"Ember" '86 D50 Slow Build

Just picked up my 1st 1st gen, an 86 D50. My wife and I bought this truck this week for 500 bucks. G63b 5 speed engine is in pieces but the body is in possibly the best shape I've ever seen one of these trucks around here. I have always wanted a 1st gen since i first brought my 2nd gen home but i can count on one hand the 1st gens i have seen in my area this is the first one I've seen for sale in the past 5 years.

Previous owner has owned the truck since 97 and it was his daily driver until 2013. The engine was rebuilt the first time in 2010 all work being done by the owner. He honed the bores with a cutting stone and got rid of the ring ridge, replaced bearings, new rings, deleted the balance shaft and slapped it back together. The truck ran for another 3 years until it spun a bearing. He decided since it was so soon after the first rebuild that no machine work needed to be done so he ordered a standard rebuild kit along with standard pistons and bearings and pulled the engine apart. For a reason unknown he never got around to fixing the motor so it has sat with no head, pistons,rods, or oil pan under a tree next to his house with the hood down since.

-Mechanical-

Because the engine sat for so long blown open the block is completely rusted along with the crank and rods. I have decided I don't want to waste any time on the engine and I have a complete g63b core with all brackets set up for 120. I plan on buying this engine and doing a proper rebuild full machine work, new oil pump, water pump, refreshing the intake with a port and polish job,Weber carb, and lastly new paint for the block and all engine components. I plan on replacing the flywheel and throwing a new clutch underneath,new 2nd gen front disc brakes, new rear brakes unless I can find a 2nd gen lsd rear to swap.

-Appearance-

I don't plan on repainting the truck anytime soon I just want to freshen up the paint and not worry about the scratches and the fading I feel it gives it a bit of character. Going to run no rear bumper. We will be trying to change up the interior a little bit making door cards from scratch, covering the seat and making a headliner from scratch as well. Nothing crazy for audio just some door speakers and a new Head unit. I am going to try to find a sport cluster and clock for the little luxuries I'm used to in my 2nd gens. The previous owner had installed some house carpet that was in pretty rough shape, going to see about finding a replacement carpet or factory mat.

I bought some 1st gen steel wheels a few years ago, we are going to strip the paint and restore them. I am on the hunt currently for some baby moon center, trim rings, and white walls. The truck will be lowered as much as i can without doing anything to the outside body. I suspect the frame will be notched and the bed floor cut to make room for the diff.

Today we cleaned out the cab, bed, and put on some temporary wheels to move it around easier. We went through the parts and boxed everything up. The previous owner bought a full gasket set so we set that aside along with a few other knick knacks and odds and ends. Off the top of my head we need a new rear view mirror,center vent and interior light.All the trim on the side of the truck is still on but we are missing very small sections from the center piece getting brittle and snapping off over the years so we are on the hunt for a section to cut up or a possible material to replace the small sections.

Tomorrow will include pulling the interior except for the dash to power wash the inside of the cab, pulling off the dingy bench seat cover to assess the state of the seat underneath. I will pull the cowl panel off to clean underneath get the 7 years worth of leaves and acorns out, as well as pull the rear bumper off for that factory roll pan look. Going to do a haggard car wash and detail and apply some old school hot rod shine to see how she ends up!

Stay tuned if you would like to see the progress of the build it may be slow but I will photo and document all progress on the truck. I plan on (loosely) keeping track of the money spent on the truck but I tend to forget things so if anything gets done without posting or I forget to figure up the money spent I'm sorry ahead of time.

She's rough - but complete. Not having to chase panels and stuff like tail lights and a grille is one less headache. That rain guard on the drivers door is something I haven't seen before! The interior looks as bad as mine did when I first got it. Amazing what a weapons grade clean can do though. Definitely pull the heater/blower assembly out of it and give it a thorough clean. Flush the hell out of the core while it's apart. You'll appreciate not having the smell of stale dirt, dog hair and dry leaves dumping into the cab lol. Lowering it 2.5" will bring the camber to 1.5 degrees which will improve handling. I think the 2.0 is a 500kg load rated truck. You can swap a stack of parts from Gen 2's to beef up the brakes and handling etc. You will probably enjoy the Gen 1 more than your Gen 2 once you start rolling up the sleeves and get serious. Keep us posted :thumbup: