Hello all!

Been lurking for a while and finally got some photos. Last summer I bought an '84 Dodge D100 with the slant six and A833. My brother and father both have first gen Rams and I was envious of the simplicity, but since I'm already driving a '94 Ram I definitely wanted something a bit smaller than the V8, auto, 4WD rigs we all already had.

I bought this on a impulse before I even realized how cool of a truck it was. It was a southern truck with minimal rust, but it had been pretty well abused. Bed and bumper showed signs of being driven repeatedly into things very quickly (as well as being "off roaded"), clutch was burnt out, it ran terribly and the interior (what was left of it) was a mess. The interior carpet had been torn out, big clunky speakers had been sloppily installed behind the seats, tasteless stickers covered the entire ceiling, and there was a massive hole in the dash where the second to last owner had put his first through when he got pulled over for a DUI. Really classy.

My brother helped me replace the clutch and the nonexistent trans mount last fall, as well as lifting the bed off. I've cleaned and undercoated almost the whole frame by hand so far and have replaced the rear brake and gas lines. New wheel cylinders, repacked wheel bearings, and new parking brake cables were all done early this spring. I did the HEI upgrade and removed the of remaining emissions system, which (what was left) was in poor condition. New radiator and electric choke kit were installed not too long ago. The truck had been run with a manual choke and they had torn off the entire kick-down linkage assembly from the carb. I found another 1945 on ebay and swapped the necessary parts over. I've been getting it dialed in slowly, but it's already a heck of a lot nicer. The HEI alone made it drive like a completely different truck, the stock Lean Burn being responsible for most of its poor running condition.

My brother made me a fiberglass dash cover for Christmas, and I carpeted the interior with some Home Depot indoor/outdoor left overs and some nylon batting. Total cost was something like $10. Did it as an experiment but it turned out surprisingly well. I also removed the big speakers from behind the seat and mounted a single door speaker (my truck never came with them) into the dash in the "vent" above the glove box. May not sound like much but this is the first truck I've had with a working radio.

Still have a lot to do but I'm getting awfully close. I just want to offer a resounding "THANK YOU!" to everyone on here. Without the wealth of information available on this site I wouldn't have gotten have as far as I have. This has been my first real project, and being able to find so much information on here has helped immensely. Thank you!

Looks good! Keep up the good work.

Thank you! I have a slow week of orders coming up, should give me ample time to get a big chunk of the "to do" list knocked out

Open differential is out, Sure Grip is in. Makes a world of difference in traction, just going from the parking spot to the garage, even with the bed still off and the tires almost bald.

I came across this '84 D150 for sale on craigslist only 20 miles or so from my parent's house. Checked it and out and after a rough test run and some haggling she was mine for $550. Despite a leaking brake line my brother and I got her to my folks' place with only one issue, and that was the driver's side front brake hanging up when a guy in a brand new F150 whipped out in front of us.



It's a slant six powered long bed with the NP435 four speed and heavy duty 9.25" open rear, according to the sticker. It has some rust on the frame, some body dents and a few holes here and there, but over all it's pretty solid. Runs terribly though, as the Lean Burn has been shot for some time now. At this point I believe it only has 40,000 miles on it though, as the interior is fantastic!





I'm also nearing completion on my D100. At this point I only need to run the exhaust, do a little body work and paint (I'll be running Rustoleum through my new HVLP). The syncro to first gear appears shot though, so I may rebuild the transmission before I start driving it seriously. In any case, once the D100 is driving I'll clean and undercoat the frame of the D150, run new gas lines, redo the brakes the whole way around (including new lines), swap it for HEI and start fixing up the body. After that I'll decide what I want to do, and go from there!

Oh, and while I'm working on my slant powered D100/D150, my brother picked up his own two wheel Dodge- and his dream truck- in the form of a '79 Little Red Express. Also a low mile truck, it had been abandoned at a garage after some blown head gaskets for about twenty years (evidence indicates they bought it for towing and blew it up). A fellow bought it just a few years ago, started tearing it apart to rebuild it and lost interest. Aside from rust and missing the doors, hood, and windshield, it's all there. The power train is all stock, and he even has the stacks. Right now he's looking to put an MSD Streetfire box in and a new Holley four barrel to get it running after he finished replacing the head gaskets. We also found the first junk yard to have a few old Dodge trucks left, hence the patriotic, although mismatched, doors and hood.

If you plan to change the D150 to a different engine or transmission, I'd be interested in that NP435 to Slant bellhousing. Good work on both your rigs, and welcome to the slanted world! I have a NP435 to sb bellhousing I'd trade or sell'

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Dave

1977 d-200 crew cab ex-army pickup wants it's /6 back
1962 Valiant 2 door, 170, three on the tree
1972 d-100 parts truck
80 volare wagon now a parts car

Nice trucks!

Thank you both!

At the moment I'm fairly confident I'll just leave the power train as it is. I like how bullet-proof the np435 is, and if I wanted more power I'd put a small turbo on the slant before swapping it out for a V8. It's fun being different

I did a rapid, albeit functional clamp-exhaust on the D100 and got the bed back on yesterday. Hoping to get it driving and start diagnosing further issues first, then go back later and do a proper exhaust system.

It's running rough from sitting for so long, though. I cleaned the plugs, which helped, but I need to put some more gas in and some dry-gas. The tank has been left exposed for a few months with nothing more than a tarp, which didn't seem to do a very good job. Hope to run through the tune-up check list this weekend.

I'm collecting parts for the D150. Ignition, line for the gas and brakes, and little bits for this and that. The truck is surprisingly sound, just needs a tune up and a lot of undercoating.

Hoping to have some photos this weekend.

Well, it's been a trying weekend. Lots of work, for orders, for my local archery club, and on the truck (D100 to be specific).

Got the bed on, lights back, and took her for a test drive up the road. Wasn't good. Runs alright but needs some attention to the rear end, transmission, and front suspension. Right now the synchro's for first and second are gone, making it pretty much back-burnered as a daily driver for now. Light buckets fell out and I lost my rear driver blinker and brake light too. The transmission issues have me discouraged.

At this point I'm switching gears to the D150, to get it on the road as a daily. I gave it another look over and found it's a lot nicer than originally thought. Frame is solid, and it just needs minor tune up. I repacked the front driver side wheel bearings and unstuck the front caliper (it locked on the drive home). Hopefully Tuesday I'll pull the bed, redo the brake and gas lines, and get it undercoated. I am waiting on my last bit for the HEI, and I need to pick up some new gear oil for the trans. Truth be told, I should be able to get it on the road in a month- it really is that nice.

Back from my trip, I did some work on the D150. It's still at my parent's house, so every work day/evening is about 45 minutes of driving. Hoping to have this one driving itself back and forth soon enough.

Got the bed pulled and the ignition done. The Lean Burn wasn't shot, like the D100, but she wasn't doing too well, either. The spaghetti was driving me up the wall.





So I got it swapped to HEI and after a few hours of screwing up my timing, got her running. I think my cheap parts are costing me though, as the spark isn't as hot as I expected. Isn't for either truck. After I get it running I'll look into some better parts. It'd be nice to be able to increase the plug gap.





After my brother got off of work he helped me lift the bed off. I replaced the leaking brake line and bled the brakes. Pulled the other front caliper, but it's still locking. Going to rebuild both front calipers. First things first though, the bed is off and I'll finish the rear brake and gas lines, and undercoat the entire rear of the frame, then put the bed back on and make sure I didn't bugger my lights.



While I'm working on mine, my brother has been working on his. He got his express running, and now moving. The transmission is slipping, but at least it moves and it sounds FANTASTIC! He's hoping to get a windshield so it's at least sealed before he heads back to school.

Keep up the good work! Those are coming along nicely.

Good progress! If your spark isn't as hot as it could be with the HEI set up, try reversing the wires to the distributor pickup. It makes a difference somehow. Mine was brighter one way than the other, and was vastly stronger than the stock spark.

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

The HEI upgrade usually includes a coil upgrade. Are you still using the stock coil? Grab a coil off of a late 80s/early 90s Ford product.

Thanks guys. I'll try reversing the distributor hook ups. I'm using MSD Blaster II coils- figured if I didn't like them my brother would use them (he's using the MSD streetfire ingition boxes). From what I've read they're supposed to produce as hot a spark as the stock e-coils. What's irritating is that the D100 ran way better at first, but after a while seemed to lose some of its heat. I had the plugs gapped at 0.045" and it ran perfectly, but after a couple weeks it lost it.

Tomorrow I'm making a day of finishing the rear brake lines, gas lines, and undercoating the frame. I'd like to get the bed back on and light buckets back in before I'm done.