citrus3000psi
12-10-2012, 12:43 PM
Hey everybody, I'm somewhat knew to the forums. I was on the old d50 site and projectzerog a while back.
I've had a 88 ram 50 for awhile now, but it got put on the backburner for a few years from other projects etc. A little history of the project. I acquired a busted up 92 eclipse gst from an auto auction for 150 bucks maybe 4 years ago. I spent about a month sprucing up the 6bolt motor etc. But in the end I didn't want *another fwd car. I heard dropping the 4g motors in these Mitsubishi trucks was fairly straight forward so I went for it. I found a 88 ram 50 for 400 bucks on craigslist that was pretty close to me so I swooped it up. In the beginning, I just wanted to the get truck back to perfect order. Carpet was shot, bushings, ball joints were all bad, small hole in the cab floor, and just dirty. This was a work truck from a small landscaping company so I'm sure its since scene its abuse and weather.
I wish I still had pics of what the truck looked like when I originally got it, but I don't :(
After I got the truck, I started ripping everything apart.
For interior, I threw the bench out and dropped in my 92 eclipse seats. Got new black carpeting, and also painted the dash black. I'm using the eclipse steering wheel as well. In terms of interior the only thing left is door panels. I plan on putting some stretch black vinyl over them. I'm also using a 94-01 integra center console. It fits wonderfully.
The truck need some bushing love. Every single bushing/ball joint/shackle was replaced. I even sourced out new bushings for the leaf springs. The only bushings that I couldn't get replaced were the cab mounts. I never found a source for these, and just dealt with what I had. I also sourced a good deal on bilstien hd shocks, so those had to go on as well.
I frequent the a local junkyard often, so I'm also on the search for random parts. I found a perfect rear end for the truck out of a montero sport. This gave me rear disc brakes and a torsion lsd, Best part is that it bolted in, no fabbing. :)
The montero rear end, required bigger wheels, so I upgraded to use all 15" montero sport wheels wrapped in bfg a/t tires.
I also found a nice bed liner, to cover up the scratched up paint from all the hauling this thing used to do.
Now came the fun stuff dropping this motor in. This is just a 4g63 narrow block motor with the stock ram tranny mounted up. I'm not looking to make crazy power, just want a fun little dd beast. Block just got some basic freshing up, new bearings, new small bore/hone, new pistons etc. The valve guides were pretty well shot, so I just found another 1g head, had it cleaned up. I'm still using the stock 14b turbo. :P
Small things done to the motor, to make it fit. Front mount thermo, flipped intake, and flipped throttle (too keep linkage on same side). I'm also running a 90 air/air oil cooler along & cas sensor for the longer wiring.
I also pulled the hydro clutch pedal out of the donor eclipse and converted the crappy cable style to hydro. I'm using a howie racing pull slave with a short willwood master.
I originally had a air/water cooler, but I realized I wanted something with less maintenance. So i stared a swap to a volvo air/air cooler. Along with stealth 2 piston brakes and 94 mitsu max front bumper grill. This is where the project started to run out of steam. And I pretty much stopped. This is what the truck looked like right before I ripped the air/water cooler out.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/58528_670698717504_7626730_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/60039_669978415994_6619497_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/59050_669978396034_4468806_n.jpg
Then it sat in the driveway for way too long. Out of no where I got some motivation and pulled it back into the garage about a week ago. I've got the bumpers switched out and 2 piston calipers/rotors mounted and working. I'm working on brackets for the radiator/intercooler. I'm waiting on some fittings and couplers and then I should be able to get going on the charge pipes. It shouldn't take too much work to get her back life.
I've had a 88 ram 50 for awhile now, but it got put on the backburner for a few years from other projects etc. A little history of the project. I acquired a busted up 92 eclipse gst from an auto auction for 150 bucks maybe 4 years ago. I spent about a month sprucing up the 6bolt motor etc. But in the end I didn't want *another fwd car. I heard dropping the 4g motors in these Mitsubishi trucks was fairly straight forward so I went for it. I found a 88 ram 50 for 400 bucks on craigslist that was pretty close to me so I swooped it up. In the beginning, I just wanted to the get truck back to perfect order. Carpet was shot, bushings, ball joints were all bad, small hole in the cab floor, and just dirty. This was a work truck from a small landscaping company so I'm sure its since scene its abuse and weather.
I wish I still had pics of what the truck looked like when I originally got it, but I don't :(
After I got the truck, I started ripping everything apart.
For interior, I threw the bench out and dropped in my 92 eclipse seats. Got new black carpeting, and also painted the dash black. I'm using the eclipse steering wheel as well. In terms of interior the only thing left is door panels. I plan on putting some stretch black vinyl over them. I'm also using a 94-01 integra center console. It fits wonderfully.
The truck need some bushing love. Every single bushing/ball joint/shackle was replaced. I even sourced out new bushings for the leaf springs. The only bushings that I couldn't get replaced were the cab mounts. I never found a source for these, and just dealt with what I had. I also sourced a good deal on bilstien hd shocks, so those had to go on as well.
I frequent the a local junkyard often, so I'm also on the search for random parts. I found a perfect rear end for the truck out of a montero sport. This gave me rear disc brakes and a torsion lsd, Best part is that it bolted in, no fabbing. :)
The montero rear end, required bigger wheels, so I upgraded to use all 15" montero sport wheels wrapped in bfg a/t tires.
I also found a nice bed liner, to cover up the scratched up paint from all the hauling this thing used to do.
Now came the fun stuff dropping this motor in. This is just a 4g63 narrow block motor with the stock ram tranny mounted up. I'm not looking to make crazy power, just want a fun little dd beast. Block just got some basic freshing up, new bearings, new small bore/hone, new pistons etc. The valve guides were pretty well shot, so I just found another 1g head, had it cleaned up. I'm still using the stock 14b turbo. :P
Small things done to the motor, to make it fit. Front mount thermo, flipped intake, and flipped throttle (too keep linkage on same side). I'm also running a 90 air/air oil cooler along & cas sensor for the longer wiring.
I also pulled the hydro clutch pedal out of the donor eclipse and converted the crappy cable style to hydro. I'm using a howie racing pull slave with a short willwood master.
I originally had a air/water cooler, but I realized I wanted something with less maintenance. So i stared a swap to a volvo air/air cooler. Along with stealth 2 piston brakes and 94 mitsu max front bumper grill. This is where the project started to run out of steam. And I pretty much stopped. This is what the truck looked like right before I ripped the air/water cooler out.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/58528_670698717504_7626730_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/60039_669978415994_6619497_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/59050_669978396034_4468806_n.jpg
Then it sat in the driveway for way too long. Out of no where I got some motivation and pulled it back into the garage about a week ago. I've got the bumpers switched out and 2 piston calipers/rotors mounted and working. I'm working on brackets for the radiator/intercooler. I'm waiting on some fittings and couplers and then I should be able to get going on the charge pipes. It shouldn't take too much work to get her back life.