• Welcome to For Trucks Only !

    We are a community of American Brand Pickup Truck and SUV owners. Join now! Its Free!

1984 Dodge D150 SWB Build Thread

BrianT

1984 Dodge D150
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
14
Reaction score
9
Location
Kansas City, MO
Hey everyone! I started a thread on the first truck I bought for $2500 but things have changed so I started a new thread so that I can keep track of everything that I've done to the new truck, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Back in the early 80's I owned a 79 Little Red Express truck for a couple of years. I loved the truck but needed the money for college so I sold it. A local guy had a mid 80's short bed with a 440 in it and I always liked that truck. So a year or so ago, I started looking for another short bed. I wasn't looking for anything too fancy, just something to run to the dump with or to take when I go to swap meets. I found this 81 with a slant six and a 3 speed OD transmission for $2500 so I bought it.

IMG_0714_zps1tloso1n.jpg


It had some rust issues in the bed sides, driver's rocker and driver's floor pan, but other than that it was a pretty solid driver that just needed a little work here and there. I owned it for about 3 months and did some little projects just to make it road worthy when this truck popped up on Craigslist for the same $2500

E0E9D558-AB31-4EA8-A09C-C31280F4F607_zpss4mtdsmq.jpg


I quickly went and looked at the 84 above and determined that it was a much better starting point for a project. The rust has been repaired and it had a driver quality paint job on it that looks pretty damned good from 20 feet away. Lots of new parts have been added and it has has the same 225/3 speed OD drive train. So I bought it. All of the sudden I owned TWO mid 80's Dodge SWB trucks! I put the first truck back on Craigslist and was able to get my intial investment back after a couple of weeks and a lot of tire kickers. So I'm back to square one with this $2500 truck. Now for the details.

I bought it from an older guy who used it as a project truck for him and his son. The son had enlisted in the Navy and they didn't need the truck anymore. The reason the price is so low is that the engine pushes the dip stick up about 2 inches after driving it for a while, and the previous owner felt that it was going to need some serious engine work and he was done messing with it. I felt that unless there was a rod coming through the side of the block, I was just going to keep driving the slant six until one did! So far, I've put a couple hundred miles on it and there's been no problem. I put half a can of Seafoam in the valve cover and the other half in the gas tank. Hopefully that will free up the stuck rings or whatever is wrong with it until I can get another engine built.

125D5671-47A6-4DE0-B8EE-C84E98F6346C_zpskad6nzrd.jpg


Like I said before, the rust has all been cut out and replaced. The bodywork is mediocre, about what you'd expect from two people working out of a residential garage. The floor pans have been replaced and Dynamat and new carpet put down. The previous owner was a BIG fan of LMC Truck which is located here in Kansas City, because when you open up their catalog, you can see that he bought just about EVERYTHING that they sell for this truck! From the LED headlamps to the new tail light lenses with chrome trim, their products are everywhere. He even threw in a bunch of extra parts that he hadn't gotten around to installing yet including the original steering wheel and a clutch/pressure plate kit which it's going to need pretty quickly.

0D524D7C-9855-4C44-9217-2D57AC30417B_zps7cvz0nqy.jpg


It has about a $600 stereo system in it which includes a RetroSound Newport stereo w/Bluetooth and hands free, two speaker boxes under the seat and two new speakers in the dash. I'm a pretty big car stereo buff, so for me, this was icing on the cake. No need to change a thing.

F105083F-0126-4F05-A414-4C7A25A31EB7_zpsf6zw8gkb.jpg


The plans are for now to limp the 225 around while I work on a couple of little things that need to be done like fixing the door locks and fiddling with the engine to see what's going on there? The long term plans include dropping the truck by using the B series lower control arms and doing an axle flip on the rear end. I've already picked up a good running 360 with flywheel, bell housing, V8 radiator and headers for $250. I'd like to keep the power levels modest and run the original OD transmission. I'm not building a hot rod. I alreay have a Dart with a 408 stroker in it if I feel the need for speed. I just want something that has a little ass to it, and will keep up with rush hour traffic.

That's enough for now. I'll add to the thread as I do different things to it. I'd like to use this thread as a way to keep track of my progress and how much I've spent on the truck. And hopefully provide me a way to stay motivated. Let the build begin!
 
Last edited:
Nice find on the 84! Glad you were able to get your money back out of the 81, that makes a difference.
 
Great find and you really lucked out selling the other truck for what you had into it. This looks like a great start for what you have planned. What is the PCV and the fresh air side like on the engine? If it's building up pressure that could be the reason for the dipstick popping out.
 
What is the PCV and the fresh air side like on the engine? If it's building up pressure that could be the reason for the dipstick popping out.

With the help of some other internet friends I'm starting to slowly figure out what is wrong with the truck and hopefully it's a relatively easy fix. The engine is not pulling a strong vacuum and when you pull the PCV hose loose from the back of the carb, the engine continues to idle. I checked for an obstruction in the base of the carb with a small pocket screwdriver and found none. So I guess that the carb is going to have to come off so that I can check for the proper base gasket. Everyone is in agreement that when the PCV hose is pulled off the back of the carb, it should die or at least run very rough. Neither happen. By correcting this, I think I can solve the dip stick tube popping up and also the oil forcing it's way out of the valve cover and oil cap.

29DAFC5E-6CBD-4FD8-98D2-D47AD7C0C38E_zpsmfa2ftqz.jpg

The second issue that I'll be addressing is an intake/exhaust manifold leak. The first time I started the truck I commented to the PO that there appeared to be an exhaust leak and he assured me that the exhaust had all been replaced and that there were no leaks. When I showed up two days later to pick up the truck, he had a pile of parts waiting and one of them was a Fel-pro intake/exhaust gasket set?!?! WTH?!?! Turns out the other day when I was diagnosing the PCV problem I did a little more investigating and found that the exhaust gasket is leaking on the number 6 cylinder and the intake has a pretty good leak on the number 1 cylinder. I'm not much of a slant six guy so I did some poking around over at slantsix.org and found out that this is a pretty common problem that can be solved by using GOOD gaskets (not the Fel-pro ones that I have) and by making sure that the mating surfaces aren't warped. There is also a nut and special washer missing off of the number 6 exhaust stud that I'm going to have to locate.
 
That looks like the single barrel carb. If interested may had access to a super 6 intake and good 2 barrel carb. I am not that far away.
 
You are close to me and I appreciate the offer, but that is a Super Six intake and Carter 2 bbl carb.
05A4EB88-63CF-4935-97B9-68CC4D766C18_zpsqgb9mbok.jpg
 
upload_2017-7-17_18-51-16.jpeg

I did some Craigslist wheeling and dealing last weekend and I ended up getting 2 new 15x8 wheels and 2 Cooper Cobra P255/60R15 tires for $50 difference. I had to buy a full set of wheels off a guy and then sell two of them along with my old back wheels and tires. Going to get rid of the farm truck look and start going towards a low street machine look.
 
Here they are mounted. The lower profile tire only makes the gap between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel well further apart. The next step will be lowering the whole truck, but I need to figure out the engine first.
 
Looks like you installed a lift kit with just a tire swap.
The engine swap should not be a problem if the 360 you got came with truck mounts. I see no ac components to mess with. A simple radiator removal, disconnect front wiring harnes and proceed to remove front clip. Illuminates lifting engine and trans over the body and allows access without climbing into the engine compartment.
 
i WILL just lower the truck first. Minus the engine weight it will be easyer do you plan to go van LCA dropped spindle route? shackle flip / spring under for the rear?
 
Did the PO by some chance include the original radio and mounting bracket with the extra parts ? I need the mount to install an original radio back in my 87 W150.
Thanks
 
Did the PO by some chance include the original radio and mounting bracket with the extra parts ? I need the mount to install an original radio back in my 87 W150.
Thanks
No, sorry. He included some parts but no radio stuff.
 
Back
Top