My 1986 Dodge Ram 50

[DaveB]

Currently building a replica of the 86 Ram 50 I had in the late 80's while in the Navy. Will be mostly stock, wheels and bumpers are sprayed with Revell Chrome, wheels are from the Wild Hoss Bronco, tires are from the Country Charger. Tonneau cover is a piece of craft cardboard sprayed with plasti-dip.

I had the quad headlight version, have a resin grill on order from spencer1984 on Shapeways, that will also be painted red, my truck had a silver grill when I purchased it but I painted it red soon after. I seem to remember the air cleaner being that odd green color but not 100%, so that's what I painted it.

Gonna do a bit of paint polishing and detailing before final assembly.

 

 

 

[dwc43]

That should be a nice build. Can't wait to see it. Those little engines can make some big power. We used to run them back in the day in my brother's dirt track car. I modified the factory intake and fitted a 500 Holley 2bbl to it. I made custom headers for it. They made a timing chain kit so you could remove the balance shafts from the engine bock. Throw a cam in it and mill the head and you was good to go. We ran it in a Challenger with a 4spd behind it and 3.91 gears in the rear. Never took it out of second gear on a qtr. mile dirt track. Thing would turn 7500 to 8k easy.

[espo]

Great looking paint finish. Always fun to build a model of an old car or truck. Often brings back fond memories, especially at such a significate time in your life.  

[DaveB]

17 minutes ago, espo said:

Great looking paint finish. Always fun to build a model of an old car or truck. Often brings back fond memories, especially at such a significate time in your life.  

I was happy with the paint as is but thought I'd do a bit of polishing of the roof and hood. My 3 Tamiya polishing compounds are kept together with an elastic. Did the course on the roof, grabbed what I thought was the fine, turned out to be my Tamiya filler putty. Tried to get it off but just ended up smearing it around, and that stuff goes off almost instantly when its really thin. So had to sand it down, now waiting on a warm day to respray.

This is what happens when you're not paying attention. The next project is gonna be the car I had before this, an '81 Dodge Omni 024 which was my first car, bought that not long after getting to Norfolk fresh out of boot camp, the MPC Silver Bullet arrived today from eBay for that one.

 

[espo]

8 minutes ago, DaveB said:

I was happy with the paint as is but thought I'd do a bit of polishing of the roof and hood. My 3 Tamiya polishing compounds are kept together with an elastic. Did the course on the roof, grabbed what I thought was the fine, turned out to be my Tamiya filler putty. Tried to get it off but just ended up smearing it around, and that stuff goes off almost instantly when its really thin. So had to sand it down, now waiting on a warm day to respray.

This is what happens when you're not paying attention. The next project is gonna be the car I had before this, an '81 Dodge Omni 024 which was my first car, bought that not long after getting to Norfolk fresh out of boot camp, the MPC Silver Bullet arrived today from eBay for that one.

 

I have a shelf in my little basement workshop that I display a few of my former rides. They go back a little further than your own, but that doesn't change how much I enjoy looking at them. 

[DaveB]

Just now, espo said:

I have a shelf in my little basement workshop that I display a few of my former rides. They go back a little further than your own, but that doesn't change how much I enjoy looking at them. 

My DD in the early 90's was a '72 Gran Torino, unfortunately a reasonably priced model kit doesn't exist for that one.

 

[espo]

Just now, DaveB said:

My DD in the early 90's was a '72 Gran Torino, unfortunately a reasonably priced model kit doesn't exist for that one.

 

Start checking resin casters and 3D printing outfits. I did a couple of my old cars from resin casters in the past. 

[DaveB]

Got the chassis completed, test fit the bed, looks much better than the stock wheels and tires that stuck out way too far and these wheels are more accurate to what I had.

 

[dwc43]

Paint looks good. You need a MAD distributor with plug wires to set that little 4cyl off. 

[DaveB]

The Ram is coming along, bed is mounted to the frame and the rear bumper is on. As expensive as it is the Revell chrome spray is the best option for those of us without an air brush. I could have used a Molotow chrome pen but they don't come out nearly as smooth on large surfaces.