The Cool Truck..

[confab]

Okay.. Try to picture this. Close your eyes.

Now, imagine a child playing in a field. Spinning in circles. Chasing butterflies. Innocent and pure.

It is sunny and there are flowers.

The child is safe. The scene is serene.

Now? Imagine someone hands that kid a loaded 44 Magnum. Something bad is going to happen. Isn't it?

So, that's essentially WHAT YOU DID when you left me unsupervised. Because you know I have a mental age of about six and I need constant adult supervision. You know this, but you did it ANYWAY.. And that's why I bought the truck. Because you weren't here to stop me like a responsible adult should have.

*pause*

So.. If you think about it? It's kinda your fault.. Ya know?

The Mrs: *Not amused*

So, that argument didn't work at all.

At least I have a cool truck I don't need.

[farmall]

I consider that buying my next truck long before having to go shopping hungry. Extra trucks mean downtime is not just "no big deal" but no deal at all and those old Dodges were so tough the military bought a shitload of them for utility vehicles. Stocking up worked a treat as truck price inflation doesn't affect me and I have vehicles for life. Old emissions-exempt vehicles are a bonus and easy to keep running. Halt any rust and it's good indefinitely.

What drivetrain ya got?

[confab]

It's a 78 "Adventurer" D150 with a 318 and a 4 speed.

I am not a Dodge guy, so I'm not sure. But a friend who has been into them since birth says it may be an overdrive? I guess they had some 4 speeds with that.

It's not the granny low trans. I'm not sure? The alternator doesn't charge and I was driving it home after dark, with no tags.. lol. It was a short trip and fortunately it made it. But, I haven't had a chance to check it out real good yet.

It does run and drive. It is very solid everywhere that matters. When I was a kid my uncle had a truck like this and I thought it was the coolest truck in the world. I just couldn't pass it up.

The Mrs wants to use it to go to swap meets and things, as a lot of people there have cool, old, trucks and vans they bring. Which is a thought. We left for Wauseon on the bikes and came home with a UHaul when it rained like hell. lol. We could trailer them and not be at the mercy of the weather that way.

[farmall]

In that case you legit needed a truck unless you've others. Everyone who does much of anything needs one or two.

Nice score.

[1954bmw]

Outstanding looking truck, in the Navy, we used to drive the duty truck without using the clutch, start it in gear and everything, where did you find it and how much you got in it??? Looks like a little lot in Indiana??

[Revelator]

my father had a 77 dodge pickup (same look) It was one of our shop trucks, & i drove
it often. Ours had the slant six engine & it was a real DOG. totally gutless.
other than that it was a descent reliable truck.
when I was a kid my Dad had a 66 chev long bed with the 292 inline six & that old six
had great power (& torque), It was worlds better than the dodge six.
of course in the '60's engines were not choked to death with
all kinds of restrictive anti smog bull shit, & the late '70's
is when that crap was being introduced.

[farmall]

66 chev long bed with the 292 inline six & that old six
had great power (& torque),

My insane but mechanic since childhood bro towed a 40 pax International 1600 Loadstar school bus from the Fayetteville area to Sumter SC with a C-30 wrecker running a six banger. The front wheels of that wrecker were dangerously light and it was quite a sight but the engine gave zero fucks. That and the equally awesome and many more years in production (aircraft tugs, industrial pump motors and other continuous duty applications) Ford 300 six are likely the best inline sixes produced.

For OPs truck I'd of course prefer the 318 as they're tough and make more ponies. Our Coleman aircraft tugs had flathead Chrysler sixes (another great engine) and later models had 318s after flatheads were no longer available. We never managed to break one. It's easy to de-smog 1970s engines and if so inclined a reasonable cam solves the feeble emissions cams installed at the time. (Harleys ain't the only vehicle gaining from a cam/carb/intake swap.) We also had slant sixes and Ford sixes in smaller warehouse tugs where I learnt to pull the butterfly off the Hoof vacuum governor when one wouldn't hold vacuum. That tug was quite popular until someone blew it up (tugs are geared VERY low).

Vacuum governor nostalgia for the old folks: https://www.ebay.com/itm/13367318738...Bk9SR7rHppWPYQ

Outstanding looking truck, in the Navy, we used to drive the duty truck without using the clutch, start it in gear and everything,

There were hundreds of that style (and the usual GM and Ford) pickups sitting in the Saudi desert in pre-positioned stocks before Desert Shield. Our guys flogged them constantly for many years after in Southwest Asia and they wouldn't die. Uncle Sugar bought many Mopars to help Chrysler and those trucks served long and well. (So did K-cars but who cared?) CUCVs get all the love but the Dodges were every bit as good. Those weren't stick since that's asking for fried clutches by young troops.