Hi All. This is my first posting on this very informative site. Recently bought a couple of old Dodges. A 1975 d200 318 4speed and a 1980 3/4 ton 360 auto. Both 2 wheel drives. The 75 has a nice front clip doors and grill and the 80 is for parts. The cabs on both are pretty far gone though. Whats the newest year truck I could put the doors and front clip on? I'm partial to the old style look of the 75 type grill and hood but don't want to buy a newer truck if the parts wont fit. Thanks for any info and I'll be posting more questions and photos when I can.
bherder
10-10-2007, 06:03 PM
72' through 80' are (so far as fenders, doors, hoods, etc) all interchangeable. 81' up to ?? (Some one step in here, please ;) ) I think 92-93 (??) will also fit, but the body lines are different.. and things like the fenders are more 'squared' off.... In other words, yeah the newer stuff will fit, but it's gonna look pretty goofy.. ;)
Whats wrong so far as the cabs? If you're talking about floor pans, rocker panels, cab corners, etc, you can get replacement parts pretty cheap. (Not to mention a lot easier than R&Ring a cab! :D ) I little bit of cutting... A little bit of MIG welding... You're good to go :D
(I've bought from these guys before ... Prices are good and shipping is speedy!)
Speed Dragon
10-10-2007, 09:00 PM
'72-'93 cabs are the same.
Clint R
10-10-2007, 11:19 PM
Hi bherder, the cab of the 75 is mostly holes held together by a few strings of rust. Smashed windows ect. I was planning on picking up a 84 3/4 ton and grafting on my 75s doors fenders and grill. The hood too. I can't strip the 80 as it is my daily driver. but it has its problems too. Typical cab rust,The engine smokes on start up and she shimmies real good going down the road. You know, normal 30 year old truck stuff. I looked in to replacement panels but I live in Canada and the shipping would kill me.
Clint R
10-10-2007, 11:23 PM
Hey Speed Dragon, will the 80s cab fit on the 75 frame or would I be better off putting my front clip on the later truck? Also does the (?)front fender mount/rad support(the piece across the front of the truck behind the grill) need to be changed or is it the same for 1975 as well as the mid 80s?
Speed Dragon
10-11-2007, 09:07 AM
Frame and cab are the same from '72-'93. So is the suspension and steering. I would probably use the matching rad support for whichever front clip you are using. I think they can be made to work w/ either one but there may be differences in the headlight and grille mounting areas. I know the fenders themselves will bolt to either support w/ no problems.
buck99
10-11-2007, 09:20 AM
Ive got a 78 cab with 84 transmission hump, 72 crew cab doors, 76 fenders, 79 rad support and grill, 79 hood.
It's a real Frankenstien. :)
It's made up of parts from of 8 different trucks ranging from 72 to 84 and have had no interchangeability problems.
MagnumThrobb
10-11-2007, 08:13 PM
It's a real Frankenstien. :)
I feel your pain, brother! I've got an '83 D-150 I'm turning into a 1978 Lil' Red Express wanna be. With '78 fenders and grille, '74 doors, '80 something stepside bed. Body gaps aren't perfect, but they line up. My welder came in real handy, especially when putting '78 headlight buckets in my '83 core support :shocked:
76D100
10-12-2007, 07:48 AM
now what about new fenders? any good links?
bherder
10-12-2007, 09:33 AM
now what about new fenders? any good links?
There are a few places you can order them over the net ... I've seen them on ebay, but the shipping is gonna kill ya.... You'll find them cheap on the net, but then they want, like, $120.00 for shipping.
If you live in/near a sizable city, look in the yellow pages for one of those 'radiator-glass-body parts' kinda' places. You'll get the best deal and no outragous shipping fees.
I bought two new fenders from a place in Spokane, and they were $45.00 each. Not bad at all. Of course they were 'Made in China' but that's all your gonna find for brand new. The metal isn't quite as thick as OEM and as for fit, I'd say it's about 95% good. Not perfect, but pretty damn close.
stewart19777
10-12-2007, 10:49 PM
I have a 1979 w200 360 4speed and my cab, frame, fenders, hood, basically the whole body rusted off. the main reason i bought it was becuase it only had 50,000 orginall miles on it. since then i put a set of 1990 doors with full power(removed the body line to match the smooth rolled look) and then i found a 84 body in good excellent shape and am in the process of switchin the whole body over. A for interchangeabltiy i have no problems switching any thing everything bolts right up you just might have to do some feathering in the body work to make it look good. wiring is the only problem with switching to a cab 80 and up differnet blocks on fire wall. i plan on rewiring the whole engine bay and puting a custom dash in mine. hope this helps anybody
