My 1990 W250 Regular Cab - History and Modifications - WARNING: LOTS of Pics!!

[RSchwarzli]

GRILL:


Next up was the grill. Due to the changes of the much larger IC and rad, that resulted in the condenser upgrade. But that all rendered the previous grill non useable. So I picked up some 20 foot long tubular stock, and started cutting and welding.


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'

Insert 4 weeks, two chrome platers (first one spilled acid on it and left it in the dampness for two weeks so it flash rusted), one grill re-polished, and you have this!



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End plugs added for clean look.


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Ready to install!



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[RSchwarzli]

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Interior:



The interior was the next big task. I had wanted to clean up the interior wiring for a while and now with the addition of the overhead console, this became the time. The cab was stripped and all old wiring cleaned up. Then the overhead console was looked into and its wiring installed.



Overhead console:



I wanted a console on the roof of the truck to house all of the rocker switches. So I pirated this out of a boneyard off a Dodge Caravan and got to work fusing plastic and doing a lot of cutting.



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And the console in the dark:



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Lots of wires…




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New Robert made wiring harness from above wires:





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Measure twice and cut once….




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Install wiring harness:



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Once wiring was run, the headliner was changed to fit the console:



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Then the new carpet went in. Although I did just install new carpet 2 years ago, ACC mats just came out with a diesel specific one. This one fit MUCH better than the old carpet. Thanks to a friend for assisting with all the fitting. Cutting a formed carpet to fit is a BIOTCH!




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Headliner went in:




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Then the seat and console went in:



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And this was the result:



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Lights:



Due to the pendulum mount of the Hella lights, the covers sat upside down. So I had come decals made:



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After that, it was test time. All items were tested and short drives proved small wiring glitches and hiccups. But within two weeks, she was running reliable, AC charged, and ready for this year’s spring photo shoot.



Coolant filter was added and can be seen in this photo:




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And also the test of the gooseneck hitch:



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[RSchwarzli]

And the spring glamour pics:



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And this was the most recent taken this weekend at the Warren truck Plant with the TDR tour we did there.




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[crazzywolfie]

looks good. i think the console looks a bit funny in the middle of the roof but as long as you like it that is all that matters. how is the light output from those newer lights? i got a overhead console out of a 93 jeep in my ramcharger and just got one out of a caravan for my 81 and with some led lights the cab is lit up pretty good. wish i could have found the overhead console for my 81 way sooner. i still got some more modding to do to get the caravan overhead console to fit my 81 since the roof line on the caravans don't seem to be as close of a match as a jeep roof but it will get done eventually

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[RSchwarzli]

Yeah, the shorty console was used as it was already in the garage. LOL I am sure at some point it will become bigger like the crew cabs but for now it does the job. Function over fashion!

Your jeep console looks good! What did you require to do to install? How about the temp and direction readout? What else needed to be pulled for that to function? Did the length fit right? Hard to tell in that pic.

 

[RWherley]

Robert, two questions first where did you get your switches, I like the moose light one, and who did your chrome work? As for the temp direction display if you have an older system 94 or older all you need is the display and the temp sensor from under the hood, the rest is all self contained, if I can find wireing cheat sheet ill post it.

 

[crazzywolfie]

Yeah, the shorty console was used as it was already in the garage. LOL I am sure at some point it will become bigger like the crew cabs but for now it does the job. Function over fashion!

Your jeep console looks good! What did you require to do to install? How about the temp and direction readout? What else needed to be pulled for that to function? Did the length fit right? Hard to tell in that pic.

ya i guess using parts you have kicking around also works lol

doesn't really require much to install. the compass function is built into the computer part of the console so all you would have to do is apply power to the console to get it to tell you the direction as long as everything is working properly. the only issue with my ramcharger is i am pretty sure the roof is magnetized so the compass don't work properly. to get the temp gauge to work all i had to do was hook up an ambient temp sensor to it. it was longer than needed to i had to shorten it. i cut it right by the rear lights.
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this is actually a better picture of the jeep overhead console that i have in the ramcharger. it seemed to fit pretty good
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[RSchwarzli]

Robert, two questions first where did you get your switches, I like the moose light one, and who did your chrome work?

http://www.otrattw.com

Chrome was from a local chrome shop. Polishing and prep I did.

As for the temp direction display if you have an older system 94 or older all you need is the display and the temp sensor from under the hood, the rest is all self contained, if I can find wireing cheat sheet ill post it.

Oh nice! Super easy!

ya i guess using parts you have kicking around also works lol

doesn't really require much to install. the compass function is built into the computer part of the console so all you would have to do is apply power to the console to get it to tell you the direction as long as everything is working properly. the only issue with my ramcharger is i am pretty sure the roof is magnetized so the compass don't work properly. to get the temp gauge to work all i had to do was hook up an ambient temp sensor to it. it was longer than needed to i had to shorten it. i cut it right by the rear lights.

That makes sense and looks much better for sure in the RC! Nicely done!

 

[crazzywolfie]

That makes sense and looks much better for sure in the RC! Nicely done!

thanks. it is one of my favorite mods. something like this would probably work good in crew cab also. i know the cab lighting in crew cab is probably not so great.

 

[RWherley]

Sweet thanks man

 

[DVolk]

What was the main reason why thne grill would not fit the gen 2 intercooler or the radaitor ?
Trying to plan ahead on my crew cab since im planning on useing the 85 grill

 

[Shadrach]

The 85 style grille goes in too close for an intercooler to fit properly. I have seen it done with mods to the grille. Don't forget in 1991 when Dodge went to a cooler and changed the grille for clearance they also moved the headlight as well. David

 

[DVolk]

I wonder what has to be done to the grill ? or I ned to find some to build me a billet grill ???

 

[crazzywolfie]

the grills on 91-93 trucks are farther out but look sweet with the earlier 80's bumpers but the bumper will offer the grill little protection if you roll into something.


i think you could trim a 85's grill nicely to fit an inter cooler just like BSchwarzli's truck but keep most of the grill just because of how the grill is setup.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm sure there was a thread on here about how to trim the earlier grille to fit. Personally I like the 86-90 grille. I had it on my 84 Crew. David

 

[crazzywolfie]

i think you mean 86-90 grille because the 81-85 grill is different. i think where there is a will there is a way and it can be done.

personally i love the 81-85 grille. only reason i got a newer grille on my truck is that the rad support was shot and finding a replacement is not easy when you are looking and need one.

 

[RSchwarzli]

What was the main reason why thne grill would not fit the gen 2 intercooler or the radaitor ?
Trying to plan ahead on my crew cab since im planning on useing the 85 grill

Well, the original non IC grill would not fit as it is deep. It is designed to almost go all the way to the rad core support. (Exaggerating for mental picture reasons)

So that was removed when the Banks IC went in years ago. The tube grill that was on there then screwed into the core support.

But then, the big *** IC went in and there was more front end cu out that the tube grill would not cover. And the mount points for it were now covered by the bigger IC. So had to make a new one.

I wonder what has to be done to the grill ? or I ned to find some to build me a billet grill ???

On the crew cab, I made the 91-93 grill work with the gen 2 IC with a bit of shaving of the plastic on the backside.

i think you mean 86-90 grille because the 81-85 grill is different. i think where there is a will there is a way and it can be done.

personally i love the 81-85 grille. only reason i got a newer grille on my truck is that the rad support was shot and finding a replacement is not easy when you are looking and need one.

Correct. 81-85 was the multi opening that were 1"x2" slots all over. The 86-90 style was what we know as the 4 slot cross hair style grill that is still the basic design for Dodge grills to this day.

 

[RWherley]

How did you put the crew cab together, cause I didn't touch my grill at all to fit the 2nd gen cooler in, but I am using the 1st gen ac condenser.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Gen 1 condensers are for wimps.

 

[RWherley]

Call me lazy but I didn't feel like getting new hoses made and I didn't have a 2nd gen condenser laying around at the time.