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1984 Dodge D50 Sport 4x4 : Paint Ideas and Interior work

28K views 136 replies 16 participants last post by  mopar65pa 
#1 ·
The little D50 (known as the PW50, aka Power Wagon 50) is going back on the road again, it'll be serving as my primary 4x4 this winter.

A little background on the truck

1969 "Formula S" 273 Small Block, "587" 360 heads with 1.88 valves, 340 Intake, 850cfm Thermoquad Carb, .500 Mechanical Lift Cam, 10.5:1 Compression, 2.25" Dual Exhaust with 360 Truck Manifolds & Glasspacks.

1971/1984 Hybrid TF904/MA904 Transmission with a Slant 6 Torque Converter (Higher Stall), 4 & 5 Pinion Planetaries, Forward Pattern Manual Shift Valve Body, B&M Ratchet Shifter.

KM100 / NP203 Transfer Case Doubler, yes the truck has Fulltime 4WD. 4.10 Gears, Limited Slip Rear, with 33" Tires.

Other stuff : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift, Solid Motor Mounts, Square Tube Bumpers, 10k Winch, Dual 850CCA/1000CA Batteries, Removable Snow Plow Frame, Receiver Hitch, Dumping Bed (stock bed shell mounted to a hinged dumpbed subframe, bed floor is 3/16" steel)

Blah blah blah :p It had originally been built to be a work truck and was then modified to run on 40" Tires. The poor truck has had half a million engines in it, Everything from 4-Bangers to Diesels & big blocks. Don't ask :p

This is what the fugly critter looks like. It's not a pretty truck, but it'll serve well as a 4x4 this winter.









At this point I only have a few things to do to drive it with the 33" Tires :

Install the Tail Pipes (the exhaust is ran back past the axle, just need to install the tail pipes)
Swap the 40" Tires for the 33" Tires
Connect the Choke Cable or install a new Thermostatic Choke on the manifold
Swap the Mechanical Fan for a pair of Electric Fans.
Lengthen & Install the Front Driveshaft

The truck is already wired for electric fans (From a previous engine setup I had in the truck), and I have the fans on the shelf. The 33's are laying in the bed of the truck (still mounted to the wheels) and the choke cable is already in the truck (from a previous engine setup). And the tail pipes are laying in the trunk of my '71 Demon.

As much as I'd love to run it with the 40" Tires, that is going to be a future project. To run the 40's legally I need to extensively modify the front fenders to cover the tires out to the sidewalls (max of a 3" Flare allowed, still need another 2" to be legal) as well as some other modifications to the rest of the truck.

At the moment this project thread is just about getting the truck ready to be my Winter 4x4. Once I'm driving it I'll work at modifying a spare set of fenders for the 40" Tires and other stuff as well. I'll eventually be converting the truck over to a 5-Speed and swapping the axles out too. Also a Rollcage & Rollbar are in the plan too, along with a Removable Spare Tire Carrier (mounted in the bed) with a Hi-Lift mount.

Expect more pics and details on the stuff I'll be doing to the truck. The pics shown (Except the engine) are fairly old, a lot has been done to the truck since those pics were taken.

People used to rag on me all the time for driving this truck (back when it was mostly stock) because it was a D50. Now people actually comment on how long its been since they've seen another D50 and they act like I've got a truck made of pure unobtanium :p Well, they are kinda right... When's the last time anyone saw a D50 up here in the Rust Belt? :p

EDIT :

Tires are swapped, but... I got a lovely surprise when I swapped the front tires. "Hmm the engine block looks wet." Yep, leaking freeze plug. Fortunately it isn't too bad to replace the freeze plugs in this truck. Everything else is a royal PITA, but the plugs can easily be reached through the wheelwells.
 
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#2 ·
So you are finally going to get the old girl on the road again.  ;D
 
#4 ·
Got the freeze plugs in, talk about a nightmare. The old ones didn't want to come out (I'm guessing they were original). One plug in particular took me 2 hours to remove, and it was easy to reach at that  :-\

And I'm fighting an issue with the carb. The 850 Thermoquad I had on the 273 before ran like a dream and required little adjustment (that carb is now on my dad's '73 340 Duster). The spare (recently rebuilt) 850 TQ runs so rich that the exhaust is pumping raw fuel vapor out in clouds and no matter how much I try to tune it there is no improvement.

I'm going to pull it off and tear it apart to see what's up, my only other choice at the moment is to swap the TQ for an AVS. On another note, the 273 sure does sound mean with the dual exhaust and glasspacks.  ;D  I fired it up earlier to move the truck out of the way and some customers stood there with their jaws on the ground  :p  I know what they were expecting, they were expecting a puny import engine, not a cammed up small block.
 
#5 ·
ChrisKD said:
I fired it up earlier to move the truck out of the way and some customers stood there with their jaws on the ground :p I know what they were expecting, they were expecting a puny import engine, not a cammed up small block.
;D
 
#8 ·
Not much of an update, just swapped the Thermoquad for an AVS, dialed it in a bit and finished putting most of the truck back together.

I still have a few odds and ends to do, like install the 203 shifter, shifter boots, connect the tach & volt meter, etc. It's getting closer to being road ready again though 8)



The 273 sure sounds nice ;D
 
#9 ·
{cool}
 
#10 ·
Got most of the stuff sorted out, nothing pic worthy. Just plugged in some wires (like for the reverse lights/neutral safety switch), tweaked the timing & carb a bit, connected the speedometer cable, etc.

Still have to chase down the non-functioning fuel gauge. This happened once before and it ended up being a fuse that wasn't making connection.

I only have one issue that is annoying. The Hydroboost Brake Booster chirps/squeaks when you push on the brake pedal. It isn't constant, just a quick "Squeak" when you hit the pedal. It's not a lubrication/rust issue at the pedal, just the booster itself makes a chirp that sounds kinda like a slipping belt. It's not a slipping belt either.

With the engine off, you can hit the brakes and the noise isn't there, and the power steering reservoir is full and bled of air too. It's not causing any problems, just a little annoying. Come to think of it, it's always done that, no matter what pump I had on it, and various engines too.
 
#11 ·
I hate those annoying little noises you can't get rid of.........  :-\
 
#12 ·
Well I drove her for the first time with the 273. DAMN!

She rides a bit rough with Load Range E  33" Tires and 1 Ton Suspension. Rougher than the D300 Dumptruck I drive from time to time, and the suspension is a lot heavier under the 300.

It hauls along great though, definitely no lack of power  ;D The timing & carb still need some fine tuning though.

Only a couple small issues that need sorted out, nothing major. The Dash Lights aren't as bright as I'd like (probably swap them for LEDs) and the Shifter needs to be adjusted slightly. Sometimes I have 2nd, Drive, Neutral, Reverse and Park, sometimes I have 1st, 2nd, Neutral, Reverse & Park.  It's a Ratchet Shifter, so it shifts to 1st when you put it in gear and then ratchets up into 2nd & 3rd/Drive. But the adjustment is so picky that sometimes I don't  have one of the gears in the shift pattern when ratcheting up.
 
#13 ·
ChrisKD said:
Well I drove her for the first time with the 273. DAMN!

She rides a bit rough with Load Range E 33" Tires and 1 Ton Suspension. Rougher than the D300 Dumptruck I drive from time to time, and the suspension is a lot heavier under the 300.

It hauls along great though, definitely no lack of power ;D The timing & carb still need some fine tuning though.

Only a couple small issues that need sorted out, nothing major. The Dash Lights aren't as bright as I'd like (probably swap them for LEDs) and the Shifter needs to be adjusted slightly. Sometimes I have 2nd, Drive, Neutral, Reverse and Park, sometimes I have 1st, 2nd, Neutral, Reverse & Park. It's a Ratchet Shifter, so it shifts to 1st when you put it in gear and then ratchets up into 2nd & 3rd/Drive. But the adjustment is so picky that sometimes I don't have one of the gears in the shift pattern when ratcheting up.
Have you checked the condition of the cable housing thats your likely suspect on the shifting issue.
 
#14 ·
mopar_daddy said:
Have you checked the condition of the cable housing thats your likely suspect on the shifting issue.
I just checked it (have to unbolt part of the floor to access the shifter cable... the 904 is a tight fit)

It's an issue with the length of the arm on the shifter vs the length of the arm on the transmission. If I adjust the cable, it pulls the truck out of park or pushes it into reverse. where I have it set now, it engages park as it should, but all the other gear selections are just beyond there normal positions on the shifter.

Like if I put the transmission in reverse, the shifter is sitting just on top of the lockout between reverse and neutral. Would I need to shorten the arm on the transmission or make it longer to remedy this?
 
#15 ·
My first instinct was to say shorter, But if they are just past the position on the shifter then a longer arm will  solve the issue. Just slightly longer though or you will loose 1st.
 
#17 ·
Took the fugly critter for another drive today.

The whole way through town people were looking, a few even gave a thumbs up.

One guy thought I had a cheby 350 stuffed under the hood though ::) Stopped by my dad's place to load up some junk, and then decided to stay over at his house tonight and drink some beer. 8)

 
#18 ·
ChrisKD said:
Took the fugly critter for another drive today.

The whole way through town people were looking, a few even gave a thumbs up.

One guy thought I had a cheby 350 stuffed under the hood though ::) Stopped by my dad's place to load up some junk, and then decided to stay over at his house tonight and drink some beer. 8)
{cool} {beer}

 
#19 ·
So where the heck are you living then Chris?  ???
 
#20 ·
mopar65pa said:
So where the heck are you living then Chris? ???
The same place I've lived my entire life, up in the boonies (you remember where its at). My dad offered me the house I grew up in and I accepted. He's living in town now.
 
#21 ·
ChrisKD said:
The same place I've lived my entire life, up in the boonies (you remember where its at). My dad offered me the house I grew up in and I accepted. He's living in town now.
Ah Ha I see......... ;D
 
#22 ·
Well there's a couple downsides.

I can't downshift with the ratchet shifter without returning to 1st gear and starting over, looks like I'll have to swap in a different shifter (and I really liked that ratchet shifter too)

I only have 1 speed for the wipers... really slow. the module for the wipers is missing, I think someone took it. I called all around and nobody had one or could get one, even rock auto didn't have a listing for it.

Finally Autozone managed to track one down in a warehouse somewhere, $31, it'll be here tomorrow hopefully. A few years ago these modules were still available at all the parts stores. Now you can't find them, must have been an uncommon option that didn't sell well. 4-Speed Intermittent Delay Wipers for a Power Ram 50 Sport
 
#24 ·
phillip637 said:
sweet man. i like it. i bet that thing will do pretty good in the mud with those big tires and a v8.
Dunno, haven't tried it yet.

--

Well since I'm down to small bugs to work out of the truck, I'm going to be moving on to the next stage soon. A Rollbar, I have one from a 1970's Dodge W100 that I'm going to shorten up a little bit to install in the truck.

Then it's on to some body work and such.

Eventually I'll be upgrading to a 5-Speed and swapping the 273 for a 318 or 360. Not just any 318/360 though, I plan on putting a B&M / Holley 142, 144, or 174 Blower on the motor that'll be going in the truck. Similar to the old Dick Landy setup that used to be available in the 80's for Small Block Mopars. It's low profile enough that I'd just need to put a Hood scoop on to gain a little clearance.
 
#25 ·
Ha Ha a blower on 4x4.........  ;D
 
#26 ·
mopar65pa said:
Ha Ha a blower on 4x4......... ;D
I also need to paint "DODGE" in big letters on the doors so people stop calling my truck a toyota :-\ And maybe some 340 style stripes that say "318" or "360" near the back of the bed so people stop asking me if I have a 350 in the truck.

Or I could do the big thing and cram a 440 in the truck and then have stripes made up that say "440 6-Pack" :eek: ;D
 
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