NewBie in San Francisco with a 82 D50 Sport (w/ restoration ?'s)

[Crossworth]

Hello MightyRam50.net enhusiasts & webmaster!

Thank you webmaster for hosting this site for all of us interested in the D50.

I have been a long time fan of the D50.
It was re-kindled with the recent feature of the 1980 Plymouth Arrow Sport offered by a Lamborgini Dealership in FL, aka CATS.

The re-kindling allowed me to find this website. I was wondering are we able to restore these pick-ups?

In my situation i would like to replace the front windshield weatherstrip, replace all the vinyl decals that are cracking. Bucket seats, center. console. Etc.

Living in California i cannot alter my engine due to smog. Which could be a concern when it starts to fail smog. Any one with a complete exhaust?

Thanks
Steve
82 Doge Ram 50, 5spd, all orig, blue plates, brown, no A/C ( how i wish it had one). Still with orig paint -brown. With full patina effect

80 Plymouth Arrow in Orange, 4spd, base model in need of rims and hub caps with beauty rings to complete the package and door cards.

[camoit]

Welcome to the site.
The decal is easy. Just go to a place that does car body wraps and have them print them out. Any way you want, and any colors.
SMOG you will need to hit up the pick and pulls in the area. There are 3 in Sacramento. Windshield & weatherstrip Call USA Auto Glass in Sac. and tell them you are with the mightyram50.net site 916-978-3550 Bucket seats, Upholstery shop on the seats, center console, more pick and pull or buy a parts truck of the same generation off craigslist. Everyone on here will recommend the parts truck.... OH ya, and ebay is a good source for junk

Be sure to start a build thread when you get going, so we can see what you do.

[pennyman1]

You fogot to mention Mike Warme on this forum for lots of NOS 1st gen parts, including the windshield gaskets, all rubber door and window parts, and other parts.

[Crossworth]

Thank You Camoit,
Your reply is promising information and leads. Never thought of the car wrap people. Now i just got find one close to home. Pick & Pull Sacramento is about two hours away one way. Currently with a new born baby boy. Don't think i will have the luxury to do the road trip. I did check the ones close to home. No such luck.

Are there any other bucket seats that bolt right on ?

Weathrstrips will be my first agenda. Followed by locating stock rims and hubcaps. I would like to have the rims widened to 6 or 6.5" although i should double check that it remains flush with the fender well.

Oh BTW: if Anyone wants me to check out a D50 close to Fremont CA i could do so assumkng the schedule permits.

Thank you again Camoit.

Steve

[Crossworth]

Hi PennyMan,

Thank you too for posting and a contact to 1st gen OEM parts. I hope Mike has tailight lenses too.

How may i contact Mike Warme?

PennyMan,
I have read some of your post. One i am concerend about is ZDDP. The absence of ZDDP in the oils. I have over 90k miles being unaware that they eliminated the Phosphorus & Zinc content. All the oils I have been using are API certified, which is not what i need. I have not ordered from Eastwood, but i plan too. Is too late for my engine? My friends '8O sport automatic does smoke a lot. Perhaps it has compromised the piston rings sealing capabilties. Just a thought. I am no expert.

Thank you again for your support.
Steve

[camoit]

Thank You Camoit,
Your reply is promising information and leads. Never thought of the car wrap people. Now i just got find one close to home. Pick & Pull Sacramento is about two hours away one way. Currently with a new born baby boy. Don't think i will have the luxury to do the road trip. I did check the ones close to home. No such luck.

Are there any other bucket seats that bolt right on ?

Weathrstrips will be my first agenda. Followed by locating stock rims and hubcaps. I would like to have the rims widened to 6 or 6.5" although i should double check that it remains flush with the fender well.

Oh BTW: if Anyone wants me to check out a D50 close to Fremont CA i could do so assumkng the schedule permits.

Thank you again Camoit.

Steve

If I remember correctly there is a pick and pull inventory checker in the links section. And a check "all of" craiglist posts thing in the general dissuasion > craiglist area.
Every city everywhere.

[pennyman1]

Don't fret about the zddp issue too much - now that you know, you can run either the additive or use oil with zddp, such as amsoil, penn grade, and others - just look for the marking on the label. Napa carries Penn Grade, a high quality semi - syn oil with zddp and it is only about a dollar more than regular off the shelf oil. These are tough engines and can survive this long without it with the low mileage on your truck.

[Crossworth]

Hi :

Who is ..."the parts truck'" as mentioned on reply #2?

Thank you
Steve

[pennyman1]

that means buy a truck for parts, not a person. I have bought several over the years, its cheaper that way to get a lot of parts then sell/scrap the rest.

[Crossworth]

Hi Pennyman

I spoke to ***** today...he clued me in as well on the meaning of "parts truck"
Duhhh why did not get that?! Oh well newbie learning the forum.
I also learned what PITA stands for "pain in the a.."

Speaking of part truck I contacted the seller in eBay Santa Cruz.
Sadly he no longer has the stock rims.

BTW: Are the Sport rims ( Spoked rims) heavier or lighter than stock rims that came with hub caps? Are the spoked wheels steel or alloy?

Thanks
Steve

[parrell456]

I would like to have the rims widened to 6 or 6.5" although i should double check that it remains flush with the fender well.

Welcome aboard! I'm running 18" wheels from a Nissan Titan with 225/35s and I don't have any clearance issues, if that helps you at all. Here's how they fit; pretty flush.

-RHP

http://i.imgur.com/J9odal.jpg

[Crossworth]

Hi Parrell456,

Just the other day isaw your posting in the gallery. YES! I was drooling looking at your build Well Done!!!!!

I was going to ask you what rims you are using and if an adapter was used.
That is a good choice of rims. I betya if they built your truck or something similar it would revive the mini truck segment.
Mazda did it with the Miata. The was a huge succes.

Thanks, nice to know i can go big. Except I may need to go the gym to work my bi-ceps to turm my manual steering rack.

[camoit]

Oh man,, give me a break, clearance issues,,, Parrell456 just likes to show off his girlfriends perfectly shaped ass. :)
And yes, we all want to touch it. Just to see if it's real.....

[parrell456]

Yeah Crossworth, my factory wheels were mismatched and really rough to boot, so I picked up what you see in the older pictures. Those are a 16 inch steel rim for a GM truck. I bought them new at Wal-Mart for $40 each! Only thing is, like any custom wheel for our trucks, the center holes needed to be opened up a bit to get a proper fit on the hubs. No big deal though, machine shop set me up for something like $18 for all four... Now, my windshield is original and was not removed when the body was done, so I don't have any leads for weather stripping. I think a couple guys on here might know where you can look. Some of them seem to have the best connections and resources! They're a huge help and part of the success story for many builds, mine included!

-RHP

[parrell456]

Oh man,, give me a break, clearance issues,,, Parrell456 just likes to show off his girlfriends perfectly shaped ass. :)
And yes, we all want to touch it. Just to see if it's real.....

BAH HAHAHA! Well, I did call her Scarlett after all...

-RHP

[pennyman1]

The spoked wheels from the 79 - 86 trucks were a steel wheel 14x6 with a positive offset - 4.5" backspacing. If you go the aftermarket route, look for 6x5.5 bolt pattern with a large center hole in the wheel 110 mm. the 88 and up GM wheels have a 97 mm center and need to be machined. Also look at the backspacing and rim width - too much of either can cause clearance issues.

[Crossworth]

There are 3 in Sacramento. Windshield & weatherstrip Call USA Auto Glass in Sac. and tell them you are with the mightyram50.net site 916-978-3550

Thanks Camoit :thumbup:

I called USA Auto Glass in Sac by day two it was sent to Hayward CA for "will call"
Now to figure were to locate the weather stripping on the exterior side of the doors.
Hmm perhap I should just let mother nature take hold my truck....not the kinda truck worth restoring....parts are hard to come by....:bang:

I think I should rename myself the "Lone Ranger" :rolleyes:

[Crossworth]

Welcome aboard! I'm running 18" wheels from a Nissan Titan with 225/35s and I don't have any clearance issues, if that helps you at all. Here's how they fit; pretty flush.

-RHP

http://i.imgur.com/J9odal.jpg

Hi Parrell456: Thank you for the welcome aboard greetings....If you ever make it to Nor Cal for a visit, please do drop me a line in advance.
Luv to meet you and Scarlett.....its okay if just you.....after all you created her, but I prefer females with a nice "frame" Wow if Scarlett could re-incarnated into human form that would a fantasy....anyways.....

Perhaps Scarlett could hang out with "INKA" ( i cannot think of a fitting name...so it "INKA" for now).2882

[Crossworth]

28832884Aww man my truck looks small compared to your....let see if I can get this right.

[Crossworth]

...let see if I can get this right.[/QUOTE]

uhhhh :shrug: maybe not.....goodnite

[DroppedMitsu]

You did it right, if you click on the picture it opens up bigger. Its actually better for the sitr and the thread page that way technically.

Nice truck you have there, looks to be in dang good condition.

[Crossworth]

Awww gee thanks......I got lucky ten years ago....now if only I can get me some stock wheels with orig chrome hub caps and beauty rings. Also would like to install bucket seats....I should have picked up the stuff when it was readily available in the wrecking yards back then. Now I cannot find any on the yards around my area (SF Bay Area in CA).