My little Mitsu-Dodge lives again.

[74Dusted]

This 1984 Dodge Power-Ram 50 was my first truck (before that it was my dad's first brand new truck) and I ran that truck for years. No matter what I did to it, I couldn't kill it. I swapped a 5-Speed in shortly after I got it, and constantly side-stepped the clutch at WOT through all the gears. Revved that little 2.6L way beyond the redline (had 4.65 ratio gears in the truck with 30" Tires and a .80 overdrive). It just kept on going, like the energizer bunny.

The original Mitsubishi 2.6L Gas Engine finally died at 276,000 miles (a few years ago). It had a hard life, the truck had been used as a Daily Driver, Work Truck and Plow Truck for most of its life. Then it had a few more engines (a couple gas engines, a turbo diesel, a few more gas engines).

Now it has a 273 & 904. Manual Shift Kit, B&M Ratchet Shifter, KM100/NP203 Transfer Case Doubler. 4.10 Gears with a Rear Limited Slip, 33" Tires, 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift, Cut Fenders, 10k Winch, Square Tube Bumpers, Dual 850/1000 (65N) Batteries. I did have 40" Tires on it for a while, but I need to modify the fenders some more to cover them better

The 273 was a $100 engine pulled from a '72 Duster. A mid-year '68 Block ('69) with "587" Heads (1.88 Valve), 10.5:1 Compression, .500 Mechanical Lift Cam, 340 Intake, AVS Carb (Did have a Thermoquad on it for a while), 360 Truck Manifolds and 2.25" Dual Exhaust

Video below v
[ame=http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x42/ChrisKDD/SANY0156.mp4]

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I wish I still had some pictures of what that truck looked like in 2001 (or maybe it was 2000) when I got it from my dad. Back then it was a beautiful truck with a 3-Tone Silver/Gray Metal flake paint job and the interior was in immaculate condition with a wicked stereo system.

I still have a few things to do before I start driving it again, and a long list of stuff to do while I'm driving it. Eventually the body will be completely restored, the truck will get a Rollbar & Rollcage, upgraded axles, a new wiring harness, new interior, etc. And then I'll move on to the engine. It's going to stay Small Block Mopar for the rest of its life now, but I'm thinking a Turbo 360 or a Supercharged 1st Gen Hemi would make a great upgrade over the already wicked 273.

Back when it was original, it was a highly optioned D50. 904 Auto on the Floor with Center Console, A/C with "Gauge Pack" (I made the mistake of converting to No A/C), Tachometer, Cruise Control, Power Steering, Tilt Steering Column, Sport package, Full Interior (with the rare factory headliner, upper trim and cargo/dome light combo), Rollbar, Skid Plates (Front, Transfer Case & Gas Tank), etc.

Decent body parts are hard to find up here in the Rust Belt, so the body on the truck was reconstructed with parts from about 10 different D50's. And it's the one of two 1st Gen D50's (1979 - 1986) that I know of that are still on the road within a 100 mile radius. The other one happens to be in my hometown as well, and has a door that looks like one that was stolen from me a few years ago (can't prove it, but I know the guy stole one of my good doors)

 

[70DartMike]

Cool! Pretty neat little truck. I was going to pick one up a few years ago, a diesel I believe, and offroad it pretty hard, but it got sold before I got to it.

 

[74Dusted]

Cool! Pretty neat little truck. I was going to pick one up a few years ago, a diesel I believe, and offroad it pretty hard, but it got sold before I got to it.

I'm not surprised that it sold that fast, less than 1% of all D50's came with the rare Turbo Diesel option. And they got mid-high 30's MPG in those trucks

I had one of those motors in this truck, a 2.3L Turbo Diesel, then I stroked it to 2.5L and added an Intercooler. Holy **** that little 4-banger would light up a pair of 40" Mudders :burnout: Many people refused to believe I had a 4-banger (Factory option, just not original to my truck) Turbo Diesel in the truck and insisted I had a Big Block in it to turn those 40" Tires. Should have seen the look on their faces when I'd pop the hood and show off the little powerhouse.

That motor is no longer around, the rings on the #2 piston broke and ripped the #2 cylinder a new butthole ops: It couldn't be saved at a .040 bore (max) and I couldn't find a replacement sleeve/cylinder liner.

Actually, I have some pics of the little engine that could. Yes, I painted it in Chrysler Red

And here's what the fugly critter looked like when it was Turbo Diesel powered

Last Year, right around the time I dropped the 273 in. Can't remember if it had the 273 or a 2.6L Gas engine when I took this pic.

 

[sleeper-oem]

Brings back memories i got an 87 ram50 for highscool graduation with a matching blue suzuki 750 in the back. Lets just say i felt on top of the world. thanks for sharing.

 

[74Dusted]

Had a couple small issues with the truck puking transmission fluid. Traced it back to 2 problems.

1 : The exhaust was super heating the transmission pan
2 : The Valve Body had a hole blown in it. (WTF?! It wasn't there when I put the transmission together)

Swapped the Valve Body and moved the duals a little further away from the transmission, problem solved. It doesn't puke fluid anymore. I still have to tweak the length of the Shift Arm on the transmission, the gears don't quite match up with the shifter. (Park is Park, Reverse is in the neutral position on the shifter, you get the idea)

Despite those little bugs, I'm getting about 16mpg out of the little truck with a carb that's too big and timing that was set "by ear" I also need to install a fan shroud, it's not drawing enough air in traffic. In traffic/in town the ole 273 will creep up to about 225* and I start to worry. Once I get moving the temperature drops back down to a comfortable 190 - 200* Nowhere near as bad as the 2.6L I had in the truck when I used it to plow snow though. That thing would run 240*+ on a daily basis and never missed a beat.

Got the shifters for the transfer cases installed since the video was shot, and I've been driving it pretty much every day.

At my dad's house, he needed me to load up some junk. Decided to stay at his place that night and get drunk

Shifters, Left to Right :

NP203 Shifter, B&M Ratchet Shifter, KM100 Range Box Shifter.

Really loving the old truck, especially since it was my first truck. It's like a trip down memory lane to my teenage years :glasses7: Only now it's cool to drive a D50 since they're so rare (back then it was just a joke to be caught in a crapbox like a D50). People are constantly pointing at my truck and talking as a I drive by. I even watched some guy in the rear-view mirror (in a cheby s10 blazer) elbow the guy in the driver's seat and point at my tailgate (which says "Power Wagon") The driver lowered his sunglasses, stared at the truck and his jaw dropped

Sadly a few guys have asked me if I had a Cheby 350 in it :wack: I told them It was a 273 from a Plymouth Barracuda and one of them got real pissy with me. "Oh you should have went with a Chevy 350, it's a way better engine."

 

[MoparDaddy]

Not bad at all! Where did you find the swap mounts/ headers?

 

[MoparDaddy]

Sadly a few guys have asked me if I had a Cheby 350 in it :wack: I told them It was a 273 from a Plymouth Barracuda and one of them got real pissy with me. "Oh you should have went with a Chevy 350, it's a way better engine."

:Banghead:

 

[74Dusted]

Not bad at all! Where did you find the swap mounts/ headers?

:Banghead:

Yeah it's sad, everybody seems to think that if a vehicle has an engine swap that it should have had a cheby 350 instead.

I fabricated my own mounts (always have for these kind of projects). Solid Mounts bolted to the block & frame. The engine was set back against the firewall and then dropped down until the oil pan (had to use a Car Oil Pan) almost touched the crossmember. The Oil Filter actually sits inside the frame, didn't have enough space for a 90* "340" Oil Filter Adapter.

(I had to replace the freeze plugs about 10 months after that picture was taken...any guesses why? )

It uses stock 360 Truck Exhaust Manifolds, the only thing I could get to fit. Didn't have enough space for 1964-1966 273 A-Body Manifolds or 67+ A-Body Manifolds. The downpipes for the exhaust hug the block and engine crossmember before making their way back. The Driver's Side Downpipe was a nightmare to make. It hugs the block & crossmember and then crosses over under the bellhousing on the 904 (had to be made from 4 separate pieces and welded together in the truck). Then it follows the passenger side pipe down the passenger side until it passes the transfer cases & gas tank before it finally moves back over to the driver's side (true duals from engine to rear bumper)

Took me 4 days of working in the evenings to make the exhaust system and a half-stick of pipe that got wasted in the process. Couldn't fit anything bigger than 2.25" Duals on the truck.

Here's the motor it replaced. Side by side of the 2.6L and the 273 as it was when I bought it (for $100)

And here's another engine swap I did a while back. Mopar 318/727 in a Mazda RX-7 for my best friend

That's an old picture. I later fabricated brackets to reuse all the stock RX-7 Accessories (even the Smog Pump and A/C). Now it only needs the core support radiator brackets modified to bolt in the radiator, and I have to finish making the driveshaft. Fuel system and ignition system was finished up months ago (before my friend moved to Chicago and left the car with me to finish and drive for him until he returns in a little over a year)

The Driver's Side Motor Mount was loosely based on the design of a 73+ A-Body Motor Mount and bolts to the Stock K-Frame. The Passenger Side uses a stock 318 Truck Mount and a Pedestal was welded to the K-Frame to allow it to bolt in as well.