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Junkyard rescue of an '87 Dodge Power Ram 50

Yet another fail to add to the saga: the MSD coil is now dead.

I got the new ignition module today, installed it and the truck started immediately. I let it run for a bit before trying to drive it, because I know how this turd is, and sure enough it died after about 10 minutes. Tried again, it lasted for 2 minutes before dying again.

I borrowed a multimeter (mine's missing again), started measuring everything. The primary resistance should be 0.7 ohms, and there's zero continuity between the positive and negative posts of the coil. The secondary resistance is supposed to be 4.7k ohms, I got 5.68k.

I'm considering switching to an internally resisted coil. Haven't decided yet.
 


New coil is a Pertronix Flamethrower, 1.5 ohm. After installing it, still no spark.

Measured everything again, finally decided to ohm out the wires going from the iICM in the distributor to the coil, both wires are over 1.5 ohms resistance. That, coupled with the fact that the ICMs tend to overheat quickly without some type of thermal compound, and it's obvious why they kept dying.

I made a new set of wires for the distributor that "should" work while I wait for a new OEM set to ship from the UK. I went ahead and ordered another new ICM (or two), while I'm waiting on those I'll see if any of the old OEM Mitsubishi ICMs I have will work. I doubt it.

Hopefully I'll have another update soon.
 
It's been a while.

Water pump started weeping, then the starter went out as I was heading home. Truck started getting a bit too warm, so I had to pull over and have it towed home.

Finally got the new water pump, thermostat and radiator cap I ordered a month ago, found out that instead of the 180 degree t-stat I wanted, I accidentally ordered a 160 degree t-stat. Still haven't decided whether I'm going to install it.

At first I thought it might just be the ignition switch, but after jumping the solenoid with a pair of pliers there's still nothing. I'm gonna have to pull it off and tear it apart (YET AGAIN) in order to figure out what actually went wrong. Battery is fully charged, gauge reads ~12.7v.

Oh, and my neighbor just bought a new truck, she thought it would be funny to park next to mine... Joke's on her though, my truck doesn't care if he's smaller than everyone else. He isn't compensating for anything.

angle by Ben Stryker, on Flickr

front by Ben Stryker, on Flickr
 
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Update:

The radiator cracked after fixing the starter, had it soldered and it's good as new now.

Then I decided to go ahead and order a new clutch, because I had the money and the stock clutch was starting to slip at higher RPMs.

The truck started making a horrible knocking noise without warning. I changed the oil as a precaution and cut open the oil filter, only found a small amount of super-fine glitter, reasonably normal for the way I rebuilt the engine.

Insertion of my head into the engine bay with the engine running determined that the knocking was coming from around the bell housing area. I immediately thought loose flywheel/pressure plate bolts or clutch disk coming apart.

While I wait for the new clutch, I decided to go ahead and drop the trans and t-case. I found half of the driveshaft bolts were starting to come loose, all of the bell housing bolts were completely loose, the rubber in the transfer case mount was rock hard, and the mounting stud snapped off immediately upon removal.

The flywheel and pressure plate don't have any obvious damage, and parts did not fall out with the transmission, so that's good.

Now I've got time to pressure wash the transmission and transfer case, fix a leaking side cover, replace the mounts, and do a whole bunch of pointless little things that ultimately won't make the truck faster or more reliable, but they'll make me feel like I'm accomplishing something while I sit on my ass waiting for Summit Racing to finally decide to ship my new clutch...

Break, fix, repeat.
 


I don't do this for the validation of randos on the internet.

I do this for myself, because fixing things makes the brain chemicals go woosh. So I feel better about my life and don't have to make fun of others to get any form of satisfaction from it.

Now that that's out of the way, here's some pictures that I forgot to include in my last post.

20200731_180616 by Ben Stryker, on Flickr

20200731_180619 by Ben Stryker, on Flickr

2020-08-13_12-20-24 by Ben Stryker, on Flickr

Take care of yourselves out there.
 
New clutch worked great, but engine ate itself again. Rod bearing go bye bye.

No surprise there.



In other news:

I'm out of the military now (ETS), I'm getting a divorce, and I'm moving in less than 2 weeks with no vehicle and no savings.

Lovely time I'm having lately, just lovely.
 


damn ben, what a sh it show. funny, but a few days ago i was literally thinking, wonder where ben is? maybe he got shipped over seas or some crap. man i was far from close on my thoughts.
 
I most likely ****ed it up somewhere during the build, but even with a rod knock loud enough to summon The Ancient One... it still got second gear scratch.

It officially lasted just under a year, about 500 miles.

Deciding whether to replace/repair just the parts that have gone bad and make it run again, do a full machine shop rebuild with a proper overbore, decking, crank grind and polish, crack checking, etc...

Or swap in a different engine.

But I've got time now. Plenty of time to figure **** out.
 


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