'85 Ram...I need some guidance

[CantRamItDodgeIt91]

Hey Guys, I just got my hands on a 1985 Ram 150, Retired Airforce truck. It has a 225 Slant Six, and is blue/rust haha. I was wondering if anyone knew any quick/easy tricks to make my 225 run smoother or increase my horsepower. Any ideas would be Greatly Appreciated, also i'm looking for a place to find a decent tailgate replacement for it as well. Any comments would be appreciated! Talk to you all later!

[78D200]

those 225 are a great motor that is very strong and hard to kill. first off how far into it do you want to go? just bolt ons or are you willing to pull the motor and do internals too?

Here is a list of things to look into either way.
comp cams high energy - either their street or truck cams.
offenhauser makes an intake for that motor.
as far as carbs go, i'd probably go with a holley 390 cfm 4160 carb. it has an electric choke, single intake and will work well on that motor.
as for headers, a 6-2 header would work great with a cam that has an RPM range of 800 - 4500 or 1200 - 5200. hooker is a good company to get a header from.
for the exhaust, put a 3 way cat on there and then whatever muffler you want. if you want high flow then look into hooker max flow mufflers. as for what size pipe to run, i'd stay with either a 2.25".
for the ignition, orange box first off. a good set of 8MM wires, and a MSD coil. if your dizzy nees to be replaced then maybe look into an MSD ready to run dizzy. it only takes 3 wires to hook it up and then adjust the timing. otherwise i'd stay with the mopar dizzy.

thats what I would do if i had another 85 D-series truck. what tranny do you have? if its manual and needs a clutch, go with centerforce II clutch. they are really strong. if its an auto and is slipping or acting up then i would look into getting a rebuild kit w/shift kit from TCI. get a stall convertor with a stall rating around 1200 - 1500 RMP and that will really wake up that motor.

hope this helps.

[CantRamItDodgeIt91]

Thanks alot, It's all greatly appreciated. It's an automatic that slips haha you caught that dead on, so I'll be looking into that. The Slant Six is a big change from my last truck which was a 79 D-100 with a 440 out of a Coronet RT....I needed something a little more fuel efficient haha.

[78D200]

I had an 85 D100 a few years back that was going to get a 383 BB all done up and then I looked into building the slant 6 and fond a lot of goodies for them and read that they can be built up enough to match a SB motor with small add-ons.

[CantRamItDodgeIt91]

As of last night, My New Dodge is looking pretty pitiful. I pulled the rims and tires off, the grill, and the interior completely out. I have to replace the passenger headlight bucket. If anyone knows where I can get some decent OEM Parts, any information is appreciated.

[78D200]

www.carpartswholesale.com

I'm getting a driver's side front fender from them. all their parts are suppose to match OEM quality and fit.