So I bought this '83 D150 short bed, I think it might be the Miser trim but I am not sure, with a factory slant 6 and A-833 OD, and manual steering of all things. I originally bought it to swap the 318 from my late fathers 1983 D150 into, but have since realized sourcing a bell housing is not only difficult, but quite expensive. So I've decided to leave this truck and it's slant-6 mostly alone and simply enjoy it. It was sitting for around about ten years, one owner, dunno what happened to him, he moved to Florida from Virginia and vanished.
Anyway, I'm Ben, 33 years old, had a slew of cars over the years, this is my 3rd 1st gen Ram in my name, I've had an '85 short bed 318 / auto, an '84 long bed 318 / auto Prospector, and this '83. I don't count my Dad's among it because the truck is a total loss and just parts at this point. I didn't wreck it, that's all you need to know. I'm not a specific car guy brand except for a soft spot for a few Oldsmobile's, I'm an old cranky man at heart. I've had Chevy's, Ford's, Mopar's, two Nissan's, a Subaru, a Hyundai Accent that was the dumbest 80 horsepower hatchback I've ever seen, especially when it deleted 3rd and 4th gear. I daily beat on a 2000 Nissan Sentra with 260 odd thousand miles, a 5 speed, and a glasspack muffler 'cause I am an idiot and told the shop to put the cheapest muffler on it he had, and patch the rest of the exhaust. 1.8 4 cylinder go brrrrr
I've done a little work to the truck since I got it, one thing I had to do was get a title, as it was lost, and as I said, the owner had vanished into thin air, also known as Somewhere in Florida. Most of what I have done has been piddling work, but the jist of it is, in no specific order:
Bought the cheapest battery on the shelf at walmart I could find to fit
Rebuilt the Holley 1945, accelerator pump was still iffy at best
Removed Holley 1945, installed with an adapter a Carter / Holley BBD from the 318 in my Dad's truck onto the Slant 6, seems happy now
Repaired a metric ton of hacked and cobbled wiring
Replaced the steering column because mine literally came apart at the collapsible joint while trying to remove the horse shoe clip to get to the ignition switch
Wired in a push button start panel with extra switches for things I may add later, it was cheap and works, it goes directly to the factory relay
Wired a new power source to the heater fan because... It wasn't working and when I applied power to the heater fan circuit it cranked the starter..
Hooked the rear license plate light up because it was dangling in the breeze
removed the carpet, it was foul beyond foul
repaired the drivers side floor that was rusted out because of said soggy carpet with license plates
Removed the 15x10" wheels and 265/70R15's because, manual steering, used 2x 235/75R15's from my Dad's truck on the front, waiting to mount and balance 2x more for the rear
Fixed the horns, one wire was cut (to the working horn), the other horn that was hooked up was screwed and caused a dead short and smoked the starter relay, I stole the new relay out of my Dad's truck (This is a recurring theme, stealing parts from my Dad's '83)
Played musical blinkers relays, suddenly both the emergency and turn signals started flashing as they should, except the right turn signal in the dash, no power there, don't know why or care
wired in a radio to the existing 6x9 door speakers and added two 6x9 speakers in boxes behind the seat already had this stuff laying around so I figured why not.
installed the plood dash bezel out of my Dad's truck as it was the least butchered and nicest of the two I had
Replaced the drivers side door interior door handle (Spring was broken, stole the handle from my Dad's '83)
Installed the tonneau cover for the hell of it
replaced one rear wheel cylinder and rebuilt the other, one of the wheel cylinders I bought off amazon literally got busted in the mail so I used it as a rebuild kit
Replaced all 3 parking brake cables and stole the bar / T thing that connects the two cables to the big swingy metal plate thing because someone smushed the T part the two rear cables go into on my truck (again stolen off my Dad's truck)
bought a random dorman brand blank shift knob that kinda fits since mine was missing
Removed all the extra vacuum crap related to the Holley 1945, down to just the fuel vent on the carb to the charcoal canister (Not vacuum but it's an extra hose), PCV, and distributor advance, brakes are off the manifold. Had no idea what that giant vacuum UFO octopus thing did, it wasn't hooked to anything when I got the truck, so it was gone too.
New fuel filter, hoses up front, probably need to check the tank hoses.
Checked all the brakes, rear shoes around 65%, front pads near new, rotors and drums are a firm "eeehhh, it'll pass VA state inspection...". Noticed the passengers side motor mount is a bit chewy but it seems fine for now
To do:
Windshield, mount and balance rear tires, both headlights are full of blinker fluid, unfortunately they outlawed blinker fluid in VA, new wipers (passengers side wiper is AWOL), and change the oil
Eventually to do:
Louder exhaust, I am immature and I like loud exhaust systems, especially on an engine that sounds like a diesel tractor barreling down the road.
Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, runs great but all this stuff is really old and I'm scared to touch the plug wires.
So, below is the truck, named Dale, the reason will be apparent when you see the differential. I never had the opportunity to meet the original / previous owner, but I know he bought the truck new in Burlington NJ, it was in my neck of the woods in Southwestern VA by 1992 or so, and was sold around 2011 or 2012 and there it sat until the beginning of 2023 when I bought it. Pretty much rust free save for the hole in the drivers side floor due to the leaky (non-existent) door seals. Being a northern truck it's got more paint and undercoat on the frame than I know what to do with, so there's that to fall in my eyes along with dirt, so that's great... Anyway, enough rambling, here's the truck:
PS the BBD 2bbl air cleaner does fit, hood closes, but I can't upload more than 5 attachments sooo, you'll just have to believe me unless someone replies, then I'll attach it to the reply
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