Ram Jet 350- opinions and experience

[El Tesoro]

I am looking at purchasing a '72 Jimmy that has a Ram Jet 350 in it. Since I am not familiar with these motors, I would like to hear some opinions and experiences with these motors. What should I look out for with it?

Does it impact the long term value of the truck not having a motor closer to standard?

 

[AV8TER]

A Ram Jet is just a 5.7 GM engine. Nothing out of the normal. The cool part, and the bad part is it's fuel injected. In my opinion EFI is the best thing to happen to 4x4s. The bad part of this system is GM uses a MEFI controller to run this engine. It is GMs marine fuel injection system. It works very well in stock form but if you change anything and need ECM tuning there isn't many options. You can pull the ECM and send it to someone like Arizona Speed and Marine or spend about $650 on software to do it yourself.

Myself I use MEFI systems on my last couple of engines and love how they perform off road.

 

[Blue85]

The biggest engine option in 1972 was 175HP, while the Ram Jet is rated at 350. That motor costs like $6k while a stock replacement is like $2.2k, so it seems to me the value of the truck is increased quite a bit. The only exception is if it's a real museum-level showpiece, then somebody might worry about whether it has the "correct" engine. But it's still a 5.7L small block Chevy. Did you really want to mess with a 40+ year old carb anyway?

 

[82355]

Unless you are going for a numbers matching restoration, it is a definite upgrade.

Martin

 

[Greg Ducato]

Surprisingly torquey engine, I think it would increase the value of the truck, clean, conservatively modified vehicles are bringing better money than most stockers these days.

 

[El Tesoro]

thanks

Thanks for the input.