WOO-HOO!

The search is over, and I am one happy camper.

Many thanks to NeedMoPower for calling my attention to a classified section I wasn't aware of. Cody helped me find my dream truck!

Here she is:

http://community.webshots.com/album/165964824vpxPWG

I tried to post pics here, there is some problem with my firewall, even though it is disabled, the "upload" button simply isn't there.

I flew to Nebraska, close to 1000 miles, and paid a lot, so it wasn't very easy, but I love the truck, so ya' gotta' do what you gotta' do.

I am now glad the others didn't work out.

I paid 11k cash, previous owner paid 9k two years ago, and had a massive stack of receipts, about 10k worth. It has 152k miles. It is my favorite color scheme. 1992 W-250.

He did guages, and the new seat is from a 94, and it slides wayyy back, since I'm 6'4" I had planned on having to relocate the stock seat, now it's perfect. LE, power everything, new carpet, wiper switch, speedo, shifter boots, Prodigy, rebuilt tilt column, cruise control work done.

Any bad door and window seals were replaced, no whistles!

$1800 stereo system, Alpine amp under the seat, 2 JBL 10" woofs instead of the fold down rear seats, 4 mids, 2 micro tweeters on the dash, Sony CD head.

Fresh rebuilt Getrag, new Con-O Southbend clutch and throw-out, input shaft, bearing kit, syncros and seal kit. The clutch makes a little noise at idle, I can live with it, it shifts excellent.

Rebuilt NP205 with new bearing and seal kits.

New front drive shaft, serviced both diifs (3.54's), new Rancho 9000's all around, Skyjacker Soft Rides all around, the back spring is arced so that the 6" block has been removed.

New rims and Bridgestones, turned rotors with fresh pads and rebuilt calipers.

New receiver and 7-wire plug.

I like the power, and it is near bone stock! I can't wait to bomb it.

New belt and radiator hoses, valve cover gasket, and steering box. The frame has been welded to reinforce the steering box.

$500 receipt for work on the fuel pump, turned up, and new lift pump.

Edit: The injectors were out and bench tested ok at this point.

All in all, I love this thing.

There are a few issues. The inside passenger door handle doesn't work, and the drivers door won't unlock with the key. It needs a drivers door hinge. It needs a windshield right away. The A/C will intermintently stop pushing cold air, A/C works better at slow speeds. Hmm. These are the only drivability/useability issues.

The front grille is partially shattered, and has been repaired with rivets. While the body has a couple small dents, there is zero rust, and I won't paint it for years, but I want to fix this grill.

Inside the bed is beat, no big dents or rust, a spray in bed liner will fix it right up.

I'm sure I forgot stuff, I am still a little loopy from the drive, Nebraska is a WIDE state.

I won't be able to do much work for a while, I am tapped out.

First tank on the flats in Nebraska, being mellow at 70mph, 18mpg.

Third tank, haulin' butt, 80mph, passing on the hills, leaving cruise at 75mph in fifth gear over big hills, a couple runs at 90mph, 15 mpg.

Boost maxed at about 15, usually only 10-11.

65 mph: Boost 3
Pyro 800
rpm 1800

75 mph Boost 5
Pyro 800
Rpm 2100

80 mph Boost 5
Pyro 800
Rpm 2175

I have no idea how the other guages translate into numbers, but the oil pressure was at half, same with the charge, and the water temp was just below or just above the one third mark, I think the A/C was boosting the temp a bit.

It was aligned, they checked the rears, the truck tracks straight and true, no shudders or vibrations, all the way to 90mph.

Thanks for all your advice, guys!

WOO-HOO!!!

Cody, what do you drink?

 

Wow sounds like a great find...

Good work.

J-eh

 

Congrats.

Put some pics in your gallery here.
Can't see webshots at work, they have it blocked.

Also, trucks are chosen from the gallerys here for Truck of the Month,
and the comittee sure likes 1st gens (and duallies).


phox

 

Congrats! The A/C deal sounds like an overcharge. I'm sure a trip to the junkyard will get you whatever bits you need to fix the doors. A search on "grille" or "grill" will turn up several places you can buy one. All the gauge readings sound normal.

 

very cool, congrats. sound slike you are a happy camper.

jiMMy

 

My first Dodge was a 1992 250 CTD 4X4 club cab. I became a Dodge truck advocate because of this truck. I put about 125M on it and loved it. Congradulations on your purchase!

 

Congrats on the truck! I'm glad that you finally found a truck and I could help out. If you are looking for a new grille, try www.acmetruckproducts.com I bought a replacement grille for 70 bucks and like it. The only thing it doesnt have are the black "dodge" letters, but all in all I thought it was a good deal.
Enjoy the new truck...you certianly looked hard enough!
Cody

 

Congrats - sounds like a nice truck.

Can't see the pics - gives an error message stating I'm not the owner of the album. You'll need to post a link using your public page instead of the one you use to edit. Webshots can be a pain....

 

Congrats Don, sounds like an awesome rig!

 

The door problems seem to be common in the first gens. My drivers door doesn't unlock with the key either. Neither does roytas. The hinge pin and bushing kit is like $7 at napa. Make sure to have some help so you don't dent your fender like I did. It's helpful to have someone help you support the door while you knock the old bushings out and drive the new ones in. If anyone knows what the deal with the door unlocking problem is let me know. I took the door panel off and didn't find anything wrong. The odd thing is that if I leave the door open and lock it I can then unlock it with the key. Once I close it I have to reach from the passenger side and pull the handle to unlock it. I think it has something to do with the strike post but I've adjusted it 3 ways from sideways with no luck... oh yeah I replaced it too and tried shimming it various different ways. I'm still looking for a door for this girl. Even if it unlocked corectly it's just too beat up and has some cracks in the sheet metal.

 

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. Sorry about the link, I changed it above, and here it is again:

http://community.webshots.com/album/165964824vpxPWG

Hope that works. Webshots is a pain, I have one more trick to try posting pics here.

Re: A/C overcharge, I hope to have it serviced in the fall, when I am in Ca. I have a buddy who will recharge it with R-12. That stuff is very hard to find (illegal?) in Ca., and going for $35-40/lb. Still cheaper than a conversion to R-134.

Re: $70 for a grill? That seems very cheap, I was maybe gonna' fix mine, but it would take many hours, and I would have to paint it, and I'm not sure that would look ok. I think I'll just buy one. I don't mind if it doesn't say Dodge. Not that I don't love Dodge, I do, on my third at 36 years old, and my uncle raced mopar for many years, it's in my blood.

It's just that if someone doesn't know it's a Dodge, I don't mind, to anyone who knows anything (all of y'all!), they'll know what it is no matter what.

I certainly don't care if I confuse the Ford guys.

That is good news that the hinge is possible to fix, I believe I saw those Napa numbers here somewhere, but I'm sorry to learn that the lock is more of a problem.

Spunbearing, here I thought I would just take it apart and fix it, but hearing of your hassles makes me think I need to do some research first. We have to be able to fix this, it will drive me insane, and I have power locks, you have to do the "lean".

Um, Spunbearing, it just occured to me we may have different sources of our same problem, if it is a case of manual vs. power locks.

I need to see if I can find diagrams/pics of those door innards. Oh yes, my truck included original owners manuals, and a brand new, no torn cover, no greasy fingerprint, in the box, shop manual.

My shop manuals appear to have actually been inside of a motor.

 

My doorlocks are power too. But I can't unlock the drivers side by hitting the button on the passenger side. I have to reach through.Can't do it by pulling the button up either. It's odd I tell you! I'm open for suggestions!

 

 

Ok, I see.

It's likely we do have the same problem, Spunbearing.

And you took yours apart?

I assumed either a mechanical arm coming from the lock has malfuctioned or it's some sort of electrical connection. Gonna' look in the manual right now.

Were you able to get the panel off with no damage? Do these trucks use the connector that is shaped like an wire "X"? My panels look cherry, and I have a history of breaking panels while removing.

 

Pics work now - nice looking truck!

FWIW, I had to replace the lower driver's hinge pin and bushings a few months ago, and had to remove the hinge to get the new bushings in place. The hardest part was removing the kick panel - there are two screws that are **** near impossible to get at because the parking brake pedal assembly is in the way. Glad I didn't have to remove the top hinge...that one looks like a real killer.

You're lucky you can get R12 at that price - the normal cost around here is closer to $90 per pound. I had my F150 converted to R134, including the cost of a rebuilt compressor, for less than just a recharge would have cost.