Back to Mitsu with an 83 Mighty Max

Prescott

Observer
Well technically I guess its an 83 Dodge D50. Same difference. Anyways...


Hey there everyone. A couple months ago I bought an 83 Power Ram D50 and finally decided to post up here.

So I saw this truck sitting in a parking lot with a for sale sign and thought I should go take a look at it. I didn't until a few days later and after a short test drive and grinding the gears trying to find second I bought it. Immediately I took it home, cleaned up the interior and fell in love with it. It was a second vehicle for me so getting a lot done wasn't much of a priority. Luckily my dad is freaking awesome when it comes to wiring so after spending a week trying to figure out what was actually happening he knocked it out of the park and got it all done. Pictures below show the carnage.

Still, there is a lot that needs to be done but that's why I am here now. I just sold my other car so now this will get all the attention. Plans for this truck are fairly simple and straight forward. Currently it is the G63B motor with the 4 speed manual tranny. The carb that was on it when i bought it was a crappy weber fake so I got a real one and it made a huge difference. The goal is to make this a decent daily driver and that will start with finding a 5 speed manual trans. So if anyone knows where I can locate that, I would greatly appreciate it. Additionally I want to do the DOHC swap. Otherwise not a ton will go into it regarding modifications. Clean it up, quiet it down, drive it and enjoy it.

I do know that it has the 2nd gen leafs so it sits a little high in back and ultimately the goal would be a small lift, nothing crazy. After getting under the truck it looks like one torsion bar is maxed out and one it completely shot so I will have to figure that out as well. already replaced the shocks/struts and will be working on getting the other suspension components taken care of as well. So anyways, that seems like a lot for an intro but like I said, I hope to be here awhile and look forward to picking everyone's brain.

Anyways, thanks for reading everyone. Here are some pictures.
 

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plh

Explorer
2.0l it appears. 5 speed 4x4 narrow block transmission is what you are thinking? Not available I don't believe. You are stuck with a 4 speed. Like me. I have an '83 MM 4x4 & 2.0l as well.
 

Toasty

Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
Man, both the '83 D-50 and the '82 Mitsu Mighty Max were 2.6 Narrow block 3 speed automatics. I like those trucks a lot, maybe i'll get another Mighty Max one day when i find a clean example or a Gen 3 Pickup becomes available because i'd love a lets say 97-98 V6 pickup in a double cab...
 

Prescott

Observer
2.0l it appears. 5 speed 4x4 narrow block transmission is what you are thinking? Not available I don't believe. You are stuck with a 4 speed. Like me. I have an '83 MM 4x4 & 2.0l as well.

Well not as stuck as you may think. Pulled a DOHC head from an ecplise the other day. It was in incredible shape. Sending that off to Rackleys so they can go through it real quick. Found an amazing local guy to weld the throttle body on the other side of the intake manifold. That should be done next week. Another local guy here posted up an engine setup that I am going to look at. Will probably end up buying a few things from him for the build tomorrow.
Lastly, I am waiting to hear back from ADD about a couple things regarding suspension so I can complete that.

Basically, I know what I want and I am not going to let silly things like an intake manifold facing the wrong direction hold me back. I had two montero's a couple years ago and loved them. One was a 93 SR that ended up dying after a monster wheeling day in a place I definitely didn't belong in a stock montero haha. The other was a 96 that I'm hoping made it back on the road eventually or got put to good use as a parts truck. It had a hole in the block the size of a fist.

Ill post up a few more pictures in a bit and once all the parts start rolling in I will create a designated build thread for it.
 

Prescott

Observer
So here are a few more pictures.

The first is my shopping list from Rockauto. Most everything should be here by Friday. This is just for suspension items. Once i figure out the block and tranny I will have to go through this again lol. Let me know if you think I am missing anything. And Once I hear back from ADD I will have whatever torsion bars they recommend and their body lift.

Next is the head I pulled off the eclipse in the junkyard. I pulled off the valve cover and couldn't believe how clean it was. I have to think the PO recently had it done. No damage to the car so I am not sure why it ended up in the junkyard. Hence the reason I'm sending it off to the machine shop anyways, just to be sure.

The last two are just teaser pics. Wanted to test fit and see what the wheels were going to look like. Definitely need the Montero UCA's, torsion bars and the body lift is probably overkill but seeing as this is a daily driver I am hoping I don't need to crank the new torsion bars all the way to make it fit.
 

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Toasty

Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
Shaping up to be a real cool build, is it getting a turbo too?
 

Prescott

Observer
what size tires are those upgrades?

Those are 265/70/16 tires. They measure out to roughly 30.6"

Shaping up to be a real cool build, is it getting a turbo too?

No this one isn't getting a turbo. Maybe down the line I'll get a 2wd and do something different but really the whole point of this build is a completely reliable daily driver that gets the best MPG available and still somewhat capable off road
 
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Prescott

Observer
Ok so it looks like I am looking for a 4G64 wide block.


Also, does anyone know if there is a way to differentiate the 6 bolts from the 7 bolt blocks? Only thing I have read is that the 7 bolt cranks were 93 and up. Thanks for any tips, tricks, hints.


Actually, scratch that last part. I found an awesome link on ProjectZeroGs website. Here is it for future reference.
http://projectzerog.com/mitsubishi_engines.shtml
 
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Prescott

Observer
Well sadly this is for sale now. If anyone is interested they can check out the thread here...


Or if you want some swap parts to go with it there is this thread....

 

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