I picked up this beautiful D-150 when I was 15 after my first summer of farm work. Well I parked it and left for the Navy. Figured I'd pick it up when I could. Well 8 years after parking it I've finally started to tear into it and this thing is a mess. Not only the 10 year old honeybun wrappers. But I've got it pretty well opened up as you can see (if the album works) and I've hit my first fork in the road. What do I do? Do I just slap a new carb on it? Current single barrel carb is toast. Do I move to a two barrel or a 4 barrel? The transmission was rebuilt just before I left. I want to give this truck the love it deserves and keep it for the longhaul. But mechanics is out of my very small area of experience.


https://imgur.com/a/OtBzhhl

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82 D-150

That really depends upon your budget and your overall goals for the truck.
Is it an in town driver? Or do you plan highway trips? Any towing? Going to run it on the drag strip? What you plan to do with the truck can guide you with what you need to do with the engine.
First off, why do you think the existing carb is in need of replacement?
Second, what is the overall condition of the engine as it is today? Have you checked compression? Does it run well? Oil leaks? Knocks? Is the oil pressure good?
Stock slants can always benefit from a compression increase. To get that done the head needs to be pulled. With the head off you can replace the valve seals and get the valves ground. But that work is wasted if the bores are worn and the compression is low. So start with a compression check.
Slants from the era of your truck benefit from replacing the lean burn ignition with an HEI.

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Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8