Ramcharger score!

[J.C. Corbett]

Every week I drive through Bridgeport, CA for work. For those curious where this is, just drive to the middle of nowhere, then turn left. You can't miss it. Anyhow, every week I pass this Ramcharger that appears to have been a fire chief's car at one time. Every week I keep driving. Until last week, that is. I stopped to look, noticing how extremely nice the body is, then noticing the division of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms logo in the corner of the windshield, and a price of $750 on it.:giggedy: Upon calling the owner, he told me it was ATF, then the fire department bought it, where it stayed until it's retirement, at which point he bought it, and had a timing chain and distributor installed, but he's a Chevy guy, so he didn't want to keep it. After talking a while, he commented on how I sounded like I know my Mopar stuff, and said, "If you like it, gimme $500". So, I drove down today, fired it up, drove it around, gave him the money, got the title, loaded it up, and hauled ass. It's an 88 with an injected 318 which starts & runs beautiful. It has the 727, the 4X works good, brakes & tires are good, but the A/C compressor wouldn't kick on. That should be easy enough to fix. For now, I need to clean it up, but the wind's blowing hard, so that'll have to wait. After that, I'd like to run a buffer over the paint & see if I can get some life back into it(doubtful). Regardless, it should save me about 5k miles on my new pickup over the winter, not to mention get me to the ski hill easier.

 

[danny_78Aspen]

That RamCharger looks freaking clean! Nice score!

 

[BootHead]

Bastid!, that's a nice one, how big is your couch? is the french thing on the fender for a big old whip antenna?

 

[J.C. Corbett]

Bastid!, that's a nice one, how big is your couch? is the french thing on the fender for a big old whip antenna?

Good question!! That actually accepts the female end of an extension cord, and connects to an underhood battery charger. I keep finding more cool cop shit on this thing. More to come..

 

[thrashingcows]

Very cool score...and $500....you Bastard!! :2thumbs:

I was going to ask what the french deal was on the pass. fender as well...underhood battery charger...very neat!!

 

[beeper*71]

Damn good score. We have an 89 at the shop for plowin snow and part chasing, of course ours has rust.

Not a powerhouse by any means with the 318 but fun to drive none the less. Have fun with it.

 

[69.5CUDA]

clean...but the top dont come off

sweet score tho..what else cool cop stuff it gots?..looks like its got the funky hubs on it..unlike mine where it has the aperance of a 2wd with NOTHING sticking out of the front end but a nut on the spindle

 

[a12bee]

Wow, yep you got a great deal.

 

[65furyIII]

He Scores, He scores, He scores!!!!:giggedy::giggedy::giggedy:

 

[giowest]

it. After talking a while, he commented on how I sounded like I know my Mopar stuff, and said, "If you like it, gimme $500". .

You SUCK!!

Dam good deal!!

 

[J.C. Corbett]

After some more cleanup and general checkout, I found the rear window defogger, wiper and washer to all be quite operable, so yay! All systems are checking out good, which isn't surprising considering how police vehicles are maintained. I also plugged an extension cord into the fender, and the on board charger works great. I think I'd like to paint it back in the original white, and find a set of the LE turbine style wheels.

 

[thrashingcows]

Will probably be the best $500 you have ever spent....

Glad she's comming back to life with very little fuss...:2thumbs:

 

[J.C. Corbett]

A lot of the oxidation washed off the paint, which surprised me. There may actually be some life in the red yet, but the doors & tailgate have to be painted, so why not do the whole thing?

There's some hesitation on throttle tip in, and being unfamiliar with the early throttle body injection, I'm not sure how to rectify this, outside of running some injector cleaner in the fuel. Has anyone else run across this problem, and if so, how did they fix it?

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

clean...but the top dont come off

sweet score tho..what else cool cop stuff it gots?..looks like its got the funky hubs on it..unlike mine where it has the aperance of a 2wd with NOTHING sticking out of the front end but a nut on the spindle

And don't yah just LOVE that! :giggedy:

Nice neat little center caps and no ugly hub!

 

[beeper*71]

There's some hesitation on throttle tip in, and being unfamiliar with the early throttle body injection, I'm not sure how to rectify this, outside of running some injector cleaner in the fuel. Has anyone else run across this problem, and if so, how did they fix it?

Our 89 did the same. Run some Sea Foam through her and it should clear up.

 

[Dr.Jass]

That's a nice-lookin' rig, JC. Quite the good deal you made for that one.

Those older Ramchargers and Dodge peekups that have no protruding hub (full-time 4WD) sure look nice, but that's about the weakest stub axle setup ever used on an American 4WD. The setup JC has, which I assume to be the vacuum-disconnect variety, are quite a bit stronger, as are standard lockouts.

SeaFoam... it's not from the sea, it's not foamy, but it sure seems to work.

There used to be a different all-in-one-bottle product called Freevalv HD. Back when it was still available, we couldn't give SeaFoam away. Freevalv was awesome, and environmentally friendly, too--if it sat on the shelf too long, mold would actually form in it. There were a couple of bottles of the stuff in the Esky store that had been sitting for a long time, and sho' nuff, they all had mold in them. It was made in WI, but as far as I know, the company went out of business years ago.

In my experience, though, the best injector cleaner on the market is Lucas. It's the only stuff they make that I'd actually use other than their gun/tool oil.

 

[68R/T]

There used to be a different all-in-one-bottle product called Freevalv HD. .....still available, ....in WI, .

Still available locally, excellent sheet too, but some of the most foul smelling stuff I've ever encountered.

Years ago I picked up a 70 Chally for cheap 'cuz the trans wouldn't engage until it reached full temp. ...and it still wouldn't go into high gear.
After a bottle of freevalv and 10 minutes of driving the trans worked perfect. :giggedy:

 

[Dr.Jass]

Yeah, that stuff makes limited-slip additive smell like a rose. Bleah.

 

[J.C. Corbett]

One bottle of 3M Massage It(not that kind of massage), one white cutting pad, and one grey finish pad later, it looks tremendously better. Honestly, I thought the paint was totally dead, but for a cheap laquer job, it was surprisingly forgiving. Yes, I know the roof's still dull and orange, but I did this outdoors in 102 degree heat. I have my limits. I still may shoot the roof white. Under the primer on the doors, "Bridgeport Fire Dept" is still visible. I need to see if I can carefully remove the cheap primer and recover the lettering. It'd be neat to see it, even if just to take pictures before actual removal. If you need a comparison of now vs then, scroll north to the first post and behold the polishing of a turd.

 

[a12bee]

Wow, looks like a whole different truck.