1600mi Road Trip in a 71 D100

[ckjarr]

Hi all,
New member from TN here. I ran across this forum the other day trying to learn about the D100 Sweptline pickups. Let me start off by thanking everyone for what I’ve already learned! Ive been around old Mopars my whole life, dad still has his first car (72 Scamp), so I’m not new to Mopars but new to this platform. Between dad and myself we have several old Mopars. Nothing really special or worth a lot of money but all drivers and a world of fun for the two of us! We really don’t need anything else as this time in life is incredibly busy for me (I’m 37 married with 3 kiddos!!!) but of all the things we’ve accumulated over the years together, we have no pickups... So I started searching some time back for a short bed pickup to set up as a shop truck. It didn’t take long to get bitten by the sweptline bug... I’ve been searching for 6 months or so and came close to buying some D150’s but just never have followed through on anything. Down deep I really want a sweptside... Then a few weeks ago I ran across a short bed in Los Angeles, CA and made a phone call. What started off as a not so serious inquire has escalated into a possible purchase 1600 miles away... We have never bought anything we couldn’t drive home, so... we are looking at taking what we’re calling “An Adventure” to LA to see if we can buy an old pickup, give it a good going over, and spending a few days driving back east to NW TN!!! Our only problem is this gentleman has no shop for us to go over the truck... Is there anyone that could direct me to a shop in LA that would allow us to spend a little time in and under an old truck so we can attempt this?! I have videos of the truck starting, running, driving, and going through the gears but I would want to change all the fluids, possibly replace all the rubber lines/belts/hoses, and inspect the brakes. Any help is greatly appreciated!! I will see if I can upload some pics of some of the old cars. I know how we all like pics... Thanks again everyone!!

[my5thmopar]

Welcome from another TNer. You’re going to have a cool adventure regardless of what happens. Craig

[ckjarr]

Thanks Craig! My names Kyle by the way... What part of TN are you in?!

[ckjarr]

Can’t seem to figure out the resize thing to post pictures... Any one out in LA know of a shop I could rent or gain access to?!

[ckjarr]

Don’t mind me... Just trying to figure out how to share pics off my phone on this platform...

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0UXxkZ ... Pe6t9l8vHQ

[ckjarr]

So this seems to be the only way I know how to share these pics... Not ideal but it will work. So our trip didn’t go as planned but it went about as expected. We didn’t make it over 20mi and the battery fell into the fan and destroyed the battery, fan, and radiator... I had ran across a couple contacts on FABO in LA that came through for us in a big way! Long story short, the truck arrived in TN last week and I had a chance to get it out today and run around a bit. Thought I would share a few pics. It’s a project for sure but it makes me smile!!!!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0dZdL7 ... 7Ho1JqUnbA

[Txas2step]

Quite an undertaking to travel that distance in a vehicle you are not driver familiar with. Congrats! FYI your truck does not appear to be a '71 from the Photo's. : 'late '65-'67 grill, '61-'68 dash,'61'-'67 hood,'68 door panels. The VIN # will tell you the year. Good luck will your Swepty.

[swptln]

Quite an undertaking to travel that distance in a vehicle you are not driver familiar with. Congrats! FYI your truck does not appear to be a '71 from the Photo's. : 'late '65-'67 grill, '61-'68 dash,'61'-'67 hood,'68 door panels. The VIN # will tell you the year. Good luck will your Swepty.

Early 61-68 wipers, early gauges, too. But, has the DOM decal on the door jamb......VIN will tell all for sure.

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Early gauges as in 62-64, NOT 65 or later! Doors are 68-71.

[ckjarr]

Thanks for all the info! I’m not familiar with the trucks at all... I did know the grille, hood, and dash were not correct for a 71 but I like the backdated look. Didn’t know all the other. I was really just looking for one that wasn’t eat up with rust. I would really like to make an old school 440/4spd shop truck to run around in so one that’s already pieced together is perfect. I ran the VIN before heading out there and it is a 71. It currently has a 318 from 77 and a 727. Does the A727 on the tag in the door jamb indicate the truck was an automatic from the factory?

[ckjarr]

Also, if you look closely at the rear window, it has a sweptline.org decal along the bottom. I was really hoping someone here would recognize the truck and share some history!

[PwrWgnDrvr]

What is the vin stamped on the frame? does it match the tag? Its above the right front axle, outer side, usually invisible under the grime.

[ckjarr]

What is the vin stamped on the frame? does it match the tag? Its above the right front axle, outer side, usually invisible under the grime.

I will check into this this evening!! Thanks!

[ckjarr]

The VIN on the cab matches the frame so it is a 71. The tag in the door jamb says 318 1 in the engine blank but it has two model blanks with one saying A727. Would this indicate a 318/727?

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Yes, that is a 727 auto. Your truck is basically a Frankenstein truck with a huge mix n match of different yrs. Looks nice but it will test your skills getting correct parts at times. Plus no guarantee the engine and tranny are the ones that came from the factory, so the vin plate may not be correct.
You do have the 71 steering column with the column shifter and a 71 gas pedal.

[ckjarr]

I love a frakenstien that someone else has cobbled together! That just releases me to do what ever I feel. I’m not sure on the 727 but the date code on the 318 is 77 so it’s not original. As for the column, it’s missing some pieces down by the rag joint that are allowing a lot of play/movement in the shifter. This is my first point to focus on. At times the shifter can work it’s way close enough to the rag joint to make contact and place the truck in park when turning left... happens very quickly!

[soopernaut]

Also, if you look closely at the rear window, it has a sweptline.org decal along the bottom. I was really hoping someone here would recognize the truck and share some history!

It does look familiar, but there were so many people and trucks that have come and gone over the years on this forum. It might take a long time to find.

[ckjarr]

It does look familiar, but there were so many people and trucks that have come and gone over the years on this forum. It might take a long time to find.
[/quote]

No doubt... I’m sure a lot of the things done to this poor truck happened after it left the hands of someone that cared enough to be part of a community that appreciates them. Let me see if I can share a pic of the trans crossmember... I can’t tell what the reasoning would have been... Maybe the wrong tail shaft so this was the fix??

https://share.icloud.com/photos/05nIrR ... ww#Gleason

[Hobcobble]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/05nIrR ... ww#Gleason

Oh my..... That looks pretty shaky.

John

[ckjarr]

[quote=ckjarr post_id=311517 time=<a href="tel:1621344477">1621344477</a> user_id=12323]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/05nIrR ... ww#Gleason

Oh my..... That looks pretty shaky.

John
[/quote]

You’ve got that right! That’s just one of the many reasons we decided against the 2k mi journey home... If you can see things like that, what’s there that you can’t see?? I don’t mind breaking down but I didn’t want to damage the truck any more that it already is. I think it can be a cool shop truck with some work!