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Project Old Red

14K views 98 replies 15 participants last post by  Ronbo 
#1 · (Edited)
Decided to put up a restore thread over here on my 1993 Dodge D250; Cummins Turbo Diesel...this truck is like the Intrepid to me; and is getting a very similar restoration that my Intrepid did back in 2005...a bit more on this one though.

A little history, the 1993 has been in our family since 1996, I remember when she was clean as a whistle, with just 40k miles.....my dad bought it for me as a graduation gift...I drove it daily until around 2003, when my dad needed it more than me for hauling, work at the farm, etc...so I went to a Toyota Tacoma, and gave him back my old Dodge...regrettably....I eventually sold the Toyota, got into the car hauling business, borrowed the old 93 for a couple years, then in 2007, purchased a 99 Ram 3500 to handle the towing...dad got the 93 back at that time.

Fast forward, I sold the 99 Ram 3500 in 2012, with over 270K miles, it was needing some major work...and I was done with hauling, so it was best that it was sold......this June, dad decided to buy a new car, no longer needs the 93, and gives it back to me....

Ohio winters have not been good to it, I live in NC now....had it shipped down...bed is shot, fenders are shot...cab is shot...holy rust....but she still runs like a top...tight as ever....drivetrain and frame is good...so...being the most reliable truck we have ever owned, and sentimental value and all...I am going to restore it, with the help of this 89 D150....its clean as a whistle, not a speck of rust....so here, the project begins...

Hard to tell in the pics, but the only good panels left on the 93 are the hood, front rad support, and the drivers door...LOL....

Many pics to come during the restore...pictured here is the 93, and the first of two parts trucks, a 1989 D150, in grey on the right.
 
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#37 · (Edited)
Got the engine and trans installed this past weekend. Now to work on all the wiring, guts, install the dash, and everything else on the front of the cab. Here is how she looks now:


Just started going thru my boxes of parts to see what needs repaired/cleaned/replaced. Just the wiring and interior trim panels here. Much more in storage. Hope I remember how all this goes back together.



Exhaust and a few other misc parts.




Drove 550 miles round trip to Charleston, SC last weekend to secure a good drivers side door (finally) from a fellow Ram hoarder. Put it up in storage until the next round of bodywork comes.

Now, comes likely the most difficult part the process of cleaning/replacing/refurbishing 4.3 million bolts, nuts and screws. Got a good wire brush bench grinder, so that will take care of most of the big ones. Lots of nice clean bolts from the donor truck available too, just have to sort them all out. Free beer and steak to anyone that would like to join.

Along with that, I have started pulling parts out of my storage and doing an inventory of what needs repaired/replaced etc. I have the front wiring harnesses laid out for inspection, cleaning, and repair. So far, they just need a good cleaning and some new loom and tape.

Just a small part of the interior and wiring I had boxed up; my storage room on the side of the house is still full.


After the bolts are sorted out and fixed up, along with the wiring, dash will be installed, and the front engine/chassis harness. Need to go thru the turbo and get that put on too. Sending the radiator, CAC, and heater/evaporator core out for cleaning/testing as well.
 
#39 ·
Gnarly!

Dan what are you going to have for the floor of the Cab? Mats? Are you going to leave the undercoat exposed?
 
#41 · (Edited)
Time for an update; other than the 10,000 small things I have been working on the past few weeks----all wiring repaired/cleaned/retaped/loomed; started rebuilding the heater box; and several other small things; got a pretty big step done today; I got the bed media blasted, cleaned up, and in primer, except for the underside, and inside; thats coming next weekend, we are going to coat it with spray in bedliner...




Next step with the bed after the bedliner application is to put it back on the truck to await the next trip to the body shop; a few dents to fix, then we can put some color on it. I'm going to wait until I get the front end into bare metal and primer and do it all at once; and blend into the cab if necessary.

In the mean time, dash will be going in as soon as the heater box parts arrive, and I can put that back together. Then we will work on getting her running again. Tons of parts sitting here to install, and several more that need to go to the powder coat shop first...more to come...

BTW; if anyone is looking for the trans tower shifter boot; buy one for a G56 on a new Ram; works just fine on the Getrag 360.
 
#43 · (Edited)
Here we are just shy of a year into this project, almost to the day.

Stuck the bed back on the truck for now; we'll be doing all the body work and getting rid of dents/dings once it heads up to my buddy's body shop:


Aside from that I got the new foam in for my heater box, and began cutting out new gaskets for it:


Replaced the evaporator core, had the heater core cleaned and tested, power washed out the mouse nest, and cleaned up and lubricated all the moving parts, replaced all the foam gaskets, and shes ready to install:


Heater box installed:




After finishing the heater box rebuild, I decided to stick the dash in:
 
#44 ·
Hot Diggittie - Looks sharp. How hard is it too pull the heater core?

The engine and MC has fresh paint - the firewall has fresh paint - the heater box stands out in the engine bay. But progress is progress.
 
#45 ·
You can remove the heater box without taking the dash out, so its pretty easy. Everything in the heater box is new; so hopefully that wont be an issue anytime soon.

I'll brush touch the bolts, but no real reason to paint the heater box. It will be buried by the fender and a cover that goes over top of it.
 
#46 · (Edited)
So I dropped a ton of small parts and brackets off to be powder coated; which left me with little to do on the truck, so I decided it was time to start to tackle the rat's nest in the front underhood wiring harness.

This is the main rats nest; about 13 years ago the triangular rubber junction that used to join the main power cable from the battery and all the fusible links together corroded and caught fire; the buss bar and the mess you see here was merely a quick fix to get the truck running again, as it was way up north in the dead of winter when it happened. I remember being in a parking lot of a restaurant and starting up the truck, turned on the headlights/heat and got a big puff of smoke from under the hood---I assume this was a fusible blowing---lost all power, hurried up and opened the hood to find a small fire on the wiring harness. I put it out with snow and we towed the truck back to the farm and rigged it up to run again with this mess; meaning to fix it as soon as the weather got warm....13 years later, still worked; just looks like :butt:. LOL.



Here is the solution; a PNDB module from a late model Freightliner M2 truck. This will eliminate all the fusible links and provide midi fuse protection to the alternator and all of the circuits that used fusible links. This will be much safer and clean things up nicely. I will re-pin new wires in where the chopped ones are now and make a new power harness to the PNDB. It will also feed the glow plug relays on the main supply lug from the battery. I've got the cable ends and connectors/pins for the PNDB ordered up, just need to figure out the pin part numbers in the main cab connector and get a few of those ordered.



I'll be digging thru wiring diagrams here for the next couple hours so I can size the fuses (the ones included with the module are mostly too big) properly and plan out how to make the harness for it. Stay tuned.
 
#47 · (Edited)
Picked up my parts from powder coat; CAC pipes, battery tray, and most of the underhood small brackets are buried in that box, lots of assembly work to come this weekend.


Also had the core support done, they were able to match my original paint code almost perfectly.
 
#49 ·
Thank you Steph! I am considering doing the inner fenders as well. They just about perfectly matched the original paint; and I am still deciding if the match is close enough to do the inner wells. Cant decide if it matches or its noticeable. :runfire:
 
#54 · (Edited)
Got a few more things done. Got the engine and front wiring harness refurbished, new PNDB module installed, and all the fusible links gone. Installed new grid heater solenoids. Still waiting on parts for the battery cables, and isolators to mount the PNDB permanently where it sits; hopefully next week sometime they will be here so I can finish putting everything together.



Also, turbo, exhaust manifold, wheel wells, and a ton of other small things went in. Exhaust going on Monday.




Need to find some CAC hoses. Found 2 of mine almost worn completely thru.
 
#56 ·
Time for an update.

Got her fired up back on New Years day, she started right up---I was very surprised I didnt have to bleed the fuel system, just filled the filter, and cranked the hand pump a few times. Took a minute for the air to work out, (cant really hear it in the video)....and she runs perfect!
 
#57 · (Edited)
So unfortunately the transmission had to come back out due to an oil leak from the top cover. It has never leaked until now---so after running it and testing everything out, this turned out to be the only leak.

I took it back out and found barely any RTV sealant on anything; other than the PTO covers. I bought a gasket set for it and went thru and replaced all the seals and installed gaskets where there was just RTV (recommended by the service manual, LOL); unfortunately I could not get the yoke nut off--nothing big enough here to break loose 280 ft lbs, so I am going to have to wait to reinstall the trans until I can borrow a 3/4 impact and get the rear cover sealed up. Overall, the transmission looked good inside, no issues to speak of.




While I was contemplating working on the transmission, these showed up:





Decided to upgrade to the 13" clutch and flywheel from South Bend, to handle my future engine mods.

As of now, new clutch/flywheel is installed, along with the bellhousing, if all goes well with the rear yoke nut, trans will be back in next weekend.
 
#58 · (Edited)
Latest update; Trans is re-sealed, back in, sent the driveshaft out, had it balanced, replaced all u-joints, center bearing; she's running good. I drove it around the neighborhood last weekend, no hood, fenders, windshield, or doors, she ran great, really liking the feel of the South Bend clutch. Also repaired the ABS with a NOS module, got rid of the lights that have been on on the dash for 10 years. Turns out the HCU went bad back then and blew the integral fuse in the controller.

Next steps are to media blast the fenders, hood, doors, and cowl cover, install the new windshield, and get her ready for the trip to the body shop in May.

Meanwhile, made a few road trips, grabbed some more parts, got it all stashed in the spare bedroom until install;
 
#60 · (Edited)
Time for an update, the last month or so has been all small stuff, as I'm waiting on the sand blaster to get the hood, fenders, doors, and cowl panel done before bodywork can proceed.

Mostly I've been installing components, cleaning, etc etc.....I've started to restore all the bolts, screws, and nuts for the interior and body; first step, rust removal, then acid dip, then wash, then either black oxide coating, or zinc plating. They are coming out like new; you can see the before on the top, after on the bottom;



Today was the first batch, just have these to do yet;




Also, I tackled the lower shifter boot, which I have been searching for for 2 years, new has been discontinued for 15 years, every used one is torn out just like mine. The first picture is the best used one I could find, still torn. The original was missing nearly the entire center section of the boot. So, searching around, I found a Ford Mustang boot had a very similar design, so I ordered one;

Torn boot;



Old boot cut out of frame:



Mustang boot trimmed up and installed:



It will seal nicely once installed, and the upper shift boot will cover it up.

Other than that, this is about it until the body parts get blasted; hopefully soon.
 
#62 · (Edited)
When i got this truck from my dad 2 years ago, the plan was "put some brake lines on it and make it a usable truck to drive around locally and do hauling/work"....so the Magnum didnt have to haul the trailer all the time. Haha. :wacko:
 
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#63 · (Edited)
Not a huge update, but a big step. Got all the rest of the body parts sand blasted, and primed up.




Just waiting for the body shop to be ready, ETA now is June 15. The shop owner came out and looked her over a couple weeks ago, and is excited about getting into doing the paint work; after another major project is done.



In the mean time, some engine mods will get done. Unfortunately the only gasket I did not replace--the head gasket---is leaking. No evidence until now. Small external leak. So, this coming week, we'll do a tear down/inspect, and see what needs to be done to the head, other than the gasket; a valve job and new seals is in order at the very least. Since its apart, might as well work on horsepower. With some new injectors, and a few pump adjustments, I expect to gain about 100HP by the time its back together and running.
 
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