66 D to W conversion

[WARWAGON41]

Just hauled home a 66 D-100 true barn find.
Its been kept inside when not in use its whole life and has 26000 original miles.
I know the history from day one , have all the registrations since new and the owners manual.
This is the plainest , least optioned truck ive come across.
Inside storage has been great to the old girl , but being a ranch truck she got her share of bruses , but no rust.

Its a slant 6 , 435 , 8 3/4 with 3.91 open.

Im thinking about a full W200 conversion with all factory parts that I have laying around.

Just throwin it out to see what you guys think , convert or not convert ?

[WARWAGON41]

[WARWAGON41]

[712edf]

Part of me thinks its too nice to modify & should be restored to original.....

But a bigger part of me says Go For It!

Bucky

[WARWAGON41]

Thanks Bucky
I know what you mean , Im not one to mess up something original.
If it was in better shape I wouldnt even consider it.
I have a set of 4.88 running gear out of a 64 that might be neat with the slant six.

William

[Hobcobble]

I wouldn't do a thing to it.
That truck has provenance.

Seeing as this a Power Wagon
website, you might also ask
the same question on the
Sweptline websites to get
input from 2wd folks there.
www.sweptline.org
www.dodgesweptline.org

I have a couple of W200s
with 4.88s in them.... one
a Slant Six and the other
an LA318. They both start
to scream equally as loud
once you hit 45mph.
John

[MoparFreak69]

I have 2 differing opinions on the matter.

First: You can fairly easily convert the truck over to 4wd without really taking anything away from the truck, and if you do it right it would be easily converted back to D duty because the majority of the parts will be unbolt one and bolt the other back into place. It should be an easy and straightforward conversion, only real exception is making a hole in the floor for the shifter.

Second: While they are great engines, the slant 6 is no power house. A 2wd truck might be fine with it, but take that truck, stick it up in the air a couple inches and add more drivetrain weight and it starts to become a real slouch. Sure you can compensate quite a bit with gearing, but then you start to lose highway drivability, which was never great to begin with.


So many choices...............................


Drop a healthy 440 in it and convert to 4wd. Throw some big ol 37 swampers and run that puppy through the mud! A guy can dream can't he?

[WARWAGON41]

Got the 440 but Im only runnin 36 goodyears !


Thats how I found the baby blue one , lookin for body parts for this one.
A guy can go crazy thinking about this stuff.

[WARWAGON41]

John

Hows the 225 do off highway with the 4.88 gears ?
Always had a soft spot for the leaning tower of power but usually pushed them aside for a bigger power plant.

We used to race one on the local asphalt oval track , still have all the goodies too.
Split headers , Offy intake , cam and more .......

[Hobcobble]

John

Hows the 225 do off highway with the 4.88 gears ?
Always had a soft spot for the leaning tower of power but usually pushed them aside for a bigger power plant.

We used to race one on the local asphalt oval track , still have all the goodies too.
Split headers , Offy intake , cam and more .......

I can't help you there. I never had the Slant Six truck
"legally" on the road. The LA318 W200 I have used to
have a Slant Six in it [US Army Vehicle] and the previous
owner loved to use it to get firewood off his land.

My '68 with the LA318 turns mid 3's at 55mph.... it gets
to ya....
John

[TommyDodge]

I'd restore it as it is now, I wish that a /6 was still available in a newer truck or car now, I enjoyed the ones I had.
That's a really nice find!
Tom

[plymsatellite66]

Just went through this conversion last winter. My buddy bought a 65 W200 with a pretty rough body but nice driveline so he bought a 69 D100 I had and swapped the driveline. With the trucks side by side, I think start to finish was under a month working at night and on weekends. Swapped front and rear springs and front axle from the 65. Kept the 4 speed from the 69 and used a NP205 I had laying around. The worst part of the whole swap was removing all factory rivets for the spring hangers and transfer case crossmember and used grade 8 bolts to put everything back together.