Chrysler Canada RAM

[Bob Carriere]

Jack....what happened to the white aluminum top?? was it even original ???

....is the truck noisy to ride without the top closing off the engine cavity??

Did you re-install a 318...... there were rumors that the 318 that was in there when Andre purchased it....later redone with a 340 civvy... rumors it had replace the original 361 Industrial Chrysler engine derived from a 383 destroked engine block favored by Chrysler Canada for industrial application. Wonder what the other survivors had for an engine????

Some mean dune buggy!!! it was driven up to the head water of the Dumoine river fishing camp....... when we got there people we surprised we had come up by road which had not been used for years....they always flew in from the Ottawa river. Them were the days of the Outaouais 4x4 Club from Hull.....early 70s....... following the FLQ crisis and rise of the PQ Party all the huge privately owned fishing camps( a lot funded by USA members) were arbitrarily abolished....all they could own was a few acres surrounding the camp sites....... there response..... no more maintenance of the dirt roads/bridges giving access to the camps........ that was a dark period for about 4 to 5 yeras until duly organized ZEC were created....."Zone d'Exploitation Commercial...... who took over the maintenance and enforcement of fishing rules and regs...... so for about 4 years it was a free for all as long as you had vehicles that could travel the bad roads,,,, we favored the surplus M37 over anything else at the time.... Out of country fishermen were flying in from Maniwaki........ fished the lakes with out ever touching the shores...... there by eluding the early ZEC road blocks in such places as Otter Lake....... where they were seizing trucks, trailers and campers with 100s of trout filets in coolers. In Maniwaki they got off the sea planes and just drove away....

Bob C.

[Jack Innes]

The top is with the truck but not installed. With the top in place the truck will not fit in its storage building & secondly if you had a disaster in the water it would be almost impossible to escape. It does have a sun-roof that was likely intended to be an escape hatch but too many trips to the buffet have made that option questionable fo many of us. The top was not likely original to the truck & appears to have been skillfully made using aircraft methods. The noise level is about the same with or without the top. I think #3 had a soft top originally.

The engine is the original 318 with 9,000 miles on it & the transmission is a beefed up 727 automatic. The manual for the truck specifies the engine as a 318-3LA.

Great information on the fishing trips. I understand it handled better in the water with a barrel of gasoline at the back of the box.

[rob love]

When we used to swim the carriers, we would place sandbags in the back to simulate the weight of either cargo or troops to keep the vehicle level. Not on the MRT mind you. There was already enough weight in all the spare parts and tooling.



With the M113, there was only one drill whilst swimming. If the vehicle was taking on water, the engine stopped, or a host of other warning signs, you abandoned ship.