Hello All,

I'm new to the Dodge Ram 50 but am quite passionate about restoring my Dad's old truck. He bought this truck about 4 years ago and had some engine troubles with it. He loved the truck so much he tracked down someone who had an overhauled replacement. He pieced most of the motor back together (with the exception of installing the distributor and fine-tuning the carb). Unfortunately, some guy he knew threw the other pieces together and the truck has never run the same. My father always to pulled the motor and start over to ensure the issue wasn't something with a cylinder or compression.
He was later diagnosed with cancer and lost that fight before bringing this beast back to life. So I have stepped in to not only troubleshoot (and hopefully fix) the mechanical issues. But I am also going to try and restore the truck. I stumbled on this site and figured with the brain-power contained in these forums, a guy like me could work to accomplish this goal with a little guidance at times.

I fixed several issues so far: Busted rocker arm lash adjuster, corrected the timing a bit, and had to adjust the idle speed (as it was cranking at around 3000 rpms) now I'm trying to pinpoint another issue with the motor chocking out when I put the truck in gear. I'm going to start with a fuel filter since the truck has been sitting for the last year and a half, is there anything else that may be need to be further assessed or replaced?

This is an 87 - Ram50-4cyl-2.6L-4WD-Auto, with stock carburetor.