I'm not sure if this is the place to post a build thread what the hell, Right? So, I bought my first Max about a month ago. She's a 1990, 2wd, 5spd manual trans with the 4G64. I call her Lowla, for obvious reasons. I bought her from an older guy who traded an ATV for her. He's apparently a wheeler and a dealer, he only had her for about a month before selling her to me. I was told that the oil was changed less than 100 miles before I showed up to take her home. On my drive back home I started to her a tick in the engine so I decided I'd add a little seafoam to the crankcase and I noticed the oil was pretty dark from what I could see. I drained the oil and got maybe 1.5 quarts of some pretty terrible looking oil to come out. So I closed the drain plug, added 3 quarts of fresh oil, idled her for about 2 minutes and drained her again. I then filled her up with fresh oil and ran the seafoam treatment. The ticking stopped and all was well.... for about 3 days. The ticking came back so I decided to checkout out the exhaust gasket. It had seen better days, no doubt, so out with the old and in with the new. The ticking stopped and the engine felt better, stronger. I decided that the exhaust gasket must have been the culprit after a cold start the next morning went well. She fired right up with no ticking, no warm up time needed. So I pull out onto the road and she drove like the engine was already up to operating temp, it had to have been the gasket. A few days later, the damn ticking is back again!
So here we are, present day. I checked my oil a few days ago and my oil level was just below the low mark on my dipstick and looks pretty dirty again already. I noticed some oil on the back side of the valve cover but I haven't seen any in my driveway so I don't think it's leaking badly but it's getting swapped out with a fresh one. I decided since the exhaust manifold and the valve cover are getting new gaskets then why not put fresh ones on the intake side as well? I found the gasket that goes between the intake manifold and the engine but I had to make the other gaskets on the manifold itself. I have the upper and lower intake manifolds all cleaned up, back together and ready to go back onto the engine. I cleaned the inside of them well with oven cleaner, brake cleaner, hot water and a plastic scrub brush.
At this point I plan on:
- picking up the gasket and reinstalling the intake manifold
- picking up and installing the valve cover gasket
- cleaning and maybe paint the valve cover itself. Tips or product recommendations to help me achieve this are definitely welcomed
- giving the block itself a good scrub down
- making and install the collector gasket (between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe). I'm having trouble breaking the bolts loose to be able to do it.
- diesel engine flush (I'm planning on using a method recommended by Geezer)
- new spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor
- replacing the welded differntial
- ordering and installing the timing belt cover, and the front valnce
- ordering and customizing a new front grille
- alignment and fresh tires
I'm on a pretty tight budget at the moment but she's slowly but surely coming together. The list above isn't necessarily in order but that's she what needs. If you have tips, tricks, insight, recommendation or just wanna throw in your 2 cents, I'm all ears. I'm new to the mighty max/ram 50 scene so I'm always open to learning something new. I only have a couple pictures that I'll post below but I'll be taking a lot more as I go since I decided to make this thread. Right now I'm just trying to get her tuned up , running strong and driving straight. Once I've achieved that and I've become a little more familiar with her, then maybe we'll start think about adding a few more ponies u fee the hood!
Sorry for the long novel and thanks for stoppin in!
That's ok, I'll turn my screen upside down or lie upside down on my couch lol. It's hydraulic so the tick can be cured with my engine flush technique. It's a bit 'bare bones' in the cab. Noise deadener on the floor is good (that isn't factory? ), a pair of bucket seats would lift the interior (you got a welder, a bench vise and a big ass hammer you can make your own seat rails and get nearly any seat you like the look of to fit in there). Door cards are relatively easy to make (those ones you have are a bit on the fugly side) and cheap as well depending on the look you want.
I'd like you to be the 'guinea pig' so to speak for my tune method. Once you have it glued back together and set the factory engine tune up, test drive the truck around a stretch of road you're familiar with, then head back and alter your tune using the method I've outlined in the Tech Section -
I haven't done anything to the cab yet. I'm focusing on under the hood for now, the way the cab is now is how it was when I got it. I'm thinking about maybe a second layer of sou f deadener and maybe carpet but to be honest, I like the fact that I can wipe the floorboards down with a towel when it gets dirty. I'm a workin man in a rainy neighborhood so it pretty convenient really. I was thinking of laying down something like a roll on bed liner to keep a solid, easily cleanable surface but the bed liner is really porous. And yes, the door panels are currently fugly as all hell. I'm going to keep the bench seat and either re upholster or more like just buy a cover. I want the door panels to match whatever I end up doing to the seat.
Tuning, timing, messing with the ecu and things of the sort always make me a little nervous, I don't consider myself to be an experienced mechanic although I am a little more savvy than your average Joe (or at least I think so). But that sounds easy enough. After I have her all buttoned up I'll give her a go. If like to install an rpm tach anyway so that'll give me a reason.
Also, I thought this was interesting. The guys at my local parts store recognized this truck and told me that there used to be a huge stereo system in it. This is a sealed box that's accessible behind the bench seat, it sits in the back of the bed. I think it looks pretty shotty so I kind of want to remove it but it's actually proved to be pretty handy so I might just see about having someone with some fab skills make it a little prettier
I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't been able to spend much time with old Lowla. Last night I did manage to get out to the shop and do some cleaning and surface prepping.....
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), a pair of bucket seats would lift the interior (you got a welder, a bench vise and a big ass hammer you can make your own seat rails and get nearly any seat you like the look of to fit in there). Door cards are relatively easy to make (those ones you have are a bit on the fugly side) and cheap as well depending on the look you want.
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