Hello everybody,

Please skip to the bottom if you do not enjoy rambling stories, and would just like to offer feedback. I would openly and honestly appreciate any kind of advice. Considerations, I have the time and funding, I understand at least the basics of everything I need to do to the truck, and if I do not feel confident, I have access to friends that can help.

First, I feel the need for a mini back story on this D150. A friend of mine needed money, coming to me asking if I would be willing to buy his truck, somebody had abandoned it on his property and he had by then legal claimed the truck. It now has a salvaged title. I had been looking at a project to start on, so I told him I would take a look. The only thing I have ever rebuilt was a '72 Nova, I sold it, and have been looking for my newest love for 10 years. I head over to my friend's house, and low and behold there is a 77 Dodge D150. I had instant flashbacks of going hunting with my father, camping, fishing, and learning about life in the front seat of his old Dodge. I knew my friend needed the money(he supports his mother and father on a limited income and they all have health issues), and wanted to sell me the truck for 150 bucks. I pop the hood and there is a 225 that somebody molested with a 16 year olds ambition of building some kind of low riding, sound system, wtf cried a little inside just seeing it, job of an electrical nightmare attached to a body with 3 wire rims and a stock 15 inch on an AT. There is not a single panel without some sort of dent (no biggie) and the interior. Well, lets just say I do not have to worry about gutting it. So, I bout the truck for 500 bucks. Of course, I paid his mother telling her that was the agreed upon price, she did not have a clue he had told me 150. I figured worse case scenario I would be able to at least part it out and recoup my money. I do feel the need to say I have some emotional attachment already with this truck.

Here in lies my problem. I am in love with this truck now. I have gotten it to the point where I can get the engine to turn over, but there is no spark. I have replaced everything, but I have pretty much narrowed it down to the no-points distributor. However, the wiring is brittle and this could also be the problem. Either way, I am positive I can get this engine running again. Everything else looks pretty good, compression is good, all the hardware is at least there to work with, it does need a new carb (but lets be honest, there is no way I am not planning on upgrading... everything). After all of this I am a bit overwhelmed. My wife has given me a monthly truck stipend, it is enough to always have something to do, but this is the problem. There is a lot that needs done. I love working and learning more about this 225, but I also see a fuel system and electrical system that will need total replacement. Basically, it is a total rebuild at this point. I have no idea where to start. Knowing that I can get the engine running, but would like to upgrade, and will end up boring, polishing, and dressing her up for the prom, would it be to early for me to just rip the truck down to its frame pulling the engine and work on fixing the fuel, suspension, and wiring, working my way back up. The little black seed of doubt is, should I get the engine running first before I invest this large chunk of time or even move on?

Options (See pictures below. I do not have an engine picture, but I can get one)

1. Stick with the engine until I know it will run.
2. Being confident that the engine is in good shape and that I will be able to get it to run, strip it down and work up.
3. Walk away now, sell the truck, find something that will be less work. ( I am not afraid of work, and I know it will be a lot.)

https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... JpIjoidCJ9

https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... JpIjoidCJ9

https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... JpIjoidCJ9

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate the time.

That doesn't look bad at all! I think it is a prime candidate for a restoration.

If you have good compression in all cylinders then you can get your current motor running. I always am in favor of making what you have run as well as possible before you start throwing parts and money at it.

If you are positive it is a no spark condition and not a incorrect timing situation, then it is fairly easy to troubleshoot the problem and get it working. You say the previous owner installed a bunch of stuff for an aftermarket stereo. I would start by removing all of the extra stuff and getting the wiring harness back to stock. Then get a factory service manual and trace the wires for the ignition system. Make sure they are all connected properly and the wires are not broken or grounding out.

If the wiring checks out K, the next thing I would check is the distributor pickup in the distributor. You need to check the gap as well as the functionality. If the pickup checks out, then I would inspect the coil. Finally, if the coil passes the resistance tests, I would get the ignition control module replaced.

Could you describe the behavior a little bit? Does it crank and then start to catch but then die? I ask because Mopars of this era had a ballast resistor in the ignition circuit that when it fails will allow the engine to start when the key is turned to "START" but cuts off electricity to the coil when the key is released to "RUN." Check your ballast resistor.

More pictures! Especially of the engine compartment.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I agree, completely savable, I've fixed up worse.

If it was me, I'd get it running, driving, licensed and insured before throwing money into it. Then you'll know what it needs and be more motivated. Too many times people tear something apart with big dreams and it never gets past the tear-down and the dreaming.

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Thank you for the response. Here is what I have gotten so far. The coil, ignition control module, battery, battery cables, cap and rotor, and ignition cylinder are all new. The coil gets 12V to the positive side, and drops to 6V and bounces back and forth from 4V to 8V. The same with the coil cable going to the distributer cap. From this cable I do not get a spark though, which leads me to think it could be the wiring grounding out. I also have pulled the cap and rotor, it is the electronic ignition system that looks like this picture. That middle gear looking fellow is a reluctor right? http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll12 ... tronic.jpg
If I close the gap between the reluctor and magnetic pick up and then open it manually while cranking, I do not get spark. This is what I have learned so far on my ignition electrically so far.

This kid did more than screw up the wiring. He took a grinder to the dash and literally cut it in half removing half of everything, and looks like he tried to splice into ever single wire he could. He then attempted to connect a all in one PC to the dash. I should have take better pictures before I cleaned 80% of it out. Moral of the story is drugs are bad. I have patched the bare wires, and removed every wire that did not belong. The wire coming from the ignition pick-up had been spliced in too, and I removed the connecting wires and patched it. They have power just like the coil does.

As far as when I turn the engine, it is a normal speed crank with 0 fire. I have primed the engine with no luck either(imagine with no spark). The carburetor is completely out of sorts and the fuel lines are....bad. I had previously checked on the ballast resistor and reconnected it, because it was not connected. Here is the sound of it cranking.

https://youtu.be/kjGnTjCXu6Q

Thanks for the input. I will admit I am very lucky to live in Southeast New Mexico. Dry as bone. There is no real rust to speak of, except for a very small spot over the wheel on the right rear quarter panel. Aside from that, pulling some dents out and body work will be minimal. The grill I took off is almost in perfect condition, and I have the side markers and badges in a safe place. (People steal those things here.)

Hmmmm. Have you had an assistant crank the engine while you held the distributor end of the coil to distributor wire close to a ground to verify spark?

That star shaped thing around the middle of the distributor is the reluctor. The little magnetic doodad off on the side is the pickup. Those need to be gapped close to factory spec for the pickup to make the ignition fire.

Another possibility is a failed distributor drive gear. Have you verified the rotor turns as you crank the motor? The coil won't fire until one of those points on the reluctor passes near the pickup. The slant six used plastic distributor drive gear that can crack and fail after a few decades of service. If the gear fails then the reluctor won't spin and the coil won't fire.

If you are getting power to the coil you might still have a fault in the wiring between the ignition control box and the distributor. Time to get a factory service manual and wiring diagram and start tracing wires and repairing and rewrapping the loom.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I have checked the distributor end of the cable no spark while cranking. The rotor spins when I crank. Shouldn't I get a spark if I crank the engine and manually open the gap from closed to open on the pickup, while the coil end of the cable is grounded?

There should be no problem with me removing the rest of the wiring that is not included in the ignition diagram just to clean things up a bit right? I have a couple of wiring diagrams and will be checking everything for the ignition tonight when I get home. I really appreciate the input.

The gap between the reluctor and the pickup is not supposed to open and close like a set of points. It isn't a set of points. It operates on principle of magnetic induction. You must set the gap to the factory specification and leave it there. The reluctor points should never touch the pickup. The pickup creates a small magnetic field tat is interrupted by the reluctor point. When the pickup field is interrupted, the ignition control module collapses the field in the coil and causes the coil to fire.

If the rotor spins and the coil gets voltage then you need to check the wiring between the distributor and the ignition control module, the wiring between the ignition control module and the coil, and the module and coil themselves. You should do a resistance test on the coil and take the control module to a local parts store for a test.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.