Another quick update. Got the 4d55 engine out of the 87, but I got lazy today, and broke the fan blade a bit.
I have a couple 2.6 donor engines, so we'll see if a fan from one of them fits.
Still have to switch the pilot bearing, install the clutch kit, and throw it back in there.
Going to clean up that filthy engine bay, clean the interior, and work on the wiring.
Somedays I really need to practice more patience. Or just learn to step away from the project for a short bit. Josh
So... Today was a bit of a long day with very little actually done.
The engine is finally sitting in the engine bay, and I have already started wiring things up.
However, I still need to attach the pedal brackets, and make something for my fuel filter housing.
For some reason, the engine bay really feels tight. Also, there is a difference between the 1982 firewall, and the 1984 firewall.
Mainly for the clutch master cylinder area. On the 1984 firewall, it is flat and offers plenty of room for adjustment.
The 1982 firewall is more precise, and has angles near the mounting area.
Everything still went in pretty smoothly, but it could have gone better. Haha. Josh
A couple more for the fun of it. I also had to remove a little material from the clutch pedal bracket to fit.
Not much going on as I wait for the leaf spring bushing kit. I finally got the starter wiggled in there, the fuel system is 90% complete. Exhaust is in, glow plug set up mounted...
Tomorrow I will button up the transmission, and finish wiring the engine.
Getting pretty close now, I can almost taste it. Josh
It will taste better if you run vegetable oil instead of diesel...lol
Pennyman1
The best Dodge that Dodge never made
Living the D-50 lifestyle since 1980
Haha, very true. Just smelling the diesel while transfering fuel tanks got me a little excited about everything.
The bushing kit arrived yesterday, so I am in full push to finish up, and drive.
Everything still needs fresh fluids, plus a variety of other things need to be tightened up. Literally.
Here is the plate that I made for the interior side of the clutch master cylinder to add some strength.
Since it is pretty much an exact fit, the pedal and plate took longer than expected.
Unless anyone says otherwise, I was just going to go for the Pennzoil Syncromesh gear oil for the transmission.
Any recommendations for the transfer case, and rear diff??
Well, as always... Stay tuned. Josh
I'm using Castrol axle limited slip 90 in my 2nd gen LSD for the last 12 months or so. (Diff was in a twin turbo ecotec 3800 2nd gen, and now my Buick powered 1st gen, and it's holding up without issues)
It's worth the effort to get custom modified parts to fit as close to perfect as you can. It'll be less likely to cause you grief later and it's good for your feng shui. Say no to the ghetto fix
Monday after work, I decided to see if the 4d55 would run while I await the final parts.
Everything went smoothly, unfortunately I got a little bit sick this week.
Hopefully I will be able to take the first drive this weekend. Stay tuned, Josh
It feels like a month has passed, but I am still working to make the truck roadworthy.
The suspension continued to give me grief all the way until the end, but it finally is done.
Tomorrow will be the first maiden voyage for the Ram50, it wont be anything special, I just want to see how things go on the road.
My tire clearance up front is an issue. It is either find new tires, or crank the torsion bars for some clearance.
Does anyone have some recommendations if cranking the bars will actually help?
Hopefully this puts another Ram50 on the road. Josh20181218_191121.jpg
Ugh, couldnt say first maiden voyage. One of these days I will donate to the site, purely for the edit feature. Haha. Josh
Good luck with the road test. When you start digging into an older vehicle a bunch of small things pop up - drive shaft rebuild, brakes, bad suspension, a tyre or 2, a sketchy exhaust... It all adds up. I've got a stack of spare parts waiting to go into my truck but it has had the crap beaten out of it and I want to fix what I see are the weak links in it before it's anywhere near road ready. I have a long way to go yet.
The testing of the transmission is most important to me at the moment, especially since I have never used it.
While the truck was stopped in gear, I pressed in the clutch, rolled the truck around, and everything felt pretty good, it reengaged solidly.
Perhaps I am still a bit timid, especially given this truck hasnt been on the road in decade or so.
Over the next few weeks, I intend to work out the kinks, and do what is needed to keep everything running cool.
Already another project is coming to mind, and I am going to jump in again with both feet.
It is time for me to build my 4g63 Mighty Max. This time, I am going to be very patient, and wait for the right 2nd truck to come along. Macrocab, 5 speed manual, just something I can build up, and enjoy. Stay tuned, Josh
I did a drivetrain swap in a Galant/Colt wagon for my very first build and it died on it's initial road test. I got caught out by a ton of sediment in the fuel tank and in a moment of enthusiasm, dislodged 25 years worth of it straight through the fuel lines. Luckily I'd replaced all the fuel filters before that had happened... but that's all part of the game.Originally Posted by mowgli5555
So... Today went pretty well given everything that went on. I put about 30 miles on the truck today, and it feels pretty solid.
Even drove it home for the evening. This week/end I will go over various areas, and make sure everything is how it should be.
It feels so good to drive a 5 speed manual again. Plus, it feels so much better than the 1st gen donor truck that most things came out of. Josh
Driving the truck has been pretty good so far. After about 5 minutes of trying to find an AM radio station, I quickly realized that I need some form of entertainment, besides static.
After removing the dash, it hit me on the head that a single din deck wont fit into the spot without some modification.
At the moment, I am torn over whether I should build a little console, or modify the opening a bit.
My donor truck has door cards with cutouts, so I will just set my door cards aside in storage for awhile and use those.
I started waxing the truck, and the red is really beginning to pop. This weekend I will take some pics of the good, bad, and the ugly.
It is a great truck for a project, but there are probably much better survivors to keep 100% OG. Josh
Truck is looking good, can't wait to see what it looks like with a good wash/wax. What do you have of the interior so far? I might have a few OE center console parts lying around if you want to go that route, and a set of the factory bucket seats too
I can get shots of the interior today. It is rather complete, aside from a center console, of course.
However, I went the direction of trimming the dash for a stereo deck. It will take patience for everything to look factory, but it is worth it in the long run.
I have had a MM/Ram50 with bucket seats. That sounds pretty luxurious.
This weekend I will try to wash, and wax it. The weather has been pretty poor this, and possibly more snow on the way. Josh
Today I couldnt finish what I wanted to on the interior. Work got too busy, and I basically just gave it a quick wax.
Here it is next to its sister. I have been trying to get my hands on this one, also. So who knows what will happen in the future. Josh
Just a quick update. Got the stereo mounted up the way I intended. It isnt a butthole tight fit, but will serve my exact needs.
The Dual HU came from my donor truck, it will be nice to have BT, and such shortly.
Plus, I dont feel like cutting the holes for 6.5 speakers, so I will order some 6's this week.
I am running a single JL 10, a little 500W amp, and the sound is starting come along at a budget.
Sadly, after wiring up the electric fan I came to find out that it didnt even fit. It was too deep, so back to the drawing board for that. Josh
These little 4.5 speakers came out of a Freightliner I had years back, they are temporary, as I needed something to cut the holes.
You can still see the black marker surrounding the speaker, I got lazy and forgot to clean it off.
The centering is dead nuts 100%, but is very close considering I drilled it out by hand, and filed it to fit.
A saw hole cutter did nothing but slip, and just me a rough time.
I think I will go with a Kenwood HU, since I dont know too much about modern single din HU's.
Sitting in my storage are a pair of 1,000 watt amps, but I really wanted to keep things simple.
Now to put the dash back together, and find something else to work on.
Lastly, I wasnt able to find a constant 12v from my stereo harness.
Using multiple testers gave me nothing. Since I have wired this truck, I know the accessory wire well enough. However, to avoid splicing the harness, I just decided to wire to the battery with an inline fuse. Josh
If you can find the plug for the factory clock, you have a constant 12V source right next to your HU. Yeah, don't install a pair of 1000w amps unless you plan on liquifying your organs. The biggest issue with putting huge audio into a truck cab is the inherent lack of space to work with and surfaces to install speakers and a sub (slimline internally powered subs are your buddy when getting a fuller experience from your audio gear in a confined space and you can get reasonable quality sound on a budget) Don't be scared of new gen audio gear. +DAB digital radios are freaking awesome and USB lets you carry a ton of tunes wherever you go, but I still prefer a disc player as an option. Kenwood is a good go-to for a HU but I can't stand Pioneer or Sony stuff (once they both started cheaping out by moving to Malaysia & Indonesia, it turned to crap)
Looking good!!!
Okay. To keep things rolling while I slowly get the Ram50 updated into the 21st century, I decided to merge my thread.
This is my 1987 Mitsubishi Might Mits, and it is getting a diesel swap.
It will need quite a few things, and is very far from being finished, however I needed a place to document its build.
Here is when I picked it up, the PO blew the engine up, and I didnt think this truck would be worth rebuilding to factory specs.
It originally came with a 550cc 3 cylinder engine, and a 3 speed manual transmission, with 4x4.
It will be getting a 1 liter diesel engine that I plan to turbocharge, and likely run a 5 speed transmission from a later mini truck.
This one should take me all spring, and summer given that I have about 4 non running projects at the moment.
However, the engine, and transmission are already out. The gas tank has been removed, and most of the wiring is out.
It will be a great test for my skills, and the size of the truck should make things interesting.
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