2000 Mexico RamCharger

[rjtx667]

WOW 

time will tell, I am going to fill up to get an accurate reading, but going to work today I noticed a huge difference in economy. Used to going on a hill it would drop to 10 or 11 mpg, now its more like 15-16.

Used to it was averaging like 17 on the highway with the instant economy shown, now it was showing more like 20-22.

If its that big of an improvement, and I get more acceleration its defiantly a win-win situation.

Normally in town/ highway combo got me around 15-16.5 MPG so we will see how it does after the swap.

[taz_man440]

Did you recalibrate the odometer?

[rjtx667]

not yet, I am testing that out, but it was 7% off before because of the larger tires and I figure a 10.4% change with the gears which means I am slow by 3.4%.

doing 73 my gps shows 70 so it's about accurate.

before the swap it used 2 sensors in the transmission, but since I added the abs sensor and plugged it in I am unsure if it's now trying to use that as well so I need to research more.


just visited another body shop, he said 5-6k and 3mo min. the long time was because he would only work on it between insurance jobs, so it would be a low priority job.

that price is about double what I wanted, I was looking for 3500 or so. guess I might have to re-evaluate.

[Dodgestrike]

how about a bodyshop that does racecar bodywork ? they are probably faster

[minionsram]

why not just do it your self? its not that hard and for 5 grand you could get a lot of stuff.

[rjtx667]

why not just do it your self? its not that hard and for 5 grand you could get a lot of stuff.

I have never done a paint job or any real body work for that matter, but trust me its something I am considering.

My wife might not like the time commitment it would take  So I have to figure out how to balance a lot of things to make it work.

I actually played with it a bit tonight, I cleaned up a few spots that were trying t rust (still have a few more to get) and hit them with rust neutralizer or whatever you want to call it. It has to dry over night then I need to sand and throw some primer on there. So we will see how bad that looks when I am done 

Just for grins and giggles I saw a Macco on the way to a stop I had to make, so I pulled over and asked for a quote.

It was $2800.... $1500 for the paint and 350 primer and the rest for body work. The other quotes the paint cost $1500, so how can Macco use the same paint at that price. I have visited about 4 different shops and they all say the same price range and all seem to think its going to be 25 hours or so just to clean up the body damage.

The Guy I meet with yesterday told me he would repull all the dents and get 95% of them out... which would be cool... less bond is better to me. Still not sure about the prices just a whole lot of $$ for a paint job.

At this point I wish I had only had it soda blasted down 1 layer and not to the metal, then it would be cheaper as all the bondo would still be in place   

[crazzywolfie]

it is nice to be able to sand or soda blast but it gets everywhere and can get fairly expensive.

[Dodgestrike]

maybe you can go somewhere in between , like doing part of the bodywork yourself and then droping it at a bodyshop for finishing details and paint. just an idea

[minionsram]

Just gotta say body work is not that hard, it is time consuming and requires being very detailed, but easy work. Find some information and give it a try.

[rjtx667]

Sadly I can see how the green could look ok on it 


I was spraying some stuff on it to kill the rust, it turns black when its working. Of course a bug had to join the party.

The stuff came out of the can very un-even. I am going to sand on it tonight and try and get some primer down on a few spots.

[rjtx667]

So I got home and checked out my shady work from yesterday. Could be worse. I break out the sanding block and go to town, about 30 minutes in I recall I have a jitterbug sander. I stop and go find it  much better.

I clean up a good section of the driver side and it feels pretty smooth minus the body damage. I wipe it down about 3 times with cleaner and whip out the spray primer.

Here are a bunch of before and after shots on the setup

this first group is of the damage on the rear we are dealing with. This is the worst of it, the other is very minor.

[rjtx667]

Here are some of the pre primer shots. Sorry for the blur... phone camera in the dark 

[rjtx667]

And here it is post primer. I am going to let it dry over night and pull the sander back out again tomorrow. That primer did not come out smooth, but I still think it looks better than it did.

I was also looking, the driver side is not as bad as I thought it was when it was bare metal (funny how a little color changes things). I also looked and have limited access from the back side to that area. I am going to grab a hammer and block and see if I can beat some of that back out. I figure its hard to mess it up more than it is now (I know I could) but its worth a try to smooth it out.

The more I can fix myself, or fix better than now, the cheaper it will make getting it done. I also decided I will primer the whole thing myself. Then I won't have to worry about rust spots or rain. It won't be super pretty, but it gives me a shot to try my hand at some of it, and protects it all at once.

[crazzywolfie]

who the heck keep putting all the holes in it ? you can get a stud welder cheap and then you don't have so many holes to cover with bondo.

[rjtx667]

who the heck keep putting all the holes in it ? you can get a stud welder cheap and then you don't have so many holes to cover with bondo.

I got one word for you (no offense Francisco) MEXICO lol

that and the PO's were cheap SOB's. I mean the dash was in parts when I got it, the interior lights did not work, the ODB II port was dead, and it was krylon flat black.

Its been a long road of fixes. Like I said it has decent access from the inside, so I can try and either block it out with a hammer and block or try to find a stud welder. After its better I can weld all the holes closed and make it a lot better.