[CdnoilRAM]

After the demise of my last truck at the hands of a Grand Cherokee that thought my truck was a better way to stop than using his own brakes, it's time to look to the future. In that theme, I would like to introduce my new truck... soon to be dubbed "Green Mamba"

It's an '09 1500 QCRB Sport. The important features from the factory are the 5.7L, 3.92 anti-spin diff, 4wd, and I had the dealership put 17s on it for my winter rubber. The guy that had it before me had added side steps, a nasty fuel door, tailgate extender, rear helper bags, a magnaflow 2-in/2-out muffler, and managed to put 100,000 kms on it. Why did I buy such high mileage? Because the entire drive train and suspension are going to be changed out in the next year, so why buy a low mileage one. The body is in OK shape, the expected dents and dings for a used vehicle, and one box side has been repainted, badly.

In true Cdnoilram fashion, I am going hog wild on the build and I was ordering parts even before I had possession of the vehicle :smiley_thumbs_up: Everything will happen in several phases over the next year, because I want to have the truck to where I'll be happy with it by next year. It would be sooner, but I'm also paying for my wedding that will be in June.

Phase 1 mods, already ordered/received:

Stance and handling
McGaughy's 2/4 drop kit, this will be cut for a 3/5 drop
Spohn adjustable panhard bar, adjustable rear upper and lower control arms
Hellwig rear sway bar
EBC sport rotors, green stuff pads (was going to do SSBC kit but would have to run 18s and I don't feel like paying extra for winter rubber)

A few appearance mods
APM ram-air hood
Spyder smoked LED tail lights
Anzo smoked LED 3rd brake
Street Scenes roll pan

Phase 1.5 makin' it look unique in my own special way: (expected ~March)

2-tone paint job by Airdrie Autowerks. A little snakeskin green ('10 ACR viper green) just for a bit of pop :wow:
Custom '13 sport projector headlights
Shave tailgate badge and antennae
Building a custom grille - this is going to be sweet (I'm keeping this under wraps for now, that's all I'm gonna say)
Spray-in bed liner

Phase 2 mods are all performance, have most from old truck:

Arrington P&P BV eagle heads (have)
ARH 1 3/4" primary LT headers (have)
MGH built 545/68rfe hybrid transmission (scheduled to be built)
ported 6.1L intake manifold (have)
85mm BBK throttle body (have)
Nitrous Outlet 85mm nitrous plate (have)
ZEX wet kit (have)

I am looking for a 370 or 392 forged stroker kit/block to handle the novi 1200 I have, but that might take a year with all the custom fab work I'll need to do to make it all work.

Phase 3, may happen before phase 2... audio:

Pioneer 2-DIN HU (have)
Front door panels to hold 6.5" components + 8" mid sub (have)
Modify center console and build box to hold a JL 13TW5 downfire or cheap out and just get a FOX box for 2x JL 10W6s
JL HD 900/5 + 600/4 (have)


That's the plan so far, there will be plenty of changes and tweaks as I make progress, but this is the first truck that I've actually got a plan and want to stick to it. It's warmed up nicely the last few days which means the snow is melting a bit and the truck is absolutely filthy... so no pics until tomorrow after I wash it.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Brad... you should realize that I love vibrant colors on vehicles. I biggest travesty I see is all vehicles being some drab and boring color. The only color that has ever jumped out at me in the Ram line was the late 90s electric blue and the Daytona's burnt orange. Everything else is just boring.

That would be the green I'm looking at :smileup: I wanted something like sublime green but with pearl/metallic and snakeskin is the closest I could find without getting too olive like Green With Envy. I did look at some of the HoK colors and a few others but my painter can make snakeskin himself as opposed to ordering a bunch of stuff directly from HoK.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Here we go again. This build is gonna be badass and I will follow it all the way. My buddy has a Viper in that same color and it is definitely badass.

9

What viper? I don't see no stinkin' viper.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

And here it is finally. Oddly, it looks like almost every other stock '09 RAM out there...

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Your half way there! It's a sport!
That is pretty much what mine looked like when I opened the box. Differences include the wheels/tires, step rails, grille insert, mud flaps, gas cap and vent visors. Are any of these items listed going to survive....I'm thinking not.

Wheels are staying, they'll be my winter wheels, but the tires will be swapped to a set of studded Nokian Hakkapelitta 5 winters. Step rails, mud flaps, gas cap, helper bags, and vent visors will disappear and the grill is the OEM one, but it's getting some 'custom' treatment.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Alright! First update now that I actually HAVE some mods to put on the truck. I had the pleasure of heading down to the border today to pick up my shipment of the first round of mods :smileup: :smileup: Unfortunately my hood hadn't shown up yet so I'll have to drive down again to get that, of course it arrives in one more day, which happens to be the day I fly back to work. c'est la vie.

One interesting thing is I ordered the McGaughy's 2/4 spring lowering kit, while that kit did come complete, I was also sent a RH drop spindle as well... I wonder if I can get them to ship me the LH one then I'll have the option to go lower if I ever decide to.

But, here is the piece de resistance! If I ever get bored of calling it the green mamba I can always start calling it the angry goat. Say hello to my new grille badge, this thing is 14" across and exceptionally well painted. I will be building a custom deep mouth grille and this bad boy will be sitting front and center.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

First, I pick the girl on your right, your friend or not I don't care. If it's your daughter... well then Dad we're going to be spending a lot more time together, thank god we have things in common like modding and beer But I must detest your "all other colors are boring" though sir... no no no, there's no changing your mind and saying "well okay I forgot about that color and/or I like your truck".

It's cool...

I have the ugly duckling in the family. But by god I will make sure that thing is shined up and GLEAMING everyday so if there's just an off chance that I might stop by to visit, or your running down to the border to grab parts and I'm already there waiting for goodies you'll get a sharp sun beam right in your eyes bouncing off my bright blue boring paint job. It haunts you and eventually you'll be driving down the street past a McDonald's and BOOM there it is again and you'll just flip your lid going "Dammit there it is again!! Typical fricken American with his shined up Chrome and bright Blue boring paint at a damn McFatty's!! Everywhere I go it's like a screwed up version of where's Waldo where it's damn easy to find him :SHOCKED:







But really I'm looking forward to the build of your new truck, and thank you Shawn for pointing me in the right direction :smileup:

The only thing wrong with all that is one word... chrome. I can't stand that stuff, too much work to keep it looking good. Plus, pretty much every truck out this way is black or blue with every conceivable part that can be chromed, done to the tits.

If this build is anything like the last one (and I know it will be), it's going to be an adventure.

Oh, don't you know it sir :smileup:

Can't wait to see this!

(Can you PWEASEEEE get me a part number off those 2013 17" wheels? I can't find one anywhere and you're the first I've seen to actually own a set).

I don't know the part number. Part of my deal for the truck was they take the 20s off and put 17s on it. They just happened to pull them off of a '13. They thought I was crazy taking the 20s off because everyone out here wants the 20s, but having the 22s from the old truck and wanting to keep my $1800 worth of snow/ice tires it just made sense.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Won't the part number be cast on the inside/back of the wheel?

It's been in the -20C lately and today warmed up to -7C, so it's been too cold/wet to spend any time crawling around under the vehicle. I can have a look when I'm back in town from work.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Alright, no photos this round since there's nothing to show. I've been contacting vendors left right and center to get the parts I want for more of this build. MGH has agreed to build me a tranny which I'll be fine tuning this summer before the major engine build in the fall.

I contacted billet tech about getting some parts done in a green anodized finish, they DON'T do green, however they steered me towards speedlogix who buys BT stuff and does their own anodizing and engraving, and they do green! I have placed an order with them for a bunch of parts in a "near" green with envy finish that should look good with the SSG.

Also got a hold of AAC for halos for the '13 projectors and they say they have something that will fit nicely. So as soon as I hear back there will be an order placed for the rings and a few other additional lighting needs.

A set of HIR2 55w hids will be coming from retro solutions shortly because I want to get these headlights done ASAP. I even bought some SSG paint to play around with inside the housings.

And lastly, ordered a diy hydro graphics kit to try some small stuff and get a feel for working with it before I do a bunch of stuff with snakeskin graphics. Just need to see how well colors come through the prints I ordered.

That's all for now.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Lol, I love it, all the truck parts and mods I can think of, and everyone focuses on the hot women in front of a viper.... yeah, I've come back to look at them too. They're like milk, they do the body good.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

I guess I'm weird or something? but I'd say A hot WOMAN in that pic...

True dat..........

 

[CdnoilRAM]

The fiancee is house sitting for a friend which means I have the condo all to myself, so I decided to stink it up by painting the 2013 headlight I have. I only have the passenger side right now, the driverside is waiting for me at the border and I'll be picking it up on Thursday.

Remember, snake skin green and black in the theme of this vehicle...

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Just got off the phone with AAC, both sets of HALOs I ordered are back ordered, that'll happen when you open an new store and it takes half of your stock. A few weeks to get everything in stock and ship out. Once they get here I get to figure out how to run just a green halo, but when it's in drive it shifts to white. I have an idea, but also have to put it to the test.

I appreciate all the help from the lady I talked to, she spent a good 15 minutes running around the shop seeing if things fit or taking measurements.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Have a block to work with now!

Was randomly searching around eBay and came across a forged shortblock built by PWR. I have been looking around for either a forged rotating assembly + core block or a 370/392 stroker block for several months now, and coming across this is just awesome.

Here are some details:

Block: 09+ 5.7 Hemi

Crankshaft: Forged 6.1 OEM Crank

Connecting Rods: Manley H-Beam

Connecting Rod Bolts: ARP2000

Pistons: Manley 2618 (3.937")

Piston Rings: Total Seal Ductile Iron

Bearings: Clevite Main/Rod and OEM Cam

Compression: 9.6:1 when used with 09+ 5.7 heads, 8.6:1 when used with 6.1's and Apache heads.

Additional Notes: Use as boosted motor up to 1000hp. In stock and ready to ship.

Assembly Notes: All PWR blocks are diamond honed, line-honed with Main Studs, Hot-tanked no less than 3-times, blue-printed, and individually assembled.

Cheapest rotating assembly I could find was 2K, plus I'd have to buy a block and there are NO used VVT blocks anywhere that I can find and they typically run in the 1-2K range, so walking away with this deal has made me quite happy!

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/130835122363?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619&autorefresh=true

 

[CdnoilRAM]

So the 6.1L Crank works on a stock 5.7L?

Yes and no is the correct answer. The 6.1L crank physically fits into the 5.7L vvt block, but there are some other things that need to be modified for it to work, unlike the non-vvt 5.7L where it just drops in. The 6.1L crank comes with a 32 tooth reluctor wheel but the 5.7L VVT needs a 58 tooth. The 5.7L vvt crank snout also has a spacer shoulder on it to locate the timing set properly, the 6.1L crank doesn't have this spacer, so needs to be added.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Hmm I may have to contact PWR about getting a Crank set up for the truck. I learn so much from your builds it's awesome, I don't even know how you learn these things about this motor lol

I pick people's brains...alot. The truth is, if it wasn't for the amazingly open and helpful people on all of the forums that I frequent I wouldn't be any further ahead. I tore my old engine apart as well, so having that kind of first-hand knowledge does make things easier.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

A slight drawback to the headlights. Received my driver-side one on Thursday and removed the rear housing cover only to find a huge crack running across the entire housing. The adjustment control is broken as well, but I'm going to try and rig this up to work, but if it doesn't, then I've lost is $225 and some time. I'll also have to try and find a headlight in good condition, but I'm going to paint the internals since they are in good shape and I'll be able to just swap them into a new housing if I can't fix this one.

 

[CdnoilRAM]

hows the lights coming along

Got my brand new driver-side headlight in on Wednesday and the halos showed up the same day so I'm off to the races. Housings are painted, halos are painted and silicone's drying overnight and I'll be reassembling everything in the morning. :smileup:

 

[CdnoilRAM]

They are 100mm OD RGB colorshift halos from AAC, that's the reason the surface mounts LEDs are so big. If I'd stuck with a single color halo I'd have more lights and they'd be in a tighter ring, but since I want to use green as the primary color I have to be able to switch to white for driving, hense the RGB halos. Now, I'm going to try to see if I can set it up so they are green with ignition on (with a relay for constant on for shows) and automatic white when shifted out of park. I'm thinking I'll tap a relay into my shifter harness.

You're also looking at a set that's been painted black then had the paint over the LEDs removed. This is what the stock rings look like (these are the unpainted fog rings)

 

[CdnoilRAM]

SEALED! Gonna let them cure for 24hrs before I do anything else with them. I'll be ordering a set of HIDs for the lows and I'll be leaving the highs as halogens just so I don't have to do anything about the DRLs. I'll start on the wiring harness tonight, I know most people won't go the route I'm planning, but in the end we'll see how it goes. Luckily I have a housing that I can experiment with before doing completed work on the good housings.

I'll probably be bringing my spare battery by later to check on wiring and such, so I'll get those shots later today.