Sweptline.ORG

I am considering a D300 for hot rod type project. I am more interested in driveability and speed than low end torque for 4x4ing or hauling. Is D300 a bad choice off the top? With a big block motor, right transmission and rear end, can they be built for speed? I also want P/S and P/B, custom wheels. Are these things practical, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Thanks.

The things that you'd have to change to make it a "hot rod" are what make it a 300 anyways, so I'd start with something closer to what your goal is. Like maybe a half ton.
A D300 will have a low gear axle ratio, slow shifting transmission (if 4-speed), 8 lug dually wheels and ride like a truck.

For speed & driveability I suspect you want P/S, PDB, an auto, something better than the stock gears, softer springs, lighter aftermarket wheels & better profile tires.
Plus maybe comfort of A/C, assuming comfort is tied to driveability.
And we haven't even looked under the hood yet.

What you're seeking is certainly doable. It's just a D300 is further from your final goal than a D100/200.

Bucky

The D300 frame weighs more, is stiffer and the wheelbase of a 300 is longer so the pickup bed won't fit correctly. Don't recall ever having seen a one ton flatbed hotrod. Ive put 200,000 miles on a 62 W300. Driveability and speed don't exist.
So to answer your question " Is D300 a bad choice off the top?", yes!

Okay, okay, you guys talked me into it. :-)
I'm thinking about this as my jumping off point: http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/5046524910.html

It looks like the hood is from the earlier model.

I like the ram bar in the front.

And thank you guys for the great info and insight. I think I will take on the challenge of improving the truck's streetability while recognizing it will always be a 1 ton truck and compromises and a balance will need to be struck.

Pwrwgndrvr, do you do any contract restoration or consultation work? I'm just down the highway from you in Oakland Hills.

The hood on the Reno truck is correct for 68, which is a one yr only hood.
Do u have a truck now, or just wanting to get one? If u want the "look" of 300, but the ride of a street truck, u should just put a 300 cab on a 100/200 frame. The main difference in the cabs is the floor, running board steps, fenders and front valance. If u want a project like that, maybe u should come by my place and look at my parts and trucks stash. I probably have everything u would need. By time u get that Reno truck home u will be into it for 2500-3000 + a lot of time.
No, I don't do work on them for hire. Fix my own when they break, part others out and that's about it

Yes, my attraction to the D300 is purely an aesthetic one. I want the beefy looking cab. If i could put that on a D200 frame, that would probably solve a lot of headache. The only thing Id lose that i liked would be the duallies, but I would probably live.

The Reno truck I was gonna try to offer 1000.

Yes, Pwrwgndrvr, I'd love to see what you have and discuss options for piecing me something together.

Pwrwgndrvr, do you have the pieces to assemble what I'm trying to put together? Namely, a D300 cab, and a D100 or D200 chassis with a Sweptline bed?

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