D1 MODEL DESIGNATION D100 or D150 for 80
4 BODY TYPE Conventional Cab W/Sweptline (Standard Box)
A GVW CLASS 6000 lbs or less
E ENGINE TYPE 318-1
7 MODEL YEAR 1977
S ASSEMBLY PLANT Warren Plant No 1
This is the way I purchused the truck .the truck is a fatory 318ci V8 automatic with factory Air Conditioning . Originally it was a black exterior on black interior from factory . The truck sits 4 inches in front and 6 inches rear lower . The truck has been lowered in a way that the fatory Dodge truck rear leaf springs and the front coil springs are still used , aswell as the stock spindles and brake assembly . The AC system is in the process of be replaced with a BeCool AC/heat system . The fire wall has been smoothed over because the new AC/heat unit is ompact enough to almost disapear from sight in the cab .
Welcome Sounds like a cool build you got going on there. I, for one, am a big fan of using factory bits to achieve better stuff. It's just easier to keep a good ride without spending a fortune or cutting everything up.
here are pics of the modified rear hangers and the front lower A-arm .
The rear hangers , the front one was surgically cut and a piece of 3/16th plate was used to raise the pivit point of leaf spring . The rear factory shackle was lengthened as well to keep stock pinion angle .
The only thing modified on the front was lower A-arm was sliced and the coil spring perch was lowered down almost 4 inches and braced with 3/16th flat steel pieces welded in well to sturdy up and resemble stock A-arm .
All this was done to look stock like so DMV and State athorities can not say its is illegal for certain states (Virginia) lol
Oh and I raised the E-brake hanger from under the frame to the side of the frame to clear the true dual 3 inch exhaust coming off the headers 3 inch collecter straight back into 3 inch in/out Summit (Flow Master style) mufflers and then takes a 90% turn out infront of the rear tires to a 2-1/2"X8" rectangle black chrome tips
Tear down pics takning apart so I can start body and paint work .
I bought truck from my Great Uncle and I changed my mind on the color he was going to make the truck .
He choose 2001 Chevy Sunset Orange Met. , Dont get me wrong nice color but just not for me , lol
Thats the color on the firewall in these pics
First pic is my first rim selection lol 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee rims fit with 2" spacers front (to clear hub) and 2-1/2" spacers rear to set them out in wheel wells .
Bought truck june 2010 .
Disassembled truck slowly over next month and began ordering paint and parts .
Rolled cab in August 2010 to clean and paint under cab .
Painted under side chassis black .
The interior Sublime Green Pearl .
the firewall painted Carbon Fiber Grey Met.
I didnt like the look of the factory body panel line on back of the cab .
So I wire brushed , sand blasted , and dug out the body caulk lol .
Then used Metal Bond to fill the gap .
Using a modified body filler paddle I cut a profile out to match the cab where the body line was .
Switched to USG Feather-Rite body filler to finesse the line to more of a unifornmed look across the back of the cab .
Primed first coat with Rust-oleum etching primer and then switched to Rust-oleum grey surface primer .
Started putting interior together sept 2010 .
Used contact cement and 3M spray adhesive to stick the 1/2 thick carpet padding to the fire wall .
And same adhesive to aply the Black carpet pieces to fire wall and kick panels .
Just before starting Interior I had to do little body work and paint the Inside of the doors .
So that when I did start the interior I could bolt the doors back on ,
so that the interior would not get the weathered , because I'm Building my truck in the back yard out in the open lol
The factory AC/heater box was removed leaving a big hole in pass. side kick panel .
So I go to thinking when I was looking thru my extra parts and saw i had a few extra kick vents for driver side .
Next I mad a pattern or the drivers side vent hole and flipped it over to pass. side .
Marked the new vent hole area off , Then made a pattern of the piece of sheet metal I needed to fill in the rest of the factory vent hole . Welded in and finished off with padding and carpet .
Mounted the Vintage Air AC/heater unit high and out out of sight under the dash .
I reused the factory defrost vents on top of dash using supplied flex hoses from Vintage Air.
The factory lower dash vents were reused and most of the hard plastic conection tubes were modified to accept the Vintage Air flex tubes .
The factory AC/heater control unit was removed and the dash holw modified to accept the Vintage Air Control unit .
The factory AC/heater box was removed leaving a big hole in pass. side kick panel .
So I go to thinking when I was looking thru my extra parts and saw i had a few extra kick vents for driver side .
Next I mad a pattern or the drivers side vent hole and flipped it over to pass. side .
Marked the new vent hole area off , Then made a pattern of the piece of sheet metal I needed to fill in the rest of the factory vent hole . Welded in and finished off with padding and carpet .
Mounted the BeCool AC/heater unit high and out out of sight under the dash .
I reused the factory defrost vents on top of dash using supplied flex hoses from BeCool .
The factory lower dash vents were reused and most of the hard plastic conection tubes were modified to accept the BeCool flex tubes .
The factory AC/heater control unit was removed and the dash holw modified to accept the BeCool Control unit .
The Vintage Air was a complete system for my truck I paid $600 extra for it from my Uncle that had the truck originally . I priced it out on the Internet and it runs $700-$1100 depending on what its going in and what all you need to install .
Mine came with all new hoses and wiring , compressor cooler radiator under dash unit , control head unit , and flex hoses .
The BeCool was a complete system for my truck I paid $600 extra for it from my Uncle that had the truck originally . I priced it out on the Internet and it runs $700-$1100 depending on what its going in and what all you need to install .
Mine came with all new hoses and wiring , compressor cooler radiator under dash unit , control head unit , and flex hoses .
Windshield is NOS 13% factory tinted .
The rear glass was cleaned and tinted with 5% let thru Limo Black tint .
All Door glass was cleaned and tinted with 20% let thru Limo Black tint .
The steering column I disassembled and cleaned and re painted the shaft and cover tube Carbon Fiber Met. .
When i was sanding the 3 pieces that make up the shifter base and rest of column with key switch in it ,
I keep sanding with finer grit paper , till i hit 600 grit , I noticed how kewl it would look chrome .
So I went and found 1500 grit and kept sanding till it was smooth .
Took rubbing compound and polisher and poilshed it till it shined .
I let it sit in the Truck for a few months and it began to tarnish .
So I took back apart and repolished , then sprayed a few coats of Rust-oleum clear gloss automotive finish on it .
It being an automatic column I couldnt get the area infront of the gear indacator to polish right so i taped it off and sprayed it Carbon Fiber Met. to match lower column tube .
I like the direction this is going.. any other mods intended?
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