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