Hey all. I got a smokin deal on a truck, so I thought I'd join your forum and start contributing.

I got this truck for free. It's an '87 Dakota 4x4 3.9 auto. I rescued it from impending doom at the junk yard. The guy was going to junk it because it doesn't run, so he gave it to me!

I started tearing the engine down and found a hole in one of the pistons, so I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine, then I'll get the truck back on the road!

It's been a great project so far, and can't wait to get her running again!

Here are some pics of my progress so far. Please pardon the low quality cell phone pics!

 

This is the perfect opportunity to turn this thread into a build thread. Can't wait to see you finish the truck.

 

Damn! I never seen a hole like that in a piston! With that kind of damage send the block and the heads in to a machine shop to be inspected.

 

Holy detination batman!

What are you going to do with the truck? Just get it back up to a daily driver?

 

Yep, I'm just going to use it as a regular driver, and winter truck.

The heads and block passed inspection, oddly enough. The only issue with there was is that the valves wouldn't seat because there were metal chunks lodged between the valves and valve seats. I cleaned those out and lapped the valves, and all is good now.