Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought some new wheels and tires for Grandpa. Really glad I did! I got some of the cheap aluminum "Baja" wheels from Summit, and a set of Cooper Discoverer AT3 in 235/75/R15. Bit bigger than I had on before, and I'll be honest I was a bit worried about going bigger on the tires, but they seem to roll and ride alright. That's $920 wheels and tires on a $550 truck! It kind of motivates me to finish fixing it up to make it nice!

Oh, and they are IMMENSELY better on traction!

My parents' driveway is about 1/6 mile winding uphill through the woods. All mud, deep ruts; it's a real mess. Before it was a lot of tires spinning and slipping to get up, and now the old beast just crawls right up!



I tried the old wheels and tires on the D100 and found what was on it was a large part of the vibration, but that thing is just such a mess still that I'm moth-balling the project. I'll be driving it over to my parents' and dropping the insurance. For the time being, it will just be parts until I revisit it.

Next steps will be body work and bed hole patches on Grandpa, finish the undercoating, and nab the muffler and some exhaust bits off of the D100. Once I get it cleaned up and looking nice (have to try and find a paint match) I'll look into some sound insulation for the interior and possibly new carpet for the floor. The rubber isn't bad, but it's been cut up in places and the insulation was torn partially out when they tried to patch the floor. If the weather holds out, I might even get the fiberglass done before the new year!

My brother got the '86 with the 318 running. Runs alright, all stock at this point. Not a strong runner, and both the A833 transmission and the 8 3/8" rear end make some noise. He's not too worried, but it makes me appreciate Grandpa more.

We've been enjoying a fairly mild PA winter, and I've been taking advantage of it.

Yesterday the high was going to be around 40* after several days around 25*, so I took the opportunity to start trying to fix the exhaust on Grandpa. It has been unbearably loud while cruising, as the dumb flexible pipe is every form of useless. I started by removing the "craptastic" exhaust I put on the D100. I was able to save almost all the clamps, and with a trip to the hardware store got a Sawzall and started hacking.



I saved the muffler and put it on the stock pipe from the D150 in place of the rusted out cherry bomb the kid had put on before me. I also managed to get the off-manifold section I had used onto the D150. I fitted and clamped some of it up last night and tried it, and it sounded much better. Nice and quiet with a healthy tone revving.

This afternoon I'll finish clamping and securing and will test it out. Fingers crossed.

Got it all sorted out! Not a perfect job, it looks kind of hokey, but much more quiet! Just need to put an exit tip out the side/back, but that's a good chance to actually get some welding practice. Next step will be some extra insulation/sound deadening in the spring. Make it a cruiser.

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be nice, so I'm hoping to get the fiberglass bed patches doubled-up in the worst spots and start painting for the liner to go back into the bed. More pictures to come.

The weather has halted a lot of my photo progress, but I've been trying to keep up as best I can.

Before the cold hit I got the inside of the bed fiberglass-patched. Some of the bigger holes need a second layer before I paint it up and put the bed liner back in, but at least I'm not spraying mud up through the bed.

Last week I went out to get some supplies and it started running a little rough. I took it around the block, hoping it was just running cold... and it died in an intersection. A cop helped me push it into a gas station and out of the way. Walked home, got some supplies, called my dad for back up and limped it home. I had swapped the fuel filter, fuel pump, and neither seemed to help. After getting home I swapped out the carb from the D100 and got it running again. I drove it like that for a week, ordered a rebuild kit for the other carb. Kit came in, got it cleaned and put back together as best as I could, and so far she runs alright. I'm getting frustrated with these one barrels though.



I also swapped out the heater blower switch. I only had low. The brand new piece of junk only has high. Oh well. I think the heater core needs swapped. The heating lines are very different temperatures, and the cab doesn't really get warm. I still have my '94 Ram on hand, so I'll wait until spring to swap the heater core out.

I have a growing list of things I'd like to do come spring, hopefully I can get all the pieces put together by then!

there is a blower motor resistor that controls the blower motor speed.

the resistor bleeds off current, to allow the motor to spin at a low - medium speeds, full current is high speed,,

on older trucks the blower resistor is mounted on the top of the heater fan air box, it protrudes down into the heater box assembly, you can get access to it by removing the glove box,,in the middle to late 80's the location of the blower resistor was moved to the cowl air vent, access remains through the glove box opening.

Thank you! I wondered if it was something else, but didn't know enough about the system to know where to look. Thanks!

if you are going to get deep at all in to these vintage trucks a Factory Service Manual is very handy,,
they show up on e bay from time to time, well worth the 25 - 40 dollar investment.

or there are on line sites that have them posted,,

I may be getting a newer truck to replace my '94 this week. If that does happen, Grandpa will officially become a driving project, rather than an abused daily. I hope it does, as I have some big plans that will require time for Grandpa. Regardless of what happens though, I'm gathering up materials for some upgrades.

First up is my new two-barrel manifold from Smitty040. This is the first part of my Weber conversion. Next up will be ordering the carb, a 38/38, and a fuel pressure regulator.



Depending on what happens, I would also like to upgrade from a patched-together 2" exhaust to a new 2 1/4". My brother has some pipe and bends left over from one of his trucks, so I'd just need a couple more pieces and a new muffler. I would hope between this and the Weber I can smooth out the idle and give it a bit more "pep".

Down at school my brother and a friend made some junkyard trips. He snagged this driver front fender for me. I've been busy with work, but I intend to start sanding and glassing the one bit of rust in preparation for painting come spring.



The big plans for this year will be new carb system, some insulation and fresh carpeting, a whole lot of body work, and some other odds and ends. Should keep me plenty busy!

Wound up buying the four door. It's a nice '04 Ram 1500, 4.7L V8, 4x4, 5 speed. Manual locks and windows, which I like, and a mechanical transfer case, which I really like. So my '94 is going on Craigslist.



This thing doesn't need much, just some basic maintenance. Which means my time can be spent restoring Grandpa to the best of my abilities. I'm putting together a list, and hopefully once the nice weather hits I can start making some progress! It's a nice old truck and it will be nice to take the time to fix it up properly.