oliver foster

Yes the shop is heated with wood heat from my outdoor furnace that then pipes the heated water into my slab. My neighbor and I built it all from site work, milling logs into lumber off my land, framing, radiant tubing, concrete work, truss building, roofing, insulating, siding and all. I wasn't going to wait to win the lottery [I don't play it] and if you build the way I did it is not that expensive. Lots of work along with recycled doors, windows and shop doors keep the cost down.

I got a really nice tutorial on posting pictures from T-man, but still don't have it mastered, so you guys will just have to believe me that work is getting done on Poncho.

The intercooler is all piped up just where I want it. The oil cooler and oil housing is back on with new gaskets and new filter.

I got a new thermostat for it along with some nicer OEM rad. hoses and have it all put back together. I have 5 gallons of STRAIGHT antifreeze to fill it back up with.
I also slapped on a new Gates serpentine belt now that I removed the A/C pump. The belt tensioner and the water pump seems to be in good shape so I left them in service.

When I get a nice warm day I will back it out the shop and let it run for a while to check for leaks on all the parts I just swapped around.

oliver foster

Char. and I took a little time before dinner and did some fun little projects on the winter to do list last night.

We cleaned up and installed some nice used Power Ram 250 Cummins emblems on the fenders. The original ones where sliced off before I got Poncho leaving a sticky, scratched up spot in the paint. That really improved the look for the amount of time it took....why did I wait three years to do that?

Char. then swapped out the dry rotted and ripped door seals mostly on her own with some new ones I had bought. While I swapped out the driver side vent window with a nicer one that had a good latch, as the latch on the vent window had broken off.

I replaced the missing clutch pedal rubber with one off a spare brake pedal I have. Using one from a brake pedal moves the wear spot to the other side when used on a clutch pedal, there by adding life to the pedal pads like rotating your tires does.

I also checked for leaks on the radiator system after topping it off and found the lower hose was lightly dripping. A hose clamp swap later that was fixed.

A '93 style air filter housing, air tube and filter was installed after lightly "Swiss cheesing" 3 extra holes on the front side with a hole saw for a little extra air. With the HX-35 swap the old air box tube was the wrong size.

Today we will find a decent OEM front grille to install to get rid of the aftermarket chrome grille without the all important DODGE lettering.
That should get it back to a running / moving rig after being in pieces waiting for us to have time since Thanksgiving. That will make it so I can back it out the shop and let it idle for a bit.
Then after a bit of run time to check for oil, fuel and anti freeze leaks on a nice warm day, it will be back to work on the exhaust system and a bunch of other things on the winter to do list for Poncho.

oliver foster

It was almost 40* here today so Char. and I rolled Poncho out of the shop and fired it up. It fired up on the first rotation of the motor.
I was happy to see that all the stuff we worked on was nice, tight and leak free.

Then I noticed the new major leak from the injection pump...Something new to add to the winter to do list. It has not been re-sealed during my ownership, so I bet it is the original O-rings, giving up the ghost.

At least it didn't spring that leak in Boston at midnight with us coming home from the Iron Maiden show last summer.

oliver foster

I got the rear brake light to work tonight on the passenger side as that had been out for a bit.

I also ordered some front of the rear leaf spring drop hangers from Archive Garage to help raise the rear of Poncho up a bit.
They are supposed to just bolt into the same holes as the factory mounts, unlike Jungle's from RCC that require new holes in the frame to be drilled.

I will use them in conjunction with some shackle flip brackets I had welded up almost 10 year ago for the Vanilla Gorilla and never used.
I am hoping to gain the two inches I want and lose the air bag and helper camper springs.

I can swap out the 3 inch block under the rear spring for a 1 inch "Zero Rate" spring I have if I need to fine tune it.
I will get a pair of longer shackles to add to the mix if needed as well, which with a shackle flip will add to the lift.

I am hoping for a better leveled out rig with the small front lift springs I am running and a softer ride out of the rear at the end of the day.
It sits a little nose high right now for the "BRO" ride look, as PapeCAT calls it.

mknittle

Nice looking parts.

https://archivegarage.com/products/l...of-rear-spring

maybe368

, Bwaaaaaaaaaaa...Mark

oliver foster

I knew you would like that Mark!
Look what you started here at DTR... I am pretty sure T-man is running 100% now too.

The inside of the motor looked SO clean when I swapped out the oil plate cooler, I figured I would give it a shot. I will report back if I have any cooling problems in the summer, which I HIGHLY doubt as it always has run super cool.

maybe368

Oliver, it seems to be a small, but growing group, but a giant oak tree begins as an acorn. You won't regret it...Mark

oliver foster

Yeah thought so too. I really like how it fits into the stock holes in the frame, as I hate drilling new holes on my cool old truck. I will have to open them up to 1/2 inch though.
I will report back as to the fit and finish of it when the time comes. He told me it would be a couple weeks out till I have it. Since I will not have Poncho on the road till late April at best, that works for me.

NJTman

Correct-o-mundo, Chachi!

Edit: fixed x men to. T-.man.

oliver foster

Nice T-man. That made me laugh and also made me check to make sure auto correct didn't fill in X-men...instead on T-man.
I pulled the hood latch, then trimmed it down and took some out of the center section to shorten it an inch+ so it does not hit the intercooler tonight before dinner.
I will weld it up tomorrow and test fit it with a bit of luck.

NJTman

Nice find. My rear hangers are not rotted yet... But when they do...

Lol

MrFusion

Pretty stout looking spring hangers!

oliver foster

I am having an anti super bowl party in the shop with the dogs tonight.
I have good beer and the stereo going. The girlfriend is cooking up some tasty dinner and relaxing before her week starts.

I just quickly brainstormed a back up hood latch cable from a broken OEM one I had left over.
I routed it above the intercooler then to behind the turn signal of the drivers side. I will grind down the cable end stop to fit in the factory hood latch along with the stock main cable.

In the advent of a broken main cable, I will have to take off my turn signal to access my hidden spare cable. I didn't want it rubbing against the radiator or intercooler in the wind when cruising down the road so it is attached and snug against the bottom of the core support in its factory cable sheath.

It will be much faster than any other method to get the hood open in a time of need.

I am grabbing a second beer and headed out to the shop to work on the 2wd RC a bit. Enjoy the game tonight for whomever is watching it.

NJTman

Animal planet "Puppy Bowl" is on tonight during the stupid bowl, so that's what I'll be watching