Hello from Saskatchewan (82 Power Ram)

[Jpwoody]

Hello Folks,

Joined the D50 club with the purchase of this '82 Power Ram 50 yesterday. Apparently it had been sitting in a farmer's back 40 for 10 or so years before the guy I bought it from acquired it. He had put some work into it

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(rebuilt transmission and transfer case, plus a bunch of smaller additions).

On the 5 hour drive back home, I got to learn a thing or two about it.
1) It's loud - As you can see there's been some "custom" work done to the exhaust
2) It labours at anything over 100km - I'm thinking it's chiefly a tranny issue but also considering carb and engine condition
3) There's a crazy lot of play in the shifter - probably a busted or absent bushing
4) There's a lot of little issues - temp gauge doesn't work, speedometer is off, drivers door handle is absent, doesn't idle well for long (at least when a little cold), among other things.

Eventually I'd like to use the truck for some light hunting and offroad duties, so I'll probably remuffle it, add some clearance maybe switch out the box for a flat bed. However, for a $700 truck that's eight years older than me I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting to know and learn from the pretty great looking community you guys have here.

Cheers,
JP

[BradMph]

Wow, that's a little roughed up, but the body looks great. Everything is fixable that you mentioned and we can help with it all. We have Manuals to download and experienced owners, probably totally in the 1000's of years, so bring it on.

Hunting would be great, maybe a Camo paint job.

Use to do a little drive and hunt, while the wifey was driving the truck... I stood up thru the sunroof with a 270 as we cruz the forrest. Seems deer are not so afraid of vehicles or headlights in that matter. lol. Also hunting on a reservation doesn't have quite the restrictions other places might have back then.


Welcome to the Forum


PS. You do not want to overheat these trucks, trust me. The heads are sensitive to any type of this.

[Jpwoody]

Thanks Brad! That is definitely one way to drive and hunt! Personally I've always found it hard to call, hold a thermos of coffee and shoot from a moving vehicle at the same time.

The truck is definitely rough, and the exterior is probably the prettiest part about it. I'll post some interior and engine pics after work today.

As far as the heating goes, I'm going to replace the thermostat, and give the rad good flush pretty soon here and while I'm at it I'll try to figure out the temperature gauge. For the moment, the January weather has been a big help on the temperature front.

Which board would be the best to start a general progress thread for my truck?