87 Ram 50 4x4 "junkyard" rescue,

[WarStryker13]

I found this little fighter on FB marketplace, just over 200k on the odometer and a few small problems.

It was parked in the back of a small private junkyard, where it had sat for a couple years. It's got a small rust hole in the frame, and the previous owner had pulled the fuel tank and unbolted the bed to have it plated to pass Virginia inspection. He gave up on it at that point, but since I'm registering it in my home state the only inspection I need is a VIN verification.

After hooking up a jerry can and running a fuel line into the cab, it drove out of that yard and made it almost a full 10 miles down the road before saying no more... Searching this forum is pointing me to either a bad coil, clogged fuel pump, or the accelerator pump/secondary jet/choke adjustment etc...

I'm going to be ordering a carb rebuild kit and a set of rockers, probably a few other things while I'm at it. I've got a couple weeks that I can spend the time to make it good, fix all the little stuff and clean it up proper. It's never going to look like a show truck, but I'm determined to make this truck run like the Energizer Bunny.

My end goal for this truck is a solid daily driver that is capable on the trail and still gets decent gas mileage, and to just have fun with it. I'll post pictures once I have daylight, but fair warning: it's not pretty right now.

[WarStryker13]

I got one picture for y'all tonight.

New truck. by Ben Stryker, on Flickr

[geezer101]

Nice work on resuscitating this truck. If you don't need emissions testing/inspecting you will be better off installing a genuine Weber carb on it. Cheaper and easier to work on and opens up the performance of these engines (the G64B you have on your tag is off, should be either a G62B, 4G54/G54B or a 4G64 which is FI) As for pretty - they're all pretty, except when they get pummeled by some idiot who isn't watching where they're going. A big clean and a buff up can do wonders. If the engine bay is nasty, I recommend non caustic oven cleaner. Leaves the majority of spray on degreasers for dead and one can goes a long way, is a lot cleaner to work with as well and you can spray it on your hands without smelling like kerosene or stripping flesh off you (you'll notice all the small cuts and grazes though)

[WarStryker13]

I did find one thing that mildly concerned me... There is a small rust hole in the frame above the driver's side front leaf perch, it looks like someone took a hammer to the rusty section and knocked it in slightly.

I'm prepared to eventually plate that section, but if I can get away with not plating it for a few weeks that'll make it much easier to deal with.

Other than that the only real rot I found were the rocker panels, and I already ordered new ones from RockAuto. Lol

About the Weber carb upgrade... Would it make sense to go ahead and swap to an electric fuel pump while I'm at it? I'm trying to avoid just shotgunning parts and ending up with a problem that's difficult to trace.

[geezer101]

Electric fuel pump is absolutely necessary for the Weber. I would use a Carbole 42S fuel pump off ebay (this is a high volume/low pressure pump - Weber's require flow not pressure to function properly) Same as the Mr Gasket 42S (identical down to the part number) but about 1/3 the price. Easy to set up and if you're not electrically savvy you can buy an inline relay accessory kit to run it to save you the headache of building a relay harness with a fuse.

[WarStryker13]

Alright, thanks. I'm usually pretty good at dealing with electronics, since that's 98% of my job... lol

I might hold off on swapping over for a little bit, just get the truck running and drive it for a bit. I plan on doing a deep clean of the entire truck, replace the few small things that are missing (like the rearview mirror, cargo light housing, stereo, miscellaneous bulbs...), change all the fluids and flush whatever may need flushing... Basically just fix whatever isn't working right due to time and neglect and make it reliable.

Once I've been driving it for a few weeks, then I'll start doing some "mild" mods/upgrades...

[WarStryker13]

I'm used to using a 3rd party picture sharing site on forums (Flickr) but uploading them directly is fine with me. Lol

This is how it looked when I (finally) got it home.

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And of course I have no idea what half of these codes mean, hopefully someone has some insight and might be able to tell me if there's anything special about this particular truck.

IMG_20190121_230130250.jpg

I know that the paint code means "California Red", and that the gear ratio is the normal 3.909... but everything else I still haven't figured out.

IMG_20190122_174030422_1.jpg

[geezer101]

Yup, this poor thing hasn't seen a pressure cleaner or a tub of wax for a while. My oven cleaner trick does a half decent job of breaking up brake pad dust too on chrome wheels. It'll look loved with a couple of hours work and some elbow grease.

[royster]

Nothing a little love won't cure

[WarStryker13]

The inside's even more nasty... It's gonna be at least a full day worth of cleaning. I'm planning on pulling the bench out and vacuum/shampoo the carpet... At least the seat cover is almost brand new. lol

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211k on the very dusty odometer.

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The engine bay isn't as nasty as I expected it to be, but it's still coated in gunk.

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It's definitely going to be some work, but I'm perfectly content to spend my time working on an old truck.

[WarStryker13]

I did find a used header for $60 that was never installed, but it's meant for a 1st gen... Was there any change in the engine compartment dimensions between first gen and second gen? If I can get it to fit with a few dents I might just get it now so I'll have a starting point to build off of when I replace the rust that used to be an exhaust pipe. lol

Would pulling the stock carb apart and cleaning it potentially tear gaskets or diaphragms? I didn't order a rebuild kit yet because I'd rather just switch to the Weber, but what I'm thinking is the carb hadn't seen fresh gas for a few years before I drove it and there's a bunch of crap built up inside it. If it's just a matter of being a little careful while pulling it apart, then I can go ahead and pull the carb off once I get the truck into the garage. If not and the stock gaskets are made of wet toilet paper, the truck will most likely not be moving until after Feb. 1st so I'll have plenty of time to get a rebuild kit from RockAuto or order a new Weber...

How bad are the stock brakes? I definitely had the brake pedal all the way to the floor a few times, and I haven't had a chance to look yet but I'm guessing all of the brake hoses are dry rotted and leaking all over the place. Any brand/manufacturer suggestions for hoses, lines, pads, rotors, shoes, drums, etc?

[FMS88]

Would pulling the stock carb apart and cleaning it potentially tear gaskets or diaphragms? I didn't order a rebuild kit yet because I'd rather just switch to the Weber, but what I'm thinking is the carb hadn't seen fresh gas for a few years before I drove it and there's a bunch of crap built up inside it. If it's just a matter of being a little careful while pulling it apart, then I can go ahead and pull the carb off once I get the truck into the garage. If not and the stock gaskets are made of wet toilet paper, the truck will most likely not be moving until after Feb. 1st so I'll have plenty of time to get a rebuild kit from RockAuto or order a new Weber...

Many on this site will recommend that you go to the Weber without trying to rebuild the stock Mikuni. Rebuild kits don't have all the diaphragms and parts you may need, and the instructions are nothing more than an exploded diagram. Plus getting the Mikuni apart, cleaned and reassembled correctly without loosing something can be challenge. I've rebuilt 4 or 5 but only two had successful outcomes. If you're really curious and have the time, go ahead and try, but if this is your first Mikuni rebuild, save yourself a headache and get the Weber.

[geezer101]

+1 on that. The Mikuni is not a carb mere mortals should be messing with for a first introduction. Expensive for rebuild kits and as pointed out, they aren't complete as there are some parts that fail that aren't in an overhaul kit like the secondary vac actuator, auto choke release assist, the auto choke wax pellet (good luck with not only finding one, but getting the old one out and installing the new one...) Setting the adjusting screws aren't beyond the noob, but there's a sequence to doing them and most really need to be tackled before installation of the carb and tweaking the auto choke can take off a finger (no, really - the main spring takes superhuman strength to load up so the small nylon gear can be reset. You get a finger trapped in there and it'll end in blood and tears)

[WarStryker13]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm not going to mess with it too much... Does the old trick of holding a real over the inlet while at RPM to pull whatever crap all the way through the carb work with these? Just in case it takes me a little while to find a Weber?

[geezer101]

Yes it does help a bit. It'll purge most debris from the main jets but won't fix a blocked accelerator enrichment pump jet. A blast with carb cleaner won't clear them normally but it'll dissolve carbon and junk in the venturis and on the throttle butterflies.

[WarStryker13]

Yeah I've tried that trick, a blast of carb cleaner, running an electric fuel pump from the can up to the mech fuel pump, all of it helped a little but truck still dies after a minute of idling.

I think I'll just start talking stuff off that's kinda less than useful, like the emissions junk and the dry rotted rubber... Figure out what I have to work with and go from there.

[WarStryker13]

Forgot to mention that I remembered to check the ballast resistor after getting the truck into the garage, I burned myself.

I ordered a cheap Pacesetter knock-off header, some new cheapo shocks, a number of new gaskets that I might need because they were pretty cheap, and I bought an MSD Blaster 2 coil with a discount code from Advance Auto Parts.

I'm waiting on an email back from Redline so they can point me in the right direction to get the Weber carb kit, hopefully by next weekend I'll have everything to get the truck running and driving.

I'm not going to run a cat because the last one it had was cut off at some point and I don't need to pass emissions. I'll just get a flex joint and straight pipe it back to the muffler.

Anyone had luck with clocking the torsion bars to lift the front end? The ones on it look brand new, and I'd rather keep them instead of spending extra just to level the front end.

[WarStryker13]

I'm going to install a cheap aftermarket tach, just because I want to get this truck driving as quickly as possible... I'll find an instument cluster with a tach later. I'm still trying to figure out the ignition, I'd like to keep the system simple and cheap. I'll ask questions in the appropriate sections, but I'm hoping I don't need to buy an MSD 6AL box right away.

[WarStryker13]

Ok, so Old Man Emu makes heavier torsion bars for the Montero, so eventually I will try and pick up a set of those, along with the Montero control arms and CV half shafts

Is there a good place to get all of the suspension bushings in polyurethane? I don't plan on rebuilding the entire truck at once, just 98% of it, but getting an idea of where to purchase and how much it'll cost helps in deciding when I'll be able to do it.

I'm not going to be able to fix all of the rusty holes in the truck, but I do plan on cleaning off all of the scale and getting at least primer down. The truck will eventually get something resembling a paint job, but that might be distant future.

[WarStryker13]

I went ahead and ordered a 38 DGES kit off Amazon, I wanted to wait until Redline got back with me but they take days to reply and I found a kit for (what I consider to be) a very reasonable price...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...43PZ3K3S&psc=1

I believe I bought the last one, but it was listed for $283. Every other 38 kit I found was right around $350, and I can see the "Weber" cast into the side of this carb. If it shows up and it's not a genuine Weber, I can still use Amazon's return policy.

[geezer101]

It's from Pierce Manifolds who AFAIK are a legit vendor. If it's all in the Weber packaging you are safe. Some idiot didn't know how to use the rating system and bagged the dude lol - "almost needed no tuning" (one star). You'll need to trial and error the ignition tune as I've mentioned. This carb is a trade off. Might be lagging a little in low down throttle response but is gonna pull hard and strong through the rev range

[WarStryker13]

I'm hoping the header and 2.5" exhaust will help with the low end a little... But I'm just plain excited to start driving it.

[WarStryker13]

I picked up even more stuff... Oil, filter, NGK spark plugs, and an adapter to go between the 2.5" OD header collector and the 2.25" OD section of exhaust pipe welded to the old exhaust pipe.

I'm considering either moving the muffler directly behind the header and dumping out the side, or getting a 48" to 60" section of 2.5" OD exhaust pipe and keep the muffler behind the cab. Any suggestions? I don't know how bad the exhaust drones in these trucks, the only experience I have is what an open header sounds like and it's not THAT loud...

Shocks and a few gaskets should be showing up today, along with the Haynes 30045 manual. I probably wont get to do anything with the truck until Saturday, but having piles of parts does make me feel a little better.

[geezer101]

A longer exhaust builds torque and the last thing you want is your exhaust barking from under the cab. It will become fatiguing in no time. And it'll piss off the cops if you ever get pulled over for a 'routine traffic stop'. If you know your stuff you can actually length tune the system but it's really a specialised technique as part of a full engine tune set up. We have laws here in Oz that the exit from an exhaust must be from behind the rear axle and must not be closer than 1 metre from the nearest opening window for passenger vehicles.

[WarStryker13]

In the state where this truck will be registered, there is very basic standards that vehicles have to adhere to.

I drove the truck without a muffler and the exhaust ending directly under the cab, but I was too excited about it running to really care. Lol

It would have gotten really annoying after a while, I'm sure.