Raider 6.0 V8 345hp, 380ft lb, 3öexhaust, Megasquirt ECU, EDIS ignition, Innovate LC-1 WB Lambda, NV4500, NP241 with JB conversions ôsuper shortö kit û running and reliable

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Everything started in spring 2005, when I bought Dodge Raider from Ebay for $217 with bad engine. The body was in perfect condition as it had been Colorado car, almost no rust at all.

Next I ordered engine rebuild kit and after a few weeks the car was running. Went to the mountains right away. It was totally different world to go to the trails, take the challenges and get myself into terrible situations. I was amazed about the strength and reliability of the car, but power was a big disappointment, especially at higher altitudes in the mountains. I tried 3 different carburetors û got it a bit better, but realized that even if I got it ideal, it was not going to be enough.
So I started to look for alternatives, put a lot of thinking into this stage, maybe too much, but I wanted to be sure that I would be satisfied with the result. Probably the easiest swap would have been using the Starion turbo engine, I had also other ideas like Mitsu 3.5 V6 (214hp), Chrysler 3.5 V6 (255 hp), Cadillac Northstar V8 (275-320hp), Dodge Hemi 5.7 (345hp), Chevy Vortec 6.0 V8 (300-345hp), or Chevy LS1/LS2.
All of them had their own cons and pros, but when you have already dreamed about Raider with V8 and 300hp, then itÆs impossible to settle with less than that, even if money is a big issue. I liked Northstar, but it was mostly used on FWD cars, so the engine mounts, exhaust manifolds and cooling stuff that is on top of the gearbox should have been totally redone. On the other hand Hemi, Vortec and LS2 engines were too expensiveà but knowing the work that needed to be done for the swap, I didnÆt want anything less than 300hp anymore. I started to scan Craigslist and Ebay regularly every day to find a good deal. It was just looking ads, dreaming about the project and waiting, waiting, waitingà I almost felt that itÆs never going to happen until one day I found a good ôBuy it nowö deal from Ebay for 6.0 Vortec just here in Denver. I took off the work this afternoon and bought the engineà and found out that it was actually from Escalade, which meant that it had 345hp and 380 ft lb. It was in May 2006. Finding a good deal took me 7 monthsà, but now I was sure it would happen!



The new engine was 4ö longer than the original one, so I had to put the engine as close to firewall as possible and obviously needed to move radiators forward. Luckily I didnÆt have to change the sump û it fitted perfectly.
If you have ever seen Chevy small block flywheel size and bellhousing and compared it to RaiderÆs original bellhousing, you can imagine that there is no way it would fit to original tunnel. So there were 2 options: body lift or major modifications of the floor and tunnel û I choose the 2nd option, cut about half of the floor off to fit Chevy transmission, front driveshaft and 3" custom exhaust.


Next chapter coming soonà

You could sign up at photobucket.com and upload them then use the url to post em here. Another option would be to email them to someone and they could do it for you. There will be a steady flow of questions once people start reading this, however. You didn't mention axles, what did you do with that?

That sounds like a powerful swap! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Here are links to a couple of free photo hosts:

ImageThrust

ImageShack

The first one allows uploading of multiple pics at once.

I choose the "thumbnail link for forums" and paste the link into an image link on the forum. It's then necessary to delete the "[image]" at the front and back of the forum link for the thumbnail to operate correctly. I suppose you can hot-link to the hosted picture, but the thumbnails seem more user friendly.

Let's see some pics! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Frank

What year is the Raider? Was it originally a Auto or a manual?

Tag -

He must have 2 Raiders....... I see a post from 10/29/2006 where he had a 3.0L O/D problem, fixed by connecting the coolant temp wire........... but he says he has a V-8 engine in the Raider with a cut up floor pan and relocated radiators..... maybe he works a lot faster than most of us. Some folks turn wrenches really fast.

[EDIT] The transmission problem was with a '94 Montero 3.0L.... we need pics of the 6.0L Raider! [EDIT]

Frank

Holy schnikes! A 6.0l vortec in a Raider! Pics are not only desired, but they are mandatory for an undertaking of this magnitude. We... need... pics!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Did you do anything with the rear axle, or did you just leave the Mitsu in there? Also, on the Megasquirt, how did you setup the EDIS? Did you mount a trigger wheel somewhere? I'd especially like more details on your Megasquirt setup and the WB system.

What an awesome sounding project!



Photobucket.com is a pretty good image host and pretty easy to use.

I want to know what state he lives in and if there are emissions requirements.

It seems he lives in Denver.

There are no state-wide emissions requirements in Colorado, but some areas have them. The Denver Metro area has the most stringent requirements in the state. El Paso county (Colorado Springs) currently has a basic program, but it's set to go away as of January 1st, 2007. Good for me. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

... Pictures upload in process...

The car is from 89, was originally with 2.6, manual transmission

I have tried to invest to the original axles as little as possible at the moment, because in the future I'd like to go some "big" axles anyway. Just one project at the time.
At the moment in front I have 91 Montero 4door front axle with welded diff and manual hubs.
Rear - original axle with leaf springs on top of the axle with added torque bar at the top of the axle near 3rd member. Used to have welded diff, but broke halfshafts with it. Have replaced it with LSD.
When I broke the halfshafts, I had to drive home from the mountains 100 miles with front wheel drive, front diff welded - scary, don't want to do this again <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

The exhaust is built this way that I can have either resonators or catalytic converters before muffler. I have programmable ECU with WB lambda, so emissions are not problem at all.

I also had a daily driver Montero 94 3.0 AT, that I sold few days ago, sorry about the confusion.

How did you get the driver side exhaust past the fuel tank?

Frank