Hello everyone this is my 1986 Mighty Max/D-50. I got her for $400, was going to trade the seller my PS3 for it but for some reason it didn't work on his TV. It had 2.6 g54b, 5 speed, no AC, no radio and the interior is about gutted. When I got it both doors and fenders were rusted really bad, but lucky there is this guy in Winston that has a lot full of Arrows, Mighty Max, and D-50s. I got both doors, both fenders and valance for $100. The bed of the truck is about gone, I'm thinking about replacing it entirely or just patching it up. It also came with this ugly homemade rear bumper that is coming off soon as I hit the pull a part. Right now I'm fighting the rust, luckly 99% of the rust on the cab is surface rust. I spent yesterday evening removing rust from the roof and priming it. Im painting the truck white, using the $50 paint job. I've seen the results on other cars and they came out great. I did a test on the hood in green and I was happy with the results.

It runs great the g54b sound great, but it needs a carb or it needs to be adjusted. But the g54b is coming out this July and in its will be a 4g67 or 4g61. There are couple of junkyards that have a bunch of these engine for about $350-$400 with less than 100k on them. I know your prolly asking yourself why didn't I get a 4G63 and answer is price. It seem the junkyards know about the 4G63, but Hyundia Elantra's 4g67 and 4g61 are not that well known. Anyways I got a 4g67 engine harness and ECU from the pull a part for $40. The car I got it from looked clean and pull a part only charges $75 for a engine but I dont wanna rick getting a trashed engine. I have everything I need for the swap except the engine and the mounts.

The transmission is garbage, 1st and 2nd gear are done lol. I have to shift into 3rd to get her really moving. Luckily it came with a extra tranny, that has a short block pattern. And when I first got her the shifter came off while driving lol. I go to shift gears and the shifter comes off. I mean completely off. I was holding it up in my hand, trying to find somewhere to park. When I go and fix it , I see that shifter was been held down by wood screws and the plastic things they use to seat screws into drywall. I had to re-tap the holes and install the right screws lol.

hello & welcome!
i'd think twice before putting a smaller displacement engine in your pickup

Reminds me of my truck. I also broke those weak bolts for the shifter, and my truck only has about 30k miles.

You got a narrowblock trans to go with your planned swap?? You know you can easily drop in a Starion 2.6 turbo engine in (or turn your 2.6 into a turbo block with correct pistons)... but, that'd only be good if you had a good trans to go with it. Smaller engine will make it even slower, haha.

-Robert

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My Build/Pic thread

I've seen your truck on a starion/conquest site while doing a google search, but I didnt bookmark the page. You got anymore pics. My truck came with an extra transmission and it fix narrow blocks. I said short in my first post.

And are you serious that a smaller engine will make it slower? The EFI 4G61 and 4g67 puts out more horse than a carburetor g54b. I just want to get rid of the carburetor cause I'm having so much trouble with it. I have no idea how to adjust it or fix it. There is a 4G61t at a local yard for $350, but I'm looking for better mpg than hp. Trying to save the turbo setup for the Galant.

no i'm talking about torque and driveability. in the long run you'll appreciate the bigger 4, but give the twincam swap a try and see what you think

Just get a weber 32/36 for the g54b. It'll really wake her up and you'll get better gas mileage to boot. I had a 38 with the simultaneous throttles on mine and it changed the whole dynamic of the engine but the 32/36 is a more streetable carb with the progressive butterflys.

Way less work than trying to swap in an efi motor and you get to keep the beast torque of the 2.6

oh man you had the 38 38 how was the power? I was thinking about that setup.

A cam a carb and a decent header would put you well ahead of the twin cam although I tihnk it would be a very cool swap.

You definately have your work cut out for you. I lvoe mighty maxes though. First truck was a 88 d50 extra cab, second was a 84 mitsubishi spx 2ws, wish I never would have gotten rid of it.I had swapped a elantra 4g63 into it but never finished it. I picked up a starion and needed to make a choice.

The 6x series looks good in a mighty max with tons of engine bay room.

Heres my oldy I wont img as to not spam your thread with random pics

http://nwstarquest.com/project-4g63/spx05.jpg
http://nwstarquest.com/project-4g63/spx04.jpg

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31 3000gt vr4
88 starion x2, 83 starion
88 cordia turbo
87 Montero swb turbo, 1987 Minicab van Supercharged
86 mighty max 4x4
84, 85, and 86 lancer ex1800 turbo
78 lancer
73 galant coupe
65 Debonair Deluxe
80's Hero

Thanks for the pictures. Before this truck I had 87 2.0 auto, but it had a salvage title and it needed a new bed and cab. That thing burned oil, had a bad cylinder and transmission was slipping, but it made to Atlanta, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, etc with a problem, until I lost compression. It would crank fine, but as soon as I put it into gear it would die.

Before that I had 94 Mirage that swap to a 4g64 and manual transmission. That was fun to drive until I blew the head gasket, never saw so much smoke come out a little car lol.

But right know I have a 99 Galant, I have Tein S-Techs with KYB AGX struts, custom black/silver interior that sewed myself and Recaro front seat. Right know I'm building custom brackets to fit a set of Wilwood calipers for my BBK.

I was looking into the 6G motors, the 6G73 looks nice and there a plenty of them at yard. I've been researching to see is the DOHC would swap onto the 6G73, I havent found a clear answer yet.

Lil update, I got a new rear bumper from the pull a part. It took me three days to get it off. Thought I could get it off with just my extension bar, but I didn't have enough leverage. Went back with my 4ft iron pipe over the extension, I got three bolts off but the fourth started to strip. Third day came back with the angle grinder and cut the last bolt off. I also took the steering wheel and some interior pieces.

Will post pics tomorrow.

Amazing project . I would keep the 2.6 around.

Here are some pics, got my new rear bumper. Taking off the old bumper was easy after using BP Blaster, that stuff needs to win a award lol. I didnt even have to use my extension bar to get bolts off. I also sanded and primed the passenger door, passenger fender and hood. I still need to deal with those two rust holes under the doors, because wasp are starting to build nest in them.

Some good news, I found a bed thats the same color I'm going to paint the truck for $100 and its in great condition. I'm in the process of removing my bed today, as soon as it cools off. If everything goes right I'll have my new bed on Saturday.

And the last pic is of a 1st Generation Honda Accord grill, it fits nicely in place of the stock grill and looks better imo. The front bumper is coming off too because its dented and I cant get the lower valance off without removing.

I WANT THESE WHEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or something similar lol. Anyone know any rims that come close to this style. I've searched the web and they can only be found in Japan.

Raguna D Force Rim for sale. 15" x 7J 6H 139.7. Offset -13. 5

http://raguna.co.jp/sub1.html

Did you know there is a Dodge Ram 50 / Mitsu Club?
I just discovered it recently when I was looking for fuel pump replacement tips for this PITA/POS operation.
The site is http://mightyram50.com/phpBB3/
It looks fairly young, but has some interesting info and members.
I've owned an '88 Ram 50 2.6 MT "Sport" Cab since new.
Tom M.

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T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain

^Yeah I know of that site, but it pales in comparison to mightyd50.com when it was up and running.

Update: I got my new bed today, the tailgate was dented to much so I left it at the Pull a Part. Before I got it I took the old bed to the scrap yard along with the front bumper and the old rear bumper. Ended up getting $28.30 for them. From there I drove my bed-less to the pull a part. Luckily it was about 2 miles down the road, I wasn't sure about the laws on a bed-less truck. The bed was only $107 with taxes added and the guys that worked there help me put it on. It does have two small rust spots, but that's better than my old bed.

I was surprised see power steering on an 1985 Dodge Ram 50, all the MMM/D50 I've seen had manual steering racks. Wondering how hard it would be to put it on my truck?

Will post pic tomorrow.

Just need all the bits from the donor truck. Should be fairly simple.

Need the donor rack/gearbox, lines, pump, reservoir, and pump brackets. also a good idea to buy new lines if you can, but keep the old ones in case you need custom lines.

My 82 has power steering... it's soooo light feeling. Common of Mitsubishi's.

I used to be on mightyd50, was one of the original members... but I stopped going there for a bit, and then I come back to find out some 240sx punk kid ruined the whole site. Anyway...

Sweet progress man... how did it drive bedless??

-Robert

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My Build/Pic thread

That 79 arrow I had had the power also.

In europe they had a quad round grill for the forte which is what teh d50 is.

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31 3000gt vr4
88 starion x2, 83 starion
88 cordia turbo
87 Montero swb turbo, 1987 Minicab van Supercharged
86 mighty max 4x4
84, 85, and 86 lancer ex1800 turbo
78 lancer
73 galant coupe
65 Debonair Deluxe
80's Hero

Pics as promised. I found a Haynes manual at the local used book store, starting to research the power steering swap.

Komeuppance the truck was a little quicker with bed off, I actually liked the look of a bed-less truck. I need to fix those two panels near the cab. I needed to move them in order to get the bed off, but the bolts were just rusted. I ended up having to bend them to remove the last two bed bolts.

Well after stripping the truck down some more, I found holes in the cab, engine bay and the frame. I ended up selling it and buying another one that has a better body. This one is a 85" with 98k original miles, 2.0, A/C and 4 speed. I paid $750 for it, the body just has some surface rust on the rocker panels, interior is good minus the seats and the engine just need a valve cover gasket and maybe a oil pan gasket. I plan on adding power steering and a brake booster for now. All in all its a good truck, I came to a conclusion that I suck at driving a manual car lol

Will post pic later

Glad to see you didn't give up! Can't wait to see the new rig.

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-Cam
1988 Mazda RX7
1980 Toyota Celica
a bunch of cool other cars I'm not allowed to list