Is A Badly Rusted 1993 W250 Cummins Worth Trying To Restore?

[sae8425]

I have recently acquired a 1993 W250 Ext Cab with the Cummins 5.9 and an automatic transmission.
The truck was owned by an excavating contractor from new and he put 217,000 hard miles on it.
Claimed he regularly used it to tow 12,000 lbs.
The bodywork on this truck is in very poor condition.
The paintwork has seen better days and would really require removing, rather than just painting over.
All 4 rear spring hangers are badly rusted through.
About 8" of frame lower flange outer edge near the diesel tank (where the plastic strip fits) is rusted away.
The frame is cracked at the rear where the receiver hitch is bolted on (the hitch wasn't designed to fit a W250).
There is no solid metal left below the bottoms of the doors (both of which are fine except for hinge pin slop).
Both rear cab corners are rusted away and the rear of the cab is cracked above the frame rails on the pass side.
The outer 16" of the floor pan on both sides is rusted away for the full length of the cab and up towards the dash.
The front body mounts under the cab are rusted away.
The rear cab mounts are okay but the body panels towards the outside of the cab near them are all rusted away.
The pickup bed is rusted through in front of both rear wheel arches and in front of the tailgate on both sides.
The brake pipes on the rear axle most likely need replacing.
The rear drums need replacing.
The emergency brake cables need replacing.
The engine runs perfectly (or at least as far as I can so far determine).
All the heat exchangers (transmission / A/C / IC / radiator) have air passageways that are badly clogged.
The $64,000 question is: is this truck worth saving, or should I part it out and sell the good bits?
Tools I have (25 ft 8000 lb bridge crane, 20" x 60" Met/Imp lathe, Bridgeport mill, 300 Amp AC/DC Tig/Arc/Mig welder, 50 Amp plasma cutter, 35 cfm Hydrovane air compressor, (3) 5' x 10' steel 'jig' tables, and so forth).
I can make all the brackets, and even the body panels panels if I have no option.
But I really have other things I would rather use my equipment to make and my time to design.
I have no interest in restoring this to original condition, just in doing enough to get it to pass a state inspection.
I'm not looking to keep this vehicle for years and years. But I was hoping to get at least 6 months use from it.
I have a Mercedes Unimog arriving early next year and at that point I will have no need for the Dodge.
Is this W250 Cummins worth more running (but in poor/non-standard cosmetic condition), or parted out?
I would like to thank anyone who offers me any advice or opinions.
Best regards,
Steve

[RumbleFish]

if its as bad as you make it sound, id part it. it seems like you might have 6 months work in it to get the 6 months use you want out of it.

[BobS]

I have recently acquired a 1993 W250 Ext Cab with the Cummins 5.9 and an automatic transmission.
The truck was owned by an excavating contractor from new and he put 217,000 hard miles on it.
Claimed he regularly used it to tow 12,000 lbs.
The bodywork on this truck is in very poor condition.
The paintwork has seen better days and would really require removing, rather than just painting over.
All 4 rear spring hangers are badly rusted through.
About 8" of frame lower flange outer edge near the diesel tank (where the plastic strip fits) is rusted away.
The frame is cracked at the rear where the receiver hitch is bolted on (the hitch wasn't designed to fit a W250).
There is no solid metal left below the bottoms of the doors (both of which are fine except for hinge pin slop).
Both rear cab corners are rusted away and the rear of the cab is cracked above the frame rails on the pass side.
The outer 16" of the floor pan on both sides is rusted away for the full length of the cab and up towards the dash.
The front body mounts under the cab are rusted away.
The rear cab mounts are okay but the body panels towards the outside of the cab near them are all rusted away.
The pickup bed is rusted through in front of both rear wheel arches and in front of the tailgate on both sides.
The brake pipes on the rear axle most likely need replacing.
The rear drums need replacing.
The emergency brake cables need replacing.
The engine runs perfectly (or at least as far as I can so far determine).
All the heat exchangers (transmission / A/C / IC / radiator) have air passageways that are badly clogged.
The $64,000 question is: is this truck worth saving, or should I part it out and sell the good bits?

Is this W250 Cummins worth more running (but in poor/non-standard cosmetic condition), or parted out?
I would like to thank anyone who offers me any advice or opinions.
Best regards,
Steve

This by all means is a donor truck. It's worth the basic value of the engine in your part of the world. In my part of PA I bought one not quite as bad which was a 5 speed truck. I scrapped the body and frame saving the crossmembers and drive line components. It was PA inspected and the fellow delivered it from 50 miles away for $1400 and was glad to just get rid of it. Buy it if it's cheap and you think you may have the opportunity to buy a cheap V8 version of the same truck. It's a lot of work and time to do a conversion properly.

[Power Wagon Guy]

Part it out.........not worth the effort for 6 months worth of use...