I can't explain why, but I've always loved the square shape of these things and I've been looking for the convertible version since I saw one back in 1990. Are there any problems or issues that I should be aware of, things I should look out for when searching for
one of these trucks?

Thanks,

 

Only the usual things you would expect from a 30 plus year old truck. Parts are getting hard to find for a fair bit of it.

 

I thought they made a ton of these Dakotas and the parts would be fairly easy to find, excluding of course the convertible parts. Is that wrong?

 

I maintain ... or try anyways, a 1993 Dodge Caravan .... most normal maintenance parts are available. You will not find a lot of them at your local wrecking yard though.
Finding a ECM might be a issue ... just depends, little things that should be easy sometimes are not.

You will find plenty of newer Dakota around just not a lot of 1990 Dakota.
I found out 6 weeks ago that a 1993 Caravan came into a yard 2 hours away from me .... On a nice day I want to drive over and take a look at it to see if anything I want.
I did buy the ECM from it and how I found the car.
The older they get, you just kinda start keeping track of where some are for if you do need parts.

 

Hmmm...okay. I don't know how to fix anything, so buying an old truck that I will have trouble getting fixed or parts for could be a problem. I always assumed that there were a lot of these in that first generation between 1987 and 1996, so parts would be easy to find, but it sounds like it might not be easy.

 

1990 truck is 35 years old, some of the engine parts they stopped making back in the very early 90's..... (when they transitioned to the magnum series engines) OBDI electrical parts are getting hard to find for some of the newer stuff...... let alone something that old. Worst case, dump the electronics, and put a carb on it. Another option would be to 'update' as some repairs became necessary...... It IS a rather unique vehicle, and I can see the appeal. But, if you aren't mechanically inclined, and have a decent set of tools, I think keeping it going in the long run will be rather expensive....

 

Most younger mechanics do not really have experience working with OBD1 .... finding a "GOOD" mechanic might be a issue also.

 

Mechanical parts are sort of available, just not from the dealer. Be prepared to pay top dollar for a decent soft top Dakota.

 

There's no better way to learn then working on it yourself. The internet gives access to more then enough of the information you would need which is good and bad, the bad being the bad information. Yes there was tons of these on the road, but 35 year old vehicles are not commonly seen anymore on the road. I'd say most every part can be found in the aftermarket world, I can't think of much that wouldn't be. Interior parts and body pieces would be your biggest struggle, as I'm sure they were gone from production in the mid 90s and no aftermarket, so you're subject to find clean junkyard vehicles.