1983 Dodge Power Ram

[Shovel]

Tried test fitting a set of my 88+ Montero speaker extension brackets to the door cut-outs and it looks like they won't fit without some work, as it appears the window crank handle will hit the speaker bracket as it goes around. Which kind of sucks. Then I'd be stuck with 5 1/4" speakers and they'd have to be really skinny, depth-wise or the window itself will hit the magnet as it goes down fully. Which sucks.

John B.

You don't want to go "period" ?   

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Not even sure something like those would even fit behind the seats; there's very little room. BUT, a Bazooka 6.5" tube will fit, barely. I've had a decent experience with them in the past, they're just expensive, is all. "Some" bass plus a pair of 5.25" two-ways in the doors and a decent in-dash shoved into the pocket under the center gauges would probably be too good for this truck...scratch that...would barely do this truck justice, but would be all I'm willing to spend.

Noico to be delivered 1/19; carb should be here 1/20. It begins...

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Well, my gol durn carb didn't make it here this weekend. And when I try to track it through UPS they don't have anything since Thursday, so I have no idea...

I drove the truck to the good times rock and roll show put on by the band with members Pa_Jero, Stroker Explosion and LordTrunks last night, which was fiery and appropriately loud, as well as a demonstration of technical proficiency, and I must say I wouldn't be surprised to find that pieces of this old carb are just falling off of it somewhere. It took me from one entrance ramp to the next exit ramp, about a mile, to get up to 65 mph. If the throttle isn't floored or nearly so, it misses pretty badly and there's an immediate drop-off in power. The exhaust leak makes it sound pretty comical. And I love it. So fun to drive, in a weird sort of way.

I did some cross-checking on part numbers and found, yes indeed, the only unique steering components are the idler and Pitman, and everything else is straight-up Gen 1. Suspension-wise, there's some confusion regarding the upper ball joints, but that's no big deal, as they're super cheap anyway. Since the upper arms use shaft kits, I'll only need the lower a-arm bushings from the Siberian collection, as the truck does not have a front sway bar.

Going to get the windows tinted today. I'll try to remember to take a camera. I have my friend Keith do my work, his company is Stick To It Window Tinting, and if you want his number, let me know. Lots of people do tint work, but he's been doing mine for over 25 years, only uses the best product and stands behind his work.

Oh, I've been looking at sourcing a light for the cargo bed, since both the dome light and the cargo light are gone by now. I wonder if this'll work:  https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-dome-light-fixtures-non-waterproof/trailerrv-exterior-led-flood-lights-180-watt-equivalent-1800-lumens/4413/
Still deciding on an interior dome set-up.

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I was thinking this for a dome light, wired so it only works off the switch on the light, bypassing the door switches: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-dome-light-fixtures-non-waterproof/rectangle-led-dome-light-fixture-6-led-light-w-36-leds-and-built-in-switch-pigtail-connector/3135/6614/

And a couple of these: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-dome-light-fixtures-non-waterproof/adjustable-led-map-dome-light-w-switch-truck-rv-marine-cabin-led-reading-light-w-1-led-pigtail-connector-black/3558/7251/

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I ran the truck up to an indicated 120 miles on the trip meter today, running in to Phoenix for the window tint and then picking up some kitchen cabinets that were taken out of an old house that's being renovated. With odometer correction for the 10% bigger tires, that's 132 miles. It took 14 gallons of gas for a 9.43 mpg figure of mainly highway driving. Then I drove the actual mileage of 36 home and the gas gauge reads at half, so if that's 7 gallons, figure that was around 5.1 mpg. The new carb should pay for itself pretty quickly, but I figure that's still pretty cheap for half a kitchen's worth of kitchen cabinets (that's all that would fit today).

Got the windows tinted, meaning the solid back window (one step lighter than "limo") and the AZ legal level on the side doors. Turned out great, but like always, it highlights the scratches the tracks have made in the glass (luckily on the outside of the glass, mainly). $80.

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Been working stupid, crazy hours, so didn't get a chance to do much until last night, when I still didn't do too much. I removed the old carb, which looked decent, but I could visually tell it has been a while since that secondary had opened. I have to transfer the automatic transmission portion of the carb linkage over to the new carb. I also want to pick up some new 3/8" hose to replace the coolant lines, since that's no fun to do in 110 degrees in a Lowes parking lot, as I have done before. The EGR passages had gunked up, so I'll remove that device and clean out what I can get to.

Of a more pressing note, the bottom of the air cleaner housing had a lot of oil in it. The only sensible solution would say to me that I have an issue with the PCV valve, since there's only a breather that could let oil in there, so I'll be checking that next time. It was a couple of tablespoon's worth.

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I installed the new carb this morning and went for a test drive. All seemed well until I attempted highway speed and had some serious misfire issues. That's not good. At least the new carb got rid of the miss at partial throttle and it actually has a choke that functions, I said to myself.

I came back home and hooked up my timing light. The initial advance was several degrees beyond what I would use, at maybe ten degrees. So I started investigating whether the centrifugal advance was working (A-O.K) and then checked for vacuum on the disconnected-for-testing vacuum advance. There was no vacuum, so I glanced along the line and saw it was connected to a tee that came off the thermo-valve, which is wrong. Somewhere along the line, and before me, somebody switched/mixed up the vac. line that normally goes to the air cleaner for carb pre-heat and the vac. advance line to the distributor. I reset the initial advance to "That Looks About Right" at around 8 deg. BTDC and connected the lines the way I figured they should be, as there's no underhood sticker and I cannot be bothered to look anything up in a factory service manual or anything. What do you know, it runs like a champ and holds 70+ on the freeway at about 1/2 throttle. And after putting on about 40 miles, the gas gauge barely budged, which is more like it.

But the fan clutch is crap and it's running hotter than it used to. I may have introduced a nasty air bubble in the system when I disconnected the carb's 3/8" lines and let some coolant drain out before removing the old carb, too. Mr. A.D.D. himself, Josh, witnessed me driving down the road and called me while I was out test driving and talked me off the ledge - he may have a clutch for me. Meanwhile, I have to jack the front of the truck up and take the front wheels off to grease the squeaky points anyway, so hopefully I'll chase any air out while it's nose-high.

So then I set to work getting the old crust that used to be carpet out. That's interesting, as in, kind of gross. And I find there are a couple of rust-through holes in the floorboards, almost certainly from specific leaks that have been happening over a long period of time. On the driver's side, it's right about where the driver's right heel sits and on the passenger side it's in front of the left side of the seat next to the tunnel. The rest of the sheet metal looks brand new, yet in need of scraping and cleaning. I removed the center console assemblies, which, like all else in the interior, is falling apart and in need of cleaning.

I got a roller for the vibration dampening material (Noico) so after I clean the metal, I can begin to install that. The interior metal is heavily "corrugated," so I'd like to hear from The Shovel as to how I should go about attaching the 50 mil material I have. I assume it needs to be close to 100% contact, heat formed a little and rolled per instructions (after prepping surface). What about wiring along the floor? Cover it or keep it above the Noico?

I'll be driving the truck tomorrow for some errands, so I'm going to bolt in a Gen 1 Montero seat to see how that works. I think I'll have to re-use part of the truck's seat base so I have a seat belt buckle.

I made the mistake of going to bed early last night and have been up since 2:30 a.m., so sorry if this is a rambling mess. Guess I'll try to get back at things tomorrow, which I've personally declared the start of spring, since it'll be around 80.

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Went to Harbor Freight today and picked up a new set of panel removal tools and a couple of wire brushes. The remains of the carpet cushion are difficult to remove and I only got the passenger side sort of done before I was distracted by a squirrel or something. I really scraped away at the rusty spots; the big round metal plugs in the floor are looking bad, too, so maybe somebody knows of rubber plugs to take their place (that would be helpful). I sprayed Rustoleum rust reformer paint on the rusty spots on that side. Don't know how far into fixing that shit I'll even want to go. Part of me wants to put metal patches over the top while the laziest part of me says to just use foil tape, cover it with the Noico and the carpet/pad and ignore it. Maybe Toasty can suggest how I can pay him to help fix it.

I removed the cheesy cardboard-like filler panel pieces, too, the pieces that cover sheet metal in places like the kick panels and the b-pillars. I'll probably toss them, as they're pretty torn up. The glued-on fabric with foam backing over some painted sheet metal around the back and front windows had to go, too. Maybe new and improved crappy fabric can eventually be glued on in its place.

Now I need some "Back To Black" trim restorer for the console/shifter bits and a way to paint the parts that used to be red and now are a faded red, kind of more like pink. Which doesn't fit what I'm after here, anyway.

I greased the chassis points. Jeez, some of that stuff is totally shot, like the driver's side lower a-arm front bushing, the boots on the upper ball joints and some of the tie rods.  No wonder it squeaks so badly. I made my Rock Auto shopping list for suspension/steering and decided against buying an old Marantz turntable so I can direct the money to this instead.

In chasing air bubbles out of my cooling system, I noticed a small but significant leak in the radiator upper tank, next to the upper rad. hose inlet. So, even though it was rodded just a year or two ago, out it will come to go to the shop. I wonder why these trucks use a two-row but a Montero with the same engine uses a three row.

My exhaust leak is at the manifold, but I didn't bother taking the heat shields off to see if the manifold itself is cracked or if it's because the nuts keep falling off - I don't think this is a balance shaft engine, still, and it does vibrate. If it's the manifold, I have options, since I have a tri-y header hanging around as well as a stock manifold or two for different years of 2.6 Monteros. Both would require minor rework on the exhaust system by a shop.

John B.

[Crumb]

You know me dude, happy to help in any way. Especially in ways i am proficient like welding, we got this.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Baksheesh, Cheddar, Skrilla. These things can be yours, Toasty, if you were to stop over and look at the Rammer this week. In the shed with the jackstands by the door is a sheet of galvanized steel I've been hanging onto. There are live power cords by the truck. Bring a grinder and a stick welder and patch that thing up! If it were only that easy... We'll work it out.

John B.

[Crumb]

 I'll come to you to asses the job, probably best to do the actual work at my house for the fastest turn around.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

That's pretty much what I thought, which is cool, because I have a couple of other things I need to have welded anyway...I can bring them along in the pickup. Any chance for this weekend? I can try to temporarily try to patch my hole in the radiator with some steel stick or a blob of regular JB Weld and bring it by.

John B.

[Crumb]

I have Josh's Mighty Max in my garage right now, lets see if he picks it up today.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

I texted him to ask, but he's probably burning incense and chanting some Buddhist stuff and can't be bothered to answer me in his Zen moments. Or it's just not a good time, I don't know.

So, I can't help myself with LED lights. I ordered what I "think" will work for: a cargo/bed light, 5" wide and sofa-king bright, to be controlled by a switch-to-be-determined inside the cab; a dome light that may be able to be placed about where the original one was and has it's own switch built-in, never mind using the door jamb switches (delete them in the circuit); two small "map" lights that have a limited swivel action base and their own switch built-in; a couple of different color bulbs for the shift selector (red and warm white - we'll see what I like better); a couple of different color bulbs for the center gauge pod (also red and white); four new brake light bulbs; two new reverse light bulbs; four new side marker bulbs, two amber and two red. I'm not messing with the turn signals yet and I can't justify spending what is being asked for LED sealed beams to replace either the high or low beam units I already like, although the high beam units would be super/uber cool, at something like $160 EACH, I can't swing that. Incidentally, Mitsubishi elected to use two completely different bulbs for the shifter and for the center gauge pod. One of them is a wedge base and one is a bayonet base. Once I verify I measured and guessed correctly on those bulb types, I'll post it. Hopefully ditto on the side marker lights, as there I went off the SuperBright LED's bulb-finder look-up, as they had those listed (they didn't have the other two, or they were obviously wrong, can't remember).

I hit my super-beat-up used Montero seats that came with the truck as an extra, on the side pair, with a tried and proven product after work, the Resolve spray-on, rub-in and vacuum out when dry stuff. These crappers sat outside for who knows how long, but they're better than the seats that came with the truck and will get seat covers anyway. I just don't need them to smell particularly bad until I start gassing them with my own brand. I also got another pail of Capture, which is great stuff, if you've never tried it. It's made largely from dried up corn cobs and it absorbs stains and odors really well, doesn't leave much residue and vacuums out as well. That's stage two for the crap-seats.

I put new nuts on the exhaust manifold to fix where there were none, because they keep vibrating/thermal flexing off. It still has a big leak/crack somewhere. I'll probably want to replace the manifold with the long tube one I have and just get the whole system redone locally and custom. I'll have to retain a catalytic converter for emissions, but have some flexibility with a muffler. I'll keep the pipes small diameter for the scavenging effect. But that's down the line. Don't really care about that part yet.

John B.

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Not much to update on the 'Rammer. I "fixed" my radiator leak near the top hose inlet the old fashioned way, with JB Weld, which held when I drove the umpteen miles n back to Pa_Jero's house to pick up yet another set of SR chrome wheels on Saturday. The new carb works really well and it has lots of power even after reaching cruising speed. I filled up with gas after the trip but haven't gone out to do any real-world-testing to see where it's at now, but I expect a return to high-teen, maybe 20-ish mpg. Still not sure why anybody would mess with a Weber when the option of a $225, guaranteed forever, direct bolt-on option is available. It'll never be a pavement burner, no matter what, in stock form. I made zero adjustments to the carb after unboxing it and bolting it on, and it starts and runs just about perfectly.

My temporary fix for the rust holes is to clean them up, spray paint them with rust reformer and use real metal duct tape over them. I was sold on this stuff about ten years ago when installing a rooftop vent cap on my old house and needed something that was easy to use, weatherproof and would last. And it's a cheap, old truck, so who cares for now. If Toasty wants to fix it with his magic welds, I guess it'll happen, otherwise, I'll just cover that shit up. It's not Illinois, where rust just grows like weeds, anyway.

My Rock Auto cart is full of stuff most people would not approve of, brand-wise, for the steering and suspension that needs to be fixed. Hey, I kind of like Mevotech ball joints and Beck-Arnley upper a-arm shaft kits, myself. At least the idler and Pitman arm are Moog.

Major time again this weekend was spent with the Kill Bikes, the little, overpowered mini bikes Jorge and I have obtained. The track has developed with two different lap orientations for variety and added danger. The possibility of rain this weekend should help with track conditions, as we seem to be grinding all the gravel into sand and dust (adding new levels of danger!).

I guess I'll see some of you cool dudes on Saturday.

John B.