My Dodge Truck Project (Cummins Inside)

[ck80]

What do you know about snow, GA boy? 😛

Born and raised, worked 2 careers in the northeast. Except for 2 years of it in North jersey/South NY, I ranged from Vermont, to new Hampshire, through mass ct and RI. Even built an off grid cabin in the Adirondacks on rented timberland

Lots of snow driving, I had some great old fashioned shows that would push my 87 cutlass with the buick 6 up unplowed hills where the air dam was pushing snow and you saw the differential dragging a groove like the car had nuts 😆

Of course, when I was poor in high school I ran snows in the summer too. I got tires with good tread but worn out studs and pulled out the studs by the hundreds with pliers in the driveway.

Oh the memories you bring back

 

[Supercharged111]

Oh the memories you bring back

All good ones I assume, none of you digging a stuck @$s car out of a snowbank in a blizzard

 

[ck80]

All good ones I assume, none of you digging a stuck @$s car out of a snowbank in a blizzard

I had skills, never once got a car or truck stuck. Good driving, better equipment, and appropriate decisions make that happen.

 

[joesregalproject]

I had skills, never once got a car or truck stuck. Good driving, better equipment, and appropriate decisions make that happen.

I haven't put dedicated snow tires on vehicle in years but there really is no replacement for them. 3PMSF tires are good, much better than all seasons, but still not as good as studded snows.

 

[joesregalproject]

I pulled the truck into the garage earlier this week to try and band aid some of the rust forming on the bed sides. I peeled away the loose paint and rust as much as I could and brushed on some POR-15 that I had laying around. I had to restrain myself a bit because I easily could've started poking holes and before I'd know it, I'd be ready to replace the bed sides. That would be the right way to fix this but I'm not looking to do that, I just want to buy a bit more time before I need to address it.

After I got the POR-15 on I drove over to the PPG dealer and got a pint of Emerald Green Shopline Acrylic Enamel mixed up so I can top coat the POR-15. This stuff has gone up in price, paid $41 for this pint. I use to buy this stuff for $15-25 a pint just a few years ago.

I spent a lot of time today cleaning the exterior. Probably the most thorough cleaning it has had since I've owned it. I washed and clayed then polished the paint with Meguiars 205 on my DA polisher and finished with a coat of Mothers California Gold liquid wax. It got dark before I got any good pictures.

Also I found out these exist and I'm dying to find a (reasonably priced) set for this truck.

 

[joesregalproject]

Spent some time over the last week fixing the ugly front bumper plastics. They've bothered me as long as I've had the truck but I've been ignoring it. Problem is the clips that break are melted to the plastic trim so you have to replace the whole plastic trim piece. New trim pieces are stupid overpriced. I actually paid for a used insurance quality complete replacement bumper from a junkyard and then they called me a day later and told me it was gone when they went to pull it. I was so pissed I decided to fix the one I had.

I JB welded the few clips I had left onto the trim pieces, let them cure for a day then glued then I glued trim pieces themselves to the bumper with a mix of JB Weld and construction adhesive. No idea if the construction adhesive will stick long term but I figured it can't hurt.

I painted the upper plastic piece with some SEM Trim Black. The texture was messed up before I painted it but at least it isn't chalky gray anymore.

It's not perfect but a lot better than it was. Here's a few before/afters.

After:

 

[Ugly1]

Born and raised, worked 2 careers in the northeast. Except for 2 years of it in North jersey/South NY, I ranged from Vermont, to new Hampshire, through mass ct and RI. Even built an off grid cabin in the Adirondacks on rented timberland

Lots of snow driving, I had some great old fashioned shows that would push my 87 cutlass with the buick 6 up unplowed hills where the air dam was pushing snow and you saw the differential dragging a groove like the car had nuts 😆

Of course, when I was poor in high school I ran snows in the summer too. I got tires with good tread but worn out studs and pulled out the studs by the hundreds with pliers in the driveway.

Oh the memories you bring back

You mean you got rid of the summer sparkler kit?! Did the same as a kid too. Ahhh, good old days.
Depending on where/when in NH you lived you wouldn’t even know it now

 

[joesregalproject]

This repair has been a long time coming but I finally replaced the sagging headliner. The area over the back seat was still holding up okay but the sides around the door openings and the edge along the windshield were completely coming down. I had it tacked up with pins.

So I pulled the board and got material from the craft store. Chrysler used off gray/beige for headliners in all of these trucks regardless of interior color. The tan option at the craft store was too tan and would've stood out in a bad way. The gray I went with is a lot darker than the original beige but it matches the rest of the interior very well. I'm no pro at this and I did get a couple small wrinkles but they aren't really noticeable once the board is installed.

I don't like that the visors don't match but I'm a bit nervous to tear them apart and attempt recovering them. But overall I think it came out nice, much better than before.

 

[Supercharged111]

Looks like it was the wrong color before anyway?

 

[Tomeal]

If you do the visors, then the overhead console will look out of place. At least now it has a two tone vibe going for it.

Or do the visors and then match the overhead console, coat hooks and maybe buttons? Can't quite tell from the pic what color they are.