98 Ram SS/T Redo/Restore

[CudaChick1968]

:-D Thanks Corey!! I'm delighted you like what you see so far, and I can't wait to see it all on that cool truck. Feel free to get it as dirty as you want doll -- it'll clean right up with a few quick swishes of your car wash rag.

Man, I hope I mocked that carb adapter up right in the pictures. I don't know a damn thing about fuel injection. :-D Thankfully I know a few things about fuel atomization so I'm confident the masking was done right though. LOL!!!

I will say that whomever you bought that water neck from has some very high quality parts. It was one of the nicest pieces of billet I've ever had the pleasure to play with.

Thanks for your business and confidence in my abilities Corey! You have truly been a joy to work with and I look forward to the next time. You've got a friend and fan here too.

 

[6pakattack]

Here's a site you may find helpful !!!Got some sweet pieces for my sons '96 here !!! Love the SST's !!! Keep up the good work here and abroad,and be safe !!

http://www.lmctruck.com/dodge/

 

[dusted72]

:-D Thanks Corey!! I'm delighted you like what you see so far, and I can't wait to see it all on that cool truck. Feel free to get it as dirty as you want doll -- it'll clean right up with a few quick swishes of your car wash rag.

Man, I hope I mocked that carb adapter up right in the pictures. I don't know a damn thing about fuel injection. :-D Thankfully I know a few things about fuel atomization so I'm confident the masking was done right though. LOL!!!

I will say that whomever you bought that water neck from has some very high quality parts. It was one of the nicest pieces of billet I've ever had the pleasure to play with.

Thanks for your business and confidence in my abilities Corey! You have truly been a joy to work with and I look forward to the next time. You've got a friend and fan here too.

Yep you had it on right. The t-stat housing is a CAT products one. Alot of people have had issues with their other products but that thing was only $11.50 shipped. Well worth the money I believe. Thank you again!!

 

[dusted72]

Here's a site you may find helpful !!!Got some sweet pieces for my sons '96 here !!! Love the SST's !!! Keep up the good work here and abroad,and be safe !!

http://www.lmctruck.com/dodge/

Thanks. I will check them out. I have actually bought alot of my parts from Ebay. And most recently I found Amazon to be the cheapest for suspension parts.

 

[dusted72]

Well more parts arrived yesterday. I had bought a tach off Ebay from a member here and it had a roll bar mount on it and I needed a regular one since I don't have a cage in my truck. He told me he would look for the mount but I am inpatient and found this one for cheap so I just bought it. Also my real Moog lower ball joints showed up too. So now I have all new upper and lower ball joints and inner and outer tie rod ends.

 

[Abodybomber]

Good looking intake,Corey.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Thanks bomber! :-D

Corey, by the looks of things, that's going to be a brand new truck when you're done!

 

[smalblokmopar]

YOur truck is going to be bad ***

 

[dusted72]

Good looking intake,Corey.

I owe it all to Leanna. I sent it to her and told her to do her magic. All I told her was the color and that's about all I did. She is phenominal at what she does. A great asset to this site and our hobby.

Thanks bomber! :-D

Corey, by the looks of things, that's going to be a brand new truck when you're done!

Gettin there any way. The way I see it is I can do it right the first time and not worry about it or drive it with parts that are potentially 14 years old. My daughter loves my truck and will spend alot of time in it. I want it to be safe for her.

YOur truck is going to be bad ***

Don't know how fast it will be but it will sure be reliable. I am trying to get all of the demensions for the stripes right now and I am goiing to get Challengergary to cut me some new stripes for it. I have a few more tricks up my sleeeve as far as looks go as well.

 

[CudaChick1968]

... I owe it all to Leanna. I sent it to her and told her to do her magic. All I told her was the color and that's about all I did. She is phenominal at what she does. A great asset to this site and our hobby.
...

I appreciate that Corey -- I always try to get the metal as close to perfect as I can before putting any powder on it (unless I'm otherwise instructed). But there's a lot to be said for your shopping efforts too. Starting with good quality parts goes a long way to getting fantastic results.

 

[dusted72]

Well my tie rod adjuster sleeves came in. I bought them from a guy who bought out an old parts store and it closed in the mid 80's. Kinda funny that 80's Broncos use the same adjusters as mid-late 90's Rams. You can tell how old they are buy the box.

 

[dusted72]

Well I got a few more parts in. Scored a brand new Mopar water pump for $58.50 shipped, about the same price as an aftermarket one. I also recieved my Goodyear bypass hoses the other day as well.

 

[dusted72]

Here is a list of everything I have bought since November.

Gibson stainless Headers
Remflex header gaskets
Gibson header bolts
MP valve covers
Felpro valve cover gaskets
Stainless valve cover bolts
CAT products Thermostat housing
Felpor t-stat gasket
t-stat
Mopar Throttle body adapter
Felpro tb gasket
Felpro adapter gasket
Mopar M1 MPI intake
Intake, t-stat housing and adapter powder coated from the Mistress of Metal
Felpro intake gasket
stainless intake bolts
coolant temp sensor
Performance Stainless heater hose fitting
Performance Stainless bypass hose fitting
Performance Stainless 1/2 plug
Steigler Performance Vaccum tree
Felpro Injector o-rings
SCT tuner
MP air cleaner
5" Autometer Tach
275/60/17 Nittos 420s tires
4 factory SS/T rims refinished like new
Factory CD-Cassette-AM/FM radio
Tailgate cables
Tilt lever
EVSII Mopar keyless entry/alarm
DJM Lowering shackles
Mopar Trailer wiring plug
Mopar Map light lenses
Mopar Owners manual

All of the following are genuine Moog parts
Upper ball joints
Lower ball joints
Inner tie rod ends
Outer tie rod ends
Tie rod adjuster sleeves

Goodyear Serpentine belt
Kool Blue air filter
Prothane front bushings
Goodyear upper radiator hose
Goodyear lower radiator hose
Goodyear bypass hose
Gorilla lugnuts
Chrome valve stems
Mopar idler pulley
Mopar water pump
Tach mount

That should be everything so far. All for $3100.09. Not to bad if you ask me. I have about what it is worth in it now but I really don't care as I will be spending quite a bit more on it in the very near future.

 

[dusted72]

Ok so a few more things came in over the last week. The only thing I have left that I am waiting to show up is my rollpan. Should get there in the next week or so. I stuck with trying to buy Mopar for replacement parts again with my idler pulley. I figure it has 14 years on it right now so if I can get 14 more from Mopar parts why not? Most things I bought are cheaper then the aftermarket stuff anyways.

 

[Abodybomber]

Love the air filter,Corey.Be sure to install those urethane bushings with lube.The old energy. suspension colored. stuff. squeak like hell.

 

[dusted72]

Oh yes definitely. The kit came with 3 little tubes of it but I am thinking about spending the extra $10 and buying 3 more, then I will have almost enough to use 1 tube per bushing. That should be adequate I would think.

 

[dusted72]

Well it showed up today. This is what is really gonna change the appearance of my truck. My rollpan. I have looked for several months and there are a lot of very cheaply made pans out there for a lot more then what I paid for this one. This thing is smooth, the stamping is unreal. There are no waves or wrinkles. Nothing. I have seen factory parts that weren't stamped this good. It is so nice. Pics aren't the best but they show everything I need to see. I have more but I don't think you guys care to see every square inch of this thing front and back.

 

[dusted72]

No real updates. Parts ordering has come to an end. I have ordered most everything I need or want. I do however have a APS 52mm throttle body that I did some trading for with a member of another forum. He has a Duster and needed a few parts I had left. It was a little dirty but another member of the same forum offered to bead blast it and polish the bores and throttle blades as well as check out everything and give a good once over. Just cost me shipping each way. And I found a new carpet for the truck on Ebay for really cheap. Regularly $140-180 depending on where you looked and I got it for $80 shipped new in the box. I will post pics when I have some.

 

[dusted72]

Ok this will be my last update before I get back home. I have decided on the direction I want the truck to go. I just ordered 3 inch drop coil springs for the front and 2 inch rear hangers to go with the 2 inch shackles. I may end up going with a 3 inch shackle as that would make the truck level. I am also in the process of designing a big brake swap for the front for now using 07 Ram rotors and 01 Porsche Carrera 911 4 piston Brembo calipers. I am gonna eventually upgrade the sway bars and put a 6 speed in it too. I am gonna make this thing handle and stop like a car and still be able to haul a load of mulch.

 

[rnaz]

I can't wait to see how it comes together, buddy!

 

[dusted72]

Ok guys a long awaited progress report. I get up early with my new English Bulldog pup so I am up around 4 to 5 hours before my daughter gets up and this allows me to get some stuff done to the truck so I don't waste time I could spend with her. For starters today I got up around 6:30 a.m. and moved the truck around front from the backyard and got it parked in the driveway on the concrete. First things first new oil and filter. It only had about 600 miles on it but it had been sitting since September so I figured what's it gonna hurt. Up next was a few small things that wouldn't take too long. I replaced the broken off tilt lever with one of my Ebay scores. Up next was the tailgate straps, one was broken the other very close. Also a big improvement is the new tires I had mounted and balanced on my refinished SS/T wheels. It has been raining all afternoon so I will get them put on tomorrow. They look great and I will show you tomorrow what they are replacing, completely bald front tires and tires that are too tall in the rear. Made it fun to drive today with 10 inches of standing water in the road.

 

[CudaChick1968]

What, you don't have your new intake on yet??? :-D

<< duckin

 

[rnaz]

I absolutely LOVE those wheels, Corey!

 

[dusted72]

What, you don't have your new intake on yet??? :-D

<< duckin

Not yet. That will probably be one of the last things to go on as it will be one of the more involved installs.

 

[dusted72]

I absolutely LOVE those wheels, Corey!

I do too. They look great and they are factory. Most people won't even know that.