1989 RamCharger
- Thread starter awptickes
- Start date
- Replies 116
- Views 16K
We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms
Last weekend, my brother-in-law noticed that the seat bracket was broken when we were going around a turn... So when we came back to the house, I tacked it with my fluxcore welder, and started looking for a replacement part.
I stopped by a junkyard on the way home from work today, hoping to find a seat hinge mechanism from a 75-93 dodge, so I didn't have to make one myself.
I pulled in, asked the guy if they had something like that, and he said "You know, we have a ramcharger out there in the yard."
Happy dance ensues.
They tell me that it's in great condition, most of the interior is still there, and it's not been there for long.
Both seats were in it, hinge mechanism was actually pretty new, and looked NICE. So, I began to try to round off the bolts with the tools in the truck. Almost fully succeeded, heh. I got the passenger seat out, and got the rear seat armrests out too. I called my wife, who drove to the yard with my socket set, and she brought them to me. I got the rest of the crap I needed out.
I stopped by a junkyard on the way home from work today, hoping to find a seat hinge mechanism from a 75-93 dodge, so I didn't have to make one myself.
I pulled in, asked the guy if they had something like that, and he said "You know, we have a ramcharger out there in the yard."
Happy dance ensues.
They tell me that it's in great condition, most of the interior is still there, and it's not been there for long.
Both seats were in it, hinge mechanism was actually pretty new, and looked NICE. So, I began to try to round off the bolts with the tools in the truck. Almost fully succeeded, heh. I got the passenger seat out, and got the rear seat armrests out too. I called my wife, who drove to the yard with my socket set, and she brought them to me. I got the rest of the crap I needed out.
everyone knows you are supposed to drink and apparently shower with Pearl beer in a Ram Charger
So, I put about 430 highway miles on it this past week. On the trip up to NY I got 13.2MPG, in the pouring rain, on the NJTP, getting turned around in NYC, Driving up the mountain to get to that state park in NJ near Greenwood lake, and all that jazz.
Had to replace a blown out freeze plug before the journey even started, but otherwise uneventful. Ate a lot of gasoline.
I really need to replace the u-joints in the main driveshaft now, the shake is getting to the point where it makes me legitimately concerned when I'm on the highway.
I'm pretty sure the valve stem seals are leaking oil a little bit, which isn't good, but not a big deal. I really don't want to pull the heads, so I'm starting to look for a new complete longblock, I've found a couple for under $150 so far. I'll probably do a complete teardown and rebuild on it.
Had to replace a blown out freeze plug before the journey even started, but otherwise uneventful. Ate a lot of gasoline.
I really need to replace the u-joints in the main driveshaft now, the shake is getting to the point where it makes me legitimately concerned when I'm on the highway.
I'm pretty sure the valve stem seals are leaking oil a little bit, which isn't good, but not a big deal. I really don't want to pull the heads, so I'm starting to look for a new complete longblock, I've found a couple for under $150 so far. I'll probably do a complete teardown and rebuild on it.
I replaced the tie rod ends and the drop arm. Now it actually drives quite well. One finger steering control at 55+ instead of two-hand-white-knuckle steering.
Much tool abuse happened, and I had to cut one of the studs on the drop arm, because I couldn't get clearance without removing the pitman arm, which required removing the leaf spring, which would have required removing the front axle, which would have required removing the front drive-shaft. So, yeah.
I've now got a bunch more tools, only lightly abused.
The ball joints are actually fine -- surprisingly, so those didn't get replaced. I'm going to see if I can return them to NAPA to get the $140 back.
Note that this picture is taken with no-load on the front end at all... Those springs have like 2" of articulation, and next to no spring left in them.
The steering slop is almost entirely gone, I think the issue now is the fact that the leaf spring bushings are worn out completely, and it's got like 1/4" of play inside the leaf spring eye. But, I've got new leaf springs that aren't completely flat, and I'll be getting bushings this coming week. Hopefully the weather stays nice so I can bear to be in the garage and get the work done.
I also got some of the roof-rust taken care of. It's not pretty, but it'll get painted eventually:
Much tool abuse happened, and I had to cut one of the studs on the drop arm, because I couldn't get clearance without removing the pitman arm, which required removing the leaf spring, which would have required removing the front axle, which would have required removing the front drive-shaft. So, yeah.
I've now got a bunch more tools, only lightly abused.
The ball joints are actually fine -- surprisingly, so those didn't get replaced. I'm going to see if I can return them to NAPA to get the $140 back.
Note that this picture is taken with no-load on the front end at all... Those springs have like 2" of articulation, and next to no spring left in them.
The steering slop is almost entirely gone, I think the issue now is the fact that the leaf spring bushings are worn out completely, and it's got like 1/4" of play inside the leaf spring eye. But, I've got new leaf springs that aren't completely flat, and I'll be getting bushings this coming week. Hopefully the weather stays nice so I can bear to be in the garage and get the work done.
I also got some of the roof-rust taken care of. It's not pretty, but it'll get painted eventually:
I love working on cars. It's relaxing and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'm happy to be in a place in life where I can spend $400 on parts and tools in a weekend for a project that only nets me enjoyment.
It's a project car, and you could say the same thing about an EF Civic or even a Del Sol, you know?
It's a project car, and you could say the same thing about an EF Civic or even a Del Sol, you know?
depends on if you finish it or not doug lol
Playing with timing still, it runs fine with 20 deg of base advance, but doesn't like 10deg at all... 10 is the standard for this truck, so I'm not sure what's going on with the internals. The cam might be shot...
I'm going to see if I can find a used 318 locally then rebuild it and stop messing with this one.
It does run nice now with all of that advance, but I still have this strange "hard start" issue. When I drive it enough to get the engine hot, then park it for about 30 minutes, then try to start it again, it cranks like something is keeping it from turning over. Could this be pre-ignition during starting?
I'm going to see if I can find a used 318 locally then rebuild it and stop messing with this one.
It does run nice now with all of that advance, but I still have this strange "hard start" issue. When I drive it enough to get the engine hot, then park it for about 30 minutes, then try to start it again, it cranks like something is keeping it from turning over. Could this be pre-ignition during starting?
