1982 Dodge Rampage

[Nemesismachine]

Bought this car from Seth (sethyboy85) and got it home this past weekend. Here the bastard is following me home too close:



And it sitting safe and sound in the driveway, my jealous Horizon looking out from the garage...



And yes, the Yaris supports a class 3/4 hitch. No it is not an S. Pure base model Toyota.


Got the cab cleared out, not too much bad to speak of. Seth started welding in a new floor which will need to be reinforced, but not a bad job. He had an a520 he was going to swap in, but a lucky lady seems to have stolen his attention instead. I started sandblasting that tonight, getting 90,000+ miles worth of grease and road grime cleared up (pics to follow). Just need to get a shifter/bracket, and I can swap this in and start putting around. BTW, getting a car off a dolly by yourself is a feat, one which I am proud to admit my lack of an engineering background but remarkable common sense shone through on (stay with me here). Regular grocery items are what you may possible spot on the Food Lion Ad.

Seth's dad and I had to use 1650 lb. ratcheting tie downs to drag the car up onto the dolly. Tighten one, rock the car while ratcheting, tighten the other, back and forth till it was on. So I assumed I could just use 1 to pull it off the dolly when I got home, just tie one end to the bumper and the other end to a tree, chock the wheels and drive the truck away. My theory was the strap would hold the car in place so the dolly could be pulled out from under it. Not so lucky, and the friction actually stretched the strap about 3". When I reconnected them to the tree the way we got the car ON the dolly, it slid right off. Then it was up to my brothers and I to wiggle it into its current parking space.

[Nemesismachine]

Started sand blasting the transmission and brackets tonight, should have it finished up tomorrow.

[Nemesismachine]

Had enough daylight left to finish blasting and throw 2 coats of Glisten-PC (by POR-15) on. In 2-3 days I should be able to assemble more of it. Also painted the cover with gunmetal "hammered" paint. 2 bolts to hold the cover for a quick picture.

[Nemesismachine]

Next up is making a sheet metal brake so I can redo the braces for the seat rails. Some 2" L should to the trick.

[RoadWarrior222]

Yah, there was a post here somewhere about a DIY brake, linked to another forum, might have been in the lounge. Basically was just L sections. I'm just gonna go with bed rails clamped in the workmate when I do rockers, but you might want something beefier for seat rail stuff.

[Nemesismachine]

Got under it this weekend, discovered this:





2 pieces of 1" square stock welded to sheet metal, 1/4" steel plated welded to that, then various hoods/fender/roof scrap welded on top of that. In other words, 1 good bump from watching your car drive away a flintstones mobile. Cutting the whole floor out now to be replaced with a SS countertop I salvaged.

Oh yeah, and a photo of the brake I made. Hindsight I should have cut the inside of the closest L channel, and made the hinges hidden to use the whole 3' as a brake. I lose 3" on each side like this, but it still works.



Made a handle, makes it a lot easier.



Just a bolt for a hinge, comes right out.



Finished bend

[Nemesismachine]

Old transmission out, new clutch flywheel and pressure plate on. New transmission in, new axles in. SC hubs in. Now its a mostly complete car minus the floor. 5 lug carb'd rampage. Test fire this weekend.

[contraption22]

Watching you save this car really makes me think im a wimp for putting off my rampage project.

[Nemesismachine]

I tried putting it off. The reminder on my left ring finger keeps me on task. \m/

[blk86trbo]

Nice progress so far, keep up the good work!

[Nemesismachine]

Transmission is in...

[Nemesismachine]

New axles, ball joints, tie rod ends, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, coil installed. Still no floor or shift cables. Test fire tonight, car up on jackstands.

[Nemesismachine]

Transferred the coilovers over from the Omni. Since the Rampage is closer to being finished, might as well take from Peter to pay Paul. Just a swap for now, might cut the floor out of the Omni to make this thing whole again. Had to use the Omni's starter too, since the 82 starter doesn't match a 523 (no threads in the starter).

[Nemesismachine]

Went down to Crozet, VA today and cut 60% of the floor I need from a good Omni. If anyone knows Brad Sayler, you'd know his love of dirt tracking his Omni(s), and how many he has to spare. Great guy, let me cut the crap out of a few of his cars for a whole floor. Still need to go back to pick up the front floorboards, but got more than enough to get me started. Pics when I get the car unloaded.

[racinwithruss]

My 1982 Dodge Rampage's floor didn't look much better than yours.
Looks like Dodge forgot to put some metal in their cars way back when. I bought my Rampage brand new for $6,850...black, four spd with bed rails...that's it. It's been a great car, but oh so rusty!

I am currently looking for a five spd shifter and linkage...I have the trans.

Russ at 540 290-3011

Russ in VA

[Nemesismachine]

This project was aborted due to too much work to fix the floors. Saved time and money by buying a 1984 Rampage in Alabama. New build thread inbound.