Project Sno Ball....85 RamCharger

[thrashingcows]

Anyway here is a little back story on me getting the RC. My family and I have decided to move about 500 miles north, and I was looking for something the wife could use to clear the driveway and yard of snow...since we will actually be getting major accumulations of snow.

So was cruising CL one night and using a broad search engine and a listing for a Ford crewcab came up. So clicked on the link and it showed the Ford for sale, and then a Ramcharger. But what caught my eye was the fact that the RC had a front plow attachment. Thought this would be a great idea for the wife....I can leave it plugged in and warm, and then all she has to do is hop in, fire it up and then go clear the driveway.

So many e-mails, pics and info were swapped, then trying to co-ordinate schedules so we could meet up. So yesterday was the big day....I traveled over 500 miles round trip to get it, up over two 4000+ ft mountain passes through WA state, with long grades of 5-8%, and all in about 15hours.

So without further delay here is my RC....who I am tentatively calling Sno Ball. Since it's a factory "Sno Commander" optioned vehicle.

Pics from the sellers...





Couple nice pics at the top of one of the passes on the way there....about 4*C (40*F)...





And loaded up behind Ol' Patches....

[thrashingcows]

Ol' Patches did great pulling as usual...but the turning in of the fuel screw one full turn a few weeks ago sure made a noticeable difference in the power the cummins was making.

Some pis of scenery while driving...







Don't think I saw EGT's over 750*....and that was only because i lugged it a bit and then started to power up again. Most of the pulling my EGT's were in the 600-700* range!

[thrashingcows]

Couple pics at the same summit....







Learned some valuable lessons though on this trip through the mountains. NEVER use a rental trailer with surge brakes! I went down most of the long steep grades in 3rd gear, ding about 30 mph, and the RPM's up around 2500rpm. Even then I still had to ride the brakes a fair amount, and could smell my rear drums heating up more then a few times. I know my drums are glazed now so will have to pull them and sand the surfaces to break through the glazing.

If I had an Exhaust brake it probably would have been a lot better, but having electric brakes on the trailer would have made a huge difference....oh well made it through without incident, so lessons learned.

[thrashingcows]

Few more scenic pics...

[thrashingcows]

And a couple pics of the Sno Commander option and plow....







The Ram Charger is a full load too....A/C, Cruise, 360/auto, 4wd, power windows and locks, and obviously the plow option. Interior is a bit beat, but buckets and console, the driver seat back broken and laying flat...but hit a couple wreckers today and found a seat matching seat from a ram van in the same basic color....and in decent shape! So that will get swapped ASAP.





Drivers PW needs some lovin, and there is a few engine leaks that will need to be addressed. And the biggest issue is the tranny is about toast, which they told me about. It will "just" move itself around on the flat, but try and go up the ramps on the trailer and it powers out. Fluid is dark and smells like an old camp fire. So a new torque convert will need to be sourced, and a full rebuild kit. So will have to get on that quickly as well.

But it has brand new winter tires which was nice to see....

[thrashingcows]

I had to leave it at a friends business across the border, so Now I have to clear all the paper work at the Canada/USA border...should have that finished next week some time, then I can get it home and start working on it. need to get it safety inspected before I can register it in BC....so would like to get that done before I move up north.

Will be digging into my Dodge ram parts hoarding to help get Sno Ball back in shape.

[spencerdiesel]

Good looking RC. Great pics, always nice to see the scenic side of life here and there.

[CumminsPower59]

That RC looks pretty solid, good score! BTW, beautiful country up there

[thrashingcows]

Thanks guys...I do like to take the scenic route if I can. Might take a little longer, but the trip is more memorable I think.

[thrashingcows]

I ordered all the goodies for a full tranny rebuild yesterday. Since the tranny is cooked....I will be doing the full master HD rebuild on it, plus new torque converter. I will also be adding a super duper external tranny fluid cooler....with thermostat and electric cooling fan.

[thrashingcows]

So went back across the border to pick up Ol' Sno Ball today. I fired it up and checked the tranny fluid....smelled like burnt clutches...and was low. So i added 3 quarts of fluid and it actually seemed to work OK. I managed to drive it up onto the trailer....was expecting to have to drag it up slowly with a come-a-long....but had to run it up in 4Lo since the plow dragged on the ramps....but it went up and on under it's own power! Still have all the parts coming for the tranny rebuild....but think I'm going to gamble a little....going to do a complete service on the tranny....drain, pull the valve body and adjust the front and rear bands, then replace a couple of the seals, then new filters and fluids and see if the tranny will get by for a year or so.

Getting it across the border from the USA to Canada went surprisingly well.....so once home I began checking things out. Pulled the rear bumper so I could open the hatch, in great shape. Then began pressure washing the engine bay, and underneath etc. once the engine was mostly clean I noticed that it had an older Eddy performer intake, and a 600 holley with Vac secondaries, and electric choke, also has one of those Leece neville 160 amp(?) alternators. But seems to run well enough.

Tomorrow will be service tranny and motor time, and if I have time will pull the wheels to check out and service the brakes....flush and bleed the system as well.

[thrashingcows]

Done a bit of work on Sno Ball....got it brought across the borders and home, went very well with no issues.




Then started doing some clean up.

Engine bay before.....





After.....

[thrashingcows]

Once home I opened the tranny up and figured I'd do a band adjustment, filter change and replace the selector shaft seal.



Also added a drain plug...as I always do. Usually get the B&M kit, but NAPA has the exact same unit for about half the price.









There is a small dimple where the magnet goes over to help keep it in place. I drill out the center of that to about 9/16, the hammer the dimple flat, then re-drill and install the drain. Magnet fits fine behind it and does not interfere with the dip stick.

[thrashingcows]

Thought I remembered how to adjust the bands....tightened them up to 72 inch/lbs and then sealed up the tranny, filled it and fired it up. Well it would not move! Thought the e-brake seized up so pull the rear drums and made sure the cables were free.....still no moving.

Took me a bit to figure out what I had done wrong. Then actually checked the FSM to double check the band adjustment, and realized that once at 72 in/lbs you have to back the band adjustment off a certain number of turns....Doooh! So had to drain the tranny and pull the pan so I could re-adjust things properly. Thanks goodness for the drain plug I just installed...

Once adjusted properly the tranny seems to work great! Don't think it will need a rebuild anytime soon....hopefully.

But I think I have figured out why the fluid smelled so burnt...at least once of the reasons...



Tranny line is resting right on the exhaust pipe! Some poor dual exhaust installation. Will see if I can adjust the pipe away, if not then I will install one of those heat socks you can use on spark plug wires if too close to headers or manifolds.

[thrashingcows]

The rear bumper was bent up.....and because of that the rear hatch would not open.





So pulled the rear bumper....all the bolts broke which was nice. And got the hatch open.



My friend/neighbour and I beat the thing back into basic shape with some big dunnage, couple sledge hammers and hammer and dolly.



The bumper was pretty beat, so also required some re-welding.



Coat of light grey paint and installed it back on.



Not sure if I like the light grey...was looking for silver but could not find it in Tremclad brush on. Might re-paint it later, or see if I can find a more RC-esque type rear bumper.