NJTman

I am way beyond jealous.......

bigragu

Looks good, Ollie. The pics kinda look like the ones in the old brochures that one would pick up at the Dodge dealer, that showcased all the RC's, Dakota's, 3/4 and 1 ton trucks of that year. Good background.

oliver foster

Thanks for loading those picture T-man!
I parked in the field a mile down from my house where you can get the MT view. I thought it would make a good photo backdrop.

I put almost 30 miles on it yesterday and it drove great. The new seats are very comfortable, the suspension modifications seemed spot on and the big pistol grip shifter makes me smile at every shift. It had basically no leaks, the steering was very tight and quick and the brakes where excellent. I had to press the brake pedal lightly or it felt like I threw the anchor out...

I took it to a the car wash and gave it a good bath. The biggest issue was the serpentine belt started squeaking badly a mile or so into the trip. Once back at the shop I pulled a NON A/C belt off a parts donor non I/Ced 12V motor I had in the shop and that fixed the squeak. I will be ordering a new A/C belt for it when I get the last of the A/C seals and such I need to finish up the A/C system.

It was another late night in the shop, re-tourqing 64 lug nuts on the spacers and wheels. I also checked lots of bolts on the major parts that where installed. I did find that the 4 inch exhaust is touching the rear passenger side shock tube as it shifted ever so slightly during the drive. It never got close to or made the area near the fuel tank warm though. I looked into how to modify, re-clock a few tubes and maybe add another hanger bracket to help last night at the end of my "wrenchfest", beer in hand. Beer engineering I like to call it.

I will take it for a another good drive today and keep tweaking it till I get it where I want it.

NJTman

If that clearance issue becomes problematic, remove the pipe, heat up the area that is too close till it's red hot, and use a ball peen hammer to indent it in the shape / clearance area for the shock. It won't affect your exhaust flow enough to be concerned over.

I did that on my down pipe because of the upper lip of the C channel frame was too close. No issue since.

Rubber floor mats next, I assume ?

oliver foster

The part of the exhaust that is touching is RIGHT where the two "rainbow" pieces of tubing that go over the rear axle clamp together...So indenting it will be hard as I would need to dent both pieces of pipe and the band clamp for it to amount to anything. If it was just a question of indenting the pipe with a ball peen I would have pulled that off last night, rather than staring at it with a beer in my hand, trying to think creatively.
I have already used the ball peen hammer to clearance two other areas of the exhaust around the rear leaf spring so I could get max fuel tank clearance and around the transmission crossmember just to reduce the chance of any rattles.

I just got back from a 40 mile round trip to hit my favorite diner from breakfast. The truck ran great, the belt squeal is totally gone! The idle seems just a touch high but I will adjust that when I get around to some light pump mods. I am waiting until after the initial road test period which includes the fresh Getrag transmission and South Bend clutch break in period.

oliver foster

I drove the RC 170 miles, trouble free over the weekend other than a squeaky belt the first day. It was a blast.
I am loving the hydroboost brakes.

The past few nights I have still been at it though. The rear axle was drained, cleaned up, the cover resealed and filled up again. The exhaust was moved away from the shock and fuel tank and towards the leaf spring. Two more exhaust hangers where also added. To make that 4 inch exhaust move towards the spring pack work I had to cut 2 inches of the rear of the over load spring on the pack. I am pleased with how it came out.

While on the lift I checked all the driveshaft nuts and bolts and hit the dry frame and underside with some Fluid Film. Once back on the ground I spun the fuel pin to the deepest side and adjusted the high idle screw to use all of the factory supplied throttle linkage throw.

More test driving is needed next.

NJTman

Great to hear my dream truck is doing well.


Lol

mknittle

+1 lol I would love to have a RC.

oliver foster

It just passed state inspection with flying colors and the RC has another 30 miles under its belt. It is now fully the legal beagle.
Just rotating that fuel pin makes it that much more fun to drive.

mknittle

It does a lot more than you would think by looking at the pin.

oliver foster

Ever time I do it, it still surprises me how easy it is and how little it looks like it would change things...Yet the seat of the pants dyno. tells a different tale.

gyman98

Wow it looks awesome!

CE_TX

So glad to see this RC completed, it is one clean ride! Congrats!!!

oliver foster

Thanks gyman98 and CE TX!
Coming from two guys that have super cool Cummins swaps going on as well! I know you two can appreciate the time and effort it takes to finish up a project like this.

CE TX where are you at with finishing up your crew cab?

CE_TX

Thanks for the kudos!

I'm just about done with all the fabrication of the custom dash/center console and I've started gathering parts to freshen up the 12V. I'd say at least another year.

Current pic.