Proud owner 85 D50 (New to me)

[Gremlin50D]

First time I have found myself on a new forum just a heads up english spelling,punctuation is not my strong suit so sorry ahead of time if it's hard or annoying to read.

Ended up in the market for a new vehicle always loved a Plymouth arrow but they are rare to find down here so decided to go the D-50 route scored a family owned 85 D50 with a G63B 5spd less than 5k rebuild I don't quite know how to search the forums but it may or may not have been post here before.

Paid $2000 for it 171k miles original
Current issues
1.Tons of wiring bugs from (random) no crank to ebrake light stuck to dashights flicker
2. Random rattling sound when shifting at 3k-3,5k
3. Bench seat me being (5'4"-5'5" depending on footwear) causes issues for passenger
4. The most annoying is a random buzzing coming from the dash stops with a good tap to the top of the dash

My current plans
1. Fix and rewire alot the after market gauges have some sketchy wiring done.
2. New radio 2x10's behind the seat (s)
3. Find some good bucket style seats
4. Build a fiberglass center console
5. Build a fiberglass dash,Door panels
6. Full rubber floor cover
7. Redo exhaust full header to duals out
8. Possibly dual weber?
9. Repaint and cruise it around town and enjoy the d50 life
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[Gremlin50D]

I also do plan to do a 125amp alternator from a 1990 ram along with the voltage regulator, And would like to upgrade the headlights to some Leds along with find a way to get the wipers to work right had a bad rain storm here ended up having to wait 3 hours for it to blow over could not see at all.

[Gremlin50D]

Also forgot to list previous owner did a weber upgrade egr delete and had a sound system in it at some point was ripped out and left behind a fair bit of wires under dash looks like spaghetti not hating on the old owner as I do love wiring jobs and finding out and working out the kinks and bugs.

[xboxrox]

Shiney paint & unique color ENJOY

[Gremlin50D]

Yes sir she unique the paint is a wild off green wish I could find the paint code for it.

Anywho ended up fixing most of the rats nest wiring got the gauges working and found out my cluster lights up green?

So opinions on going full green on the rest of the gauges?
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[geezer101]

*find a set of Gen 2 front steering hubs and brakes and you can go up to vented discs - nut and bolt swap

[geezer101]

The outside of your truck is awesome. The rest is a blank canvas craving some mods. Someone at least went to the effort of changing the carb over to a Weber so that is one less thing to cross off the list. Some fresh seats and interior (maybe a big rework of the engine bay as it's really letting the team down...) and it'll be 'minty' inside and out

[Gremlin50D]

The exterior is gonna get repainted at some point gonna attempt to rematch the paint. Now interior wise I'm thinking

Full fiberglass sub box across the back tie it into a fiberglassed center console to a fiberglass dash full early 90's mini truck style for subs set on Fosgate same with amp and speakers,subs

Under the hood at some point I will pull the engine respray the bay thinking black with green metal flake full rewire is already on my list got most of the interior wiring redone.

[Gremlin50D]

Also for brakes I'd like to upgrade the front for sure and look into disc brake conversion for the rear and side note for wheels gonna polish and run what I got for now till I find a good combo

[geezer101]

The cabs in Gen 1's are really tight so there is little chance of fitting a regular sub box in somewhere but a slimline active sub under the passenger seat or right behind the drivers seat will work. And for something with a small cab volume some of them are quite surprising. There isn't much point in using a 4 channel head unit as there isn't any 'staging' with the seat headrests literally touching the rear glass, but if you could find a gadget that will add SRS control to front and rear speakers it'll turn the tin can cabin into an ampitheatre. I'd go for a pair of 6.5" splits with crossovers, the main speakers on the doors with the tweeters up on the pillars, a pair of 4" speakers up high in the back corners of the cab turret in a custom roof console and the sub in either location as mentioned earlier. If the dash bezel hasn't been butchered you'll be able to fit a single DIN head unit in neatly. New mechless head units are the way to go as there's all kinds of obstructions inside the dash frame and the prices aren't as crazy as they used to be. Keep us posted with plans and progress

[Gremlin50D]

Truck came with a old Sony Xelod head unit already gonna swap it out with a JVC KD-T910BTS I bought for a other project
Subwoofer wise behind the seat I have plenty of space to fiberglass a custom box after I give this old girl some sound deadening subs are gonna be 2 10" fosgates powered by a 500watt fosgate

Door speakers are already 5.25 fosgate but will get swapped to fosgate 6.5 with some tweeters on the upper a pillar for rear head speakers I was gonna do 5.25 or 4's

Now seating wise bench is going already going to look at some seats today with good center spacing for a custom center console I plan to add 2 speakers (unknown size atm) and 2 tweeters amp for the speakers I have a few older fosgate r250x4's I'd like to use (a weeeee bit of a bass head/audiophile)

[Gremlin50D]

Here are some photos of the current setup using a bt adapter for my phone due to lack of good local radio.

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[Gremlin50D]

And side note noticed on mobile I have no wait to edit my post kinda strange unless it's how everything is just setup or I am blind lol.

[Gremlin50D]

By chance any one know where to find a replacement grille found out today mine has 2 clips holding it all the others are broken clean off and missing so I can't just repair them.

[xboxrox]

By chance any one know where to find a replacement grille found out today mine has 2 clips holding it all the others are broken clean off and missing so I can't just repair them.

The guy painted my truck used zip ties but if you hunt online long enuff I think they are still available given enuff time to locate them ~ small black zip ties 1 2 3 done deal

[Gremlin50D]

And a update a few changes have been made fixed the ebrake light was a leaking passenger wheel cylinder cause the brake switch to let me know it was low on fluid. Added some stickers cleaned it looking in 15x7 -6 offset wheels and some general grabber 205/75r15 tires

[xboxrox]

And a update a few changes have been made fixed the ebrake light was a leaking passenger wheel cylinder cause the brake switch to let me know it was low on fluid. Added some stickers cleaned it looking in 15x7 -6 offset wheels and some general grabber 205/75r15 tires

Aftermarket wheels ?

[Gremlin50D]

Yea they are KMC KM522 Enduro 15x7 not my ideal choice but wheel options are kinda slim given offset and offset I'm aiming for.

[Gremlin50D]

Well I did just end up zip tieing the grille back figure I'll find one someday also side note since I bought the truck it has had some odd issues

Main issue was this rattling at around 3k rpm looked into what could cause it from crank pulley to bad clutch plate etc etc... turns out was the heat shield on the factory manifold pulled it off 2 already broken bolts and noticed I have a 4" long Crack on 1 runner and a wonderful 2mm hole in one side where it has cracked and fallen apart..... so searching for a El cheapo header.
Also noticed I had a O2 sensor and under dash passenger side is a box googled the numbers and it said mitsubishi ecu yet my truck is a G63B carbed vin also states it was a 2.0 carbed I'm new to working on these engines never seen a o2 on a carbed engine.

[Gremlin50D]

When I get them I'll take photos for sure I did do as much measurements as I possibly can and yes I'll be getting them in black also the way I see it I have 14x7's on the truck offset is possibly 0 but have not checked them off the truck. But they are flush with the sheet metal I my self am not a fan of wide poke/stance

[boozehero]

Some suggestions:
If you go to a PPG body supply store, some of them have special cameras that will (closely) match the color of your truck. They will give you a paint code that may be a perfect match, or very close. I have done this many times with the PPG boyz in Baton Rouge.

Check out Isuzu Trooper factory alloy wheels. They are the exact correct offset and bolt pattern for these trux. I have a set of them on my 79.
They are 16x7 and look factory. There are several styles to choose from. I have a set of 5 spoke wheels, they look outstanding.

I bought a set of 225/60 - 16 z rated tires. There was no difference in ride and handling...
And if you believe that, I have some nice ocean front property in the Sierra Nevada desert I'd sell you...
Needless to say, the truck has a totally different personality.

There are headers for sale on ebay all day long. I paid $160 for one and had it ceramic coated for another $250.
I ran 2.5" pipe from the header to a high flow 2.5" cat, then reduced to 2.25" to a Spintech muffler and 2.25" tailpipe to the rear valence.

High flow 2.5" cat:



2'25" Spintech muff


I also installed a Weber 38/38 DGAS high performance carb. The combination of the carb/header/exhaust also didn't make much difference - NOT.
The truck cruises at 80 with no prob now, and runs to 100 easy. (At least on a flat highway)
I did a bunch of other factory upgrade - Tach dash, three spoke factory steering wheel, factory oil pressure and ammeter gauges, and going to add A/C. I also bought a Bell tech front sway bar -soon to install.
Oh, and I went from a 4 speed to 5 speed. This rig only came with a 4 speed behind the 2.0 engine in '79.

Ok, didn't mean to jack your thread, but you said you were looking for some stuff to upgrade you're rig. Hope this helps a little.

[Gremlin50D]

I honestly do not mind a good hijack lol gives me plenty of ideas for a header I had a issue with the pacesetter not fitting Honestly was my fault was not aware of the different heads these engines came with I do currently have one in the works but looking at 2-3 weeks out.7cf9d922ad95d6cc7af48f0042c9d77d.jpg

[geezer101]

These trucks have a 'feedback system operating the peripherals on the factory carb. They rarely fail but make working on the truck a PITA. The Mikuni works 'ok' when its in good shape but there are components on them (secondary vac actuator, auto choke, choke release assist, fuel cut and bowl vent depending on year model) that fail and are either near impossible to get and severely kneecap the engine in the process. Once you get a stock engine to breathe properly it's a totally different beast. Mild steel headers are a good idea to replace the cast iron manifold - add some thermal wrap to keep engine bay temps down and keep the gasses moving fast. And IMO the JVC head units are better than Sony stuff. I'm using an older JVC I grabbed from a U-Pull-It yard and it is awesome

[Gremlin50D]

Also update time I reckon been a busy hell of a week starter went out at first thought it was a wiring issue but turned out the starter was just tired. Well while I was under my truck i figured I'd see if I could find this strange vibration source and noise I was hearing at 3k rpm and when I was over 45mph.e9fb1a2910aa4706d905d9aeab3367c1.jpg
Don't see it yet let's look closer
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Judging at how bad it was and the rust built up I figure it had been like this for a long time before I even bought the old girl lol ordered a new one and new u joints so that is my current project.
And a little side story I got these old Slapper,Track bars from a good friend years ago was gonna use them on another vehicle I used to have but they did not fit well I got the idea to see if they fit the truck and they fit it very well so cleaned them and painted figure might as well run them and get some good tires take her to the local drags for some simple fun.
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Color used was John deere yellow later I'll have them powder coated another color
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And my led light conversion is done the triple gauges got a 10mm Led and the Tach used a 74 led bulb they are not stuiped bright but good enough to see.
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[boozehero]

LEDs are cool.

Too bad these trucks don't have enough bag to spin a tire for any distance.
Traction bars are good to keep wheel hop under control - if you have enough power.
Even with the power increase mods to my truck, I don't think it would have enough juice to do much damage to the right rear tire...

BTW, I will be advertising a bunch of parts soon. I have a tach dash that is the correct replacement to upgrade your truck to the factory tachometer.
I've never been a fan of "hang on" tachs.
I went to al lot of trouble to locate the correct factory tach cluster for my truck. It's different than yours. Probably paid too much also. But, it works and looks great. I also added LEDs.