Little truck, big possibilities

Who says a project has to have a specific plan?  This one is not likely to get tons of regular updates, as it'll get worked on when I feel like it, with no final goal in mind.  Also, it's outside, and it's cold in the midwest right now.  

A quick background - A few months back, I bought a Dodge Ram 50 from the same person I bought my challenge S10 from.  It was more solid than the S10, but had not been running since at least 2006.  I think it was pulled off the road due to a bad gas tank, but it could have been any number of reasons.  If I remember the story correctly, it was the PO's father's daily driver until whatever problem befell it.  I thought they were one of the better looking compact trucks of the 80s, especially the models with the paint-matched grill.  This one isn't one of those, but it is an extended cab, with the 2.6 and a 5 speed.  No AC, no PS, RWD, nice and simple.

It had 18 years of built up grunge:

A thorough car wash improved it immensely.  Still needs a lot of interior cleaning, but for now, a bug bomb and some damp rid will have to do.

It sat for a while until I tried to get it to start.  Found out the engine was locked up.  From the spark plugs, it appears moisture got into the number 2 cylinder.  A little over a week ago, I decide I needed to do something about it, and filled the cylinders with marvel mystery oil, and let it sit.  This past weekend, I pulled the cover back off it, and attacked it with a breaker bar and a 22mm socket.  It took a long while, but the engine is now freed up.  The plan for the next session is to get some adapters to throw one of my spare side post batteries in it (I think the top post battery I used before is now truly dead), use the starter to kick out most of the remaining MMO, reinstall the spark plugs, hit it with some starting fluid, and see what happens.  If it runs, change the oil, and try to get it to run off some gas poured in the carb.

Then what?  Well that's the fun part.  If the engine seems viable, or able to be made so, I guess I'll try to get it running well enough to be street driven.  After that, who knows?  It's not nice enough to be worth restoring, but it is way nicer than the few other 36 year old trucks around here, and mechanical parts are still pretty cheap and easy to come by.  I could build a cheap lowrider, it could be the next rallycrosser if events return to the area, it could get a Miata front and rear suspension and go carve corners, it could get turned into a drag and drive beast.  Or I could get bored or frustrated with it and sell it.  Who knows?  The journey is going to be half the fun.

Wow, that wash made a big difference.

Virtually none of my projects start with any plan either. I'm excited to see how yours plays out! 

If it were mine I'd be hoping for a viable stock drive train and the cheap lowrider option. But all options you've laid out sound like fun. 

Macro Cab! Excited to see what you do with the truck and what other options it has.  The macrocabs often came with some sought after options like the sliding back window you have, dash clock, bucket seats and a tachometer.

RacetruckRon said:

Macro Cab! Excited to see what you do with the truck and what other options it has.  The macrocabs often came with some sought after options like the sliding back window you have, dash clock, bucket seats and a tachometer.

Cool!  I've been slowly working my way through your build thread.  Don't think I'm going to do anything as wild  or awesome as what you've done so far.

Also excited to see what you do with this. I also recently picked up an '89 Ram 50 in similar condition and am working through it to get it up do DD status hopefully.

In reply to PerniciousLies :

Neat!  Is 89 fuel injected, or still carbureted like mine?

Weather was nice, so I took an hour or so to fiddle with the truck.  Had to shim a battery terminal with a cut out piece of soda can, since it would not tighten enough.  I think I have some spares laying around somewhere I can grab.  Ground in general was sketchy, too, so I may make some improvements.  Anyway, I was able to get the starter to turn over fine, so reinstalled the plugs.  With them in, it was working much harder, so I must have compression in at least some of the cylinders.  Unfortunately, it would not fire off starting fluid, and I am pretty certain the coil is not getting enough (or possibly any) power.  Which leads me to the first oddity, that I am just learning about on this truck.

It has a ballast resistor, even though it should have electronic ignition.  However, Rock Auto does list a points to electronic conversion kit for my year, so who knows.  On the battery side of the ballast resistor, I was down 1 volt from battery voltage, so grounds should definitely be revisited.  I wasn't thinking about it while working on it, either, but that means I should have someone else running the multimeter while I crank the engine, to see if the coil is getting anything while the resistor is bypassed.  If I am reading a writeup on the internet correctly, I should also be able to delete the ballast resistor anyway.  Also, whatever radio noise suppression method is being used, it doesn't work, as I'm hearing buzzing in the cab with the ignition on.  Somewhere I have a repair manual, so I'll check it and do a little more internet sleuthing before the next work session.  That may be a while, though, as weather is taking a turn for the worse.

Oh yeah, Ron, no tachometer, no clock, but there is a spot in the dash with a wire hanging out that may have housed one before.  Bucket seats are present, but not in the best of shape.  It does have a rather vintage aftermarket radio, and a CB radio, though!