M0PARker's Stuff - PT Cruiser / Rampage

Thanks everyone! 

We put about 40 highway miles on it Saturday going to Mentor Headlands beach and back home.  Tested out auxiliary input on the radio, which sounded terrible, so ordered a bluetooth cassette to try.  Cup holders installed yesterday, which provided a nice mounting point for the period-correct multi-gauge that I'm overly excited about.  

Re-mounted wheel well trim and side strips.  Replaced spark plugs and greased ball joints / tie rod ends.  I tried getting the windshield trim back on with clips, but had issues, because I didn't know what I was doing when I removed the trim and bent stuff up.  I'm going to try double sided molding tape, but will go without the trim if there's any concerns.  That's about all I plan to do before we leave for Detroit on Thursday. 

And washed it for the first time in my ownership.  

Here's what I'm thinking for wheel center caps.  Only have the one so far, so this is a future, post-rally project.  

Windshield trim is a no go, for now at least.  I messed it up too badly when originally removing it, so that's a problem for future me.  I might see if there's a black rubber molding that people use on this instead, or try to find good condition strips. 

Added my 3D printed RAMPAGE badge to the back.  Can't really tell it's printed from a distance, but I'd like a real one some day.

Made it to Detroit today. Guess I left my gas cap on the pump last week and was driving around without one. Grabbed one at AutoZone near our hotel. No issues otherwise!

Rockin Good Stuff!

Do people seem to notice that thing on the road???  

I saw a kid driving a Rampage with a mountain bike in the back this summer.  It was a nice dark blue I think.

Nice little truck.

Man, I already wanted a Rampage, now I want you be more. That is going to be a great road at with the PT engine in it, where in Ohio are you?

Day 1 done, made it Detroit to Dayton. No issues and it's really doing great!  Big day tomorrow going to Pittsburgh.  

The other rally participants seem to dig the Rampage. I've gotten some comments and waves from random people, and it's really fun to see people aggressively twist around in their seat to get a look. They're the ones going wtf I think. 

I am babying the thing still, and it's using practically no gas. When we get home I'll hammer on it a little and I think it's going to move out pretty good. 

Chandler, I'm in Willowick, just east of Cleveland. 

In reply to jfryjfry :

Having owned one new for a bit back in '84, I notice 'em when I see one. Fond memories. 

Day 2 done, and it was a wild one!  The Rampage was a champ, no issues at all again. We went through the hills in southern Ohio and into West Virginia, and really the did so amazing, I can't believe it. One checkpoint was the largest tree in West Virginia, and I don't even know how to describe the roads we were on. Super steep, many twists and turns, zero smoothness. It's such a relief to be in the hotel now. 

We made it!  Today was Pittsburgh to Buffalo, and things were great for our first two checkpoints, and along the way I noticed a chirping noise, which turned into a grinding noise. We navigated to an AutoZone, and I checked out the driver rear wheel bearing. I was surprised that everything looked ok except the hub nut seemed too loose, so I bought grease and lubed everything up. As I was putting it back together a thunderstorm rolls in, soaking me. I loop around in the parking lot some, and it's making the same noise. I figure fine, I'll replace the wheel bearings, so go inside to AutoZone to find they only have an outer, with no other stores nearby to check inventory. They suggested going up the road to Advance, so I looked online to find that they listed both inner and outer in stock. Great!  So I called them to confirm and said I was on my way. 

Now in the Advance parking lot I take it back apart, and this time the inner bearing just explodes its rollers. I am super excited to find the culprit, and go in to purchase new bearings. You may be waiting for me to say their system was wrong and they didn't have the parts, which is what my mind was doing, but they actually did and all was well. New bearings in, another storm rolls in as I put the wheel on pack up, and there is a great sense of accomplishment, along with fear that something else was wrong. 

But no, everything is good and we drive 1.5 hours on to the finish. I was prepared to deem the Rampage the greatest and best car in the world based on the previous days where we had zero issue, then the wheel bearing caught me a little off guard. It may still earn that honor in my mind if we get back home tomorrow with no problems!

And we made it home!  No issues today, just nonstop heavy rains, which sucked.  We simultaneously never want to do that again, while figuring out when our next rally will be...

I just found this thread today. Awesome build. What a missed opportunity for me to have not realizing you were passing through my neck of the woods yesterday.

It's funny how I tend to love an old beat-up vehicle so much more after it successfully completes a long road trip.  I already liked the build, but now it's proven and worthy!  Nice work.

Thank you!  I drove the car to work today, and my wife couldn't believe it. She said she won't be able to even look at it for weeks...

To start the engine, I have been using the PT ignition switch stashed in the glove box.  With key turned to run, I have a momentary switch under the dash that sends power straight to to the starter solenoid.  The rampage key still needs to be turned to run too, so it's an annoying starting / stopping sequence.  So this weekend I worked on getting the Rampage ignition switch to handle PT power duties.  For this I ran signal wires from the Rampage ignition switch for start, run, run-start, and run-accessory to relays that connect ins and outs on the PT wiring, so that power flows the same way as the PT ignition switch did.  This was the easiest (and cheapest) way I could think to keep power all contained in the PT system.   

My helper for the day:

I got side-tracked by thinning out the PT wiring harness, so ended up spending a bunch of time removing unnecessary stuff.

More helper shots.

I mounted the PT fuse panel behind the glovebox and added a little bracket to hold the new relays.