Spring/Summer Conversion Project

[Hobcobble]

I picked up an early '65 D100 last summer. It is an original CA truck and was
in need of a lot of mechanical work. Here's some before & afters.....
As Delivered To My Home Last August....

Check out those mar-lite tool boxes

As Rolled Out This Week.....

And Another.....

More to follow.....
John

[Hobcobble]

The truck came equipped with a Slant 6/A745 3spd with an open 3:91 gear.
It has the factory frame reinforcements added and carries the SERT Tag
for it. The engine was real tired and I'm not a huge fan of the 3spd tranny
either. I had parted out a '68 D200 Custom last fall which had a nice running
LA318/NP435 set up with about 60K on it. I figured it a perfect candidate
for the '65

I was surprised that the guy I bought this truck from actually drove it
more than a couple of miles from home I threw a gasket set, soft
plugs[after a thorough internal cleaning] & oil pump into the LA318 and
dropped it in a couple months back.....

I upgraded to the MP electronic ignition and had the rad re-cored as well.

The NP435 was nice & tight and appeared to have been serviced shortly
before it was taken off the road several years ago, as the gear oil was
still very clean and amber. I changed it just to be safe and installed
a new clutch disc, pressure plate, throw-out bearing and pilot bushing
before bolting it up.
John

[DocsTruck]

Very nice, the truck wears that two tone paint very well.

[Hobcobble]

The brakes in the truck were a mess. One front drum was actually slid OVER the
studs from the OUTSIDE of the hub.... like you would on an 8 3/4 rear end . I gave
the truck nice front hubs/drums from a donor vehicle. As I don't like to frig around all
the time with brakes..... I installed self adjusting brake hardware. In addition, I
swapped the single bowl brake master cylinder for the later dual reservoir set up. The
rear axle received inner & outer seals. New shoes, wheel cylinders, brake lines, front
rubber hoses and all new spring kits and adjuster kits were installed.

I had decided that this truck will be used mainly as a cruiser so I ditched the
3:91 open rear [741 case] in favor of a set of highway friendly 2:94's in a 742 case

I installed a new pinion seal as well. Instead of messing with a 2 piece drive line, I
had a local shop shorten and re-balance the original one piece shaft.
John

[Hobcobble]

I saved back a complete dual exhaust system from another donor truck. It only
had about 75-100 miles on it tops but I didn't like the stock "hush" mufflers. I
opted for a Dynomax turbo muffler that gives it a nice low throaty tone.....

You can see the factory frame reinforcements tacked to the bottom of the
frame.

The exhaust pipes fit
pretty well. They dump down right before the rear axle. Although I prefer them
to exit at the rear bumper.... this set up didn't really cost me anything except
for the new mufflers and a couple of clamps & hangers.
John

[Hobcobble]

The factory bumper had been painted flat black and was sort of
beat up. The grill it came with was a white painted steel one. I
bought a nice grill from Butch Romig [thanks Butch! ] and
installed it along with an OK looking chrome bumper from a donor
truck I parted out.

The rear of the truck was a bit tougher. I didn't have a decent
rear bumper [I'm working on a light duty stock rear bumper but
haven't got it yet...] to use except for a giant 250lb step bumper
I borrowed a fellow Sweptliner's idea and installed a front bumper
on the back of my truck There wasn't enough room for
a license plate lamp in the center.... so I located it to the side.
It kind of reminds me of a Model-A set up but I can live with it
until I get the correct bumper.

John

[Hobcobble]

The original interior had seen years of hard use. The wiring harness
had been "pruned" and butchered in many spots and this caused some
electrical issues. The original seat was long gone and someone had
put in a narrower bench seat from another brand of vehicle and crudely
bolted it through the floor. There were NO safety belts.... hmmm.... I
wonder how this truck passed inspection? Also... someone
had gotten real happy with some dark gray metal flake spray paint on
the dash, one kick panel and the door panels.

I opted for a white interior [it was originally white] with silver door
panels and also used the complete dash and wiring harness from my '68
D200 Custom donor truck. I went one step further and installed a white
steering wheel on a re-built/re-wired steering column.

The floor mat is from the '68 D200 and the bench seat came from a local
boneyard [$50 ]. I installed a better heater box and brand
new heater core as well. The safety belts were a must and came from
the '68 D200 donor truck.
John

[Hobcobble]

The truck came with some decent LT235/75/15's up front.... mounted
on what appear to be original wheels. I scrounged up another early 15"
wheel, bought one from 66Patrick [thanks Patrick! ] and
painted them up. I had a pretty fair set of stock dog dish caps that
went on the wheels. I bought two more LT235/75/15's and am ready
to roll.

Just to make it official.... I slapped a sticker I got from Big Dad in
the rear window. I'll put BigDad's "Sweptline.Org" decal on when the
truck is registered for the road [hopefully in the next week or so....]

I'll apologize in advance to those who are in the bodywork profession
As you can clearly see.... I am not a body guy. I like them with some
wear and "patina".... as long as they run good
John

[PowerMan]

Cool truck! Nice job. My Dad and I also had a little project this spring; putting the sheetmetal from a 63 D100 on our 1965 W100.

Power Man
(Rob)

[steven]

Awesome John! That thing looks great, bet its fun to drive.

[Hobcobble]

Awesome John! That thing looks great, bet its fun to drive.

So far.... it has only been up and down our lane a few times. I should have it out on the road
for a shake-down cruise in very near future
John

[MountainMoparRobin]

Excellant, good rundown of project, very nice results, your project had a very fast turn around time
wouldn't the 435 be the same as the 3 speed, or now with the taller highway gears can you actually use 1st gear???
Are the U-joint sizes the same on the 741 as the 742?

[Hobcobble]

Excellant, good rundown of project, very nice results, your project had a very fast turn around time
wouldn't the 435 be the same as the 3 speed, or now with the taller highway gears can you actually use 1st gear???
Are the U-joint sizes the same on the 741 as the 742?

The u-joints are the same size. The 2:94/742 case chunk came from my
'67 R/T. You're correct on the tranny question.... 1st gear is more usable
now. The reason for the quick turnaround is that I didn't do any body work.
I used the best and most rust free parts I had. Between a donor truck ['62
D100 custom] and scavenging.... I was able to produce a truck with all the
stainless side trim. Its all in pretty nice shape. I have a set
of stainless drip rail molding that will be put on at some point. This truck
is a "50 footer" for those with corrective lenses ..... a 60 footer for
those with 20/20. That part really doesn't concern me though.... as long
as it runs good... which it seems to do.
John

[MountainMoparRobin]

I couldn't agree with you more! They all don't have to be perfect, gettin em on the Road is the most important, along with what you did in the engine bay, that is clean

[fosh69]

looks like you did a great job... looks awesome!

[mopardwh]

Looks great! Like the stickers too.

[Hobcobble]

****UPDATE..... FIRST TEST DRIVE*****
Wow.... I like the 2:94 gear set already . Quite
a change from my W200 with 4:88's Aside from
the usual rattles, a final brake bleed and richening up
the fuel mixture.... I'm a happy guy. New York State
inspection is scheduled for Thursday and then I'm
completely legal. Before I stop driving this one later
in the Fall.... I might take it down to the local exhaust
shop to have them run pipes over the axle and dump
them at the bumper. Who knows.... I might even go
"full out custom" and get some chrome exhaust tips!

[I'm already itching to get to my next Sweptline project ]
John