your pain. I'm waiting on getting my tune finalized.
I'm happy with how the 6.1 turned out, might re-think your decision.
If you go with a positive displacement blower later you could easily sell the 6.1 intake.
 
#17 ·
Well, back to square one. I swear this car has some bad juju going on, or something. The block we were going to use and avoid sleeving my original, has a severely spun cam bearing....as in it actually gouged the journal and isn't usable. So, he has one more engine to tear down and see if the block is usable. If that one's not viable, I'm going to be VERY tempted to sleeve my original, stock rebuild that bish, and just get the car running again. If we go that route, the car will back to factory stock and traded. Never had this type of craptastic luck with any car I've owned. I'm going on 8 months of paying for a 4200# orange paperweight, and the frustration level is getting pretty high ATM.
 
#19 ·
What's the deal with the engine block stuff? Can't the machine shop find you a good core? Or can't you just buy a short block direct from Mopar and throw your other existing parts on that?

I recommend the M&H 28-4.5/17 radial front runners. They are load rated at 1350lbs each at 35psi, more than enough for our big boats. Many of the M/T front runners are only load rated to 980-1125lbs which isn't enough considering how much our cars weigh. You can get that size tire from M&H in a radial or bias ply. They're around $200 a piece. Not cheap, but considering you'll be doing 110-125mph depending on your build, you don't want to cheap out on those, especially when they're only 4.5" wide haha!

Good luck with your build man, that really sucks it's taking so long to get things done. Hopefully later this spring you will have it all wrapped up and back on the road.
 
#20 ·
What's the deal with the engine block stuff? Can't the machine shop find you a good core? Or can't you just buy a short block direct from Mopar and throw your other existing parts on that?

I recommend the M&H 28-4.5/17 radial front runners. They are load rated at 1350lbs each at 35psi, more than enough for our big boats. Many of the M/T front runners are only load rated to 980-1125lbs which isn't enough considering how much our cars weigh. You can get that size tire from M&H in a radial or bias ply. They're around $200 a piece. Not cheap, but considering you'll be doing 110-125mph depending on your build, you don't want to cheap out on those, especially when they're only 4.5" wide haha!

Good luck with your build man, that really sucks it's taking so long to get things done. Hopefully later this spring you will have it all wrapped up and back on the road.
they are stupid expensive, that's why most of us use a salvage yard block.
For about $2500 more (versus rebuilding a 6.1 block) you can order a 6.2 shortblock from one of the vendors, that would make turn around a lot quicker...

I have a 380hp cammed 5.7 shortblock with 60k I'll let go for cheap if you want it, i'll send the tune with it. put your heads and accessories on it and it's ready.
 
#22 · (Edited)
All I can say is she lives.....forged, cammed, and finally making noise after all these long months....

I'll get a better vid once the detailing is done. She needed a cleaning in a baadddd way...lol.

 
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