Hey guys, just a year ago my older brother bought himself a project truck and now because of a change of events in his life, he needs to sell it and quick. I am in love with the truck, and so is my dad, our family has bought Mopar since the day I was born. This truck brings back alot of memories for my dad. Like said, my brother is going to get rid of it, for cheap. Most likely he'll junk it and get $350 from the local parts yard. I would like to buy it from him and begin work on it, and eventually get it to a daily driver state. After a few years I'd restore it and give it to my dad as a present. The engine runs, it has had the carb rebuilt, a new air filter, oil change and new spark plugs and distributor cap and lines. It needs new tires, and the parking brake is stuck on. I need to assess the costs of bringing it to a driveable state. I was wondering if you guys could help by telling me what things to look for when looking at buying a project truck. Its a 1986 Ram Royal Se with a 318.
Here is a picture:

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Unless there is major chassis damage or engine and transmission work that needs to be done, anything that it needs to get it driveable on a daily basis is going to be minimal. I'd say around $300, maybe? If not free.

Minus the wheel well rust, it appears that you've got a nice platform for a resto-mod right there. I hope you can definitely do something with it (for it). Not too many nice 1st gen Rams around anymore. Not like the dime-a-dozen Fords and Chevys of the era.

 

ya fixing the back brakes is not super expensive, your probably gonna need now drums and shoes as well as new parking brake cables (which like to rust up and keep the brakes on.. ask me how I know) as for tire's, maybe you could find some used tires lotsa tire shops and auto wreckers sell them cheap. I am assuming it's a 2 wheel drive? anyways for 350 buck's it looks like a darn good project truck buy er up Dodge Dude's right chevy's are a dime a dozen but the old dodge's are well worth the effort of saving... and heck in the spring lmc truck is even gonna give us a catolog full of goodies for them order up one of them too it's even free

 

I'll have to pull the bed off, its got some rust that needs fixing on the inside. The doors and bed are not aligned either, I'd like to fix that. Its gonna need an exhaust system. I wanna keep the original paint, so I'd fix the rust and touch it up. I'd like to clean up the engine too. The interior needs some work aswell. I hope I can get it. And it is a 2wd. Do you guys know anything about EFI systems that go where the Carb is? I'm unsure if I should go to EFI or keep the Carb.

 

Just went thru and did the brakes on my truck.
I ordered my parts online from different sources.
By the time i would have returned the parts that didn’t work i wouldn’t have saved any money at all.
I will never buy online again not worth it if you have issues.
I had parking brake cables that were not close to OEM, had a caliper that wouldn’t release.
Oh and a rotor that wasn’t drilled correctly and the studs would not line up with the aluminum wheels for my truck, they fit the old rotor fine.
So go to local auto parts store weather it be autozone, advance, Napa, who ever and buy it local so when it doesn’t work its easy to return.
Hell you might even get a warranty with your purchase.


Dave

 

Yeah I usually buy locally. Thanks for the headsup though. What do you guys think i'm looking at in terms of HP and torque?

 

That looks like a daily driver as is to me. What motor is in it? 318? 360? Horsepower is going to be in the 140-180 range, and torque will be somewhere around 240-300.

If the carb works well, I'd keep it until you are sure you want to keep the truck. Factory 88-91 fuel injection is mediocre at best, but it does its job fine. And aftermarket fuel injection is expensive. Aligning the doors is easy. Just loosen the hinge where it bolts to the door and move it where it needs to go, then tighten up. You'll need a friend to do that easily.

 

It is a 318.

 

door need new pins there cheap 350 is cheap as hell jump on that truck fix it up one piece at a time don't tear it apart all at once when u do that it never gets put back 2 gether good luck