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I was perusing Facebook Marketplace for kicks and ran across this beat up old Dodge pickup. It was my kind of rusty but I couldn't really justify getting another project vehicle. But this old Dodge kept showing up over the next couple months and each time I saw it, it grew on me just a little bit more. With the truck in the back of my mind, all it took was one more "one year only and made of unobtanium" Rambler part to push me over the edge. I decided I was listing my Rambler for sale and buying the Dodge (it didn't hurt that the seller dropped the price to $800 lol).
So with my brother in my Jeep acting as my "support vehicle", I drove the truck an hour home. Overall the drive was uneventful, except for needing to restart the engine at every stoplight and stop sign along the way. She drives well. I think it's going to be a fun project.
**Edit**
I've always liked it when people update their first post with the current list of things they've done and are going to do, so I thought I'd give it a try.
To Do:
Replace front driver hard brake line to eliminate compression fitting
Replace motor mounts
Check rear brakes
Figure out why e-brake isn't working
Fix hesitation on acceleration (injectors? fuel pressure?) UPDATE: now also sometimes dies when accelerating through turns from a stop
Fix heater goes to defrost after a few seconds
Replace all vac lines (likely cause of the heater issue)
Figure out if hard "clunk" into drive sometimes is trans, U-Joints, or diff UPDATE: Also "clunked" after a hard stop while testing brakes.
Find and replace or repair multifunction lever (blinker, cruise, wipers)
Fix or replace horn button
Fix door alignment
Replace door seals
Replace window seals
Fix headlights randomly work
Fix scary wiring from previous owner
Install tachometer
Engine tune up (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points?, air filter)
Done
Fixed dying at stop signs (sort of)
Fixed rough idle
Changed oil & filter
New tires (Cooper Discoverer RTX, letters out, of course)
Bought rotors and pads for the front, haven't installed yet
Installed new headlight trim/blinker lenses
Installed new brake light assemblies after pulling out dent lol
Replaced busted out rear sliding window with fixed rear window
Changed front rotors, pads, calipers and wheel bearings
Inspected rubber brake hoses
The drive home Just after arriving home. You can see the broken rear window in this shot. Driver's side as she came to me Font of the truck as I bought it Rear of truck. This is after we replaced the rear window Passenger side as it was when I got it Interior as it came
That's a perfect candidate for my type of paint job. It's amazing what flat black Rust-O-Leum enamel and roller will do for one of those. I used to paint my truck every couple of years like that. It looked about the same as yours when I started. After 20 years, the layers of paint were what mostly held it together. Although one year I messed up and used the wrong roller. To cover that up I spray bombed brown blobs all over it. Bad move. It would disappear at night in dark parking lots.
I've updated the first post with a "To Do" and "Done" list.
To cover that up I spray bombed brown blobs all over it. Bad move. It would disappear at night in dark parking lots.
Ha! I really like the silver color, so I'm probably going to *try* to do two tone bright/dark silver. I put a harbor freight gravity feed air gun on my Christmas list. I don't think she'll ever have a straight body though.
I plan to do the front brakes this weekend and maybe plugs and wires if I can find the time.
What was originally going to be pads and rotors turned into pads, rotors, wheel bearings, and calipers. At least the calipers were cheap! 25 bucks! Lol
Oh, and I found a compression fitting on the driver side brake line, so that's gonna need replaced too. 🤬
My beat to hell D150
