2001 Ram 4x4 Sport Restoration

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Spike95

Spike95

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2001
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5.9
D4356626-F77B-4F43-BFA5-BCF200493E19.jpeg 681646F9-7E37-47F1-A96E-A81C31DE02C5.jpeg 7CD8B7DD-F2EE-418D-9201-C196D02413EA.jpeg 84BB4CAA-576C-4AF0-A0A5-B83498FBA162.jpeg I finished sound deadening the doors today. Put a layer on the outside skin of the door as best as I could reach and then fully covered the inside. Attempted to make the door as sealed of an enclosure as possible. Also got new clips for attaching the door panel with. Cut little pieces of suede to put on the clips where they contact the body to further isolate any possibility of rattles. Felt or something similar would’ve worked too, but I happened to have a scrap of suede from my leather working.
 
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Spike95

Spike95

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If anyone else is considering doing this with the sound deadening, I bought a 36 sq ft roll. It was exactly enough to do both doors and the underside of some of my plastic trim. I’m ordering another 30 sq ft roll to do the roof and the rear corners of the cab with. If I have much material left, I may do the back of the cab, but I’m not as worried about it because it already has some deadening material in it from the factory. Then again, I can totally see how people say this stuff is addictive and you just want to keep adding more!

I just tested my decibels parked at idle. Before sound deadening, it was 53.5dB. Now it is 52.3dB. Not a huge difference, but still noticeable. Seems like I cut down on exhaust noise (comes out right behind the passenger side door), but still plenty of engine noise. I’m thinking most of that will have to wait to he addressed until the day I fully remove the dash to do my heater core. With all of the brittle plastic, I know that’s going to be quite a project.
 
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Dgriffi2

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Really great work and nice to see a 20 year old truck restored! Mine’s 10 years old and I decided to have some body work done, replaced driver’s seat cover, and a couple of other small things vs $50k for a new one.
 
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Spike95

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So I wound up quarantined from work until I can get a Covid test (harder than I realized it would be now that cases are blowing up in Texas). So I decided today would be a good day to tackle repairing my steering wheel.

To start with, I had a big hole worn all the way through the original wheel cover. I know that if I install the new one over it, then that shape will show through as soon as it starts to break in. So I cut the original leather off at the seams and removed the top portion entirely. Cleaned and sanded the surface underneath to promote adhesion. I used an old scrap pair of blue jeans and cut pieces to fit. Wrapped two layers using spray adhesive. Now the thickness is similar to the rest of the wheel where the leather is still intact. That way it will look nice and even with the new cover installed over it. CAC0BFE9-569B-4DBD-ADBB-E9F94FF1E676.jpeg 2A88F029-C720-4F81-9AD5-980FB972099C.jpeg 249BD7D0-50D2-407C-8AC6-95B12E1C0A38.jpeg
 
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Spike95

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Also, I am very particular about leather. The stitching holes in Wheelskins are about twice as far apart as the original cover, so I am punching holes in between to make the stitching pattern tighter on the finished product.

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Spike95

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I’m about 60% of the way through with the stitching. My stitching method, along with having poked twice as many holes, is making it a bit tedious, but I feel the results will be worth it. I’ve got to sit in a line for COVID testing tomorrow, so figured it’ll be the perfect time to stitch on my steering wheel. Here’s my progress thus far.
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DodgeLady

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That looks great! Good job!


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G-Ride990

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Dang seeing that cluster and steering wheel bring back some good memories. Your truck is looking sweet! Don't see many in that good of condition these days.
 
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Spike95

Spike95

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That looks great! Good job!


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thank you!

Dang seeing that cluster and steering wheel bring back some good memories. Your truck is looking sweet! Don't see many in that good of condition these days.

I appreciate it. The older it gets, the more proud I am of how relatively clean it is. Still plenty of flaws to work out, but I’m having fun addressing the ones that I’m able to.
 

JohnnyMac

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Looks great. I'm enjoying the ride along. I sure miss my 2000.
 
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Spike95

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D1F9DDF1-F223-4F33-A3E9-1E0803B0D718.jpeg Here’s the finished product for the steering wheel. Definitely much better than before. I’m still tempted to buy one from a junkyard eventually and do a full fresh upholstery job on it while there is no time crunch to finish it. I’ve reupholstered one steering wheel before, but it was to my hotrod, so didn’t have to rush to get it back on the road like my daily driver.
 
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So there was a time several years ago that I wasn’t driving my truck for a while, and some squirrels decided to make a nest inside my hood insulation. It’s had a big hole in it and been hanging loosely ever since. No more of that!

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Spike95

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I’ve wanted to fix this on mine for years...


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this was a really easy repair. Just pull the old plastic clips off of the original and it will fall right off. Put the new one up and push in the new clips (which it comes with). It does make it easier if you take the under hood lamp off first. All told, it took me about 15 minutes including the time I spent digging for my elusive 10mm socket. The part was about $60 with shipping. I got it from detroitmuscletechnologies.com
 
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So I have been reading about the plenum for a while now. Everyone seemed to describe it as having really horrible gas mileage, check engine lights, and absolutely eating oil, so I didn’t think it was an issue for me. I go through oil, but maybe a quart every 1000 miles. I get about 11-12mpg. Not great, but not terrible...
Last night I was reading on Hughes’ site how to easily test it by unplugging the pcv hose and seeing if it has vacuum with engine running. Sure enough mine has it. So I just ordered their plenum kit. While I’ve got it pulled apart, I’m going to replace the timing chain, thermostat, water pump, cap/rotor, and the lifters. I dread the project, but I can’t wait to see how well it runs! I think it has gradually lost power over the years, and I’ve just gone easy on it thinking it’s an old engine that I don’t want to push too hard. I have a feeling I’m going to be very pleased when it comes back to life.
 
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