So so so nicely done! Truck is looking awesome. It's been a great build to follow sir!

 

Yeah, for trucks I believe its OK to go with no bumper. I do have a hidden hitch I'm going to install and I may attach a short nerf bumper to that.

 

Thanks Duke, it's gonna be one of those projects that's never finished I think. I'm glad you've enjoyed the thread - there'll be more to come.

 

Ragged,


Just wanted to say, I have picked up more useful information from this thread then any other source I have found on the internet. I plan to eventually do a similar conversion and you have paved the way for a smoother conversion and eliminated a lot of the mistakes to be made.
I look forward to updates as you start driving it!!
You have built a truck to really be proud of!!

 

Thanks for the kind words. This thread is my way of paying back (or forward) some of the help and inspiration I've gotten from this forum, but its also great just to have this interaction with folks that share an interest in these trucks. Where else would I find people who can get excited about polyurethane-enhanced motor mounts! Oh wait, maybe that's just me.

Update: The brake lights are now working. I had to go back into the engine bay harness and correct something. Because of a slight difference between the 89 and 94 engine harness I had to add two pins (15 and 16) to the bulkhead connector on the firewall. The reverse lights required a change as well, the wire that brings power from the engine bay harness to the reverse lamps (purple w/black stripe) needed to be routed to the connector that handles all the rear lighting in the 89 truck.

 

Next up: exhaust. I've got the factory '92 V8 Y pipe coming from the exhaust manifolds and for the time being, a 37" long, 3" diameter pipe leading to a magnaflow hi-flow cat, and then a magnaflow XL stainless welded muffler. It's all temporarily clamped in place, but I have a question. How close to the Y pipe should the cat be? I can't remember where the original cat was, and I'm wondering if the cat needs to be closer to the Y pipe to operate properly.

By the way, the Magnaflow XL muff is a little louder than I was looking for. Its not real loud, just kinda loud, if you know what I mean. The cat seems to help lower the noise a bit at least.

 

The best hint is to look at the Walker charts, but yes, it should be closer for better operation (you don't want the exhaust to cool much if any!)

Here's where RockAuto has it, showing the relative distances.




RwP

 

Ragged, if you do not have a tailpipe on there yet, that will quieten it down a lot.
While I agree, the closer the converter can be to the motor the better. On the other hand I have a 93 corvette and I put long tube headers on it. The only place to put the converters after that was just in front of the rear axle. They did seem to work fine, and fwiw, it passed emissions inspection like that. And I was being belt tested at idle, 15mph and 25mph
I have a question for you, if you don't mind, (again!!) Other then changing the power steering mount to a Dakota specific mount do you know if the other accessory mounts are the same ie: between the ram, van, Dakota etc.

 

Thanks Ralph, that was actually the first thought I had, so I looked at the Walker diagram, but it still left me wondering just how far away from the y pipe it is. The diagram doesn't appear to be to scale, but it does appear that the cat is between the trans support and the torsion bar cross-member. There's not much side to side room in that area but I believe thats where the original cat was.

 

Thanks for the input on my exhaust question. I think I'm going to locate the cat aft of the tranny crossmember. As for the tail pipe, I will be putting one on, so its good to know that may quiet it down a bit more.
On the Magnum engines with the serpentine belt, the pwr steering bracket is the only bracket that differs. On the LA engines, I couldn't say for sure but it should be fine to use what was on the front of the V6.