89 Ram 50 Convertible

Hello all, I just inherited from my late uncle his 89 Ram 50 Convertible. It's a 2.0L G63B 5 speed. He's had it for a long time but only put 78k miles on it. He had stopped driving it sometime around 2006 and it has just sat first in his driveway then garage (thank god he finally got it sheltered). It's time outside lead the vinyl top to fall apart so I'll have to find somewhere to get that remade. He was also rear-ended sometime in the late 90's so the back is dented in a bit and I have no clue what he did with the ground effects that was on it. Otherwise its in pretty good shape with only a bit of wear and tear to clean up. The engine still cranks but won't fire so it seems the fuel system is clogged so that will be my first big fix. Fires right up with some ether in the carb though. This is my first time restoring a car/truck so I look forward to the adventure of it. I'll try and post pictures along the way.

Attachment 10476
Not many convertible trucks around so I can't wait to get it up and cruising around town! :))

Welcome to the forum!

If that truck sat that long it might be a good idea to drop some oil in cylinders before starting. Things get pretty dry after long sits. Fuel sucks, oils sucks, antifreeze sucks. Just can't walk up and hope she cranks up.
If he hasn't changed a timing belt and oil pump belt, you better change it. Run a compression test, adjust valves if they can be. Maybe run some seafoam for the first tank. Do some grease gun action and over all just change all the fluids in it. Trany, rear-end, etc. Be gentle to her if she has been asleep a long time.
You have a good truck if you take care of it and last a long time. Be careful driving too, that first month or so to get use to it will be a good idea.
Watch out for people sticky fingers too. Parking in places that someone can just reach into the truck and grab will be something to watch for.

Looks like a fun truck!

Sweet ride there, we have one in town with a removable hardtop on it, will get a pic sometime of it.

Is that an old picture? I have a full set of ground effects that will fit your truck if yours are missing.

Wow, time flies, can't believe its been 2 years since I posted this up. I've not worked on the truck as much as I should have in that time but it is not finally back on the road! Not a lot visually has been done but it's running better than I imagined it would. Work so far as been:

• New plugs/wires
• New oil/filter
• New belts
• New battery
• New fuel pump/filter
• New carb (replaced with factory Mikuni 32-25)
• Cleared fuel line and drained bad fuel
• New tires
• New brake pads
• 8-ball on the shifter ;)

I could have just reused the old carb but after cleaning it out and trying to rebuild it I still needed a new diaphram spring that apprently NO ONE can provide. All the kits come with everything but this spring. Ended up spending $280 because no one could supply me with a $3 spring...

Still to be done:

• New top
• New cover on bed to match the top
• Repair damage on rear
• New taillight
• New paint (thinking black with tan top and bed cover or Smokey Gray with Orange top and cover as I'm a TN Vols fan)
• If I can find a matching skirt for the rear then I'll replace that
• New stereo and speakers (The deck in it currently has a loose connection and goes in and out. Also only have 1 working speaker)

Not sure what else I'll do but that's what I've got on my mind so far. It's been a real head turner already in its current state so I'm having a blast with it. Below is the link to the pic album of my progress so far.

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...hp?albumid=326

Attachment 17503

This is a pretty cool project. Weird, but cool. The late 80s and early 90s were a strange time :)

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Originally Posted by Xatorius

I could have just reused the old carb but after cleaning it out and trying to rebuild it I still needed a new diaphram spring that apprently NO ONE can provide. All the kits come with everything but this spring. Ended up spending $280 because no one could supply me with a $3 spring...

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I wish I had seen this sooner. Who knows if I could have helped, but maybe. One upon a time I needed some synchronizer detent springs for the Getrag transmissions used in the AWD 3000GT and Stealth. I measured them and found matches at Century Spring. I was fortunate that they didn't require minimum orders in the thousands.

If you know your way around a micrometer, you might be able to find what you need there.

So, I just bought this truck Saturday. I LOVE IT!

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Originally Posted by noahwins

Is that an old picture? I have a full set of ground effects that will fit your truck if yours are missing.

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Do you still have the ground effects?

New member with another members former truck. :thumbup:

Custom convertible trucks were the hot scene in the late '80s and early '90s

Nice to see this truck make it back onto the boards.

Hey, agreed, glad to see it make it back on the boards as well. I hate that I was not able to complete the restore but time and means got away from me. I only sold this about a month ago so I guess he wasn't as interested in restoring it as I thought. I'm glad it at least made it to someone who is excited to finish it out. I look forward to seeing your progress.

HEY WOW ~ so member Lon Moer congrats :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by xboxrox

HEY WOW ~ so member Lon Moer congrats :thumbup:

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Uhmm..no, I was referring to sderrickson.
:)

I’m a die hard mopar guy. I drove dakotas through high school but this is my first actual mini truck
i plan on going to the dmv on Thursday to get plates but stumped on what they should say!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sderrickson

I’m a die hard mopar guy. I drove dakotas through high school but this is my first actual mini truck
i plan on going to the dmv on Thursday to get plates but stumped on what they should say!

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LOL = Land of Lincoln
LIL D
JEEP = Just Enuff Essential Parts

BTDDM
best truck Dodge didn’t make