British Newbie & How it all started for me !!

[OLD DODGE]

It looks like that is a spreadbore intake with an adapter to a squarebore.

The carb in the auction looks like it has all the features you want. It does not state the list number that I noticed. It could be a newer one that I'm not familiar with. It is a factory reman.

I do not know anything about the seller. You could contact them to see if they have a spreadbore carb to go on your intake without the adapter if that is a route you are interested. Just keep in mind the squarebore aftermarket stuff is way more common but the spreadbore intake and carb would be intended as direct replacements. Potentially less installation headaches/conversions.

Good Luck!

[Trailmaster]

Sounds like good American iron is just as rare over there as a decent fish and chips dinner is over here. Neat truck you have there.

I kind of have some idea of what you're going through working on that, probably about the same thing I was thinking when I was helping a friend with his MG. The Haynes manuals are published over there, and outside of the factory service manuals I think they are the best available.

I'm not saying I know all about USAF trucks, but generally they were painted gloss midnite blue, with white markings. Army trucks were generally green, and I've seen them in gloss as well as flat. As mentioned, the original color should be still in some concealed areas so you can tell for sure.

If you haven't got the carb yet, Edelbrock builds some good ones, and pretty easy to tune, too. I installed one on a fire truck that belongs to the local Volunteer Fire Dept earlier this year, the difference in power is almost as amazing as the improvement in fuel economy.

Enjoy the truck.

[RobA]

Trailmaster, many thanks for your response.

I have learned a fair bit since I got the truck, my first and only piece of American iron, but it has got me worryingly looking at all sorts of US stuff over here!!

I ended up finding a great mechanic here who fitted all the parts I accumulated for the truck and she now runs very sweet, although petrol (gas to you boys!) here is extortionate (currently £1.12 per litre, so about $8.40 a gallon!) so having it running as economically as possible is paramount. Thankfully I use it for fun mostly and taking the odd load here and there, and general driving is a diesel VW Golf that makes over 50mpg easy!

Since I got the truck, I've had a new Edelbrock 600cfm carb fitted on a Performer manifold, electronic ignition, new plug leads and iridium plugs fitted. The truck recently has a full brake overhaul with all new linings, master cylinder, pipework, and disks and drum skimmed as new was an astronomical price.

Bodywork is next, and I would love to know if it's possible to purchase repair sections for the bottom of the doors? There's a fair amount of rot around the B pillars and wheel arches, and a new or decent used front right wing (fender) is badly needed (anyone got one cheap?)

I found out a fair bit more about the trucks past.

It was a special military order vehicle, which was ordered as a most basic D200 but with upgraded drivetrain to (D300 apparently?) to make it 1 ton rated. Original colour from the factory was olive, but not drab, almost satin finish.
Truck was based at a USAF airbase in the UK called RAF Lakenheath where all your big boy bombers were stationed, and after it was deemed too old, was auctioned off here in the UK where it was purchased by a nostalgic style drag team running an old rail dragster. It was used as a tug, camper, and tow vehicle.

The truck has an easy life now, and is appalingly useless off of decent roads, struggling with traction on damp grass!!!

One big issue here is locating parts, particularly body parts which are expensive to ship over to the UK. Tyres (or tires!) are especially hard as it has 16.5 rims fitted, and UK tyre fitters thought I was joking when I first started enquiring about that size.

Other than that, I love the truck, and get a real buzz driving the old girl.

I've been looking at older trucks since getting this one, but my bank manager is just waiting to slap my wrists!!!


Regards



Rob

[Trailmaster]

I have no idea what iridium spark plugs are, if they give trouble I have the best luck with plain old Autolite plugs.
Tyres are a big part of the traction equation, and what works on one terrain might not be the best for another. A stiff tyre with a striaght highway type tread on all four corners will give the best fuel economy, but will suffer from lack of off road traction. A good traction tread would be the best off road, but are noisy and hurt fuel economy will suffer. A good compromise is an all season tread, kind of the best and worst of all wrapped up in one. And believe it or not, damp grass offers poorer traction than a lot of other terrains, I almost lost a pickup when I parked it on a damp grass hill and it started sliding down on it's own. Part of the problem is weight distribution with a pickup, too much on the nose and not enough on the tail. A couple large burlap bags filled with sand placed in the bed will help some, as well as giving you something to spread out for traction when the damp stuff is cold enough to freeze.
16.5" tyres are not the cheapest to find over here either. Most tyre stores over here know what they are, but a lot of the lower price stores might only have one option for that size. More outlay up front but cheaper in the long run might be to change to 16" rims. If you don't mind the old lock ring style wheel they are plentiful and cheap over here, but require the use of a tube and flap in addition to the tire. 16" tubeless rims can also be had but might cost a bit more.
Body repair panels can be aquired through JC Whitney, but I haven't personally tried them so I don't know about quality or what shipping issues to GB would be. Their website is here http://www.jcwhitney.com/
Some people I know in Canada have overcome some of the shipping issues by finding a strategically located person to have parts shipped to and then having them ship them across the border. In some cases I've heard reports that it's actually cheaper to ship things twice that way, as some sellers mark international shipping up quite a bit. Ask around, someone on the east coast would be ideal to accept shipments and reship them across the water.
Another option would be to get together with several friends and have one person come over with several wishlists and locate enough parts to fill a shipping container. This summer I met people from Australia, Sweeden and Germany that were hunting parts for several people to fill a shipping container for their respective countries. If you can get enough people together you might be able to get them to pay the costs of a nice vacation over here to collect the parts.