Rip it all out and go old school

hotkarl · Apr 27, 2014

Out of curiosity, would it be possible to tear out all of the computer controlled garbage on these trucks and drop in a carb powered old school set up without it being a nightmare?
I'm sick of this computer controlled crap. I want simple and to the point and dependable. For example, the fact that some stupid $42 sensor could leave me stranded on the side of the road and cost $600 bucks to repair after all is said and done (tow/diag/repair) just doesn't sit well with me.

In theory, for ***** 'n giggles, would I be able to rip out all the electronics and computer crap and be able to convert to a no nonsense carb set up? Would love an old school Edelbrock carb/intake setup with headers. Would the tranny still function strictly mechanical if all the computer controlled stuff was removed?

JPT · Apr 27, 2014

You could. But you would need to build your own gauges and rewire all of the accessories in the truck. It would be just the same as building a custom engine, and adding it to a buggy (for off roading). It would NEVER be street legal, and would cost a TON more than replacing most of the sensors.

If you were building an off road only vehicle, then sure.

I doubt the trans would work. But you could swap in a manual, or do what I did with my jeep, swap in an AW4 trans from an older cherokee. This trans has a stand alone computer, and only needs RPM, ground and 12 volt inputs. My jeep started with the same NV3550 trans and NP231 transfer case that my 4.7 1500 has, so I'm sure it could be adapted.

Basically yes... it would be a nightmare.

Coldwater · Apr 27, 2014

Yup, sure could, but you would be starting with an empty shell and nothing more. Just about every inch would need to be rewired, and the tranny would most likely be useless as well as every guage and accessory in the truck. You would gain simplicity, but to be honest, you would lose reliability as well. I'm a big fan of old cars and trucks. I have a couple of them myself. But thier toys because their finickey, get poor mileage, and usually need to be adjusted and tinkered with a regular basis. My new vehicles on the other hand, don't go months without a problem, they go years without any problems. My grand cherokee will go well over 100,000 miles before needing a plug change, and If history is any indication, it'll go into the 200,000 mile range running strong.

NYCruiser · Apr 27, 2014

Don't forget that the old school cars and trucks usually had a useful life expectancy of 10years/100K miles……...

hotkarl · Apr 27, 2014

Never had any major problems with my old school cars/trucks. Yeah carbs can be finicky once in a while.
The newer stuff is a different story. In all honesty overall I had the best reliability with my early 90's vehicles. Anything I've owned past 94/95 has been very hit or miss and I've owned cars by all different manufacturers over the years. I've only been a Dodge guy for around 4 years.

Just a thought bubble. I'm just really pulling my hair out with this truck. My biggest money pit in over 20 years that wasn't a project car. Every time I fix something within a day to a week something else fails without fail. Been happening since I got it. Non stop repairs big and small.

MegaMouseGW · Apr 27, 2014

You would have to replace the COMPLETE wiring harness and a ton of other stuff. Not worth the frustrations.

jbmobbs · Apr 28, 2014

It could be street legal. A guy here in Tennessee did it with an 03 Dodge qc and dropped in a 440 with a 727 tf tranny and its street legal. U just gotfa know what your doing

JPT · Apr 28, 2014

jbmobbs said:
It could be street legal. A guy here in Tennessee did it with an 03 Dodge qc and dropped in a 440 with a 727 tf tranny and its street legal. U just gotfa know what your doing

It will not be legal in any state that has ODBII emission testing. These states plug into the ODBII port rather than the sniff test. Without the computer, it will fail right away on an 1996+ vehicle.

Any state without ODBII emissions testing, it isn't that it is street legal, its more a factor of not being caught in order to fail.

jbmobbs · Apr 28, 2014

Tennessee has obdII testing and the sniff test. It passed it was tagged and registered the guy had it on craigslist. One of my buddys was gonna buy it but got a Cummins instead. Idk what your state calls for but here it can be done lol

hotkarl · Apr 28, 2014

Too late for what if's...motor is done and I need truck back on the road yesterday.
See my thread about the P0305 code for the lovely details.

JPT · Apr 28, 2014

jbmobbs said:
Tennessee has obdII testing and the sniff test. It passed it was tagged and registered the guy had it on craigslist. One of my buddys was gonna buy it but got a Cummins instead. Idk what your state calls for but here it can be done lol

You missed the problem here. He was talking about removing all sensors, therefore he would have to remove the computer. It can not have ODBII testing without a computer. So, in TN where it would require ODBII testing for 96+ vehicles, if you have no computer you would automatically fail. What your buddy did, must be different.

NYCruiser · Apr 28, 2014

The trend I usually see is just the opposite. Resto-rods. Old school car/truck with updated brakes/suspension and modern engine and A/C.

I gotta say, a 1960's Dart would be cool with modern suspension and a 5.7 hemi under the hood.

Rip it all out and go old school

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