Welcome back Carter

[SixGun]

Vacuum leaks, carb float set too low, timing and egr.

Still some driveability issues that I need to contend with. Still a work in progress.

[bullboy0852]

Alright cool, things to check on mine, similar issues but drivable. Haven't reset the timing since the cam and timing swap so might've had some initial stretch or settling. Vaccum is around 30 and I don't have egr. We'll see what it does, don't know how long til I swap engines.

Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

[SixGun]

Spent a couple of days at Troxell Automotive working on my buddy Carter. Many thanks for the help and hospitality of Noah and his faithful assistant Kato...err.. Eric.

We got the front alignment adjusted to eliminate a howl going down the road. Apparently the passenger side was pointed in. Also had a hard start issue.  Pulled top of carb and adjusted float level. Noah noticed that the float level was not high enough to feed into the accelerator pump through the slot.  Obvious to the trained eye of the Mopar Master Noah. For a young man, this guy has experience beyond his years. On his first Doctors visit with Carter he also noticed a bubble on the tread of the drivers side tire.  You really had to be be looking at it but it was obvious once pointed out.  They had a lot of tread and in pretty good shape but again, thanks to the trained eye of the Jedi, a disaster was averted. On our test drive in the country, we noticed that the kickdown was not working.  Some tweaks and wa-la.  A fluid check revealed the power steering pump was dry. I added a big cooler for the PS pump so the driving must have finally filled the cooler. Big bottle of fluid to solve that issue. A loose shift linkage bracket from the tranny install fixed.
Having a lift really gives you a birds eye view so to speak.

Oil changed for thicker oil to try and seal rings better.  A lot of blow by on this old motor.  OK , so this truck has some serious highway gear, 2.94 I believe. Why just put a lower gear? Upgrade to 9-1/4 was in the cards with 3.55's. Remember, the A999 tranny was swapped to a rebuilt A727 a little while back. Now, Noah is a very busy man at the shop but he took the time to walk me through a rebuild of the 9-1/4. He has done a couple of D60 rebuilds but this is his first 9-1/4.  I've been dragging this heavy sumbitch in the bed of the Ram for awhile now hoping he would have some free time on one of my visits. Now free time was not necessarily in the cards but he made time for "training" as he called it.  A total overhaul with new bearings and seals.  Also a crush sleeve eliminator was installed. Noah had most of the tools already purchased for his new foray into the world of axles. However a specialty tool was built for the side adjusters in lieu of a spanner wrench. Though fairly simple to tear down and put back together, the labor for cleanup and setup was where the money is. Also, there is a slew of very expensive tools to do this job. Parts wise, I'm in a good 4 bills and that's not including the brakes. They look in fair shape for its age but old. Next trip I hope. I've got some shopping to do.

Speaking of brakes, our test drive also pointed out a dragging brake smell. Calipers dragging. A parts list was made for some stopping power. One of Noah's concerns was a vacuum leak from what he felt was a leaky vacuum booster. It's the pancake style single diaphragm. I brought a spare used pancake booster for the 76 RC but turns out it was a 4 bolt instead of the needed 2 bolt. Well, following the rule of dont just replace but upgrade when buying new, we looked at getting a dual diaphragm booster.  After trying to get one locally, it was determined that it was gonna have to be ordered.

A lot accomplished in 2 days. We even had time to plan a future rebirth of the Ram possibly as a 4x.  Ahh..to be continued at a later date.

[crazzywolfie]

sounds like a lot of work. also i really don't know what shape my 81's 318 was in when i got it but after running diesel 15w40 in it for the last 6000 or so miles it seemed to help things seal up a bit since my last compression test. all cylinders are a consistent 170-180 psi with little to no change when doing a wet test. it would be about a 10-20psi increase accross all cylinders since last test. i have been meaning to pull the valve covers and see if things are any cleaner since the last time i was in there

[SixGun]

sounds like a lot of work. also i really don't know what shape my 81's 318 was in when i got it but after running diesel 15w40 in it for the last 6000 or so miles it seemed to help things seal up a bit since my last compression test. all cylinders are a consistent 170-180 psi with little to no change when doing a wet test. it would be about a 10-20psi increase accross all cylinders since last test. i have been meaning to pull the valve covers and see if things are any cleaner since the last time i was in there

Thanks Mat, I'll have to keep that in mind. 

[crazzywolfie]

no problem. i am pretty sure i have read of a lot of people running the shell 15w40 diesel oil in there gas engine and it keeping the engine as clean as a fresh built engine. it sure hasn't hurt anything.

[ProjectPW]

sounds like a lot of work. also i really don't know what shape my 81's 318 was in when i got it but after running diesel 15w40 in it for the last 6000 or so miles it seemed to help things seal up a bit since my last compression test. all cylinders are a consistent 170-180 psi with little to no change when doing a wet test. it would be about a 10-20psi increase accross all cylinders since last test. i have been meaning to pull the valve covers and see if things are any cleaner since the last time i was in there

Unfortunately Carter is only around 125 PSI compression with the engine hot... It may improve after a few miles 

[crazzywolfie]

but wasn't it also rebuilt kind of? i wouldn't expect it to have perfect compression until it actually starts having a few miles put on it and to seal things up.

[SixGun]

After reflection and talking with Ernest, the heads were not removed to expedite the build. It was a running motor that didn't smoke. We had planned on more but after finding the block cracked that put a damper on our time frame having to find, pick up and tear down another motor. I also remember having to chase down quite a few parts that College Station didn't carry local. We were surprised that 318 parts were so hard to find. Being a weekend made it worse. I still have the head gaskets and valve stem seals in my doggy bag from that long weekend. Ernest is very meticulous which is time consuming in its own right. Cleaning parts was time consuming as well. It was a marathon no doubt with early days and long nights. Very frustrating going into the last night and being attacked by mosquitoes.  Ahh the good times Lol.

[crazzywolfie]

Ok. Ya I might have been mixing up the engines. It has been a while. Well hopefully you get carter street legal and running good soon so that you can test that engine out good

[SixGun]

So about a month ago, I took a couple of tires and rims off and set Carter on jack stands.  Until we get all the bugs ironed out, ole Carter has been staying out at Noah's Dodge ranch.  Well a few weeks ago, the big rainstorms hit the town of Wimberly again.  Mr. Noah was kind enough to text me that Carter was in a sink hole. 

Well, he was joshing a bit but the jack stands did sink completely into the soft ground.  In fact, the rotors were slightly in the mud and the cross member was all that kept it from going full groundhog.  Funny thing is that the last conversation we had was whether or not to put some wood or rocks under the jack stands. Hind sight is 20/20.

So today I  had a few hours so I took a road trip out there and put some new shoes on Carter.  In this case, floaties in case he decides to play in the rain again. I wanted to give him a little rake so I put some 265/75/15's in back and moved the 235/75/15's up front.

The old tires are now rollers for the 76 RC. Here's a couple of pics. The front actually sank more since that pic was taken. That green thing is the jack stand. 

[crazzywolfie]

that sucks that that happened but it is looking good now i might have to try remembering that tire size for the future if i get another 2wd ramcharger or maybe even for my truck. i like how well they fill the wheel well and it will most likely look a bit nicer once them front springs have settled a bit.

[SixGun]

Spent a couple days at Troxell Automotive to work on Mr Carter. Made a big dent in the to-do list. So first,  I was able to get a float setting that will allow Carter to start every time under his own power. Put new brakes on all four corners. Also went ahead and did the axle swap to a 9-1/4 with 3.55 gearing.  This was the one that Ryan donated to the Carter foundation and Noah rebuilt.  Definitely improved the driveability. Mucho thank yous to Noah, Eric and Lance for their assistance with advice, parts and tools. Most of all for their hospitality. It was pretty darn cold most of the time and Eric's coffee was a welcome start in the morning.

Friday night we did a night run through the woods in Lances Keystone. Noah has set up a proving grounds course through the Troxell forest. Then it was a speed run down the 1/8 Mile driveway track. I must say that Keystone is turning into a very capable monster. I have done this run in Eric's monster also. Both feel very different but are all business.

Had a lot of fun as always. Thanks again guys!   

[SixGun]

So one of the items left on the to do list is the wiper motor. From what I've been able to gather, the wipers not parking properly is because of the parking switch inside the wiper motor.  I know they sell them but I just wonder if they can be repaired easily.  New ones cost $50-80.  I figure maybe a used one at $25 is an option also. They sell replacement harness plugs if I get a different model. If I go the JY route, other than bolt pattern is there anything I should check for. Since Carter is an 85 model, should a 90's model just bolt in?

[crazzywolfie]

you think someone would probably have a spare or 2 sitting around. i think the motors are pretty compatible between all the 72-93 rams. just the connector changed. all the wires stayed the same. my 81 has the stock wiper motor but has a newer harness. they just made and adapter. it is not pretty but at least they didn't hack the harness to install it and it works.