My 1965 Dodge (My first vehicle ever!)

[tallstack]

Hey guys, allow me to intro myself. My name is Cody C, 16 years old and I live in Caldwell Idaho. I started working for this truck when school got out. The deal was work six weeks for this guy and the truck was mine. I was so glad when I was done, the guy worked me like a dog!!

It has a 318 with a new heavy duty clutch. Needs breaks on the front. Brand new 10 ply Good Years on front and 70% tread on back. The old Gentelman painted it with Rustolium a year or so ago. It is a terrible paint job but kept it from rusting I guess. It has a custom flatbed on it. It runs a little rough and I think its a valve that is burned. I need to get a compression tester to see if it is burned.

I'm kind of on my own here guys. Its just me and mom and no dad with knowhow or deep pockets around here. I have to find odd jobs to pay for my parts and things. So I can sure use you guys help when I come up against things I dont know anything about.

I am posting a picture of me and my awesome new truck. One more thing, do you guys get really crappy mileage with 318 motors? I get about 8 miles a gallon with mine. As you guessed, I dont go places a lot. But I did make $20 yesterday by hauling a refridgerator for my friends Dad. That was truly awesome!

I am goint to try and fix the miss and breaks and I would like to find some nice wheels. I have good tires on it. I just want some nice chrome or aluminum wheels. It also has door issues and the speedometer dont work. Probably have to find some diffrent doors to fix that problem.

I have a O G and a E for the hood letters. Do you know where I can find a couple of D's?

I might have to lean on you guys a little heavy. I hope you all dont get tired of my goofy questions. Thanks

Cody C












It has a custom flatbed on it with a place in the center to hook a gooseneck trailer. A receiver hitch and a hookup for electric brakes and a controller in the cab.

[hampstead38]

Cody,

First of all, congratulations. I drove a '65 Dodge D100 with a slant six when I was your age... about 10,000 years ago. It was a good truck... and one of the reasons I recently picked up my '66 D200.

The guys here are very helpful. I'm originall from Libby, Montana. Spending the past 15 years on the east coast has made me appreciate the low humidity and no road salt of home. Your truck looks pretty straight... not a bad deal for six weeks worth of work. Here's some advice... worth exactly what you paid for it. One, start scouting for a parts truck. You can save quite a bit of money picking parts you need off a wreck rather than paying the folks at NAPA your hard earned. Two, be patient about the chrome or aluminum wheels. Things like making sure the brakes are strong and getting the engine running smooth... those things are going to save you time, money and headaches in the long run. Trust me... cool wheels don't make you go (or stop) any faster... a fact I have proven on more than one occasion.

As for gas mileage, 8 mpg seems a little thirsty... but there are ton of possible reasons. One of my first suggestions is look for leaks around the fuel pump, lines, filters or tanks. Make sure you are burning every drop first.

Good luck to you.

[WAWII]

Cody,

Hey CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to the Dodge Truck World! There are many people here and on a few of the other Dodge sites that will be sure to give plenty of advice and help.

As for the fuel economy, Once the engine is running better and a fresh tune, I'd also suggest you see if you can figure out what gears it has. Based on the bed having a gooseneck hitch, it might be geared low.

Will

[tallstack]

Thanks guys, already great stuff. Yea, I agree that brakes should be a priority. The parts truck thing? Thats great! I will be on the look out for an old wreck I can drag up. Thank you guys

Cody

[Grodr625]

Sweet truck, Cody! Good to see more young people involved in the old truck scene. I picked up my '68 at the beginning of this summer and the support from the people here has been great. Your truck will give you some major headaches and may even make you question driving such an old rig, but the satisfaction you get when you cruise down the highway and everyone is giving you a thumbs up makes it all worth it. Welcome and keep us updated!

[Jones]

Welcome aboard Cody! Looks like you've got a good solid truck.

I would assume it still has 318A (Poly). Might want to check the lashing on the valves, too. That will make them run a little rough and suck fuel.

As for parts, start searching the local wrecking yards.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Keith

[tallstack]

It is a poly motor. I have no idea how to find out the gearing, I do know 1st is so low I don't even use it. It runs strong down the road but idle is a little rough and the motor shakes some when idleing. I can hear kind of a pop-miss when listening to the exhaust. . When I am going down the road and neither accelerating or deaccelerating, it is a little rough running and a little clunking going on like maybe a bad u-joint? I hope thats all it is. It has a fresh tune up, the basics anyway. New plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points and plugs. I was disappointed that it didnt really make any diffrence that I could tell. That was expensive.

I never drive it hard or try to impress anyone by driving it hard or fast. I worked to hard for it to just tear it up. I also know I would be the one to have to pay to fix it. I did find some fresh gas around the fuel pump fitting and it was a little loose. I hope that helps mileage some. I would like to drive it to school this fall maybe twice a week or so. Looking forward to that. Oh yes I am

Cody

[Russ]

Cody, It looks like you have a good truck to start out with. At least it's driveable which is more than many on here can say. You also have something there that many folks with Sweptline trucks would love to have, and that is those door mirrors. Those things are hard to find and expensive when you do find them.
Fix your brakes and any other driveability issues before throwing money at appearance items. Get it running and driving good and enjoy it while you improve the looks. It's good to see a young guy who appreciates a good truck, and Sweptlines are the best.

[Hobcobble]

Welcome Cody! Great story on how you "earned" your truck. Working
"like a dog" has its benefits. You have a few fellow Sweptliners in Idaho.
In your region, parts might not be too difficult to come by. Your truck should
have a VIN tag on the driver's side door jam. It will give you your rear axle
gear ration [if the axle is original to the truck]. As others have suggested, get
the brakes fixed first thing..... you want to drive it TO school..... not THROUGH
school . A Factory Service Manual [FSM] might not be a bad thing to pick
up. They're usually a few on Ebay. Your engine miss could be one of several
different problems.... the worse being something like a burned valve or stretched
timing chain. It might be as easy as setting the valve lash too. For any truck parts
you need [like your "D" letters or front bumper...], post up an ad in the Parts Wanted
section. Don't be timid..... post questions as often as you'd like.... this is a community
and we're all here to assist.
John

[Oldguy]

Welcome aboard! I like your truck. Green is my favorite color so you already have a good start! LOL Don't be shy about asking questions. It makes us feel good to share our knowledge. Or at least our best guess! Good luck! Mike

[Jeremiah]

That is decent looking truck. If you need any brake parts shoot me a PM. I just pulled the power brake stuff off of my '65 to convert it to a dual master cylinder. Also, look around the local salvage yards for speedometer and door parts.

Take a pic of the motor without the air cleaner assy on it so we can see what you have. From there we can begin helping you with the fuel mileage and rough idle.

Congrats on your new truck! Sometimes I help out the tech in Burns, OR and there are some trucks laying around out there. I'm sure you will find more now that you have an eye for the body style.

Jeremiah
Klamath Falls, OR

[Oxdodge]

I have one too, and it doesn't even run at the moment. You are very lucky.

[nfury8]

Welcome! Solid looking truck!

Don't forget that many parts you might need don't necessarily have to come off
another 65 Dodge. Engine, drive line, brakes, and a variety of other parts
can be swapped from dodge trucks, and some cars, clear up into the 90's with
little to no modifications.

Nothing wrong with questions, that is the great thing about sites like this!
I still have my first car from when I was 15, it has been 20 yrs now and I don't
regret holding onto my 69 Fury for a minute. Wish I had the Internet resources
available today back then!

[tallstack]

"Take a pic of the motor without the air cleaner assy on it so we can see what you have. From there we can begin helping you with the fuel mileage and rough idle."



Jeremiah, this is great! and something I can do right now. Here is a few pics. Not sure whats up with the small pic. Thanks


I HAVE CLEANED MY ENGINE AND REPOSTED THE PICTURES.

[nfury8]

Alright, so you have a 3/4 ton with the big Dana 60 rear, 3.54 gear ratio
and the NP435 granny 4spd. Good axle ratio for general use. What size
tires do you have? Taller 235/86-16's will help get the RPMs down and
fit nicely on 3/4 tons.

[Hobcobble]

Stomberg carb. NAPA's carb kit is #2-5111 if you find it
needs a rebuild. If the axle is original to the truck, you've
got a nice 3.54 gear. Green Sweptlines are
cool

John

[hampstead38]

How about some love for the "turf green"? That was the color of my first Sweptline and the color of my current D200 under the "Krylon" paint job. When I finally get around to painting Camper Special "Ed," I was thinking about building on a turf green sort of base... adding a little metallic flake for depth and putting down some gloss... would that be candy apple turf green?

Seriously, though, I remember how stoked I was to get some wheels and get off the big yellow school bus. Hearing Cody's excitment is real treat. I wish more kids today were like that.

[Jones]

Looks like you may still have the canister style oil filter? (Looks pretty dark to be a spin on.)

The clutch slave cylinder looks new, meaning there isn't that Southern Idaho dust on it.

You'll be happy with the Poly. I just lashed my valves this weekend and found some extra horse power. If your wanting to do that, get some new valve cover gaskets and some Permatex. Lashing valves is lot easier than it sounds. My book says .012 for the intake and .022 for the exhaust.

Still a nice truck!!!

Keith

[tallstack]

Thanks for the carb kit #!

Yes, a canister type filter. That was a bummer. It leaked after I changed the oil and I had to take it back off. I had the gasket crumpled up under it. But I got it not leaking and it has a crank case full of 10-30 Castrol High mileage oil in it, and a pint of power punch oil additive.

Yes! I do have a new clutch slave cylinder and a rubilt master. It is for a fact has a new heavy duty clutch in it as of 02/05/09. The receipt was in the glove box. How cool is that?

I like that turf green. The green on mine looks like the spray gun was clogged and it just spit it on. Its embarassing and I got to do something about it. Thanks for the complements on my truck.
I got to say I got to thinking about the pictures I posted of my motor and I am ashamed. The grease, cob webs and leaves. I went and scraped it down, it really wasn't that bad. I then bought me a can of oven cleaner and emptied in all over the motor. Just got back from the car wash. I will probably replace those pictures tomorrow. That was pathetic, kind of.
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Ok guys, this is serious and I need to know what you think.....When I am driving, pressing on the accelerator and gaining speed it is running great! When I reach road speeds and I let off the gas to maintain a speed it begins to run like crap! All jerky like, you know? What do you think of this?
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Thanks muchly
Cody

[tallstack]

So,,,,,,Anyone have any opinions about why my truck engine jerks around like it does? Anyone?