I know how frustrating that is! Same thing happened with my Chevelle SS back when I was a young high school graduate. The more go-faster I bolted on, the slower it went. Turned out to just need a timing chain.

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

I never thought to check the timing chain after the HEI swap. The poor little truck has seen some hard miles and she's probably due a new one.

Picked up another a833 from the junkyard for the D100 and got the rest of the rear brakes and the new shocks in the D150. Lost a lot of the day to family obligations but I'm looking to find time this coming week to finish the new gas lines and put the new calipers on the D150. Then undercoat and get the bed back on.

Got the rear frame undercoated and new lines run. Just in time too, the main gas line broke when I bumped it. Now I just need to finish the front brakes and get it tuned, then I can start driving it and finish cleaning it up and undercoating it at my house. Hoping to at least get the brakes done tomorrow.



I tried my other 1945 on the D100. She's still not running right. The dash cracked again and I still don't have either brake light or my driver's side rear turn signal. I'm going to back-burner it though, at least until the D150 is a driver.

I received some very tempting news. My brother's friend is offering a real steal on a nice 318 from his dad's Charger build. My brother has an abundance of left over parts for 318's, and for what this guy is asking I'm thinking about getting it just in case. Don't know yet what I'd do with it, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I do know this: after looking into what it would cost to swap the 318 in, it has officially put any ideas of doing a turbo-slant out of my mind for the time being. I just don't have the money for something like that at this point.

Took a day off orders to do some brake work on the D150. New calipers on and painted, cleaned and painted the rear drums, freed and anti-seized the auto-adjusters in the rear brakes. New line up front. Checked the pads and shoes. Need some new pads and front shocks.



My other photos didn't turn out very well, and that one isn't even that great. Hope to get more Friday. I ordered some jets for the 1945. Plugs show it to be really lean, and being a box-store "remanufactured" carb leads me to believe it's never been actually set up for this truck. She's awfully close to getting inspected though. Just wish I didn't have to drive 25 miles to do any work on it.

Well, a lot has been going on with my slants since my last post, especially since the site went down. I better catch back up

I fixed the filler neck on the D150. It had rotted out pretty extensively, so it got fiberglass and Smooth on (the chemical-resistant epoxy I use for bow building).



Here it is after the "bandage" went on, right before popping it in the hot box to cure.



After that I got my paper work done for both trucks to go on the road. I brought the D100 home... and realized how far it still was. Bad rear end howl, sloppy linkage leading to grinding when down shifting, lots of unsavory noises and the wheels and tires are just junk on this thing. So it came home and got parked for the time being.

The D150 however, it got some new panels and went in for inspection.



I lost my lights right before my first appointment, and my parking brake broke. I chased some bad connections, but it wasn't resolved until I put a new bulb in... which didn't make sense considering some of the weird things it was doing, but I'm just grateful it worked out. The parking brake was a matter of the metal being fatigued at the joint from the front cable to the two rear. Made a small metal bracket and put it on- problem solved for now!

Brought it home and started driving it around. Got a hole in one tire, lost my exhaust back of the muffler, and chased a few weird noises. Getting her driven back in and fixed up though. The other night I fixed my floor- lots of fiberglass and then a bunch of roofing cement to help keep it from rusting out. It still needs the rear cab corner glassed, though.



While I had the seat out I chased some of the wires running to the stereo and found the speaker wires were still intact. I made a holder for the speakers that were in there that would actually allow the seat to go all the way back. Also makes a nice shelf for extra fluids.



I picked up a can of spray paint to try and match the truck so I can just get some paint on the rust, but it's much lighter than the truck. Oh well. Decided to use it on the air cleaner; spruce things up a bit. My fiancee helped sand it and get it cleaned. I'll have to do the valve cover next, really help clean it up!



I also drained the fluids again. Gave it another oil change, drained the radiator, and drained the transmission again. It's only been about 120 miles, but that stuff came out looking green and nasty. No wonder she's stiff to shift. My first 70 miles were only showing 11.5 mpg, but the next fill up at 50 miles were averaging 13 mpg. I'm headed in the right direction

I pulled the plugs and cap and it seems to be hitting really early- lots of advance. Total seems to around 30* or so, and comes on pretty early. I set it at 10* initial, but after checking the cap I set it back down to 5*. The plugs were showing too much heat. I regapped them all to .045", as some were already .045" and some were .035". Most were clean though, with only one (#4 I believe) showing any blistering. I've also been having some dieseling issues. It's not showing hot, but I'd like to get a 180* thermostat just in case. It's nice to drive it around and get this stuff sorted out.

My craigslisting has gotten me into trouble though; I picked up another $500 D150. It's an '86, LWB, 318 with A833. Only 47k miles, but it has a blown clutch. The plan will be to put the drive line into my D100. My D150 makes a great daily driver, might as well have some fun with the D100. A 318 with the over drive 4 speed would be a nice peppy cruiser in a truck that would only weigh about 3400 pounds. Should be more fun than my 4400 lb '94!

More driving around in the D150 (affectionately named "Grandpa" because it's old and classy, but not too fast). Latest mpg is showing 13.7 average. Almost all around town. Definitely heading in the right direction! No real dieseling either.

Got the middle belt back in last night and picked up some dremel wheels for fixing my driver's side body patch. Need to fix that, swap out the front shocks, and finish the undercoating. I also need a new clutch. I'm getting a lot of "grabbing". Have to get it in before winter.

Here's the new parts truck. It's an '86 D150. I'm planning on stealing the engine and transmission for my D100, and tradiing the rest of the truck to my brother for the 9.25" rear end out of his old '85 W150 that was wrecked. He's going to put the motor out of the W150 with a 727 and rebuild his "Beast", which was his first truck. This is a good base for that build.



The reason I'm not that interested in salvaging this truck myself is the way it's been treated. Old man owned it just to pull his model A Ford around. He died, the kids beat the snot out of it using it as a work truck- obviously hated it being a Dodge, because the ripped off every emblem and badge on it- blew the clutch and then just sold it to a salvage yard. The dash is broken apart, the stereo was torn out, and the whole thing has been used a trash can/ash tray. Passenger door handle was broken off on the inside, and when they broke the ash tray off they just decided the floor was good enough.



You can't see in the photo, but the passneger's side is literally covered in old cigar wrappers, empty bottles, and a bunch of other garbage.

Well, the '86 is no more- my brother came to check it out yesterday, we got it moving on its own, checked the lights, and he bought it off of me! We ran to Summit, got a clutch kit, and he's going to put it in today. With a little TLC he's looking to have it as a back up driver to his '89 Dakota; this thing was too complete to part out.

As for my trucks, the D150 is running well. I fixed the heater dash switch, fiddled with the timing a bit more, and picked up under coating for the front of the frame. Pictures coming soon.

Here's the heater control fix. The white is aluminum, epoxied around the edge, and you can see a washer where the plastic was broken. It now sits in the dash as it's supposed to!



I have a week of orders lined up for work, but I'm hoping to get some time in some of these evenings and undercoat more of my frame.

My brother's enthusiasm for his new '86 is contagious. I started cleaning up the spare a833 I have for my D100, and ordered some marking compound to see if I can get a better seat on the rear end. The engine runs pretty well, though the compression is low and it has a persistent miss. I have to do a compression test and pick up a vacuum gauge to get her sorted. Driving my long bed D150 around has me enthusiastic about the shortbed with over drive. It's a shame there aren't more hours in the day!

Did the clutch and front brakes on my brother's truck yesterday, and he also got a new U-joint in on the driveshaft. It now rolls on it's own... and runs like hell The 318 has a Leanburn box and carb. Hopefully he'll get rid of them soon.

Got more of my D150 undercoated, and more body patches done. I need to do a little more before I can consider it "winter ready" but it's not far.

With the D100 being in such rough shape, I've decided to just sell my '94 and save some money to fix it up right next summer. Hopefully I can get the other a833 in it though, and get the rear end sorted well enough to use it as a back up, though.

Been doing a lot of driving and not a whole lot of wrenching. Between work, hunting season, and everyone in the house getting sick it's been slow.

My D150 that I have named "Grandpa" (because it's old, classy, and built to last- but not too fast) started running rich. With the air pump gone it pointed to a clogged cat. Cat is gone and a temporary pipe is in, but it will get a new full exhaust when I get a chance.

Did a little messing around on my D100 (dubbed "The Groundhog"). Adjusted the high idle and the choke. I did find part of the rough running issue- bum battery. It runs with a jump start, but it's all alternator. Once you shut it off it has nothing. Won't turn over at all. Didn't bother with the lights, but it was a cheap battery my brother picked up a few years ago anyway.

The tires are also JUNK. Took it for a test drive and the rear end noise was down, it wasn't as down on power as I had worried (after swapping carbs its behavior makes a lot more sense). I'm enthusiastic about how it'll drive with a transmission that actually lets you downshift and some tires that AREN'T trying to kill me

I did wind up buying a roller for a new rear end. It's a short bed '88 D-series with a 318 TBI and 904 auto. It has the same 8 3/8" rear, so I wouldn't have to buy a new LSD. Just hoping the axle splines are in good enough shape on the Groundhog so I can keep the bolt patter the same. I have a set of aluminum wheels off my old '87 Dakota that I'd like to use.



With some much of this thing left though- the power train is all there, the suspension is all there, even all the wiring for the TBI and ignition, we're going to take the cab (sans doors) off of my brother's wrecked '85 W150, the 9 1/4" rear, and a set of big 33" all terrains that came with his W100 to make a dune buggy/woods truck for firewood and what not. He really wants to mount the old roll bar that came with our father's W150 years ago.



These old trucks are going to get me into trouble

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Well, took the afternoon yesterday to try and sort out the accelerator pump on the remanufactured 1945 on Grandpa. The spring and pump itself seem to be working fine, and the passage for the gas from the small chamber are open. The issue remains though. The truck runs alright but this is still annoying me.

Have to do some more research.

Been fighting a cold but finally got a little tuning time in yesterday.



I did some more undercoating on Grandpa and re-gapped the plugs to 0.045". Glad I did! Smoothed out how it ran cold when first starting somewhat, and I checked my mileage. It had been down, but Grandpa knocked down 18 mpg on a short jaunt to see how it was running! I'm ecstatic! It was mostly highway cruising about 55 mph, so I'm hoping that around town I'm still able to get around 14+ mpg.

The Groundhog might have some alignment issues. I took it for another short jaunt with the battery out of my '94 and it has some shakes at 40+ mph. It's on hold until spring, but I'm hoping to have a new To-do list ready. I have to pick up one of the aluminum wheels from my folks place to see if they'll fit, and if they do start squirreling away some money for a new set of tires. Come spring, the first things I want to do are new tires/wheels, swap the transmission, and put a new battery in it. I have to say, the slant is running a lot better than when I bought it... now I have to get to the rest of the truck

It's getting cold and I've been busy with work. Driving Grandpa around has been a lot of fun, despite an obnoxiously loud exhaust (worn out cherry bomb muffler).

It's rather confirmed my appreciation for an otherwise stock slant six. It may not be "fast" but it's working well for me. I'm getting about 13.5 mpg around town and 17-18 mpg highway. I'm saving up and planning, and hope to get my D100 finished next year.

My wife's cousin is moving in next door and will have a two-stall garage. I'm hoping to scrounge up a space heater and swap the transmission over the winter. I'm also toying with the idea of pulling the doors one at a time and putting in new window scrapers here at home. I'm not really enthusiastic about putting everything on hold for winter and want to do something, even if it's taking parts off and fixing them here in my basement.

Once the Groundhog is driving I intend to fix Grandpa up. Right now it just looks awful

I love this thread! Keep up the good work man.