Reserving space for my build.
Back story: When I was 18, I bought an old beater SUV that was more ready for the scrapyard than it was for the trails. That was my first 4X4. The elusive split door 74 Trailduster. I beat on that thing for about two more years after putting a used 318 and new transmission in it.
Marriage, kids, life, career… you folks know the drill… off it went in pieces and parts. I never wanted to see it go. (Not knowing how hard they would be to find again), I still regret letting it go.
Fast forward about 18 years… I bought another one for $600. Albeit, not a Trailduster, but a Ramcharger SE in pretty decent shape. Most of it is original with a two tone paint I have yet to see on another RC SE. Not sure if the paint is factory or not, but fits the original orange paint “age”. It has the original 360 and 727. It did not have a top, so I had to acquire another one. (NOT an easy task) The axles are not original. They are a six bolt with WARN hubs. I believe it’s a chevy axle. The seats… also not original. Plastic padded racing type stuff. The original seats are the deluxe parchment 5 passenger set per the under-hood build sheet.
Fast forward another 12’ish years. Yes, it was low priority and now that I’m 50, I’ve got that itch again… and of course, more money and facilities to work on it. It ran when I bought it. I’ve driven it around the SW WA backroads, but the cartilage is worn out on all the joints, the timing is off, and may have some vacuum issues. So it sat… WAY TOO LONG.
Now it’s go time. I spent many years watching all the how to shows on velocity, and my favorite dickhead of all time, Mark Warman of Graveyard Cars that taught me the passion of original equipment and studying the vehicle to dig up its past. We all know how rare it is to find a nice first gen RC, especially the first of the first gen.
This won’t be a frame off just yet. First order of business is studying the original shop manual, (EBAY) the original 74 owner’s manual (Also, EBAY), and buying all the new parts to bring it back to life and get it tuned so I can determine what needs to be done with the tranny, t-case, and diff’s. All the parts are in my cart on RockAuto.com and new parts being added daily.
The only mods I care to do now is swapping the t-case and tranny to add the ability to “unlock”, as well as nicer tires and wheels. I had a 4” rancho lift on my first TD, but not 100% sure on this one as I plan on pulling a new “vintage” inspired camping unit to spend time in the campgrounds.
That’s enough hot air for now…
Chad
Back story: When I was 18, I bought an old beater SUV that was more ready for the scrapyard than it was for the trails. That was my first 4X4. The elusive split door 74 Trailduster. I beat on that thing for about two more years after putting a used 318 and new transmission in it.
Marriage, kids, life, career… you folks know the drill… off it went in pieces and parts. I never wanted to see it go. (Not knowing how hard they would be to find again), I still regret letting it go.
Fast forward about 18 years… I bought another one for $600. Albeit, not a Trailduster, but a Ramcharger SE in pretty decent shape. Most of it is original with a two tone paint I have yet to see on another RC SE. Not sure if the paint is factory or not, but fits the original orange paint “age”. It has the original 360 and 727. It did not have a top, so I had to acquire another one. (NOT an easy task) The axles are not original. They are a six bolt with WARN hubs. I believe it’s a chevy axle. The seats… also not original. Plastic padded racing type stuff. The original seats are the deluxe parchment 5 passenger set per the under-hood build sheet.
Fast forward another 12’ish years. Yes, it was low priority and now that I’m 50, I’ve got that itch again… and of course, more money and facilities to work on it. It ran when I bought it. I’ve driven it around the SW WA backroads, but the cartilage is worn out on all the joints, the timing is off, and may have some vacuum issues. So it sat… WAY TOO LONG.
Now it’s go time. I spent many years watching all the how to shows on velocity, and my favorite dickhead of all time, Mark Warman of Graveyard Cars that taught me the passion of original equipment and studying the vehicle to dig up its past. We all know how rare it is to find a nice first gen RC, especially the first of the first gen.
This won’t be a frame off just yet. First order of business is studying the original shop manual, (EBAY) the original 74 owner’s manual (Also, EBAY), and buying all the new parts to bring it back to life and get it tuned so I can determine what needs to be done with the tranny, t-case, and diff’s. All the parts are in my cart on RockAuto.com and new parts being added daily.
The only mods I care to do now is swapping the t-case and tranny to add the ability to “unlock”, as well as nicer tires and wheels. I had a 4” rancho lift on my first TD, but not 100% sure on this one as I plan on pulling a new “vintage” inspired camping unit to spend time in the campgrounds.
That’s enough hot air for now…
Chad