84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

[thrashingcows]

So since I'm going to be working on this as I drive it, I thought I'd start a build thread about RAE (Rough Around Edges)

Update...Truck was eventually named Patches.

So here's the story so far.....

The guy I bought the truck off of got the truck already running and driving. Basicly unchanged from when I brought it home. He flew into Iowa and drove the truck home to Kamloops BC. He then got a call froma good friend who needed some finacial help so he ended up buying this friends 85 Crewcab, long box dually. So this put RAE beside the house adn unused for almost 2 years.

I had been looking for a 1st Gen dodge crew-cab for a while now, and had decided that I really wanted a Cummins powered unit. Well the crew-cabs alone are hard enough to find due to them being mostly available to the government, for correction, military, forestry etc. So most eventually ended up in government auctions, but even then a low production vehicle.

So a month or so ago I decided that I would just buy a 91-93 cummins powered club cab truck, with a 5 speed manual, since the hunt for a crew-cab was not going well. I looked at a few locally but never jumped on anything, then a couple weeks ago I happened to come across a diesel truck site and was cruising the classifieds when I spotted RAE. And when i saw it was diesel powered, and running the NV4500 5 speed I wanted, and only 3 1/2 hour, 210 miles, away from me I had to go take a look.

So needless to say I liked what I saw, and went up last weekend and drove it down. I did nothing other then top up the tank and drove home. I drove 210 miles and used not even a 1/4 tank of fuel!!:giggedy:

 

[thrashingcows]

So here are the picks from my other thread...this is when I got it home.

You can't tell really in the pics but the paint is pretty much toast, waded and cooked and almost worn through on the roof and hood.

Interior is a mix and match from several years. The front seat I think is out of a 2dr diplomat or caravelle? It is split and tilts forward and is narrower then the stock rear seat.

The dual stacks, and the Union Jack flags and the sign in the back window, make this a tad more redneck then I can stand. They will all be going away.

The motor is a 1989 Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel, no intercooler, and is supposed to have approx 153K miles on it. The tranny is a 1996 NV4500 manual 5 speed. The rear is a dana with 5.54 gears.

 

[thrashingcows]

I pulled the exhaust yesterday. I had noticed that there was an exhaust leak at the V-band on the exhaust side of the turbo assembly. I had hoped it was just a band V-band but when I pulle dit off I found that the flange on the exhaust pipe was toast.

I spent all day driving around hitting every truck junk yard, diesel shop and jobber, trying to find this piece. I can get every other piece NEW except this one.:doubt:

I called a guy last night who is parting out a couple 1st Gen trucks and he has one I can get in a couple weeks. So that made me happy.

 

[thrashingcows]

I also pulled the stacks yesterday, and scrapped off the decals in the rear window. Looks a bunch better.

 

[thrashingcows]

Today i installed my class 4 hitch and the rear bumper as well. Had to drill one new hole in the frame for the hitch and open up another in the hitch. Now I have to get the trailer wiring worked out as well.

 

[thrashingcows]

When I was under the truck today I noticed some foam units up inside the front of the drivers side box. I pulled them down and they had nice openings in the middle, looks like they were used to haul stuff? No other reason for them to be up there and in that specific shape?

Did I mention that this truck was originally from Texas....:shifty:

 

[69.5CUDA]

cow..might i make a sugjestion..if the tail wiring has NOT been cut..you can do what i did for my ramcharger..go hit a wrecker and cut off both tail light harnesses and then cut the rear tail cross section taht connects the 2 sets of tail lights..what this will give you is a jumper harness that plugs in between the tail lights and the stock harness ..ive done this a coulpe times and the nice thing is any issue with your trailer wireing at that point is in a disposible pullable section that can be unplugged in a moments notice should it get messed up to badly

whats with that extra set of brake lines on the firewall?

you going IC that thing arnt you?

anti bed rattle perhaps?

 

[BootHead]

Those tie downs look like butt, Nice truck man

 

[Fishy]

...the Union Jack flags...

Union Jack is the British flag, you have Confederates.

 

[68R/T]

Union Jack is the British flag, you have Confederates.

Did I mention that this truck was originally from Texas....:shifty:

That'd be "Red-neck Central"

 

[Fishy]

That'd be "Red-neck Central"

Belt buckle of "The Bible Belt" ; )

 

[Dr.Jass]

Nice to see Chrysler never, ever changed the design of the rear door panels... I have a set identical to yours in my garage, only mine are black.

I like the hell out of this rig personally. I agree with Bootsy that those tie-down points on the box sides are just plain ghastly, and I'd definitely try to figure out a way to make the door panels match front-to-rear. I can think of a million things I'd want to do if that were my truck, but that's me and tastes/preferences differ... but it's one very-cool jumping-off point! Have fun with it, and don't forget your wagon!

 

[thrashingcows]

whats with that extra set of brake lines on the firewall?

you going IC that thing aren't you?

The booster and MC are from a 92/93 ram, they had the prop. valve mounted up there , not down on the frame like my 84. So it's just a spare now.

Those tie downs look like butt....

I know, they will be coming off. I might mount them inside the box though?

I can think of a million things I'd want to do if that were my truck, but that's me and tastes/preferences differ... but it's one very-cool jumping-off point! Have fun with it, and don't forget your wagon!

Wouldn't mind hearing a few thoughts Doc...never know I might decided I like some of them.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Were it mine (and I had the cash), the first thing I'd do would be intercool it. I'd try to make it as much like the '97 Cummins as possible--the basic engine is the same, but the later 12V motors were way up in power over the early ones. I'd also upgrade the lift pump to an aftermarket unit since the older lift pumps are failure-prone, which can cause serious engine damage.

Dual batteries. I know your climate is a little more temperate than ours, but it doesn't take real low temps to make a diesel a bitch to start. You'll need to upgrade from the Wal-Mart battery anyhow, so why not do it right?

I would go monotone on the paint, probably the red that's already there because the interior would match... speaking of which, I'd dye the front door panels to match the seats and rear panels, or else find junkyard ones the right color. Get enough dye, and you can do the dash as well... obviously, the Texas sun had its way with it but from the pics it appears to be uncracked (same deal with my Imperial, although the Imp dash is warped). The white left in the interior might seem strange, but it actually brightens the gut a little so I don't think it would be out of place.

I'd lose the wheels in a hurry; I don't know what it is about those 8-spoke "wagon wheels" but I detest 'em (strange, since I like the ones used on the Aspolares with trim rings, center caps, and bright accents around the holes). The problem, of course, is if you've got the 3800lb front axle (likely), you need to run a 16.5" wheel or larger as 15s and 16s won't clear the calipers. Slim pickins in the wheel department unless you want to go with 17s or better. I checked this out because my '78 D200 crew had the big axle.

Here's where I really bastardize the thing: '72-'80 style front clip, preferably the '77-'78 style, along with matching box (the cab and doors are the same). I'd also go with the early dash, as the one thing I hated most about '80s Dodge pickups was the dash and factory cluster. It has no tach provision, but more than that I just really don't like the styling (and the simulated woodgrain is one of the worst attempts ever). Of course, the dash tach for the '70s diesels are nigh-on impossible to find (yes, there were diesel Dodges in the '70s, an ultra-slug non-turbo Mitsubishi engine) and there's no knowing whether it could be made to work with the Cummins. Still, the '70s dash rules, and it's a bolt-in deal.

When I had my '78 crew cab, I wanted to do to it what was done to yours with the Cummins and 5-speed. I started out wanting a 440 (and a 4x4) but the error of my ways was pointed out to me by my friend Art, and I really wanted to drop an oil-burner in it. Converting to four-wheel drive looked to be more work than it would ultimately be worth so I bailed on that idea. Mine was ex-Air Force, so it was a short bed. Another friend, Kevin, got me to thinking... if you're gonna have a diesel short-box four-door, stacks (sorta like what you had) might be cool--if and only if I did a four-door, diesel, ¾-ton stepside Lil Red Express. Losing the utility of the fleetside box wouldn't have been as big an issue to me, since it was a shortbox anyhow. I still think that would have been the coolest truck ever... damned shame what happened to it. I don't want to talk about it; suffice to say a really-solid crew-cab no longer exists.

FYI: saying you wanted a "first-gen" Dodge crew cab is erroneous; Dodge four-door cabs go back to at least '64 if not earlier. The '64-'71 models were (to my eye) ugly as they used four front doors--and yet they were still cool for what they were. The crew-cab option (the military guys ironically called it a Six Pack for the number of troops it could carry) disappeared after '85, which was also the last year for the hideous egg-crate grille used starting in '81--which someone already rectified on your truck. As to whether any of the crew cabs were built with the Itchypussy diesel option, I don't know. I've certainly never seen one. You were really lucky to find the truck you did, though, since the Cummins bowed 4 years after the crew-cab was discontinued.

Your truck has a shitload of potential, regardless of what you ultimately decide to do. I'll be watching this thread with great interest.

 

[J.C. Corbett]

Everyone in the world has been lowering the 73-89 Chevy crew cabs forever, without noticing what us Mopar guys have known for years. The 2X Dodge trucks are so low slung from the factory, they don't need it. Cool, eh? Check to see if the 00-02 factory aluminum wheels will fit. They look great. If not, the 03-current aluminum 17" wheel should fit and look great. Take offs should be readily available. Next step, Ramcharger buckets & console. Toss the narrow split bench.

 

[thrashingcows]

Hey Doc....well pretty close to what I have in mind.

First off those rims are definitely on the way out, those are car trailer rims so far as I'm concerned. Some newer rims would be nice but some plain steel rims with caps will do for now.

The inter-cooler is definitely on the list, I'm getting a front rad support an grille from a 91-93 truck so the IC upgrade will be a little easier. I'll try a couple other upgrades but don't want to compromise fuel economy and dependability for bigger HP and TQ numbers.

I'm confused over lift pumps, a lift pump is a fuel pump? Some say I should have an electric and a manual lift pump?

I'm going to keep the tu-tone paint, I like it personally. And the trim looks better on a tu-tone scheme to a mono-tone. IMO Interior wise I have red door panels for the front already, but they are the later 80's style so they might clash with the back ones. Also the newer red panels are PW and PDL units.

As for body styles...well I do like the look of the pre 80 rams, if I could find a nice rust free donor I might consider it. But for now I have other cars and project that need attention before I even consider something like this.

Oh and on my "First-Gen" comment, I guess I was making refrence to the 1st-Gen Cummins trucks. I know that 85 was the last of the Crews in this body style and they never produced a factory cummins powered crew, so technically you are correct about my assumed terminology.


JC....I'm going to go look at a ramcharger in the next week or so...who knows if the seats will find there way into my truck.

 

[69.5CUDA]

cow the donar swap of parts..i could quickly find you rust free fenders and hood...and you dont need a cab so its an EASY swap out......the box might take a lil time but im sure i could find one as well rust free isnt the issue so much as not abused....me id make it look like a 72-80 bird bath hood 72-76 lowwer valance 77/78 grill 72-76 dash 72/73 tailgate(only 2 years for the DODGE embossed gate) then run the nice stock chrome trim tail light rings ..wheels id grab a set of slots or general style turbines..since there fairly easy to find in these parts

 

[thrashingcows]

cow the donar swap of parts..i could quickly find you rust free fenders and hood...and you dont need a cab so its an EASY swap out......the box might take a lil time but im sure i could find one as well rust free isnt the issue so much as not abused....me id make it look like a 72-80 bird bath hood 72-76 lowwer valance 77/78 grill 72-76 dash 72/73 tailgate(only 2 years for the DODGE embossed gate) then run the nice stock chrome trim tail light rings ..wheels id grab a set of slots or general style turbines..since there fairly easy to find in these parts

69...See what you can find and let me know the prices. If they are reasonable, and I can afford them, I'll send you the cash and maybe you can hold them for me until i can come down?

I'll see what i can find up here as well. Looks like this is gonna start costing me more $$$ then I had planned....:shifty:

 

[68R/T]

Looks like this is gonna start costing me more $$$ then I had planned....:shifty:

Like that's never happened before. :huh:

 

[thrashingcows]

69...See what you can find and let me know the prices. If they are reasonable, and I can afford them, I'll send you the cash and maybe you can hold them for me until i can come down?

I'll see what i can find up here as well. Looks like this is gonna start costing me more $$$ then I had planned....:shifty:

Like that's never happened before. :huh:

Well ain't that the truth!!