Anyone own a Lil' Red Express????

[FreeLantz]

I'd love to see some pics of a Lil' Red Express as I plan to buy one myself eventually........ this is absolutely my favorite Dodge truck of all time...... so let's see 'em! :cool:

[Dodgevanman]

I don't own one, but if your going to buy a Lil Red Express try and find the '78 Model rather than the '79. The '79 got choked up with emissions crap.

[FreeLantz]

Yeah I definitely want a '78, I know the '79's were less potent, plus '78 is the year I was born. :D

[AP]

If you do get one, one good way to obviously and simply to identify the 2 is by the grill. The 78 will have round headlights and other things. The 79 will have rectangular headlights stacked of a total 4 all together.

[FreeLantz]

If you do get one, one good way to obviously and simply to identify the 2 is by the grill. The 78 will have round headlights and other things. The 79 will have rectangular headlights stacked of a total 4 all together.
Yep, youre right... and I really like the '78 lights and grille design better too.


Did you guys see the '06 Ram Lil' Red Express concept S. Weigel did in the concept forum? All it needs are the chrome stacks to be a worthy successor. :cool:

[tunedin302]

Currently, my father is restoring a 1978. He did a 408 stroker on the original 360 (400hp and 495 lb/ft of torque), polished edelbrock heads and intake, dana 60 w/ 3:55 gears, rear discs, gearvendors overdrive, pst suspension, etc. Super neat truck. I agree, the 79s' look good but they are choked up with the emissions.

[cbrenn71]

weren't they the fastest production based vehicle made in 78?

[tunedin302]

weren't they the fastest production based vehicle made in 78?
Fastest Domestic based production vehicle of 1978 (including the Corvette).

[cbrenn71]

i thought so.

when i say fastest production, i guess i didn't want to include the like of porshe, ferrari and the like.

[tunedin302]

i thought so.

when i say fastest production, i guess i didn't want to include the like of porshe, ferrari and the like.
Yeah, I knew what you meant but somebody else would have said the porsche was faster. :dunno: Either way there are a really neat truck. The parts are pretty much drying up for them now and also becoming very expensive. To buy an nos 78 grille (if you can find one) I've seen anywhere from $800-$1000.

[FreeLantz]

Fastest Domestic based production vehicle of 1978 (including the Corvette).
And for many years after that, they were the fastest pickup truck ever made. Now, the SRT-10 holds that distinction. :)

[Dodgevanman]

At the Chryslers at Carlisle show a few years back a guy had a 78 Lil' Red Express that looked bone stock except for the large diameter exhaust stacks and the 426 HEMI cate engine under the hood. Neat thing about it is that he still had the original E58 360 in storage.

[tunedin302]

At the Chryslers at Carlisle show a few years back a guy had a 78 Lil' Red Express that looked bone stock except for the large diameter exhaust stacks and the 426 HEMI cate engine under the hood. Neat thing about it is that he still had the original E58 360 in storage.
I think the biggest change to get it to fit is changing the brake booster to a smaller diameter.

[77 Warlock]

Well not a Lil Red but here is mine

[RAM MAN]

that Warlock is a REAL beauty

there's a Lil Red Express / Warlock national event this year

Are you going ?

got any more pics of your truck ?

[Dodgevanman]

Has anyone ever heard of a Lil Midnight Express? This probably a dumb question, but I've seen pictures of a truck done up like a Lil Red Express, but it was black and the decals had "Lil Midnight Express"

Probably a custom job.

[FreeLantz]

Yep, I've heard of the "Midnight Express". Very cool truck as is the Warlock!

[RAM MAN]

same here

Lil Midnight Express must have been a custom job

got any pics ?

[Dodgevanman]

Stay tuned.......

[Dodgevanman]

Here's a pic of a Midnight Express

[fal308]

According to Don Bunn's book "Dodge Pickups 1939-1978 Photo Album" the 1978 Midnight Express was a special model patterned after the Li'l Red Express and sold only in California.

[biged6464]

WOW...i've always loved this truck...please help me understand the differences between the Warlock and the Lil Red Express and the Midnight Express?? just the color??

[fal308]

From the book "Dodge Trucks" by Don Bunn published byMotorbooks Intl
1977 (pg 245)- Dodge borrowed a page from its own book by repeating market research conducted for its successful Custom Sports Special in 1963. This time, dodge management provided Southern California auto writers with a prototype 1976 Warlock pickup......but not just any pickup would do; it had to have specialpaint, big tires, and trick wheels. dodge delivered a cool factory-built pickup for the auto writers to check out. Warlock's features included LR60-15 Goodrich Radial TAs, tabs welded on its roll bar for driving lights. oak sideboards finsihed in a durable and glossy clear synthetic finish with black pinstriping, striping on the outside and inside on the dash, around-the-door lock buttons, and even on the kick panels inside the doors. Backet seats, thickly padded relatively small steering wheel and a full complement of instruments on the dash graced the cab's interior. Huge vented dics brakes in the front, mammoth drums in the rear, a livley 318 V-8 engine, and automatic transmission provided the power and stipping abilityrequired for an exciting ride.....Management gave its OK to a Warlock model for 1977. It was available in twoo and four-wheel drive, with either the 225ci six or 3189 V-8 in choice of black, red or green exterior; special gold accent stripes, inside and out; fancy gold road wheels; fat raised white letter tires; chrome-plated running boards; and black bucket seat interior.
1978 (pg 250)-...Warlock was offerd only with a 6 1/2 ft Utiline cargo box. Warlock was available in either two- or four-wheel-drive configuratyions. Warlock's paint choices included Bright Canyon Red, Medium Green, Sunfire Metalliic, Black, Citron Green Metallic, Sunrise Orange, Canyon Red and Sunfire Metallic. Gold tape stripes inside and out provided the only trim color. Most Warlocks were painted black, which has led many to believe black was the only correct Warlock color. Other special Warlock equipment included real oak sideboards, and dark-tinted glass all around. The cab interior featured all vinyl black bucket seats with concole and a sporty three-spoke Tuff steering wheel with satin-chromed finished spokes and black trim. Standard engine was the Super Six (two-barrelcaruretor) 225 slant six, but V-8 engines were options.

In St. Louis every year there is a huge Monster Mopar Weekend held at St Louis Intl Racway. There is a large car show during this event and quite a few Warlocks and LRTs show up. Over the years I've seen Metallic Red, Canyon Red, Green Metallic, Green and of course Black Warlocks in both two- and four-wheel drive. I'd love to see the Orange and Sunfire colors though.

I'll post again on the LRT from the same source as this is getting kind of long.

[fal308]

1978 (pgp 250-1)-Li'l Red Truck was introduced to the public late in the model year, early spring 1978. This last Adult Toy was fully equipped at the factory, with plenty of chrome and " pleasure" driving features to go with it. Chrome-plated valve covers, short running boards, air cleaner, wheels, and twin vertical stacks helped give the Li'l Red its all-around bold appearance. Also featured were Canyon Red exterior paint, accent tape stripes, genuine oak panels, and Adventurer trim with either red or black interior bench or bucket seats. The Li'l Red had a 360 four-barrel V-8, 3.55:1 rear axle, automatic transmission, power steering, raised white outline letter radial tires, and chrome everywhere......Its muscle came from a high-performance 360 V-8. Dodge engineers went to the high-performance parts bin and selected a camshaft designed for a high-performance 340. The 340 camshaft part number 2899206 was much more aggressive than the stock 360 camshaft. A set of 340 valve springs was also installed. Chrysler engineers originally wanted to install high-performance W-2 cylinder heads, but dripped the idea and retained stock heads. The stock 360 carburetor was scrapped in favor of a Carter Thermo-Quad. The TQ was very much like the one used on dodge Aspen police cars. In facgt, the Li'l Red Truck engine wsa pretty much a deplicate of the Aspen police interceptor engine. A low-restrictionair cleaner with dual fresh air inlets, dual dxhausts, and low-restriction street hemi-type mufflers aided its breathing. The vertical pipes emitted a very pleasant tone that was niether loud nor offensive. Its oil pan was fitted with a windage tray to keep the oil pickup pump in a steady supply of oil during hard cornering. The Loadflite automatic was a heavy-duty version that included a high oil capacity valve body, which gave positive shifts with little or no slippage. Production in a short year topped off a 2188.
1979 (pg 253)- Dodge marketing never included the Li'l Red in the Adult Toys From Dodge category, not in 1978 or 1979. Adult Toys did carry over for 1979, but the were now more paint than performance, as all high-performance engines were history. Adult Toys consisted of the Street Van, Ramcharger Macho 4x4, Warlock II (two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive versions), Macho Power Wagon, and the new imported Dodge D-50 Sport. Li'l Red in its second and last year was a mild version of the original. Itrs engine was de-tuned to meet more stringent EPA rules.

From "Dodge Pickup Trucks" by Steve Statham published by Motorbooks Intl
(pg 65) In 1978 ......the Li'l Red Express Truck, was introduced. The LRT was like the Warlock in some respects, but was a much more serious effort at creating a sport truck. On the outside the Li'l Red Express Truck came with oak bed trim, ALi'l Red Express Express Truck decals, dhrome side steps, and slotted mags (15x7 wheels with GR60x15 tires up front, 15x8 wheels with LR60x15 tires on the rear). Mandatory options on the Express included power steering, LoadFlite automatic, the Adventurer package, and stereo radio. The LoadFlite was a strengthened piece, and the 3.55 gear in the rear end guaranteed smoky burnouts....
Rahter than just use an off-the-shelf engine, the 1978 Li'l Red Express came with a unique high-performance 360 V-8. Designated the EH-1,...was a modified E58 police engine...
The LRT survived into 1979, but in substantially tamer form. The 1979 LRT utilized a milder, late-model 360 camshaft, and came with catalytic converters and an assortment of new emissions plumbing underhood. Even the speedometer was federalized that year, reading only to 85 miles per hour. The tires were no longer dirfferent-sized, with the same 15x8 inch mags and LR60x15 tires front and rear. Appearance-wise, the 1979 LRT...had new stacked rectangular headlamps, a redesigned grille, and a flatter hood. Although less powerful, the 1979 was still no wimp, and outsold the 1978 version.

[biged6464]

ask and you shall recieve!! :)

[fal308]

The thing I really like about the Warlock is that it was available with a 440.
I did find some sites about the Warlock using a quick search. There are several sites for the LRT also.
http://www.geocities.com/warlockclub/
http://www.440magnum-network.com/pages/Dodge_Truck/Warlock/index.shtml

[RAM MAN]

thanks for the pic

Yes

I definately remember those !

appreciate it ;)

[Dodgevanman]

I think a Lil' Red Express package on one of the new Rams would be neat...Hemi powered of course..short bed regular cab. I wonder if there are any laws against the exhaust stacks nowadays.

[RAM MAN]

check this one out !

[FreeLantz]

check this one out !That's bad a$$! I'd have to get one of those if I had the real Lil' Red Express, then I'd have a pair of them, new and old. :D

[vipergts2]

That new version is cool, it would be really nice if they would build the LRT again. I think they would be good sellers. If I ever get my lil red finished I'll post some pics. I have a few more parts to find then paint it.

[vipergts2]

One thing I forgot....Does any body know of anybody selling repro steps that the exhaust runs through?

[Ric3xrt]

dons book is wrong about the midnight express truck it was 440 powered & it was avaible everywhere in the states my dads was bought from Reedmans here in langhorn PA, they were avaible in black & midnight Bllue ( blue being extremly rare) I've been trying to one out of the Harisburg area for about 4 years now, its a lot of well maybe I'll put it togather someday crap
The one I had in 88 came from a dearlership in chicgo (no it was not the GrandSpaulding dealership) I sold it to a guy in ohio who was from Columbus ,

[RAM MAN]

sounds great

Do you have any old pics of your truck ?

[fal308]

I'd love to see some pictures also. What was the interior setup? Drivetrain (auto or stick)?

[Ric3xrt]

I wish I had pics, I never got in to pic thing , intill the last couple of years, trust me there is a lot stuff I wish I had pic of , both Hemi chargers come to mind right now
440 auto ( all midnight trucks were auto)
My truck & my dads ,the intreriors were black with buckets ,just like the buckets that you could get in the Lil Red & warlocks , my truck did not have a center arm rest but my Das did,
On Saturday I looked @ a yellow 440 powerd 78 Rc short box,step side the interesting thing is the steps have the holes in them like it had stacks, the guy who has it said that there was a set of stacks in the bed , but he used them for his Lil red.
From what I have found in my searches for 440 powered trucks, they all have been Auto's , my dads 1st 440 powered short box was a 76 , ( it got wrecked in 78) & he was told that dodge was not going to release a stick 440 short box(4x2) because of safty concerns , Now on ranchargercentral there is a guy who clams to have a 77 rcsb 4x2 I have not been able to comfirm this,but then agian its a 70s era dodge so never say never.
My dads truck went 14.20 new, a set of slicks ,it went 13.80( I was told MPH was around 104)
on the steps try www.dodgeconnection.com (I tried them after I posted this , the site is down intill may 1st)or simth oaks I'll try to find a phone # for oaks, also www.bouchillonperformance.com there are a couple of guys there who are in to the old scool trucks.