1989 Dodge D350, don't expect anything exciting here.

No major updates, other than I ended up actually hooking a trailer to it for the first time. It definitely needs more gear. And the trailer definitely needs brakes, and the truck needs wiring for said brakes. But other than that it did ok.

The wheels didn't fall off and the rear end didn't seize so i'd say things are looking great!

Unsolicited advice: I felt way more energized to start a diesel project (which i SORT OF have) after i did a bunch of research to figure out how an 80s-era diesel injection pump actually worked.

So I'm having blasphemous thoughts about selling it again. So what I'm going to do now is go back to putting work/money into it to fix some of the stuff I quit liking about, if I'm still unhappy with it then, I guess I'll start looking for a Crown Vic or something. Replacement for the snapped parking brake cable was ordered the other day, should be here soon. The 3 new u-joints I bought a month ago will go in after that does. I might even get real motivated and put bolts in the trans cross member, because some of those totally didn't get forgotten last time I had the trans out of this thing 3 years ago.

So I've finally decided I definitely want something else.

So the new to do list is:

Install the 3 new u-joints I bought a couple months ago

Install the new voltage regulator I bought a couple weeks ago

Fix the windshield wiper linkage that broke a couple days ago

Find new washer nozzles and screws so I can put the cowl panel back on that I took off many many months ago.

Hit it with a pressure washer and maybe some soap.

Remove my sticker collection from the headliner and back window.

Anything else I'm missing?

Almost sold the truck today, ended up scoring 6 decent tires for $100 instead.

A sign? I still want one of those motors (preferably in a running truck i guess) but i've yet to stumble across the exact right deal for me, which are the kind of deals that make other people dislike you. Too many people know what they are.

I do know I still really enjoy driving this thing like an old man on a nice day with the windows down, and it feels way more solid with the "new" tires on the rear. Now if I could just make the lights work and keep the fluids inside the places they're supposed to be.

New voltage regulator installed. The one I took off was 3 years old and the case was made mostly of rust.

Turns out my wheels are actually supposed to be white, who knew?

Today's project was valve cover and intake gaskets.

They were all rock hard and crumbled like this when I looked at them closely.

The new ones are apparently blue. But more importantly, they appear to behave more like what I think a rubber gasket should behave like.

And a few minutes later the easy part was done.

Now for the fun of trying to take that intake cover plate off without disconnecting the injector lines.

First hurdle, these 2 bolts, that are directly under a line so you can't get a socket to them.

After more time with a wrench than I had spent until that point, and some questionable maneuvering between the injector lines, the cover was off.

And then after some time scraping the old gasket off of the intake cover, I realized It was getting dark and I was invited to a Halloween related thing, so I covered the intake up with some still in the box SBC intake gaskets and decided to finish in the morning.

Actually now I'm not sure if those are the Chevy gaskets or the Cummins gaskets, I'll find out in the morning I guess.

Do you have this thing listed for sale somewhere?

Not listed, I keep talking my self in and out of wanting to sell it but have never listed it yet.

Also it's all back together now.

"Fixed" the wipers. They work now but my fix (washers and e-clips on all the linkages because all the bushings don't exist anymore) leaves a lot of slop, so the wipers will go all the way up, but only halfway down. This will work at least until I come up with a better answer and get in the mood to shove my fat hands through the sorry excuse for access holes under the cowl.

So now the Malibu has convinced me that I have a fairly reliable way to work and school without borrowing somebody else's car, which is what I did through most of 2016 with this thing giving me fits (Mostly my fault if I'm honest). The reason I seriously considered selling it was the possible opportunity to replace it with a reliable...something.

Now that parting with it is no longer a possible solution to an immediate problem, it's pretty much here to stay for the foreseeable future. It's also been officially retired from duty as daily driver, even though it really hasn't been able to fulfill that role for the better part of 2 years. Finally I can attempt to give this truck some of the attention I feel like it's needed the whole time I've had it.