The_Head

OK... I currently have a 92 Power Ram 250 that I wrecked about a month ago. It was a cherry truck, and it was a tragedy. I may have found a '91 that is in awesome shape... I would like to stick with the first gens so I could use the '92 as a parts truck.



^^Truck I wrecked. Blew left front tire and went off road, smashing into a culvert at 60 mph.


I notice the grills are different... I have a pretty sweet front bumper (can't really see it in pic) on the '92. Is it possible to put it on the 91 with no issue? Would also like to swap the rear bumper over from the '92 as well.

I also know that the '91 is not intercooled... Can I swap over the intercooler from the '92 easily? I do recall reading that you have to swap the turbo from the intercooled model for it to work.

Thanks for your help. Not sure if I should do this yet, as the '91 is about 900 miles away. I also have my eye on a '93 that is only 350 miles away and is nearly identical to the '92 I wrecked, but the '91 is a regular cab and I think it's a shortbox.

wannadiesel

The bumpers and grill will swap no problem. If the core support on the '92 didn't get trashed in the wreck then the intercooler swap will be pretty easy too. You'll want the injection lines, throttle bracket, and all the intake plumbing off the '92 as well.

The '91 is a longbed unless somebody chopped the frame. Dodge didn't offer a shortbed except in the 1/2 tons in '91.

The_Head

Thanks for the reply, but I thought it was a '91. It's actually an '89.

Alwaysworking

you can still change the parts, but the old grill won;t clear the i/c but if your going to use the new plastic grill you will be fine

wannadiesel

Same statements still apply.

Rampage1967

The headlamps are in a different position between a 92 & an 89. . you will need the intercooled core support to use 92 grille. But then, that is best way to swap intercooler & radiator anyway.

The_Head

Thanks for the info. I also found a clean 1992 regular cab that is about the same distance as the '89.

I'm willing to make a road trip to get another first gen.

Alwaysworking

personally i like the pre intercooled trucks, more free power available with the stock larger injectors, and if you have an intercooled donor with the cross flow radiator you get the best of both worlds, but thats just how i think of it

The_Head

Can swap the "valve cover" from a 92 to the 89?

Crossy's son

Yea the valve cover, its a direct swap, i did it.........wow what a clean engine bay ...its ashame it doesnt matter now. sorry for your loss

The_Head

What is a cross flow radiator?

Alwaysworking

one that would be in a 91.5 to 93 dodge cummins the water flows across the radiator( from one side to the other) vs the old style that is a down flow

The_Head

Ah, ok.. Thanks.

Is it possible to keep the '89 grill and headlights AND swap over the intercooler and mount from the '92?

Rampage kind of touched on it up there, but I'm not sure I understand his post completely.

Rampage1967

The location of the headlights on the 91.5 up trucks is 1 inch further up & to the left than the 91 down trucks. The headlamp mounts are bolted on fiberglass parts that could probably be moved. I don't know if depth would be right or not. (never looked at front end of 80's trucks that much)

wannadiesel

It would be a lot easier to do the intercooler swap if you used the core support and the trim off the '92. If you are going to the trouble of hacking up the '89 core support to put in an intercooler, do it right and use a 2nd gen intercooler.

All you gotta do is drill holes. I think there's a writeup over at RCC.