Actually, it's sort of a joke, because Ramchargers never came with diesels, but that didn't stop Harvey Grant from installing one in this '87 Dodge. You may not have heard of Harvey, but you've probably heard of his company, J&H Performance. J&H has helped build many powerful diesel trucks, from 2006 Diesel Power Challenge winner Nick D'Amico's Chevy (engine, transmission, and exhaust work), to 2008 Diesel Power Challenge winner Chris Werner's Dodge, which got its transmission built at J&H. With this impressive resume, there was still one thing missing-an awesome shop truck.
Harvey and shop co-owner Joel Gooch have been in the diesel scene for a while, and even took Second Place at the 2005 High Desert Roundup in Palmdale, California with a four-wheel-drive Ramcharger that ran a 12.06-second elapsed time. Since then, Harvey had always wanted to build another one, but this time a lighter, two-wheel-drive version. One day Harvey found an old Ramcharger nicknamed "Cha Cha" dropped off in front of his shop courtesy of Dynomite Diesel. Harvey called Lenny Reed, the owner of Dynomite, and asked him about the Charger. "It's your problem now," replied Lenny. After a very small amount of money was exchanged, Harvey got to work on his new, bright red Ramcharger.
"It took about a year to build" said Harvey. "We had a lot of pieces and parts lying around the shop that found their way into this project." What's amazing is the Dodge still manages to look and run darn good, considering the mix of parts. The short block is a '90, the head is off of a '97, the front cover and P-pump are off of another 12-valve they had laying around with a burnt piston. The transmission is a 47RH out of a '95 Dodge, and features a bunch of tricks from transmission guru Joel Gooch. The converter is "a blue one" that the boys found on the ground at the shop.
The engine is a fairly simple non-intercooled deal. The only trick internal parts are a set of 60-pound valvesprings, ARP studs, and a fire-ringed head. With a single turbo, a 0.052 nitrous jet in the first stage, and a 0.110 nitrous jet in the second, the Dodge has made 718 hp at the rear wheels. | 
The nitrous system gives an extra 200 hp, and is plumbed directly into the intake horn, which by the way, is off of a '93 Dodge. | 
The "coffee maker" on top is actually an external wastegate that is welded directly to the exhaust manifold. "We didn't have time to do it any other way," Harvey says. "Plus our shop guys are getting pretty good at welding cast iron." |