Need Some Help Big Time

I'm looking to buy an '83 Power Ram, (Power Ram and Power Wagon the same vehicle?) It's got the 318 but a major exhaust manifold leak and I have no idea how much it would cost to get it repaired or just buy a new manifold all together, it's needing some other stuff one of which being steering related, the steering pitman arm? I think that's what he said, and the no idea what gear it's in, it's an auto but the, I guess what gear you're in (not sure the technical name of it) i.e. Park, Drive, Neutral, 1, 2, 3. Or if it'd be expensive to get that replaced. And the carburetor is not stock, he said a three barreled carb, I was also curious what the stock one would have been, and it Idles very, very heavy. So I was thinking that's just because the carb needs rejetted or a tune up done in general, but I don't know much about the 318 let alone an older truck like this, I wanted advice before I made a purchase or if I should make it at all. He said he'd probably be able to cut me a deal on it, right now it's at $1,000. If you need any other info to be able to help me out at all, I can probably help, and any help would be greatly appreciated. I also have pictures on my profile of the condition it's in as well.
Thanks!

P.S. I posted this in another part of a forum, but I don't know which one is right so, sorry if one is wrong. Don't use forums much.

exhaust manifolds are only about $100 each new or a lot cheaper used if it does need to be replaced. the leak is most likely a bad seal. from the factory they don't run manifold gaskets. it should be a 3 speed if it is a auto. if the pitman arm is bad you might have to go junk yard hunting or forum surfing since i don't know of anyone that sells one. as far as carb goes it should be a 4 barrel. never heard of a 3 barrel carb. from the factory it probably should have had a 2 barrel carb.

I won't be much help with that old truck, but the gear indicator is usually referred to as the Prindle (PRNDL) LOL

I did find all the parts that I needed except the Manifold, but I talked to a couple guys at a local auto shop, they specialize in like anything with a motor before the 2000's, so I found the pitman arm, $150 to install or $100 just for the part, he didn't know an exact area to find the Manifold, or the 'Prindle' lol, that is the only thing I have no idea how to fix, I might talk to one of the owners at the Restoration shop I work at a little bit, to see if they'd have any tips on that, problem is they specialize in Mustangs, and Pony cars, not an 80's Ram haha. Also, I had never heard of a Three barrel Carb either, I'll find out more on it next time I look at the truck or talk to the owner.

rockauto.com is usually pretty cheap. most parts stores should be able to order you in an exhaust manifold. you may want to look at the manifolds first. if there is no cracks it is just most likely a bad gasket or a leak since they didn't use manifold gaskets from the factory. could also be a hole in the y pipe. hole in the exhaust between the engine and the cat would be fairly loud.

Alright, I will do, thanks a bunch for the info, And the website, I hope I can find what I need on there and what not. I went to AutoZone earlier today, they didn't have any manifold parts what so ever for a 318 in general, so I found that odd, but I don't know how reliable AutoZone would be for parts like that. Thanks again though!

Holy crap, just went to that website you linked me to, and Jesus they have nearly everything I need, I can't thank you enough, although I had to look for the D150 Pickup instead of the 50 Power Ram because they only had Inline 4's under that one? Strange, I had no idea there were Inline 4's on the Power Ram, let alone most vehicles from America in general that were trucks at least. This a typo (or what ever that would be in this case) or did they actually have I4's?

summit racing also sells exhaust manifolds. $120 plus free shipping. between summit racing and rockauto they should have most things covered. there is also a LMC catalong now available for these truck but a lot of the stuff is overprice. most things in there catalog can usually be found elsewhere for cheaper but the catalog at least gives you an idea what parts are available
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/rnb-674-233/overview/make/dodge

Mey440 said:

Holy crap, just went to that website you linked me to, and Jesus they have nearly everything I need, I can't thank you enough, although I had to look for the D150 Pickup instead of the 50 Power Ram because they only had Inline 4's under that one? Strange, I had no idea there were Inline 4's on the Power Ram, let alone most vehicles from America in general that were trucks at least. This a typo (or what ever that would be in this case) or did they actually have I4's?

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actually you would want to look at a w150 or w250 on rockauto. the ram 50 is actually a Mitsubishi truck with the dodge name on it.

Yeah that's what I noticed, I feel a bit idiotic now, btw I like your RamCharger, two buddies of mine have one each also, an '87 and I think an '88, 318 and the other is a 360. They're hilariously fun, and one thing that is crushing on this truck... no hood ornament. It broke off lol, or was stolen, not actually sure.

it is kind of dodges fault for making it confusing. as long as your learning that is all that matters. thanks. RamCharger are pretty fun. i got the slight advantage over your buddies since i got a 93 which came with the 318 magnum which is suppose have 230hp from the factory. if you want to replace the hood ornament they still make them. they are about $50 and made of plastic. not exact same as original but they look the same.

Ah, nice, his is an old DNR truck so it has the big spot light on it, that thing is blinding as hell, but none of us care about the power it puts down, we just go out for cruises out in the country. We live literally out in the middle of nowhere, it's pretty nice, although we aren't too far out, ~30 minutes away from a moderate sized city that we can get everything we need. Wish there were car meets out here though, not too big of car culture here to be honest, most of them are wannabe redneck. I could go on a huge rant about that but I'd assume none of you'd like to read that haha, let's just say rich parents give little Timmy everything he wants when he wants it.
I.E. 50 grand trucks and brand new 392 Challengers off the top of my head

just the multi port fuel injection like my 93 or your 96 has is so much nicer than throttle body injection or carbed engines. now i do love the sound of a carbed engine but i love the power the fuel injected engine puts down.

Oh same here, if I could post videos I'd post a video of my truck when I was just running through the throttle, I love it. And any idea what it'd cost to get a Carb re-jetted? Or how hard it would be, I know my neighbor has a '70 LS7 Chevelle and I'm like 90% sure it's Carbed, but I don't know if he'd be able to help me. He's never home, but he built that Chevelle from the ground up and it's amazing, I've got some pictures of it too, that I can post if you all'd like.

well it is hard to say if it need to be re-jetted, cleaned or just tuned. sometimes carbs just need a good cleaning and tuning and they should be fine as long as they got the stock parts in the carb still. also depending on what type of carb it is effects what parts you would need to to re-jet it and effect the cost.

I called my mechanic that I literally use every time I need anything at all, he said to bring it up to him if I get the chance, problem is. No plates.

I drove my recent purchased truck over a hundred miles home with "Farm Use" plates from Walmart. Drove by one Trooper monitoring traffic and had one behind me for a short distance. Didn't even get a glance. Goes to show what the truck looks like....lol