Portland, Oregon New Guy

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Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RoadRaceJosh » Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:26 pm

Hey there,

I'm Josh and I recently acquired a 1993 D250 LE automatic from my uncle. The truck was his regular driver for the last 15 years and 115k miles. There are now has 209k miles on the clock and she runs great, but while the red paint is largely sound the gray portions are failing and especially on the box. I know from being under the truck years ago that it sports the auxiliary transmission cooler. Looking at what's left of the sticker under the hood I see it has 3.54 gears and limited slip differential. As far as I can tell it's all stock under the hood.

My goals with the truck are to get it looking, smelling (my uncle wasn't much on keeping the interior clean) and driving as she should. The laundry list of tasks so far includes paint work, a new headliner and probably carpet, new front springs, shocks, wheels, tires, a modern brake controller and whatever deferred maintenance I find. I'm leaning towards going solid red when I address the paint rather than keep the gray. I would like to lower the truck a little and do some aerodynamic improvements. Oh, I almost forgot! The main reason I have the truck is to pull my little Toyota Corolla FX16 race car.

I've been doing a fair amount of reading here and don't expect I'll do anything to increase the power until I feel comfortable dropping the money it takes to buy a good torque converter and reprogram the valve body. I had a '96 2500 2WD club cab about 10 years ago. I believe it had everything Banks made at the time, a built automatic, Mag Hytec pan and diff cover, etc. It moved out rather well, but with 4.10s and stock governor springs it was all done at 87 MPH. I didn't own it long as soon after purchase I took a pay cut. :(

Sorry to be long winded, but I'm wrapping it up. I'm currently looking at using 2nd gen coils up front as they are 1.6" shorter and a bit stiffer than 1st gen coils. If anyone has input on this please don't hesitate. Input on shocks is also welcome.

Thanks,

Joshua Skinner
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RCCUMMINS89 » Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:07 am

welcome
89 RC on shortened 92 diesel frame - NV4500 w/dual disc/4.10s on 37s. - Self built pump, "hot screw", lots of timing, True high volume low pressure lift pump, 62fmw/68/.7gated, 77lpm SAC Inj., Studs/O-rings,- 423/1220 Mustang - 11/16/2013 http://www.TheHungryDiesel.com full line dealer, if you don't see it please ask.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby ellis93 » Fri Dec 06, 2013 4:16 am

Welcome
93 D250 ,5 speed,4.11s,k&n autometer tach pyro trans boost guages,GDS 60mm h1c 14cm,honed 5x10,hplp/reg,1/8 timing,M+H M2 fuel pin, tims cooler tubz
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby cmann250 » Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:12 am

Welcome!
Caleb, Certified Shade Tree Mechanic Extraordinaire :mrgreen:
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"Whatever!" - Coach Jerry Smith
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby ihredneck » Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:53 am

Welcome to the boards
1992 W350 RCLB 5 Speed Locking 3.54s Flatbed completely stock it's whole life (for now) 117K on the clock (In the middle of a frame off restoration)
1992 W350 RCLB Rag Locking 4.10s Flatbed basket case - All the spare parts left from the other W350 & I still have a whole truck left...
1999 RCSB 1500 24v NV5600
2000 VW Jetta TDI
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RoadRaceJosh » Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:04 pm

Thanks for the welcomes.

Being a road racer I took to a spring calculator and found that a RWD 2nd Gen front spring will be 1.51" shorter under load than a new 1st Gen spring. If I knew the front suspension motion ratio I could calculate the ride height difference. Of course my 21 year old coils are no where near original height so the truck will not be as low as would be calculated. I figure the worst that happens is I either need a small spacer with the 2nd Gen spring or a little gets taken off to achieve the desired ride height. The 2nd Gen spring rate is slightly higher so the ride will be a little firmer and that's a plus for me so long as the shocks don't lose control of the suspension motion.

What do people like for shocks aside from Bilstein? I've used Monroe Gas Magnums before and liked them well enough. The van without 4,000 lb front axle shocks are 1.125" shorter compressed and would seem to be a good choice for the lower ride height.

Thanks,

Joshua Skinner
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby Mckinney » Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:50 am

Welcome from a fellow new member! Post some pics of your truck
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby CumminsPower59 » Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:40 am

Welcome!
Ike

91 W350 SRW, 3.07's, NV4500, 370's, THD LPPP, Super HX40, 2nd gen IC swap, BHAF, Isspro's, 2" lift, 285's on 3rd gen 17"'s.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RoadRaceJosh » Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:41 am

I settled on Monroe Gas Magnum shocks. That's what's on the truck now and I have a friend at an auto parts store who will exchange them under warranty. I'm happy to put that money elsewhere on the truck and as a matter of fact I ordered up an idler arm and a center link.

When I was swapping on a set of 2nd gen wheels I worked the passenger's side tire back and forth and could see the idler arm twisting. I then had my girlfriend turn the steering wheel back and forth while I felt for play in the other steering joints and it appears most all of the play is in the center link joints. The tie rod ends seem to be nice and tight.

Reading about some folks' experiences with severely sagging front springs to the extent the tire is pushed up into the fender it appears my springs really aren't in that bad of shape. The truck does not sit level though so more investigation is needed.

When the weather improves I want to hit some wrecking yards and see if I can find some door panels in better shape than mine. With good door panels, new carpet and headliner and a seat cover the interior will be livable.

The QS7 dark silver metallic paint needs help and I think the truck would look a lot better if the canopy were painted to match. Why my uncle chose a white and blue canopy for the red and dark silver truck I have no idea. I would like it to match, but I hate to see what the materials will cost.

I'll post pictures once I have enough posts for that. I'll also be asking for a recipe to get the truck into the 240hp range.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby BC847 » Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:41 am

You don't need a minimum number of posts, to post pictures. ;)

And WELCOME to our forums. :cool:
David

1993 12mm VE Fueled W250 CC, Green
12.67 @ 103.35
Your basic farm truck ;)
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RoadRaceJosh » Sun Dec 15, 2013 5:39 pm

Okay, must be another forum I joined were you can't immediately post pictures. Here's an ugly truck with the silver paint falling off. I have the center caps for the wheels, but need the special lug nuts to hold them on. If I were to drive the truck a lot I would remove the canopy in order to do a bed cover and small wing on the trailing edge of the cab for aerodynamics. I may still do an air dam and side skirts. The running boards are going away right after I get the shocks installed. I need to figure out which left side spring is not doing it's job fully. If it's a front spring then both fronts will be replaced with 2nd gen springs. Hopefully that isn't too low.

Image

Can someone tell me if the earlier, slimmer front bumper will bolt to my brackets? My bumper is tweaked, I don't especially care for the thick bumper and the end pads are missing.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby CumminsPower59 » Mon Dec 16, 2013 4:50 pm

There are the "smooth", non-le bumpers, basically the same as you have now, just without the plastic pads...
Ike

91 W350 SRW, 3.07's, NV4500, 370's, THD LPPP, Super HX40, 2nd gen IC swap, BHAF, Isspro's, 2" lift, 285's on 3rd gen 17"'s.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RumbleFish » Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:40 pm

Am I the only one that wants to hear more about your racing???

Ill trade you beds. Same color but I have dents instead of flaking.
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby hariph creek » Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:59 pm

Greetings from across the river in Vancouver.
"Never confuse motion, for action."
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Re: Portland, Oregon New Guy

Postby RoadRaceJosh » Fri Dec 27, 2013 2:27 pm

6 days ago I bolted on the new center link and idler arm. The play in the steering is a little better, but still not what I would consider good. When I had the center link disconnected I could move the pitman arm a little bit without resistance and should have adjusted the steering box right then and there, but I was a bit unsure about my skills with the Saginaw steering box. The old Chrysler-made boxes I'm realitively familiar with and after a little research I found the Saginaw box is adjusted the exact same way. I'll adjust the steering box and that should take the free play out of the wheel. With the new shocks it rides better and having a few hundred more pounds in the back would help. Without the big canopy I imagine the rear end would be really choppy.

I used to race a 1966 Dart, but I sold that car a little over 9 years ago. Since then I've done a few cheap-car endurance races, but even those I haven't done since 2009. In order to get back on track I recently bought myself a 1987 Toyota Corolla FX16 which has been a track car its whole life. It was donated by Toyota to the Pitaressi Pro Drive racing school and then purchased by one of their instructors (who I happen to know) before being passed around for the last 13 years. After the necessary updates and some upgrades I plan to compete in some autocrosses and ChumpCar and/or the 24 Hours of LeMons. The car came to me with 14" steel wheels and 5-year-old Hankook Ventus R-s2 tires in 195/60R14. I bought some TrackTac to see if I can soften those tires and get some more use out of them, but expect they will remain as storage/secondaty/spares. Yesterday I bought a set of 15x7" TSW wheels made in 1995 and will mount up Ultra High Performance Summer tires in 205/50R15 for my main track shoes.
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