red ram

-
dodgeboy

dodgeboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Messages
722
Reaction score
58
Location
greenup,il
my neighbor came down tonite to help on my semi and he ask me if i knew anything about an engine with red ram on it im clueless on this one this guy has a collection of old engines at his dads farm any help on this red ram thing would be apreciated thx
 
I've heard my grandfather talk about Red Ram engines a few times, (take the following with a grain of salt, my grandfather is known to blow things way out of proportion, or fabricate huge lies)

But from what he's told me, the Red Ram is a 1950's Hemi found in a Dodge Truck of some kind.

I don't think it was the 331, but I could be wrong about that (if he was telling me the truth, of course)
 
Its a first gen hemi. Should be a 241, 270, 325 C.I. Dodge Motor. Although the 315 C.I. motor was also called a Red Ram it is a Poly motor and not a Hemi
 
Not all RED RAM engines were Hemi's..........
 

Attachments

  • Dodge_Red_Ram_Engine_by_DetroitDemigod.jpg
    138 KB · Views: 1,005
1970Duster said:
That would be a picture of the 315 C.I. Red Ram Dodge motor.
Click to expand...

Which unlike the 318 is from an earlier family of Polyspherical engines based on and sharing parts with their HEMI counterparts.
 
The early Hemis from the 50's were called "Red Ram". they also came in 331, 354, and 392 cubic inches in addition to the ones listed above by 1970Duster. They have the spark plugs in the center of the valve covers like the 426, however the 426 had a FRONT distributor and the early Hemis had a REAR distributor. The last year for the old Hemis I believe was 1958.
 
krazykuda said:
The early Hemis from the 50's were called "Red Ram". they also came in 331, 354, and 392.
Click to expand...

I've never seen the larger engines tagged "Red Ram," you sure about that?

Red Ram seems to be strictly a Dodge moniker, not Chrysler/ Desoto

And there CERTAINLY Poly engines tagged with "Red Ram"
 
Karl, the Red Ram was the Dodge Hemi, except for the 315 and 325, which were the 500Ds. Firedome was Desoto's Hemi and Firepower was Chrysler's Hemi. They all had different names and different cubic inch displacements. Real easy, just go click the link to Bob Walker's site that I posted. Tons of info there for early Hemi stuff.
 
I thought the 331 and 392 were Chrysler Fire power or just Fire power. At least that was on the valve covers.
 
krazykuda said:
The last year for the old Hemis I believe was 1958.
Click to expand...

1970's actually, the old Hemis continued production into the 70's for use in Industrial and Stationary Equipment (Backhoes, dozers, generators, water pumps, etc)

Just like the old Chrysler flathead 6 continued production into the 70's too, for use in Industrial equipment too.
 
stroker i went to that site u gave me it helped red ram was dodge only moniker for 1953 1954 my friend is goin to get #,s off his engine so that we can do a beter search thx for all the input guys
 
67Dart273 said:
I've never seen the larger engines tagged "Red Ram," you sure about that?
Click to expand...

No, I'm not sure about them being red rams. Some of them were firepower. I thought it depended on what brand it was put in. DeSoto, Plymouth, Dodge, or Chrysler.

I do know that the 354 Hemi came in a red ram because the engine plant that I worked at had one that was used to run a siren and was scrapped about 8 years ago.
 
DeSoto and Chrysler cars used "Fire" in the name of the engine or car. There were Firedome, Firesweep, Fireflite, and Firepower (392 CI only).

Dodge used "Ram" in the name of their engines e.g. Ram, Red Ram. Dodge continued to use "Ram" in their performance line in later years e.g. Ramcharger 426, Ram exhaust, Ram induction.

Plymouth came out with "Comando" such as Comando 318 or Golden Torque Comando. It never caught on in popularity.
 
To confuse matters even more, Dodge used the Chrysler Fire Power Hemis in their heavy duty trucks, while the Red Ram was used in the light duty. lol My 56 331 Hemi came out of a D700.
 
StrokerScamp said:
To confuse matters even more, Dodge used the Chrysler Fire Power Hemis in their heavy duty trucks, while the Red Ram was used in the light duty. lol My 56 331 Hemi came out of a D700.
Click to expand...


I'm confused.... :confused: :scratch:
 
krazykuda said:
No, I'm not sure about them being red rams. Some of them were firepower. I thought it depended on what brand it was put in. DeSoto, Plymouth, Dodge, or Chrysler.

I do know that the 354 Hemi came in a red ram because the engine plant that I worked at had one that was used to run a siren and was scrapped about 8 years ago.
Click to expand...

Hey krazykuda, here's a link to info on the Chrysler air raid sirens for you. They're pretty impressive.
There's a restored hemi-powered siren here in SoCal that I've heard powered up and wailing at several car shows - brings back memories of the old "duck-and-cover" air raid drills from way back in grade school.

http://www.victorysiren.com/x/index.htm
 
When I was a kid, I worked in a garage. I remember a nice, plain Dodge sedan came in several times for an oil change. It said "Red Ram" on the valve cover but I can't recall if it was a hemi. What I do remember was a stick shift but it had a torque converter and a clutch. The engine shared its oil with the converter and an oil change took 13 Qts of oil! If I remember right, the clutch was used to change gears but the converter decoupled at idle so you didn't have to depress the clutch when stopping.
 
i have a 1959 354 chrysler hemi that came out of a dodge truck (valve covers have chrysler firepower scripted on them ......

my 1956 354 hemi came out of a chrysler 300B and the valve covers are blank
 
Oh boy.

Dodge poly and hemi engines were both called Red Ram's at different times. There were also Super Red Rams.

Here's how it worked. Dodge hemi's were available as 241's, 270's, 315's, and 325's. Dodge poly engines were 270's, 315's and even 325's.

In 1953 and 1954, 241 hemi's were Red Rams
In 1955, 270 hemi's were Super Red Rams

Easy so far. But 1955 and 1956 270 poly's were also called Red Rams. So, a Red Ram can either be a 241 Dodge hemi, or a 270 Dodge Poly.

315's and 325's weren't called Red Rams. 315 Dodge Hemi's were D500's, 325's were KD500's.

And then the poly's had different designations too. And, although there were never early Plymouth hemi's or DeSoto poly's, there were Plymouth poly's (241's and 260's) that were just Dodge poly's. And, in 1957 you could get a Dodge 325 poly in your DeSoto, but it carried the DeSoto designation of S27.

Confused? Dodge trucks also had Chrysler Hemi's in them in 1956 through 1959, depending on the model. They were 331 and 354 Chrysler hemi's, again depending on the year and model of truck, and were called "Power Giants" if they were in a Power Wagon model. The valve covers weren't embossed like the other Chrysler's (either Firepower, Marine, or Industrial), they were smooth, but carried "power giant" decals.

Chrysler Hemi's, Dodge Hemi's and DeSoto Hemi's are all different entities. Nothing interchanges to the Chrysler Hemi's from the other makes, although 331/354/392 Chrysler Hemi's have quite a few interchanging parts, especially the 331/354's (same deck height, unlike the 392). Dodge and Plymouth poly's are basically the same, and Dodge and DeSoto hemi's can interchange rods and main caps for certain years.
 
Again, real simple. Read the link I posted. Bob Walker is the recognized early Hemi guru. It's all there. I don't know why people have to be so absolutely frikkin stupid hardheaded as to argue with a flippin brick wall. It's the absolute damndest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. It's enough to make me beat my head against a wall till blood runs out of my eyes.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Again, real simple. Read the link I posted. Bob Walker is the recognized early Hemi guru. It's all there. I don't know why people have to be so absolutely frikkin stupid hardheaded as to argue with a flippin brick wall. It's the absolute damndest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. It's enough to make me beat my head against a wall till blood runs out of my eyes.
Click to expand...

I suppose this is directed at me?

Well, here's the deal. I own all of the engines I mentioned above, with the exception of a 325 Dodge Hemi. I have 2 Dodge poly's (270 Red Rams), 2 Dodge Hemi's (one Super Red Ram and a 315), and 1 Plymouth Poly. I also have 2 DeSoto hemi's (one Fireflite and one FireDome), and 15 Chrysler hemi's, ranging in displacement from 301 (chrysler poly) up to 392. That's a total of 22 hemi/poly engines, of all 3 makes.

Bob Walker is a very well versed hemi guru. I've talked with him more than a few times. But, his main knowledge is Chrysler hemi's. And even then, there are discrepancies out there. Even Tex Smith's hemi book has several noted errors.

And I've also bought parts from Bob's site that are flat out wrong for what they're intended for, especially the Dodge parts.

So, if you want to bang your head against the wall til your eyes bleed, feel free.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2012-02-08 at 7.50.31 PM.jpg
    91.7 KB · Views: 1,213
  • Screen Shot 2012-02-08 at 7.52.25 PM.jpg
    62.3 KB · Views: 1,266
  • IMG_4648 copy.jpg
    174.1 KB · Views: 1,179
72bluNblu said:
................So, if you want to bang your head against the wall til your eyes bleed, feel free..........................
Click to expand...

THANK you. I knew damn well I'd seen a Poly with the "Red Ram" logo on it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top