Greetings fellow members, I'm back after a long hiatus from the diesel world. After making a boneheaded decision to trade my beloved 2006 2500 for a 2010 3500 I quickly learned it was a mistake. Not only were the payments higher the fuel economy went down hill as well. FFwd a year I sold my 2010 3500 and been without a truck for the past 18 months. Well today I followed a lead that led me to a 1990 W350 with 93173 original miles on it. The truck is missing the original bed and has a shoddy paint job on it, but the body, frame, and drive train are all solid. Anyhow I'll be picking her up Wednesday of next week and in the meantime I'll be in search of some parts (SRW conversion, 8ft bed, and wiper cowl panel. Here are some pics.







I'm looking to know some things that I may have overlooked, or for someone to tell me if 3k is too much to be paying for this truck. Look forward to the replies.

 

Nice truck.....And only 93K miles.....Welcome back..

 

I got some more background on the truck, which is now mine I might add. It was originally bought as a company truck and the original bed was let go in lieu of a crappy home depot aluminum bolted together piece of crap that is going to be sold (diamond plate) for scrap. The truck was sold 2 years later to the second owner who used it on his farm so for most of the past 20 years the truck has been sitting in a barn not being driven.

1- The exhaust leak appears to be nothing more than a donut gasket which should be an easy fix.

2- The no shutting off (runaway) issue from what I can tell is the result of turning up the fuel on these trucks, but the second owner is 83 and isn't the mechanical type so I don't think he did this... Maybe the original owner did back in 90-92 ?? Either way where can I find how to set this back to stock, I need it to shut off with the key.

3- The rear main/oil pan leak is going to be the big job, and while I'm mechanically skilled I'm still debating if want to take the time to do it myself or send it off to be done ($850). by someone else.

4- I'm not sure about the fuel leak, but it seems like it'd be an easy fix. It's where the metal line goes into the head beside the front valve cover. I don't know if there is an o-ring in there or if it's a compression style fitting. Either way it can't be too hard to replace.

5- It also needs a water neck, which I'm trying to locate now (any insight as to where I can find one would be appreciated).

6- The passenger power window doesn't go up/down, but I see a box on the floorboard that has a window motor gear in it, so maybe that's all it needs.

I found a rust free non-dually long bed/tailgate/lights/step bumper from an 84 locally which is going to set me back about $500. Unless I find a pair of flares I think I'm going to replace the dual wheels with some singles.

Oh yeah, the best part..... I got it with the rotted out 94+ bed/tail lights/aluminum flatbed for....... wait for it........

$2500... I'll scrap what I don't want which will be my first official job for the truck.... A trip to the recycling center to recoup some cash.

 

Still a nice find....very small issues...Yes...the rear main is a pain but I replaced mine a few years back...

Very nice truck for a full restoration...And $3000 is a really good price with a truck that has on 93K...

 

Great truck for the money!

 

For that price you cant go wrong, I kind of like the dually with the reg cab, would be nice with the right box though, good find.

 

How it was sitting the day I brought it home. Everyone loves the crappy bed, but I can't stand it.

Got the replacement bed on the truck, but it didn't sit well. Found that I needed to cut tabs off the one crossbar. Bed is off an 85 and apparently there were some frame differences between them over the years.



Tabs removed, and bed aligned and bolted down.


Tires tonight

 

Nice....Keep all your dually parts,in case you decide to go back to the dually setup in the future...

 

Well I got three wheels swapped out, but the dually adapter on the left rear has 3 seized stripped out lug nuts. I'm thinking about grinding out the adapter and using the special craftsman lug removal tool unless someone else has another idea that don't include welding another bolt on. ??? help