Finally found it! My ultimate "beater"!

[yellaheep]

Some may remember the white 2wd 5.9 R/T Dakota I had a while back.  I regretted selling it instantly, and haven't been able to find another that was worth buying.  

 

 

 

Well this one popped up and it's MORE than what I was looking for..... 

 

'97 Dakota extra cab Sport, 5.2 V8, 5 speed.

Only 82K miles on it.  Body and paint are nice, interior looks like it's never been driven - amazing condition inside!

BellTech 2/4 drop

Hurst short throw shifter

AEM gauges and pillar pod

Nice stereo set up

Steel cowl hood

Shorty headers

Performance cat and Flowmaster 40 (and retarded HUGE exhaust tip, that'll be gone shortly)

Just a cool looking truck!

 

But the icing on the cake........

Kenne Bell Whipple supercharger with Optimizer controller.... 

 

 

While it's no Hellcat...... this thing SCOOTS and rowing the 5 speed through the gears is VERY satisfying.  I'd been missing a stick shift.  The Kenne Bell documentation indicates that adding this blower and optimizer equates HP boost from stock 230 hp to 360 hp.

 

The truck runs and drives like new. Everything is tight, no squeaks, rattles. The previous owner got it when he was 18 and it's been his baby ever since.  The supercharger was briefly used by the original buyer in 2002, shelved, and the previous owner bought and installed it 5 years ago.  The truck has been garaged the entire time until last year when he found a 'Cuda.  He sold the truck to fund the 'Cuda build.  He's a master tech for Caterpillar and convinced me he's plenty well versed on building and maintaining vehicles.  He gave me a fat file that contained the original purchase documents and every oil change and warranty repair it's ever had.

 

Other than a tailgate dent, it's straight as an arrow.

 

Yes, I know there are better SC kits out there and yes I know the Optimizer is not a tune-able ECU and there will be lots of opinions out there about this set up..... save 'em.  I didn't buy this to go racing or get into bigger-dick contests about what's bolted onto this rig.  It's a bad-@$$ little driver with better-than-stock performance that won't require me spending $$$ and time with a laptop on a dyno.

 

What I'm REALLY digging is that my toy and my beater are both black & white and SUPERCHARGED!

 

 

My only real concern is emissions.  It's got the cat and O2 sensors in place.  The supercharger kit comes with a "valet key" which is a pin of sorts that you install to prop the waste gate open.  This disables the Optimizer and renders the blower to no boost.  The intake for the blower has 2 additional injectors that fire off at a certain RPM and boost.  So I'm wondering if I should have it tested with the valet key installed, or not worry about it since it's not likely they'll get close to W.O.T. during the test.........

[Minuit]

Damn! That must be an absolute blast to drive.

[Pete M]

   very envious!  

 

after all that work it almost seems odd to me that the PO kept the stock rims.  

[yellaheep]

So far it definitely is a blast to drive!  Very mild mannered until you floor it and the secondary injectors and boost kicks in then it jumps right up!

It's got 3:92 rear gears so I'm curious how it'll be on the highway over 65.  

 

Yeah the stock rims...... love / hate situation with 'em.  They're super clean and 15".  They'll do for now and really - not a whole lot of options given this truck has the 6 on 4.5" lug pattern.  I'm tempted to do black steelies with the vented cop car dog dish caps....... or maybe NASCAR style wheels and yellow letter tires....... or?  

 

Had a good morning!

 

Truck passes emissions on "Fast Pass" without me using the valet pin and there was no line at the station!

 

Then went straight to the DMV.  Title and plates in just under 30 min?!?!? Unreal!

 

Better pics:

 

[Pete M]

I know that R/T clone rims were available in 20" varieties.  

[Wiggilez]

I'm very jealous, I had a 98 single cab with the 3.9 that I wanted to make faster, but it got really rusty really fast  and I couldn't keep up with the fixing, but it was mechanically perfect.

[RustyRodder]

Wow, that thing really is cool!! I can only imagine the fun with the stick shift and KB.  What do those have for a rearend?

 

 

 

I know you said save it, but I'm going to give it anyway- Get it dynotuned! Cost 350 to have my mustang done (with pump and E85 tunes), and well worth the piece of mind. 

[yellaheep]

I don't think the current set up will allow for any "tuning" but I'm a novice at tuner stuff.  I was told by the prev. owner that the Optimizer and ECU stand alone from each other, the Optimizer manages performance at higher RPMs when the boost is kicking in and what not.

[Pete M]

5 hours ago, RustyRodder said:

What do those have for a rearend?

 

the ratio leads me to believe that the PO probably swapped in the 9.25 from a Dak R/T?   

[yellaheep]

PO said it's the rear end it came with.  I have the original window sticker, I'll have to look and see if it says what it had.  If different, I'll be looking under there to see what it's got.