the 86 d50

[Txd50]

ok so here goes.

The truck:
1986 dodge ram d-50
grey in color
5 speed
2.0 motor
dealer installed ac

The project mission:
To get the damn thing running.:shrug:

Ok this is a long story but to keep it simple this is the plan
I have a Nissan sr20det sitting in my garage last dyno when I had it in the 240sx (Nissan car) was 346hp/302tq at 23 pounds and pump gas. So took some measurements and found an article online about a guy that put a g36b from an evo into a 240sx. Decided with very minor fab work we can drop it in. fast forward......

Now my job has changed and I now need to make this truck a dependable dd. So I put the sr20 on a back burner and went out and bought a 1985 mightymax motor from a junk yard for 500 bucks otd. Got that lump dropped in and came across a used Weber on eBay bought it and now here I am stuck. I will make the next section about my problems

The problems:

Electrical
Ok this is by far not my first rodeo with a wire harness. BUT this is the first time I have ever encountered a carbureted system and let me tell you something that I thought would be so simple has me grounded.

distributor and ignition
I have no idea how to wire this stuff up and I can’t seem to find a wire diagram or much help in doing so.

The things I have:
Coil pack with a white colored diode attached
The distributor itself
And all the wires that come with the truck from factory

This is my biggest problem next to vacuum issues.

Vacuum

Huge HUGE HUGE HUGE headache for me this has me wanting to burn this truck

I don’t get it. I can’t find a vacuum diagram that shows me what I actually need to have vacuum lines running to. I thought I could get away with just plugging any and all vacuum nipples I can find and hope it will run. Don’t think that going to work tho just saying lol

Any and all help will be much needed and extremely appreciated

[Boucher177]

Some shops us a program called "all data" it has proved to be very usefull in the electrical and vacum field for me. The hard part is getting them to print the diagrams out for you to take home. I used it in high school and uti, is how I know about it. Hope this helps

[l.k.]

with a weber vacuum parts should be the easy part not too many to worry about. . as for distributor and coil find firing order make sure timing is right set dizzy install plug wires in proper order. add coil wire. a basic chilton or haynes or hell a quick google or bing will get your dizzy and coil right .

[Fordubishi]

Go to manual section and check it out. There is a first Gen shop manual and it will give you the info for the distributor and coil of the 2.0L

[pennyman1]

If you need the wiring for the 86 2.0 distrib setup, I can copy it from the shop manual I have for my 86 - I had to rewire my 86 project truck after some idiot trying to steal it from the former owner trashed the harness. you will need a standard coil for this truck, not a coil pack - its not hard to wire it up. For the carb, you will need a 12v switched wire to the electric choke if it has one, a vacuum hose from the ported vacuum port on the carb to the vac advance on the distrib, and the large hose from the intake to the brake booster. All other vac hoses can be eliminated or replumbed to look functional if necessary. Let me know what you need. I can even take pics of mine under the hood to show you how it looked originally.

[86max]

i need this stuff too.. mostly the coil pics...

[Txd50]

pennyman1 you might infact just become my hero. If you can copy that sheet for me I would greatly appreciate it. I am working on getting some pics of what I have and what im working on.

[pennyman1]

I can't get in the truck until saturday - my friend is out of town and the keys for the truck are locked in his garage. I will have pics saturday night.

[87octane]

http://alldatadiy.com/ is a cheaper source of online info, yearly subscription less than 20 bucks per car.
Instant online access to the entire factory manual. Get you troubleshooting faster.

[86max]

I.... stumbled upon this page a couple days ago. it seems like it will work and eliminate a bunch of the wiring AND the ballast resistor.... I'll work on it over the next few days and let you know what happens.. I know its for a FORD or CHEVY but as long as its a coil style pickup instead of a hall sensor it should work, right?

http://www.carbdford.com/tech/HEI/hei.htm

maybe this should be in its own thread....

[Txd50]

it might work the problem is getting the dizzy to fit our little motors. Unless there is a big thing im missing im seeing that as the problem.


penny any chance on those pics soon? I cant get this thing running iv plugged up all the vacume leaks. I have fuel obviously have air and compression but i dont have spark.

[86max]

I was meaning just the HEI module, not the whole distributor.... but I still can't get it to throw a spark. after doing a ton of looking around I've come to the conclusion the dist for our trucks is a Variable Reluctance distributor which at cranking speeds only throws a trigger signal around a volt or so which doesn't seem to be kicking the HEI module. maybe I'm wrong... it has happened in the past :) anyone have any ideas?

[Txd50]

have u measured with a multi-meter what the signal actually is coming off the dizzy wire? If your trying to use that system. I would find out exactly what is being thrown off the dizzy. I would find out what the range is on the HEI. I dont know enough about why, or what your trying to do with this system. please enlighten me. I am more than willing to go crazy directions as long as I can get this damn thing running haha.