Which motor should I buy?
 

I was thinking of going to EFI and buying the Ramjet 350 for my 72 K10. I go to the desert once in a while so I would be towing a 18' trailer. My buddy said I should get the crate carburated 502 because it makes 512 FT. lbs of torque @2800 rpm. I think the ramjet is 400 @3500rpm which he says is not useable for towing. Do you think I could put a differant cam in the ramjet to change it a little? Oh, and I have a stock ch465 4 speed tranny with 373 gears and 32 inch tires.

What would you guys do?

thanks, James

[This message has been edited by sigurd (edited April 17, 2002).]

Hi i dont think the ramjet 350 would be incapable of towing,hell people do it all the time with a stock 200hp small blockI personally would up to go with the bigger motor.but im a BBC fan,and imagine going up those tall mountain hills at 85 mph at ease,or in the RH lane in 2nd at 35.which wouldnt happen with the ramjet 350,but the big block has alot of grunt.

I am going with the ram jet myself. I was going to build a 600+hp big block. Then one day riding in a friends 550 hp+- '75 and it was real easy for the tires to break loose so I decided to tone it down quite a bit. I am going with the ram jet also for the reliability of fuel injection. As far a wether or not it will tow what a bout a piddly ol' straight 6.

If you are looking into crates,Gm puts out a 383/325 hp,with 415tork @ 3200-3500 that should make a nice tow motor.....at about 1/2 the price of the 502. Dont underestimate the long arm smallblocks. 383s ROCK!......69 longhorn.

Just picture watching the fuel gage move as
you drive that big-block, especially when
you're not towing anything....and dont really need all the engine! I say go with
the RAM-JET 350 or the Crate383 if you dont
want the fuel injection...Only big pain in
the a$$ with fuel injection is dealing with
the gastank/fuel pump, other than that, not
so bad!

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71 Chevy C-10 SWB Fleetside WAS:307w/3-on-the-tree NOW:350TBI/700R4/3.73
See it at www.prismnet.com/~grzanich

I dont have anything against big blocks,love the power.....still think about all the tork that 461 inch olds pulled,but then I remember the milage also. it got 6 1/2-7 mpg,if I drove it real easy,& liked racing fuel better than it did the pump stuff. The old saying"pass anything but a gas station"........69

Spend that $4500 on a slightly used late model LS1 complete with trans. Streeet&Performance makes a wiring harness and motor mounts.
Will run circles around that RamJet, get at least 20 mpg, pull whatever you like, and get kudo's at the local drive-in on Saturday night.
Just my two cents. SC.

While the 502 would be very tempting, it's expensive and I'm sure it's hard on fuel. The 350 should have no problem at all towing your trailer, especially with the rear end ratio and the trans you have. We have an 84 K-20 with a TH400 and 4:10s, It pulls a 7X24 stock trailer loaded with cows at least once a week and does a good job. I don't know where the h.p. rating is on the 350 that's in it, but it's getting pretty weak, and that's understandable since it's had it's guts worked out since it was put in 180,000 miles ago.

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Ol' Buck: '72 Chevy 1/2T 4x4 shortbox stepside 350/350auto on '84
ralleys and 31/10.5s

Angel girl: 67 Cutlass convertible
330, 3spd stick

Greener: 90 GMC Jimmy
350/auto
Chad Stephens
Orleans,NE

no name yet: 72 442 under serious construction

Read an article in Carcraft that says the 350 Ramjet should not be modified because the "Brain" cannot be altered. Of course I was reading this at work at about 3am but I'm pretty sure that's what it said.

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Ken Floyd
72 C20 350HO
82 Honda Silverwing
2001 Silverado