Repair-It

http://autoweek.com/article/classic-car ... dailydrive

Commentary:
- I remember the Dodge Raider. That is the most complimentary thing I can say.
- Not only do I remember the Wagoneer, but my brother in law bought one with a possible head gasket problem that turned out to be very poor cooling system performance. His was an 89 and was still an AMC product (rather than Chrysler). So it had the fancy sequential EFI making about 177hp if memory serves, as well as an Aisin electronic transmission that felt very healthy. I will dig up a couple pics if I remember.
- Ramcharger. This needs to be said as loudly as possible: no Ramcharger had 260 or even 230 hp. I would wager that very few, if any, even had EFI. No, the 318 in this Ramcharger probably made all of 145hp and the 360 a bit more than that. The HP ratings that the author quoted were the final 318 (in the JGC) and 360 (the hotrod JGC that they made in the late 90s as well as Durango R/T).
- That same brother in law also drove a Samurai (or shared it with his brother, somewhat) in high school. He had fond memories. I rode in it at WPI and it was....memorably slow. WOT in 1st gear felt like spinning tire in the snow in normal vehicles.

Wiki disagrees with me.

Initially a normally aspirated carburetor, in 1988 the 318 gained throttle-body fuel injection with the 360 following in 1989. Power output for the TBI 318 was 230 hp (172 kW; 233 PS) and 280 lb·ft (380 N·m) of torque. The TBI 360 had 240 hp (179 kW; 243 PS) and 283 to 295 lb·ft (400 N·m). In 1992 the multiport fuel injected Magnum 318 was the standard engine while the LA 360 with TBI was still offered. In 1994 the Magnum 360 replaced the LA engine version.

This is not over!

318 was a little bigger than a 305, and a TBI 305 had 170hp in every application in which it was used.

The 360 was a little bigger than the 350, and the highest output L05 GM ever had was rated at 210hp. Needs more research.

http://www.nhra.com/competition/blueprints.aspx

Now here's a gem I never knew about.

Looked up 1990 Chrysler truck engines.

TBI 318 was 170 hp
4bbl 360 was 190 hp

1992 specs
MFI 318 was 230 hp (the question is, did they put this in the Ramcharger?)
TBI 360 was 190 hp
4bbl 360 was 205 hp

1994 specs
TBI (?) 318 was 220 hp
TBI 360 was 230 hp

So I guess the moral is, I don't know which engines they put in the Ramcharger, and also they made the Ramcharger until 1994, when the higher output 318 and 360 were available. Though the specs in the article (and wiki) are still wrong.

One of my neighbors has a Wagoneer that still runs and looks pretty good, so I see that one on a regular basis.

kevm14 wrote:- Not only do I remember the Wagoneer, but my brother in law bought one with a possible head gasket problem that turned out to be very poor cooling system performance. His was an 89 and was still an AMC product (rather than Chrysler). So it had the fancy sequential EFI making about 177hp if memory serves, as well as an Aisin electronic transmission that felt very healthy. I will dig up a couple pics if I remember.

As promised. Pics from Nov/Dec 2003. I think this was an 89. Notice the clear coat is gone.
https://onedrive.live.com/?id=9D52BC4A5 ... 4A50B7657E

That Ramcharger is a nice looking truck. Almost makes you want to put in a modern SRT drivetrain instead of one of those dime-a-dozen "LS swaps" people are constantly doing.