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Thread: Roy's Garage: '90 2.4-4G64 5-spd D-50

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  1. #11

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    Status
    Offline
    Join Date
    12-21-2013
    Posts
    1,267
    Location

    Maurertown, Virginia
    Vehicle

    1990 Dodge D-50
    Engine

    4G64
    I crammed a lot of tasks into a week
    I knew nothing about D-50's, and I hadn't gotten into enough trouble yet to set me on the path to find this forum All I knew was that I loved my cool little truck, and it needed some loving cosmetic care: the black paint around the door windows was almost white from deoxidation. Black plastic parts needed some mineral oil. And that cheesy upholstery had to go.

    Knowing what I do now, I wish I had taken pictures...there are some, but not of the whole process. The gas tank repair probably would have been useful to some future Rammer, because one thing that's consistant in these trucks: Rust Never Sleeps.

    It was a wonderful time detailing the truck, just basics to bring it up to "cared for" condition. But now that I am on this forum, I see the work others have done on their trucks and it's amazing the time and detail spent. I can't try to be "like the Big Boys", and I am fine being just a curb mechanic with a stock truck: the forum has made me feel welcome, that way. I probably represent lots of visitors to this forum, who are not extreme-modifying their trucks, but just keeping the basics intact. "The thing we have most in common...are our differences".

    A list of what I did in that first week:
    . Took the bumper off and gave it a good paint job after some straightening. Dupli-Color "Universal Black" with some clear coat. Same paint for the rims which I sanded and painted before getting new tires. I tried to locate chrome wheel-center caps but for now settle for painted.
    . Painted the grille. Took a Ram emblem off the side, beveled it with a belt sander to fit inside the grille, and mounted it.
    . Removed the instrument cluster and completely cleaned it inside and out, all new bulbs. While it was out, installed the tach and and running-lights switch.
    . Door panels came off and got mild modification and paint, after-market window cranks replaced cheesy plastic ones.
    . Used the Bissel upholstery attachment and "steam cleaned" headliner and carpet while bench seat was out. (Only 6 simple bolts to remove the seat in two pieces make it very easy to work with. Just like my first wife, it was an easy in and out.
    . Installed a good music system. It will vibrate nearby buildings sufficiently, but I don't do that (anymore :D ) unless it's Led Zepplin or ZZ Top. It's a simple Dual CD player with a pre-amp. I quit listening to radio long ago. (In 1995 I walked out of the local radio station I worked at, after leaving a note on the wall: "Radio is dead". ClearChannel was buying up all the stations in the country, and what we have today is a pipeline of crap. There is no "career in radio" unless you think reading from a script and playing music from a computer-generated list is artistic).
    . Putting the truck up on jacks:
    . dropped the drive shaft and transmission. "Preventitive maintenance" of replacing u-joints might have been a mistake: I get some 55MPH vibration.
    . Replaced the throw out bearing only to find the one in it was fairly new. This DID allow me to inspect the clutch, and also "get my feet wet" in doing deeper mechanical work...something I had not done for many years (I had no place to do it). Drained and replaced trans and differential oil.
    . Dropped the fuel tank and addressed the leaking fuel line issue. It was in trying to locate a fuel pump that I began the realization of how hard it is to get parts for these little guys. I'm thinking this is a common D-50 'losing virginity' moment: you either dedicate yourself to these trucks or get rid of them. I'm keeping mine. After all: it has cup holders.

    The truck spent additional time in a repair shop where the front end rubber was all replaced and the wheels aligned. Seems to me they replaced the pitman arm, too. At any rate, that front end is right. New shocks all around.

    That sort of brings me up to speed as to this forum: my story is around here in different places, but the short of it is that I have mechanical problems to correct, and in finding the answers, discovered a whole community of Mighty Rammers (oddly, this reminds me of that first wife) and the culture of these unique vehicles. I'm not alone, out in that garage, and I have a place to share this, whereas otherwise, no one gives a rat's patooki.

    And today, I hope to get the parts truck out of the garage, and begin my real journey.

    All of this has just been a primer for what's to come.

    [below: removing the fuel tank]
    scan0004.jpg

    replacing u-joints might have been a mistake: I get some 55MPH vibration.
    I wish to make it clear that I know about replacing u-joints and the proper proceedure to do so. I need to check the alignment on the transmission mount, and also probably need the drive shaft re-balanced. Regardless that the u-joints are new, there is some visible play in the joins. Ghhhuhkk.
    Last edited by royster; 12-27-2013 at 08:52 AM.

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