New to sweptlines, new to the forum! 1963 (?) D200

[Natasha]

Hey there!

My dad has this sweptline that I'm going to be getting from him, hopefully soon, as a project truck!

I believe it's a '63, and it is pretty beat up, but it has good interior and very little rust!

This is a 318/4spd truck. I'm hoping to try and get it started today, so that I can hear what this old iron sounds like :)

Plan after that is to maybe yank it (or drive it???) out of this spot and get to work on it

[Hobcobble]

Welcome to the site. Looks like a pretty decent D200.
Make sure your brakes and hydraulic clutch are up to the task if you do
get it started up. You want to be able to stop it if it does move....
More pics too.... we love pics.....

John

[bbakernm]

Welcome here!

Cool that you are able to keep the truck in the family.
Looks like a fun project.

[Natasha]

So I did get it running today, sorry I don't have more pictures! I got the hood off because the hood was all twisted up from the nut inserts ripping out of the passenger side (hence the Gangster Lean). I took the hinges off and tossed them in the passenger floorboard for now.

My dad never touched this truck so he didn't know much about it. From what I gathered today, it is a '64 and it has a later model LA 318 swapped into it, with the original 4 speed. Clutch hydraulics work and the truck does move under its own power, picks fuel up from the tank just fine, even looks clean in the filter. Looks to have been stored real dry.

The carb base gasket has a leak I need to address, but otherwise all I had to do was take my nail file to the points and clean some stuff up, it purred to life like it had never been sitting.

I'm going to go grab some more pictures while it's still daylight...

[Natasha]

Here's a bunch of new pics!

I'm only at my parents' place for another day so it may be a little bit before I get to work on it again, but the next logical step I think is brakes, so that I can move it around without crashing it

[Hobcobble]

Looks like the right rear tire is kinda low...
Great news that you have it running and moving under
its own power. I'd say that, at some point, the hood
probably flew up and cuffed the cab drip rail.... judging
by the hood dents and marks on the rail. Also, I'm thinking
the starter relay is a Ford Motor Company type? .....
You can get a MoPar relay from any local parts store. Let them
know its for a manual transmission truck. I wonder what lurks
beneath that sheet of plywood in the box? .... Take a deep
breath... All in all..... the D200 looks quite decent.
Definitely give all the fluids a thorough check and change as
needed.

John

[wally426ci]

Great to hear that it cranked up! good project and feel free to ask questions along the way.

[Natasha]

Looks like the right rear tire is kinda low...
Great news that you have it running and moving under
its own power. I'd say that, at some point, the hood
probably flew up and cuffed the cab drip rail.... judging
by the hood dents and marks on the rail. Also, I'm thinking
the starter relay is a Ford Motor Company type? .....
You can get a MoPar relay from any local parts store. Let them
know its for a manual transmission truck. I wonder what lurks
beneath that sheet of plywood in the box? .... Take a deep
breath... All in all..... the D200 looks quite decent.
Definitely give all the fluids a thorough check and change as
needed.

John

That looks like what may have happened!

I'll have to weld new nuts into the hood and fix where they ripped out, being a fairly small lady as I am, it's getting real tiring hulking the hood off by myself and putting it into the bed when I want to work on this thing

I noticed the relay, it's working so I don't think that I'll mess with it for now. Starts every time I bump the key now! Carb definitely needs attention though.

The plywood isn't covering anything. No literally, there's NOTHING under it! Haha. I think the truck must have set with a bunch of trash in it for a long time and it totally ate away all the sheet metal. I think I will replace the plywood with some proper boards because I like the ease of repair and durability of wood, but I would prefer it to be done right. And the bed's already gone, so.... Not really hurting anything. But that's a project down the road!

The very, very next things that I am going to do are fluids, adjust the steering box (it's got a lot of play but the adjustment screw is pretty far out... Hoping I can get some life out of it by running that in a bit but I have a feeling the box is shot.) and replace that tire that keeps going flat. It holds air for the better part of a day right now not exactly convenient

Anyways, this is my last day with the truck for a while. I was watching my dad's place while he was on a trip with my mom and they're back. So I won't see it for a little while.

When I come back to it, I'll start a proper build thread and keep you guys updated (and ask questions, when I need to!)

[Wildergarten]

I noticed the relay, it's working so I don't think that I'll mess with it for now. Starts every time I bump the key now! Carb definitely needs attention though.

The plywood isn't covering anything. No literally, there's NOTHING under it! Haha. I think the truck must have set with a bunch of trash in it for a long time and it totally ate away all the sheet metal. I think I will replace the plywood with some proper boards because I like the ease of repair and durability of wood, but I would prefer it to be done right. And the bed's already gone, so.... Not really hurting anything. But that's a project down the road!

The very, very next things that I am going to do are fluids, adjust the steering box (it's got a lot of play but the adjustment screw is pretty far out... Hoping I can get some life out of it by running that in a bit but I have a feeling the box is shot.)

Buy a bed. You can get a good one used for about $500. I have a beauty for sale, but you can surely find one closer to you. Good tailgates are around, but they're harder to come by.

The procedure in the factory manual for adjusting the steering box is very good. You start with the big nut around the input from the steering shaft, THEN adjust the screw on the crossshaft. You can still get the manual (new) for a very reasonable price on ebay.

The Ford relay is likely better than the Mopar (and I've gone through a LOT of them).

[Hobcobble]

It wouldn't be too difficult to lay down some boards to keep the box
in service. The '61-early '65 Sweptline boxes don't exactly grow on
trees anymore. Perhaps you could look into some of the non-wood
[composite] porch deck planks available.... they might work OK too.
White oak is a good sturdy wood for box floors. Heart pine is decent
as well.

The carb looks to be a Stromberg WW2 model. If the throttle plate
isn't too worn, you can throw a $20 Jiffy Kit into it and bring it back
to life.

A guy up in Washington [Bud Thorp] rebuilds steering boxes. Here's
his website:
https://www.61-71dodgesweptlineparts.com/
Bud knows his stuff. He's trustworthy.

John

[PwrWgnDrvr]

And, the early long boxes are shorter than the later long boxes, so converting to the more common late boxes is quite problematic.
I have a real nice early one here, but no way to ship it cross country....

[Natasha]

Thanks for all the tips and advice!

I haven't gotten to work on the truck much since I left my parents' house. I should see it again on Christmas, and we will see what trouble I get into that day. I will spend most of the day in the kitchen preparing the meal for the evening though, so I don't expect much.

My dad did let me know that the gas tank has a pinhole on the passenger side, which I might work on patching while I'm there for christmas since I won't have much time to do anything else.

[ScrooLoose]

Good looking D200 to save.
And sounds like you have the proper mindset to take the recovery and resurrection of this old truck a long way. And if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. These guys are scary smart. Keep us up-to-date.
SL.