hi there

[russ446]

just joined yesterday. i'm russ. been into dodges all my life. had my truck for about 15 years, unfortunately it's gone to mopar heaven. canadian winters killed it. saved the drivetrain for my '65 cuda. it went 15.00@98mph in my truck. hoping the cuda will be in high 13's. also own a '73 dart swinger, built for he track
11.20 @ 120mph. i like'em fast and low, including my trucks. i really miss mine. hope to make some friends here.

[CSS-Registry]

welcome aboard.

got any details on the drive line from your truck?

Ben

[POWWAG]

Welcome Russ! you're sure to find some friends and probably another truck here.

Don

[steven]

Welcome Russ! you're sure to find some friends and probably another truck here.

Don

Yep, welcome aboard.

[MountainMoparRobin]

and I said a little Mopar Truck Prayer for ya truck, Amen to the "LOW & Fast"
got a little picture of the once lived truck?????

[motomatt383]

welcome aboard, some pics of that old truck would be cool! having grown up in upstate New York i'm amazed any thing from up there has survived! i'm sure you'll find a truck of your liking here, & probably a friend or 2!!

matt

[Goldie]

another member who knows the true meaning of RUST!

[russ446]

nice tomeet you guys.
the 360 is a solid motor, but old school. it's bored either 60 over 0r 40, can't remember wich. it was a long time ago. theres a '68 grind 340 cam. the rest is pure 360. very tourqey motor. the truck was quick with headers and 3000 stall,and 3.55 gears. later i used it for towing with a different converter and 3.23 gears. there was nothing it wouldn't pull. hills were no problem. i'm hoping the tourque of the motor will pull my lighter '65 through the traps in the high 13's.my cuda will be using 340 exhaust maifolds, and 3.91 gears.
this is a pretty new computer for me so i have to find some pics and scan them in. hopefully in the future though.

[Russ]

Welcome to the forum. We always need another Russ, LOL. You're number three.
Russ number two (I think Russ Roth was first).

[MountainMoparRobin]

The older trucks used a thicker gauge metal pre-69, and had extra un-needed crossmembers , once they discovered they were over killing by about 400 lbs they went with lighter gauge metal and double walled the bed and eliminated the extra un-needed cross members and increased the Horsepower creating more 383's, your 69-71 models with big block weigh in around 3800 lbs the small blocks 3500-3600, when you start using the much lighter aftermarket intakes and getting rid of the un-needed items like bumpers, taligate (heavier the the entire bed), and using aftermarket light engine parts you'll cut down another 300-500lbs so now you see they are gettin close to being as light as the "A" bodies, then if you have a chance to sit one beside newere trucks and cars you'll see the older trucks are actually more areodynamic because of less frontal surface, compaired to cars their is very little difference if you look and examine these things will start coming out, that explains why these trucks can run 10's with 360 pump gas (etsweptster) and 12's with 451 stroker (badeeds, now belongs to a florida member and he is making changes to go 11's) both are street driven and pump gas. The trucks are the most underated vehicles out there, everyone whats to think of them as heavy and non aerodynamic, but do the comparisons and you'll see that is not the case

[MountainMoparRobin]

OOOPPS,
Here is years of research, and some that have been proven, that could really help you skip some steps in achieving the goal you have set forth, We have learned through years of this forum that the removing the tail gate doesn't help with gas mileage, infact could be just the opposite, I know this doesn't make sense however after years and years of being in denial, I drove my truck with a 440 from 1990 until 2000, the truck at this time frame had a tailgate and in town the mileage was piss poor, (always someone to race) but I drove it on the highway and found my best fuel mileage at 14 mpg and that was running 70-100+ miles per hour, and most stretches 12 mpg. Now when I tore the truck down to the frame I noticed the weight of the tailgate was astronomical, infact with me picking up the front of the bed (taking it off to get to the frame) my neighbor (6'2" & 250lbs, I'm 5'10" and 185lbs) couldn't lift the rear of the bed up, so I took it off (damn sure isn't the easy off tailgate) I was then able to pick up the rear of the bed myself, infact I picked up the entire bed myself (I laid on my back and lifted with my legs using 4x4 and 2 saw horses) the tailgate weighs around 75-100+lbs, so anyway I have beeen driving since 2003 without a tail gate and here is the results, mileage on the highway 10 mpg, mileage in town 6-10 mpg, the main thing you'll feel is on the highway or speeds of 50mph+ there is a down draft that hits the bed and stays flat as opposed to when the tailgate is on it rises, it does keep the rear end down and you get better traction at high speeds, but here is the other factor, if you keep the front end at factory heights the air at 85+mph will create an upward push at your under carriage making the steering more touchy than if you had powersteering, (you can read about this also on http://www.sweptline.com on the page with the drag truck) to solve this it was found that to cut an area out in the bed so the air could flow, the alternative is to LOWER THE TRUCK, then it forces the air above and over the truck

[russ446]

sorry i haven't been on in awhile. thats cool info. i never noticed alot of difference in mileage with my truck on the gate up or down. drag racing i left it down thinking that it might help traction. i did notice when i had 323 gears in that truck's front got really light @ 120 or so. a bit scary.

[MountainMoparRobin]

Yeap your a Sweptliner I've noticed the same thing

[wide65]

WELCOME!!!