New to me 69 Camper Special

[danrabe]

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to post on here, and hopefully get some future advice and information.

My wife and I have been interested in "restoring" an older vehicle. I am a MOPAR guy, so when I saw an old 69 383 Camper special for sale we picked it up. It is in generally good condition, though it needs new brakes all the way around and new steering system.

We want to make this truck perfect again, and plan on doing everything as correctly as we can to rebuild it. Is there any websites or books that we should look at to aid in our rebuilding process? Where is the best places to find parts for these? Any general knowledge I should know about these old trucks? What years have body parts that are compatible if we have to swap out some body panels?

Thanks for the help,
Dan

[Seff]

to the site dan, the guys on here will get you set up quite nicely. they know their stuff. if your looking for parts go to the parts wanted section and they guys will help you find what you need.

best regards,
Seff

[Hobcobble]

Welcome to the site Dan Let us know
what body parts you might be in need of and we can
tell you the years to choose from. There are a lot
of shared parts over the years. In "general", the
final major re-design came in '69. There were a lot
of things changed..... Here are a few of them.....
Frame cross members [tranny]
Rear spring perches for front leaf springs
Change to a mechanical clutch [manual tranny]
Reconfigured wiring harness
New dashboard design
New clutch, brake and gas pedals
New steering column
New hood
16.5" wheels began to show up on 3/4 ton models [this size tire is basically obsolete now....]

As far as rebuilding your steering system, there's a
guy over near Washougal [Bud Thorp] who rebuilds
steering boxes. Other steering parts such as tie rod
ends, drag link and king pins can still be had from
parts stores and various NOS sources.

Post up some pics of your truck when you get a chance.
We all love pics.
John

[danrabe]

Well, right now, I know for sure I am going to need a new grille and a new floor pan, is there a good website that I can order parts on? I can't figure out how to post a picture from my computer right now, I will have to play with it.

[danrabe]

Ok, I figured out how to do it.

[Dood]

Nice!

[one54dodgetruck]

Welcome! Another Washington swepty.
Andrew

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Well, right now, I know for sure I am going to need a new grille and a new floor pan, is there a good website that I can order parts on?

No.
There's not a bad website either.

[soopernaut]

I've seen this truck before, probably on craigslist. Did the front fenders come from another truck or is the side trim missing from the rest of the truck? I also see that the hood is an older one and it also kind of looks like it has an early dashboard.

[danrabe]

As far as I know the hood is the original, though I dont know the difference between them. The trim is actually sitting in the bed of the truck at the moment. You probably have seen this truck on craigslist, being from Des Moines. We got it recently from a guy up in Carnation, by Redmond. Had to trailer it back here to Roy because the brakes werent working. Quite the load on a trailer, but my Ram 3500 thanked me for the opportunity to finally pull something heavy!

[PwrWgnDrvr]

It might not be a 69.
Post a front pic, interior pic, underhood pic and we can see a lot more. U can decode the vin at the registry, which will tell u exactly what it is.
http://www.sweptline.org/SweptlineRegistry/index.php

[soopernaut]

You probably have seen this truck on craigslist, being from Des Moines.

Why? Do people from Des Moines tend to look at CL ads all over the country? Actually I do. I search the entire country for Sweptlines. I'm not in Des Moines, Washington either, but the other Des Moines.

[danrabe]

Oops, I thought I had read WA not IA...Des Moines WA is only about an hour from where I bought the truck...my mistake. Went to the registry, it is a 69' D200 Camper Special.

[danrabe]

I will get all the pictures up I can. It is actually my wife's truck,so she has all the pictures on her laptop. Once I get them from her, I will get them up here and get some more much appreciated input.

Thanks,
Dan

[PwrWgnDrvr]

That is NOT a 69 hood!
Go to this forum, click on the truck of the week pic to go to Norm's albums with thousands of truck pics. U can see the differences easily there.
http://www.dodgesweptline.org/phorum/list.php?2

[danrabe]

Just so everyone knows, that hood is open. It normally sits about 2 inches lower and flush with everything else. It has the original paint color on it as well, so unless it was damaged well before it got its next paint job, I think it is original. Like I said though, the hood isnt shut. Upon further examination, it may possibly be a 68 hood? Though on that photo gallery site, I found a couple 69's that had the same hood style as mine.

[MrMopar]

I think the issue is that the hood has the louvers.

Alan

[danrabe]

Yeah, I just went back out to the truck, I think you all are right, it does look like the 68 hood. I have a couple pictures attached as well. Where would be a good source to pick up a 69 hood?

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Hoods are only available used - parts truck, wrecking yard, etc. Finding a perfect one is difficult. They are extremely expensive and difficult to ship, so local sources are prime focus. Sometimes, u can find a complete truck on CL, etc, very inexpensive. Buy it for the hood, sell the rest.
fyi, 68 hoods are one yr only, thus they are the scarcest and most valuable. 69-71 are all the same, and are the easiest to find.

[demulsion]

I've seen this truck before, probably on craigslist.

I've seen it on craigslist off and on for a year or more. Looked to be a fairly solid truck, with a pie-plate front clip as I recall. Should be a great project for you, danrabe!