1971 Dodge P200 Army Tactical Van

[chrlduck]

ill make this shorter then a novel.
new to these forums, didnt have any luck with other forums/groups, this just dosent fit in.

a neighbor of mine got hit with a zoning violation for too many junk cars, so as he got rid of them noone wanted this one, it was too big and hard to get to. so through our talks he said i could have it if i got it out. so i took my 88 B350 van over, tied it up and yanked it out.. moss and all.. got all the paperwork in order....

its a 71 dodge p-200 Army truck.. was missing alot, had a stuck motor, no trans, no rad, no hoses, lights all screwed up, missing, broken, missing drive shaft, parts hangging off etc.. it was in rough shape.
after scrounging for parts, robbing from this and that model other dodge truck to get it to fire up it did.
ive been at it for 3 months now. getting down to the final bits and i still need a driveshaft.
took one my other neighbor had laying around and tried it.. 7 inches too short (from a 88 shortbed ram pickup) tried another from a long bed ram pickup and it was 7 inches too long. well to make it easier i decided to measure what would work. and cant find anything.
it is 59 inches from center to center of the yoke.
i know i can get one custom made.. i held onto the longer one incase i have to get it cut down.
is there anything that has the correct length driveshaft that i dont have to modify. like a dodge dart or anything.

i did have dozens of questions all through this build but ive been marking them off my list as i tinker and figure them out.

[funinak]

COOL!! It looks like the vans we drove around the flightline in at almost any Air Force base in the world, except they were BLUE!! WHAT are you going to use it for?

[chrlduck]

i havent thought that far ahead. i have to get it on the road before i can do anything with it.. just got it running the other day.. rewired the whole back half the day before and put in all new lights.
it was olive drab with the army letters/numbers on the side.
the guy i got it from painted it black with a roller. i spraypainted the belt line and roof white just so people could see it in the wall of black.
hopefully i can get things in order so i can strip all the paint, prime/paint/clear it. i might just paint it glossy black or maybe do some kind of airbrush work on it... for now its just a project.

iam glad someone recognised it. i had a dude at salvo auto parts tell me it dosent exist, that dodge never made a P200... getting parts has been rough.

[stev]

Last month I ran across a Dodge froum web site that is nothing but Dodge military turcks and vans. Yours looks very much like the ones shown there. There are kits and other parts to locate there too. The link I found to get there came off of the Allpar.com website.

[stev]

From what I have found, the P200 was designated for the United States Postal Service. The letter "P" is the designator. Most of these vehicles came standard with the /6 engine.

As for the military version, the letter designator is "W", as in W200. These came with the 318 or 360 engines.

These "P" & "W" 200 vans were the next generation of the famous Dodge Route Vans made in the learly 1950's-60's. There is a rich history for those vans.
http://www.tias.com/stores/antmore/pictures/35-z53a.jpg

Now, why was your P200 missing the drive shaft and axle? Check out this Federal Motor Safety Recall ...

1971 Dodge P200
NHTSA Campaign #: 71V049000
Make: Dodge
Model: P200
Year: 1971
Component: Power train:axle assembly:axle shaft
Manufacturers Involved: Chrysler corporation
Recall Type: V
Potential Number Of Units Affected: 42
Date Owner Notified By Manufacturer: 03/31/1971
Recall Initiator: Mfr
Manufacturer Responsible For Recall: Daimlerchrysler corporation
Date Report Received By ODI: 04/09/1971
Date Added To File: 10/12/1979

[chrlduck]

well.. it is a P200. as to the VIN, and the ID card inside.. has a 318 V8.. the word ARMY on the side..

iam not doubting you, just stating what i know. came from a gov auction.. the guy i got it from paid $90 in 1994.

its missing the driveshaft cause he parted it out between his truck and 2 others.

[madracingalley]

canyou give a side picture

[chrlduck]

this is the best i can do.. i have it between two trees.. they get in the way of a side view.. unless i move it..
heres a front view.. as my dad said.. its held together with bird s**t

yes i need to make new back doors. these are wood.. iam thinking of making them in 1X1 square steel. with the outside skinned in aluminum, keep the windows of cource

[madracingalley]

I saw one of these at our local bar (Glad Rags Sand Drags) and they were using it as a registration booth in th 80s id say as it was pritty well buried in the grond and looked like it was full of rotted wood and old bees nests

I like the wood doors they may be factory

[Dodgevanman]

Yep it's a P-series Forward Control model. And yep they were mainly USPS trucks. Came in P-200 and P-300 models. Advance Auto Parts' website has a listing for this truck.

Stev, don't you mean M-series rather than W-series for the Military trucks? I ask because I know that Dodge designated their military spec. pickups as M-series rather than D or W series. Am I missing something perhaps?

[chrlduck]

f21by1s328952

F2 = P-200
1 = Conventional Cab; Compact Cab & Express; Standard Heavy Duty Tilt
B = 6,001 lbs to 10,000 lbs GVW
Y = Special 8 Cyl. Gas Engine
1 = model year 1971
S = Warren Truck #1 (Incl. Compacts - `70)
328952 = sequence number

[Dodgevanman]

Where in Baltimore are you? I'm in Brooklyn Park.

There was another one of these for sale right up the street from me.

[stev]

Stev, don't you mean M-series rather than W-series for the Military trucks?

I was on a Dodge Vintage Military Truck website from the UK. It showed some M series, W series and WC series trucks for active duty. I wonder if other countries, like the UK used the non-M series for military duty?

[chrlduck]

Where in Baltimore are you? I'm in Brooklyn Park.

There was another one of these for sale right up the street from me.


if you know where eastpoint mall is. tward essex.. iam within walking distance of it.

[Dodgevanman]

I was on a Dodge Vintage Military Truck website from the UK. It showed some M series, W series and WC series trucks for active duty. I wonder if other countries, like the UK used the non-M series for military duty?


It's quite possible.

[Dodgevanman]

if you know where eastpoint mall is. tward essex.. iam within walking distance of it.


Yep..I know where Eastpoint mall is. I'm pretty close to the Key Bridge.

[dodges 3]

You all should look into the Cocepts/Modified section on these forums. It seems this van is participating in a chop challenge. Here is what I did with it, and there are some other ineresting ideas there.....Brad

PS. I put the original 1st. for comparison.