matthew5olson

Just got word that Charlie from Rustyhope sent my spindles back and my disc kit is also on its way. He was great to deal with, consistently the fastest customer service I have seen. I set aside time next weekend to assemble everything on the front end. Cant wait to have a rolling chassis. I found a universal under dash brake pedal kit that comes with dual diaphragm booster and master that I plan on using.

Been a while (almost 4 years) but today I dusted everything off, cleaned up the garage and started up the project again. Last thing I did to the truck was have someone come weld leaf spring brackets on the rear axle. He was suposed to come back to weld up some motor mounts but he got busy and then life happened. I'm currently working on getting the rear end painted and bolted up. The front spindles are being sent to rustyhope tomorrow. Trying to get a rolling chassis with working brakes and steering by the end of may. I'm thinking I want to put brake assist on the truck. Was considering a powerboost setup to save space since I have a power steering pump from the donor motor. Hoping to drive this thing this summer, doesn't need a lot of money I purchased most everything 4 years ago, just never installed it.

Got the heads back today. Cleaned, checked, cut .010, 5 angle valve job, new seals etc... Port matching to start tomorrow. Then they get painted and installed.

Sat wasn't all I hoped it'd be. Got the rear spring perches welded up and boxed the frame in where the motor/tranny mounts go but that's it. I spent most of the day making a bracket that we threw in the scrap pile. Also it looks like the bed is to far gone to use. It had a bed full of rotting leaves for 10 years prior to my buying it. I found the push rods mixed in with the leaves. It took me a little while to ID them. They were almost as thick as one of my fingers because of all the rust. I'm going to go with a flatbed instead.

its available in different colors

So aparently the picture of the painted motor that I liked was just Ford Blue. The guy said he used Ford blue NOT ford corporate blue. I was just cruising through his article looking for the name of the paint and found the one he said not to use. After some consideration I've decided to buy the color that I wanted and axe the smurf blue. I probably will not get to build another engine in the immediate future and I want this one done how I want it. I'd hate to look at it and shake my head every time. I'll scuff the paint up tomorrow before it is 100% cured. On the flip side the aluminum colored engine enamel looks awesome. The paint scheme I went with is block and heads blue, intake, valve covers and timing chain cover aluminum, and the oil pan and pulleys black. The exhaust will probably be silver. Still figuring out the fan. The engine bay is going to be POR-15's metal mask. Its supposed to look like bare steel. I'll post pics in a couple days when stuff gets assembled a little.

uh- this ford corporate blue color sucks. I bought it because I saw a couple pictures of blocks painted with it and it looked awesome. I should have searched for some other photo's. I just did now and most of them look the way my motor turned out. Its a lot more of a true blue than I wanted. Oh well. I may try mixing in some black to darken it up. Although my spark plugs are blue so they match.

After talking to my cousin today (big mopar guy who I sourced half of my parts from including the entire truck) I've decided to go ahead and install it. He told me I worried to much. He said it would fire, but would need the timing adjusted slightly, He said to just adjust it after the motor starts. I got the motor all cleaned off today, Painting to start tomorrow.

I'm not mix and matching any wear surface patterns. I'm simply waiting to install my cam kit until later. They are the only new thing I'm installing that has a wear pattern.

So I've decided to wait to install my cam. I'm worried that since I've taken the motor all apart, after having not ran it for a year, that when I put it all back together it may not start and/or run optimally on the first try. I would hate to ruin my flat tappet cam because I can't get the motor to fire or it starts and my timing is off. I know its a lot of extra work but for my own peace of mind I'll run it with the old cam once till the motor gets to normal operating temperature. If everything goes good I'll swap the new cam in. I'll keep the front end sheet metal off and maybe even the fan. I can use my portable industrial fan for the radiator.

Oh and tonight the block is getting completely cleaned off so that I can't paint it tomorrow. I have ford corporate blue and aluminum colored engine paint. And black, but I have to check if the black will handle the heat on the oil pan ok. Any paint scheme ideas using those colors from you guys are welcomed. I was thinking block and heads blue, intake, valve covers, and timing cover aluminum, and the oil pan black. I could also do someting where I painted all the bolt heads aluminum. Let me know your ideas. the blue is a darker blue, in between royal and navy.

I do need a starter so I will wait till I weld up the motor mounts to buy a one in case I also need a mini. The ignition system was Summit brand. I looked at the MSD but it's an extra 150 bucks. I'm trying to save money because I know there's going to be a bunch of extra stuff that I'm going to need to buy that I didn't plan for. If it gives me any trouble or I want to upgrade later I can always buy it. Good point on the headers I was going to get long-tubes but maybe I'll grab both of them (used from my cousin, he has a set of each) and see what fits better. I prefer to have them exit out the right side. I wasn't sure whether I wanted 40's or 44's What size motor and cam do you have? I had a single flowmaster 40 on my '04 tacoma with a 3.4V6 and no cats. It sounded great.

So I've been working on the motor the last couple weeks. I wanted to just freshen up the motor but it turns out my '85 318 was equipped with the lean burn system and removing it required a new carb and ignition system. I figured if I was getting a new carb I might as well upgrade to a 4 barrel. And buy a new cam to make use of my new intake/carb/headers. I just ordered all of my motor parts today.I have the good 302 casting heads, the ones with the heart shaped ports. I wanted to upgrade the valves to 1.88 int and 1.60 exhaust but money is a little tight. Not getting a valve job saved me over $300 between valves and cutting the new seats. So here's my motor specs: 85 dodge w150 318 stock motor 302 casting heads, decked .010, ported stock 340 4 barrel intake. edelbrock 600cfm carb comp cams 20-223-3 cam kit w/ new springs, lifter etc.. 268/280 4.77/4.80 110 224/230 @ .050 lift brand new electronic ignition system headers Feel free to offer opinions/advice on my setup. Was just trying for a budget "wakeup" for my motor. Want something that has a decent amount of power and will have good throttle response going up these pennsylvania hills. My 95 jeep cherokee had a stock, fuel injected 318 and I was extremely happy with the output on it. I should be turning out higher numbers than that motor. I have a 3.91 posi-rear by the way.

haha,I was actually thinking of giving my truck a 6 inch body lift using all hockey pucks. That would look cool right? Especially if I don't lift the running boards. ggdad1951 - Thanks for the advice on the one harder one. I'll stab each one to find it. It would be nice if it was already where it needed to be but I doubt it. My rubber mounts are all in great shape. I'll double check them all for cracks or dry-rot. Wished I would've written down which spacers went where. I just thought they were washers when I took them off. They all went into the same bucket. Now I'll have to re-level it. oh well. Now I know for next time.

So when I put the cab on last week I thought I had lost one of my cab mount bushings (the rubber pieces) After a bunch of searching on the board today to try to find where I could buy new ones I saw that the driver's front doesn't use a bushing under the frame mount. I am so relieved.

And today I painted the tranny, front axle, and steering components. tomorrow I'll mount the engine and start cleaning it up. I bought some rims and tires the other day. black steelies off a newer honda.

Update: So I bought an engine crane and stand so I can clean/paint/freshen up the tranny and motor. I mounted the tranny on the stand yesterday. I figured to change the filter while I had easy access. I pulled the pan and found a large piece of metal in the pan. After some online searching I found out it was the band strut. I guess the tensioning bolt vibrated loose during transport and the strut fell out. Only problem was I had to take apart some stuff to get it back together. By the time it was all back together I was out of time for painting.

Check out Lizardskin. I'm basically doing that. It's recommended application is a 40 mil coat. I know the lizardskin works I just don't feel like spending 100 a gallon for it. If the additive I got works half as good I'll be happy. I thought about using a foam as well. I plan on using DynaDeck on the floor after it is painted.

The truck is now on safely on jackstands. I also order a ceramic paint additive today to paint the firewall with. HY-Tech was the name of the place. I'll post up as to how it works. I won't really have anything to compare it to though as I'll have never driven the truck without it. How hot do your truck get? Did most of you add some kinda of heat barrier? Should I also look into painting the underside of the roof too?

awesome build-up. I was recommended to your thread because I'm building up my 57 d100. I went with a 318 and 904 though. What are your thoughts on clearance for my setup? I'll be putting the motor and tranny in soon. I have an otherwise stock front end. It sounded like you only needed to cut the firewall because of you ifs. Thanks for all the pictures. Always helps. DO you have one of your tranny mounts? Trying to get ideas.

The back is on jackastands. I had the front on jackstands also and my father-in-law had to use them. I wasn't worried when it was just the bare frame but thank you for pointing it out. I forgot those things tend to crumble right about when you need them. I'll get them changed back over next time I'm over there.

So today I went and picked up my front axle from the machine shop. They we're able to get the old kingpin out and press/ream the new bushings. Total cost for labor was $100, parts were about $70. I just have to finish cleaning the axle and spindles up and then I will paint them. Then I just have to install the disc brake upgrade. My next big step is to get the motor and tranny mounts welded up. At the advice of my welder friend I chose to put the cab on now so we didn't have any clearance issues later. I was only thinking of all the room we would have with just the bare frame. So I got 2 other guys to help me with the cab. We struggled a bit but between tripping over the crossmembers and dropping the cab on my hand we got it in the garage and lined it up. Before I put the motor in place I need to clean the firewall. I'm going to paint it with lizard skin ceramic paint to keep the heat out. I may try a diy lizard skin. I found some "recipes" involving ceramic balls and paint. Anyone have any luck with either the name brand or a knockoff? Oh and the horn on the top right of the firewall still works. Awesome! Tomorrow's agenda is to clean and prep the tranny, steering components, front axle, and spindles for painting.

I started an official build thread to document all of my work. I'll continue this over there. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?p=311306#post311306

Figured I'd start an official build thread instead of posting on my intro thread. I will just continue where my intro thread left off. Here is the link for anyone wanting to read the beginning of my story: http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=28934

I searched on the forum and it seems the center link is not supposed to be bent? This will need straightened? Anyone with a newer truck have any insight.