The side exit in front on the rear wheel is a last resort.
Not only would that be loud and get old quickly. I do not think it would pass state inspection due to the exhaust exiting under the "cabin space". It would work on a pick up truck as the exhaust fumes would not exit under the cabin but the bed where nobody should die from carbon monoxide.
I plan to drive with the top removed most, if not, all of the time.

I got things to fit up okay last night using a dozen bungie cords to get everything from the down pipe back held in place. I even cycled the rear passenger side suspension to see if the shock would hit the exhaust pipe. Seems like there is JUST enough room. with some well placed dents in the exhaust tube, I should be able to drive it free of exhaust rattles.

Now to start making brackets and hangers to replace the bungie cord action.

 

Soooo, you "snowed in" and "stuck" working in the shop or out playing in it? Or did the big stuff miss you?

 

We got 15+ inches of wet, heavy snow over the past couple of days. We lost power for the last 2 days.
The ground is warm under the snow, so it is melting down each day. I didn't even plow as the driveway was mud under the snow and it would have just made a mess. My driveway is 4x4 accessible only currently.

I have not had time to work on my Ramcharger much this past week. The wire harnesses are currently getting refreshed by a friend who is big into the '72-'80 era Dodge trucks.

I have been helping out with a guys smoked Getrag on his D350. He ran his old one out of oil hauling on the highway.

Hoping to get back on this project the 2nd half of this month. I still plan on driving this around this summer.

 

That sounds like some roof collapsing snow huh?

"My driveway is 4x4 accessible only currently" - keeps the riff-raff out!

"I have been helping out with a guys smoked Getrag on his D350. He ran his old one out of oil hauling on the highway." Geez o Pete! how does one let that happen??!!?? Shameful...

 

A driveway with 15 inches of snow on it, sure does keep the riff raft out.....the UPS guy too. It has settled into about 8 inches of slushy snow now.

The D350 guy is an older dude and not crawling under his truck to work on it anymore. He asked his mechanic to "check the transmission" last summer. I am not sure what that means exactly, but my guess checking that is was full of fluid was not what he checked...maybe he just checked if it was there?
Regardless he was out a truck and could not locate a replacement Getrag anywhere. I will get back to my RC next week after I get him headed in the right direction with a good Getrag transmission.

 

Ah, yea, that's a totally different story. I sympathize with age hindering one's ability to do proper maintenance. During covid I became friends with a recently widowed lady who needed help around the house. Inherited her geriatric black lab that way...

We've got a good UPS driver here. When the river floods and blocks our dead end road he'll call and ask if I want to meet him on the other side.

Help your friends and neighbors, it will make getting back to your own projects that much sweeter!

 

My Dodge bro. came out for a few days and helped me wire up the old RC. After a few long days in the shop, the truck is wired tip to tail and starts up using the key from the inside.
The transmission shifts through the gears using the B+M shifter after some modification to get it to work well on a Cummins truck.

I will add some more details when the dust settle in the shop a bit.

 

So youall did all new wiring, didn't modify an old original loom then?

Anxious to hear how that shifter performs.

 

We used the majority of the wiring from my old '76 Ramcharger my daughter and I call the Rattlecharger. We drove that around almost 20 years ago until the 727 lost reverse and the body rust took over.

I had my friend go through the wiring and remove wires I did not need with the Cummins motor under the hood and also repair cracked wire casings. We pulled parts, steering columns, switches, wire pig tails, ETC from 4 different mid '70 Dodges to make one really nice harness.
4 clusters later we had all the gauges working. He improved some of the factory problem areas with better wires from the Alt. and we added a relay or two.
I am adding Autometer - Oil, Transmission Temp., Pyro and Boost gauges along with one of their tachometers that runs off the alternator. I am putting three of the gauges where the radio would go. The other two go on the 70s "wing panels" on the dash. No funny pods mounted to the dash on this build.

The modifications we found we needed to do to get the B+M shifter to work right revolved around the big transmission cooler lines that come off the Cummins autos. This made us have to modify the shifter bracket mount on the transmission to clear the lines. This changed the geometry of the shifter pattern enough that shifting into all the gears was making the cable bind in some gear selections. We decided to modify the shifter plate on the shifter end, to make up for the minor changes in geometry on the transmission end.

 

I had some time yesterday to clean up and wire loom the under hood wiring. Drill and locate the starter relay. Ran the vacuum lines - which took a little digging around to find the proper reducers and such for the air lines and connections to tie a '96 motor to a '90 brake booster and '79 lines on the Ramcharger.

Now that I have the "stock" wiring out of the way, it is time for me to run the Autometer boost, pyro, oil pressure and transmission temp wiring. Then locate (most of) the gauges in the spot where the radio would normally be.

 

Got the pyro, oil pressure and boost gauges set up on a panel I made up to fit where the radio was. I used copper tubing for the oil pressure line rather than the white plastic tubing that seems to break down over the years, making a oily mess when it ruptures.
Ran all the wires and lines through the old hole in the fire wall for the old throttle cable hole. Remember I swapped in the later hanging throttle pedal style and drilled a new hole for the 2nd gen style, P-pumped throttle cable.
Used a vacuum line grommet from an old brake booster to protect them from the hole in the firewall.

I got the dash pad installed along with the gauge cluster re-installed before the dinner bell last night.

Earlier in the day I got the customized B+M shifter plate welded up and re-installed. That means I can clean up that center console and get that dialed in for final install.

 

Looking forward to pictures and such, I'm happy you didn't go the "easy" route and mount gauge pods everywhere. It seems that the finish line is near bud!

 

The rear leaf spring suspension and Cal Trac bars are still just installed, not tightened down. I left it like that in case I wanted to change ride height in the rear after I had the powertrain and sheetmetal all installed. Or if I need a little more room to sneak the 4 inch exhaust over the axle, by the fuel tank, shock tube and leaf spring.
Seems like one of the front calipers is sticking now, so that will need to be swapped out.

I have not even gotten into getting the CompuShift controller for the 47RH O/D control and lock up, installed or worked out. But your are correct, getting it running and moving under its own power is close.
The plan is to get some road time on it this summer as a 3 speed, so I can see how it works. Then I plan on dialing in some of the final loose ends and the transmission O/D and lock up control, next winter.

I will take a few pictures of some of the recent work. I know how people like pictures.

 

Finished up the 3 gauges in the radio hole. Got the Oil pressure line hooked up and thought it would be best to test for leaks before burying it in the dash. I hooked up the battery cables, pushed the pull cable in and turned the key. It fired up after a couple of turns and settled into a good idle. It took a couple seconds for the oil line to purge the air, but it soon settled into a 80 PSI reading with a cold engine. I turned it off after a minute, before smoking out the shop.
Still a bunch of detail stuff to do, but it does fire up by key now, shift through the gears , other than O/D - and the brakes system is pretty functional. I might have to drive it out of the shop soon and give it the first wash it has had in a LONG time.

I will take a few picture when I do.

 

Just curious but do you have to bleed the oil pressure gauge line or does it purge itself somehow?