New owner of an old 1987 Ram 50

[jeffum344]

[hide][top]New owner of an old 1987 Ram 50

A lot of floor pan and frame rust , runs - drives with leaks of course .... Is it worth trying to fix ? body parts like floor pans seem like they are not available20200426_134128.jpg20200426_134159.jpg20200426_134248.jpg20200426_134253.jpg

Are there any good sources for parts and body panels ? Thanks

[camoit]

You will need a parts truck or you will need to build the parts.

[geezer101]

A member has been fabbing his own cab supports (Tortron) so maybe put a call out to him and ask if he'll do you a deal. The rest of the rust repairs... either as camo has suggested or a sheet metal shop would be able to supply you with some material to patch up the flat areas.

[tortron]

Depends what you mean by worth and if you start paying someone else to do it you are probably better off parting the truck out and getting something in better cond. How bad is the rest of the cab? Might want to take a good look at the chassis for holes

I haven't measured up a 2nd gen, but it looks similar in shape at the floor/cab mounts, so what I make is probably close enough to fit
There's a guy in NZ that makes new outer sills
Our dollar is worth nothing at the moment, so even with postage it's probably affordable lol

[geezer101]

This is purely subjective but you have to evaluate what 'worth it' means. If you got the truck dirt cheap and factor in how much you'd be prepared to spend on a cleaner truck and split the difference, you have a figure on what makes the fix up viable. If it's to flip the truck, there's no money in restoring cars unless it's so rare that you can afford to invest the resources (I'd bet at least 80% of 'restored/modded' cars that are being flipped have some nasty ghetto botch work done to them). If it's an emotional investment (the truck belonged to a close family member or it's something you grew up with etc) then what you get out of it is what you put into it. Skills and time wins over towing and workshop hours. This gets asked a lot and there isn't a right answer, but you will find that all of the members here aren't pulling out receipt books and bragging about how much cash they think their truck is worth.

[Ram50-Newb]

Well stated Geezer.

Jeffum, from your zipcode you look to be in the Harrisburg area of PA. There is a salvage yard in Slatington PA with at least two Gen 2 MMs. You may be able to swap the cab or cannibalize body panels if you know how to weld.

[jeffum344]

Thanks to each of you who replied .... starting a project like this is initially daunting when you take the covers off

Will check out the salvage yard and see what they have

[jeffum344]

I dont know how that first emoji got there but DEFINITELY a TYPE-O I MISSED ...PLEASE Excuse !!!!

Moderator if available can you remove that trash ???

[geezer101]

Too bad you're stuck with that now! Actually, if you make a donation to the site you can edit your own posts (excluding wanted/for sale)
Hmm, maybe the mods can tamper with all the new members posts and 'encourage' them to donate
No but we can mess with yours. LOL...

[Salteen]

'last edited by camoit'

good play, good play...

i have a 1976 F100 with rotted floor pans. take some sheet metal, cut out the bad, and weld in the new. take a side grinder and a cutoff wheel and 'sand' (grind) the metal off by dragging the wheel across the weld. common stuff (sorry for going into detail not many people in my immediate freind zone know how to make a weld flush. you may know how to weld)then spray it with primer, and if you want get a paint shop to color match your current paint and buy a cheap little spray gun and get to work. doesnt have to be absolutely perfect but it should look good. the door on my truck has been painted (i think, its a slightly different color) and the fender has a bit of rust. its visible in photos but overall its solid. as long as you have a solid frame and cab and solid control arms and rear axle housing, youll be absolutely fine.


i have a 'build thread' that i havent visited in forever, there is plenty of pictures there

[geezer101]

Too bad you're stuck with that now! Actually, if you make a donation to the site you can edit your own posts (excluding wanted/for sale)
Hmm, maybe the mods can tamper with all the new members posts and 'encourage' them to donate
No but we can mess with yours. LOL...

Foul play Marty! I donated so only I should be able to mess with my own posts. Hmm, maybe I should volunteer to be a mod. I mean, what could go wrong...?

[85Ram50]

Just to pitch my $.02 worth most body panels are connected with epoxy these days. If you can't weld you can glue and you can use Bondo to smooth the edges.
That frame looks to be mostly superficial. Clean it up and get a better idea of how bad it really is. Looks like a coating of some rust treatment like Ospho to stop it should be enough.

[Salteen]

Sheet metal, welder, side grinder. You can fix ANYTHIMG with those 4 things. Wait a minute...

[geezer101]

*fun fact - Peterbilt truck cabs are held together with urethane sealant No rust on the seams there!

[B-Line]

Welcome to the team.

[Chargerx3]

Slow and steady is the key.