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Starting Again - 1980 Dodge D150

7K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  duval67 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

Not sure who is still around on this forum, it's been a few years since I've done anything with my truck.

Those of you who were around before might remember my truck from way back when:
http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=301358

If you scroll through that thread you'll see my dad and I getting this truck together for my first vehicle back when I was 16.

It went from this:


to this in a few months:


I drove it like this for about 2 years before I crashed it during the winter a few years back:






Everyone was okay and is still okay today, which is what really matters.

I spent some time fixing the truck after this happened and over the summer after the accident had it back to (almost) daily driving condition:
http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371720&page=7





Aaaand then a tree fell on it, denting the cab, splitting the roof from the back well, and also denting the hood. I was also having some electrical issues at this time and had let the truck sit for about 3 years.


Against my better judgement (as this thing is obviously cursed), I have decided to bring it back once more!

I've purchased a new (old) cab from a 1985 that just needs a floor pan on the drivers side and some dent repair on the passenger side. I have the hood from this truck as well which is in great condition.





Over the next few months I will be replacing the cab, hood and performing whatever other body work needs to be done to get this looking and running proper again. I will continue to post my updates here in case anyone is interested!

I'll also be adding a bit more fun to the truck by getting rid of the tired old slant six and dropping in a 360. The engine I'm picking up ran fine when it was removed so I will likely just go through it lightly and refresh whatever needs refreshing.

That's all for now! Hope to see a few friendly faces back in here soon.

Thanks for reading guys!
 
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#6 ·
Hey again guys!

Always nice to be back here and seeing everyone's trucks. Great community keeping these old girls alive.

I've done a decent amount of work since I last posted:

First order of action was getting the cab mobile. As you can see in the pictures above, my space is limited at best. I built this cart that lets me roll the cab around and tuck it into the back corner of the garage when I'm not working on it:





Next step was to cut out the rust on the underside. Driver's side is a mess, but the passenger's side isn't bad. Rockers are generally good.





After cutting out everything I deemed to be no good:



I'll weld in new panels this week.

Next was prep to remove the engine for the 360 that I'm swapping in:







And the actual removal:







The temporary resting place:



Trying to decide if I'll sell or build something out of it myself sometime. We'll see.

I also bought a rebuilt thermoquad for the 360 last week. Blown away by the size - never worked with a 4 bbl before but I'm excited!



I've also removed the interior in this time and have the cab ready for removal. I'll wait until I get the other one welded up so that I'll only have one on the ground at a time.

Should be picking the engine up this week and will update again when I do!

Thanks again for looking guys.
 
#8 ·
duval!! good to see you, been a long time since ive been on this forum. i ended up joining ramchargercentral and kind of let this site go. last i remember of your build the tree fell on it. thats about the time i left. in fact a bunch of old timers left. i know one guy personally and he left the site once the "upgrade" came and he didnt like the new format.

glad to see you got the truck still going. still think you need a v-8 though
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the comments guys!

Maachine, good to see you man!

I've poked around ramchargercentral too but haven't actually made an account there. Maybe I'll take a harder look around soon.
I am finally giving up the slant six and going with a v-8 this time around. I bought a 360 last week and tore it down a few days ago. Going to get it into the machine shop to clean it up and install a new cam (probably an comp xe268) and do the rest of the rebuild myself.

I'll post a real update again here too, and maybe over on ramchargercentral!
 
#10 ·
I remember your yellow build too. Glad you are re-re-doing it.

I was locked out of here for a month with password/email issues but noticed the traffic was way down. I wandered over to RamCentral today and saw it the same hosting entity and security issues (no biggie) but haven't really found my way around there. Grady
 
#11 ·
my only complaint about ramcharger is the moderators, they can be a pain and clickish but tons of information there, not only that, it's much busier
 
#12 ·
Warlock's Dad, good to see you again here too!

Maachine, I spent a bit of time on ramchargercentral over the past few weeks and actually picked up a cluster surround with a tach and voltmeter for a good deal. Definitely will continue to lurk around there...not sure if I'll take the time yet to post.
Not sure that I like the division between the pickups and and the ramchargers, but I suppose I understand given the name of the site lol.

Anyway, got an update for you guys below finally:

I've been spending the last few weeks tearing down the 360 that I picked up and repairing the replacement cab. I'll start with the engine.

Day I picked it up:


Starting to tear down:










Camshaft after removal:




Is the wear on the edges of the lobes normal? Wondering if it's indicative of any internal issues with the engine prior to my teardown.
I'll be replacing it with a new cam anyway, but still curious.

I have similar question about the crankshaft. Does this look like it needs to be ground/polished?





Continuing:



These will be replaced with H116CP030's after I have my machine work done to the block.




Not particularly concerned with anything here as I will be boring 0.030" over and honing.

Valve removal:


Destroyed this valve compressor before purchasing the clamp style:

Will never use this style again. Using the clamp style is a pleasure.

And finally, my pile of parts:




Moving on to the cab work!:

Left off here on my last update


Ordered some panels and started putting in hours after work and on weekends to get the new floor welded in:






I'll be the first to admit that my welding is not great. On top of my lack of skill, I'm also only working with a Mig 100 using flux-cored wire. Not ideal but it's done the job.

Complete underside:


Underside after wire wheeling off all scale and dirt:


Underside after all prep work and applying POR 15. I love this stuff. Painted my frame with it back on my second time on this truck (4 years ago?) and it's still black with no flaking nearly everywhere.


Also got the cab mounted onto the frame:










Tonight I've been working on my wiring harness. My pup decided he would help:


I've unwrapped and cleaned everything and hunted down my charging problem from a few years back. Something had failed within the bulkhead connector for the main alternator wire. I've drilled through the bulkhead connector and will run a single wire into the cab.

I've also ordered some braided split loom to re-wrap the harness. Should clean up the engine bay significantly. Depending on how it looks, I may order some larger diameter and wrap all the hoses in the bay as well.


So my next steps are obviously reassembly and getting some engine work done.
I'll be having the following done to the engine:

Bore 0.030" over and hone
Install H116CP030 pistons
Install Comp Cams XE28H cam with new lifters
Surface the heads back to true (maybe shave a bit more off to get compression to 9.5:1 or so. Will depend on where the pistons end up in the hole).
A good degreasing. Fairly dirty at the moment.
Hoping to clear 300hp but I suppose we'll see!

Anyway, thanks for reading guys. Sorry for the length post, it's been a while! I'll try to post more frequently to break it up going forward.
 
#13 ·
Looking good, keep the reports coming. I bought a replace cab for Wanda - she has bad tin worm - but haven't started anythig.
 
#14 ·
the edges of the cam actually look like most cams i've pulled out of used 318's. as long as the pitting isnt where the lifter rides it should be good to go. but still, it looks fairly beat to me, i wouldnt reuse it. i'd be carefull about shaving too much. you'll start getting away from using the stock valve train i.e. pushrods. will have to measure to get the right size.

you need to mic the crank to know where it stands. typically it will taper from the middle out if i recall and you'll need to get it turned if it is not within spec.

timing chain is definitely shot.
 
#16 ·
Time for an update!

Warning for all of those on dialup...I am posting about 90 photos and a video here! Lots of work has been done since I last posted and figure it's time to catch up anyone who's looking.

I'll start from where I left off last time: mounting up the repaired cab and beginning to clean the wiring harness.

I painted the interior of the repaired cab floor with POR as well. I feel pretty good about the work overall, should hold up for a long time.






Tried to tidy up the shop a bit too, but I've developed quite a stockpile of parts here:


Shortly after that, I got my engine back from the machine shop. I should have taken a photo of everything that they did, but I can try to recall off-hand without the build sheet in front of me:
Block:
Crack tested (tested great)
Bored 0.030" over and honed
Installed cam bearings
Installed freeze plugs
Cleaned, painted

Heads:
Essentially totally refurbished
New exhaust valves
New guides
New valve stem seals
New springs (matched with the Comp XE268H cam that I installed), retainers, etc.
Cleaned, painted

Rods:
New H116CP high compression pistons installed
Big ends of rods resized

Crank:
Ground 0.010" over and polished

And they cleaned up a bunch of other bits for me - timing cover, damper, pushrods, rockers, etc and supplied all oversize bearings as needed.
They did a great job - if anyone needs a shop recommendation in the GTA, let me know.





























Also have some photos of the pistons with the moly rings installed:





Couple photos of the pistons installed: (boy do I ever love working on a clean engine. It's a treat)
Very close to 0 deck, but not quite. Builder estimated 9.5:1 - 10:1 compression, but they did not cc the heads.


All pistons and bottom end installed:






And a few days later, my brand new Hooker Headers showed up:

They're awesome.

This was mentioned in another thread on here recently, funnily enough. I had to tap and plug the air ports on the heads to seal them up before installing the headers. As we talked about in that thread, they likely would have just sealed with the gasket, but this is cheap, easy work and guarantees that they are blocked and will stay blocked:




One last shot of the inside of the heads before they were installed:


One installed:



You can see the double roller timing chain installed here as well.

Both heads installed:



Took a break from the engine work at this point and went back to the cab.
Needed to get the firewall prepped and painted before installing the engine onto the frame. I took this time to prep and paint the interior as well to get all my painting done at once.
I will be having an ex-body man (buddy of my dad's) paint the exterior in the spring.

I just used a single stage paint, but I think it turned out just fine for the firewall and interior anyway.

Grime all cleaned off:


And rolled into the "paint both" (lol)


Masked and primed:




Paint laid down:














Masking removed:


Carpet roughly laid down just to see how it'll look. Nice step up from the indoor/outdoor blue/grey crap I had in there before:


Heater box installed:


This was a small issue in that the hole in the firewall for the heater box varies between the 80- bodies and the 81+ bodies. Had to use the new style heater box rather than my old one. This isn't a problem in itself, but it does present a problem when using the old style dash as it hits the vent tubes on the heater box. Additionally, the vents in the old style dash are circular where the new style and the long rectangular shape shown.
My solution:


Dash being installed:




Post 1/2, hit the image limit. More below!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Post 2/2!

More interior bits installed:






I also started putting on the firewall bits at this time:



And realized after I thought I was finished my painting that the interior of the doors were still in primer from the LAST time I redid the whole truck...remade my "booth" and painted them:





Doors installed:




I knew they would fit, but it was a bit of a relief to confirm that the 80- doors fit on the 81+ cab without issue.


Now that the cab was essentially "finished" aside from the finishing touches, I went back to the engine:
Confirmed that everything was as it needed to be in the bottom end and installed the oil pan:




Also installed the water pump and the harmonic balancer:


Unfortunately, I got moving a little too quick and left the torque wrench on 100ft-lbs or whatever it is for the balancer bolt and went to torque down the timing cover/waterpump and cracked the top bolt boss on the timing cover:


I didn't directly take a photo of the repair, but all I did was remove the cracked chunk (it cracked in two spots) and JB weld it back in. Didn't install the bolt, and it doesn't leak...so I'm not going to worry about it for now.

I then installed my cam, lifters, and pushrods:


These were broken into eachother in a previous engine and all lifters were installed in the same order that they were removed and coated with RedLine assembly lube:





It was then time to get this truck moving properly. The front brakes had seized entirely on one side and were sticky on the other. I couldn't remember the last time I serviced the front brakes so I replaced the calipers, pads, and rotors. Bearings were fine and I recall doing them last time I had the truck apart:






Then I went to work on the interior again:
I picked up a 727 transmission with a reverse manual valve body and B&M ratchet shifter. Built a little center console/mount for the ratchet shifter.
I was planning on wrapping it in vinyl or something and making some cup holders but I'm not thrilled with how it came out so I'll likely redo it. For now, it gives a place for the shifter which is good enough:





My order from Summit came in shortly thereafter with some pretty bits.
Mopar Performance valve covers:




PVC and breather installed. I haven't used an oil cap as I didn't really want to punch or drill out the provisions in the covers, so I'll just remove the breather or pcv valve to fill it.

Little engine mockup with covers and carb. Nothing bolted down at this time:






Forgot about the headers until I had put some things away, but tossed them on afterwards for fun:





Went to install the transmission and had everything mated up when I realized that the torque converter couldn't sit inside the crank as the pilot bushing was still installed as this engine used to have a manual behind it.

None of the standard "tricks" worked to get it out, like packing it with grease and hammering a bolt in, so I chiseled and drilled it out:




Got the two bolted together:


It was about 9:30 pm on a Friday at this time and a few friends were coming over but I figured I'd give dropping the pair in a shot, not expecting it to go easily, but they actually slid right in with almost no fighting at all:






Starting installing all the bits and pieces around the engine:





Picked myself up a new fan and clutch, which should make cooling no problem at all.


I also figured it was a good idea to drain the transmission and change the filter before firing up.
It looked great inside and there wasn't a spec of metal in the pan:





Went to fire everything up and found that the coil was not getting power in the key run position. It did get power in start however and fired a few times.
Ripped the harness apart and found that a 7-wire junction had been separated (by me, at some point), into a 4-wire and a 3-wire junction that obviously did not work. Repaired that, and was back on my way to breakin:





This is pretty well where it stands now! I have wrapped the harness back up and am just working on dialing in my timing, but that's a whole other story.

I've got a quick video here as well of the truck running however briefly. I was running out a jerry can and was just about out of fuel at this point but wanted to grab a quick video. Also, the camera fell over so it's really for audio only. It's uploading right now and is taking it's time, so I'll follow up with a post on that.

Anyway, thank for reading! I'll try to make smaller updates going forward, but hopefully someone enjoyed the ride! :)

EDIT: Video link here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3LtVeXp4o&feature=youtu.be
 
#20 ·
You have done a ton of work and it looks good. My suggestion, why you have it torn down is to fix the wiring. On my 72 I started with the same wire at the bulkhead. Then my fuse block started to melt. I removed the bulkhead connector, amp meter, old fuse block. Soldered and heat shrunk all wires and wired in new fuse block. I used heavy duty relays, new power wires, ran a batter cable from the alt to the battery. I added a power block and protect everything with mega fuses. Upgraded headlight wiring and added relays. I will see if I can find some pictures. It cost me about $300 and took about a week but it was worth every penny.
 

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#21 · (Edited)
spamtank: Thanks! Always good to see a new face around...sad to say it isn't as busy here as it once was though.

Moparite: You're right, it's been a very long time since I've seen a big build thread on here, aside from a couple. I know 1Asterisk has one going on but I haven't poked around too much deeper lately. There's a few over on ramchargercentral but even then, it's fairly slow. Their vehicle help section seems to be a little bit busier than this one nowadays though. Thanks for the kind words!

Nanuk: Thanks for the photos, it looks good.
I don't necessarily need the ammeter at this point as I have a voltmeter wired in now as well, but I like to have it functioning.
I've not actually had any problems with it so I think I'm going to keep it in for now.

I did consider eliminating the bulkhead connector as well. I like it for removing the wiring though as if I ever wanted to lift the cab off again (hope not!) it'll be real pain without the connector. I wonder if instead of removing the connector, I could upgrade to the connector used on the first gen rams. It bolts in and is clearly a way better connection. I have one on hand...would just be a matter of depinning the current connector and pinning in to the new style.
I never thought of it honestly until you mentioned it. Can always use another thing to do!
 
#24 · (Edited)
So I was having some timing issues at the end of my last post. Got that dialed in today! The wires were off by a post.
I also replaced my Mopar ignition coil with an MSD Blaster 2. I was getting a dull orange spark in my tester and figured that the full 12v with the HEI set up killed the Mopar coil.

Anyway, I took a few videos of the engine running AND finally moved the truck for the first time under it's own power!! :D

Pretty exciting day. Next steps will be to finish assembling the body and then scoot down to the exhaust shop to put on some duals. Likely Flowmaster 44s but I haven't yet decided.

EDIT: Had to take the videos out - they seemed to be killing the pages ability to load properly.
 
#25 ·
damn dude, what cam is in that? it sounds mean.
 
#29 ·
Awesome ... congratulations!
Thanks!

Bad luck on both the wreck and the tree falling. Awesome project though. I'm working on a solid 1978 D10 Adventurer SE with a 445ci Police Big Block and 727. I hahave a quick question about the 80's hood on the early truck . Is it true you need to swap cowl panels to use the later hoods on the earlier trucks? I'm not a fan of the 72-79 hoods.
Yeah, she was cursed for a little while there but it seems to have turned around haha.

I did the opposite for the hood, but I can tell you that it did work fine.
My truck originally had the '80+ hood style and I ended up using a 74's hood with the cowl panel from the '80. You could tell that it didn't QUITE fit as it should, but it didn't interfere with the hood's operation.
I imagine it would be the same in the other direction - not exactly as it should be, but it'll work fine.
 
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