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greymouser7

Vagrant Vagabond “Veni Vidi Vici”
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Was working on my grandfather’s old ranch (split to all the aunts, uncles, one cousin, & momma) today when I came across a 5.9 magnum equipped 2500 Ram extended cab truck rotting on a hidden portion of the property.
I ask my cousin what’s the story-

(It has bald tires) Someone rolled the truck 2-3 years ago driving it working for my uncle AND he saved the truck because he had replaced the engine right before his worker rolled it. I think I ‘m gonna get this for a song or a political promise.

What concerns do you have for:

A rolled vehicle engine or transmission?

The engine or transmission sitting stagnant for 3 years?

The radiator, condenser, & overall engine bay looked great (pics to come when I have a chance) after a fat bastard dodged wasps like the matrix opening the hood. Mothertruckers I still got the moves cause those flying stingers (12 yellow jackets) never struck once! I emptied a can of hornet spray a minute later in a battle of midway re-enactment, still ducking and running like my 6 year old girl.

Airbags deployed, passenger front suspension damaged along with roof...

Are the leaf springs long enough for my 74 road runner? Expected rear axle or rear gears for a 2500 Ram?

Would the (late model ?A518?) transmission fit the 74 RR without altering the torsion bar fitment of the transmission crossmember?

What are the A518 gear ratios?
Can I use the harness for the motor? Where do you cut them??? How?
I guess same for the transmission:Can I use the harness for the trans? Where do you cut them??? How?

Computer necessary or standalone available?

I never considered this direction until manna started falling from heaven.
 
First of all, glad you had the Ninja skills to avoid being stung by the hornets. Now for the truck. What year of truck is it? If the A518 is the electronically controlled governor, then I do not know of a kit that would do the conversion. If it is the hydraulic version, then it is fairly cheap to do. Hotwire Auto who is a sponsor here can most likely help with harness questions. As far as the real axle, it is most likely a Dana 70 or 80 with 8 lugs.
 
John are you sure you want to chop up a numbers matching 340 4 speed car for an automatic?
 
John are you sure you want to chop up a numbers matching 340 4 speed car for an automatic?
Not the 73 340 manual, but the 74 with donor front clip, & swapped front suspension, & fubared trunk lid

Plus we hacked the firewall of a few 1975 b bodies to get the ac ducting and reshaped the firewall of the 1974 for A/C
-nothing original a term now endeared to mopar fans (hacking up rare production)as the ‘original sin.’
 
Like said above, check fluids. Don't be too alarmed if they're low, very low. How long was it upside down? Long enough for them to drain out? I would think after sitting 2-3 years most of the oil may have found it's way back to the pan. But, I would pull the spark plugs before you try to turn it over. Just in case there's any oil on top of pistons. Also could be a good amount of oil caught in the intake manifold. Don't want to "hydraulic" a good engine and bend a rod.
 
John are you sure you want to chop up a numbers matching 340 4 speed car for an automatic?
i picked up the 74' in 2009 and made two $500 payments to the owner for the car with a rotted front clip, the cab was mint along with the trunk lid at that time. I do have the pedals for manual transmission installed in the 1974 but if I wanted mom or Katelyn to ENJOY driving one of the cars, they don't love shifting nearly as much as I do (every car I bought being manual).

"What year truck?" I'll check today in the evening and take pics when I get done working on a Grove RT 58C mobile Crane changing some filters (two hour drive away & back again). If I were to guess, late 1990's or early first couple years of 2000+
If I remember, I think it has 8 lugs
 
Like said above, check fluids. Don't be too alarmed if they're low, very low. How long was it upside down? Long enough for them to drain out? I would think after sitting 2-3 years most of the oil may have found it's way back to the pan. But, I would pull the spark plugs before you try to turn it over. Just in case there's any oil on top of pistons. Also could be a good amount of oil caught in the intake manifold. Don't want to "hydraulic" a good engine and bend a rod.
It is not upside down now, I don't think it was upside for more than a few seconds, the roof is amazingly well intact.
If I brought a battery, checked (okay) the oil and coolant- SHOULD I EVEN try to start it?
What will the computer do after wreckage?
 
I'm not sure if Chrysler had the fuel shut off deal(in the event of accident). Give it a shot!
 
I think your missing a golden opportunity here.
Dirt-Every-Day-1973-Plymouth-Road-Runner-with-a-Cummins-V8-05.jpg
 
Using the FSM wiring diagram we wired the dyno to test the computer controlled 360's. A clever person like yerself can do the same thing with the car.
 
Do not cut the harness to take it out. In fact, leave it on when you pull the engine so you know where everything goes.
There should not be any trouble with the PCM due to the rollover unless it's physically damaged. There was no fuel cut feature that I ever came across on these.
I have let Magnum trucks sit a long time before starting. A couple alternators and an idler pulley rusted and wouldn't spin. One caused the engine to not crank over at all, the others started but had tons of belt noise. Check it before starting.
The lifters often bleed down after that long. It will require a little cranking and often a little throttle manipulation to keep it running, but don't worry it will smooth out.
 
that Ram axle is gonna be WAY too wide.

magnumswaps.com has all your swap info

that should be a fun car with that 5.9

my nearly stock, 4200 pound, 170,000 mile 2000 Dakota R/T will boil the 255/55/17 tires until I let up (it does have a 3.92 SG axle)
 
Fine. Be like everybody else. :bs_flag:5.9 Magnum swap blah, blah, blah.
Think about it some more before you decide, lol. :poke:
:lol:
If you watched that video, the car needed extensive rust repair, which was why they switched directions to an off road build.

I am not sure if they retained the front suspension-I think put truck front suspension into it as well.

Off-roading is like skydiving, flying, competitive racing, etc. the hobby is $$ out of reach at the moment.
 
Not the 73 340 manual, but the 74 with donor front clip, & swapped front suspension, & fubared trunk lid

Plus we hacked the firewall of a few 1975 b bodies to get the ac ducting and reshaped the firewall of the 1974 for A/C
-nothing original a term now endeared to mopar fans (hacking up rare production)as the ‘original sin.’

Oh......I thought you had scrapped that one long ago. It had or has rust in every single panel, doesn't it? But yeah, that's the one to play with alright. lol
 
Oh......I thought you had scrapped that one long ago. It had or has rust in every single panel, doesn't it? But yeah, that's the one to play with alright. lol
That blue one you helped me with, I ripped my TTI exhaust out of, super stock leaf springs, the engine you helped me get running (with the most ridiculous Moroso deep oil pan), and traded the carcass & title to my friend Chris Leggett in exchange for helping me haul 2 cars out here to Texas.

You, Rob saved me thousands of hours of heart ache and work when you pointed out how rusty that road runner was-I found another with a great body for thousand bucks IN TOWN. I swapped over tons of stuff to it. Two cars into one has got to be the cheapest way thru the hobby outside of finding a free truck.
 
My wife's Jeep has been on my lift for four years...I tried telling her it wasn't that long but she didn't buy it.
 
Oh......I thought you had scrapped that one long ago. It had or has rust in every single panel, doesn't it? But yeah, that's the one to play with alright. lol
A valuable lesson I learned the hard way was that I should have thinned the herd a bit sooner with all the cars I collected, but Chris Leggett works at a junkyard so it worked out real well.
 
Unrelated but worst case scenario illustrated-

There was a looooong running CL ad for an oddball 400 2 barrel 72 Charger Rallye (in Petty blue with the V21 sport hood code) that they guy wanted 6,000 for. Needed total resto.

He was adamant about not being "lowballed" despite using the term "must sell due to moving to Arkansas".

The ad literally ran for years.

I guess he ended up hauling it to Ark, and listing it on ebay, where it brought a staggering $3,000.

WTF didn't he just list it for 3K in FL?

I might have paid that for it.

Instead he spent the time and money to haul it halfway across the country and then took WAY less than it was advertised for, he essentially lowballed himself.

IDIOT
 
That blue one you helped me with, I ripped my TTI exhaust out of, super stock leaf springs, the engine you helped me get running (with the most ridiculous Moroso deep oil pan), and traded the carcass & title to my friend Chris Leggett in exchange for helping me haul 2 cars out here to Texas.

You, Rob saved me thousands of hours of heart ache and work when you pointed out how rusty that road runner was-I found another with a great body for thousand bucks IN TOWN. I swapped over tons of stuff to it. Two cars into one has got to be the cheapest way thru the hobby outside of finding a free truck.

Oh, ok. So you parted the numbers car to make a good car. I actually endorse that. That car had so much rust in the cowl area.....man.....and quarters.....it was really sad. It was such a cool car. But I am glad it will live on on some shape or form.
 
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