Hello,

I just purchased a 1985 Dodge D150. I have owned a few older vehicles 67 F100, 71 C20, 77 El Camino, etc. but this will be my first older Dodge. I bought the truck locally here in northern Florida. The truck is a factory 360 4bbl automatic step side. Based on what I was told by previous owner and from the many receipts I have gone though the engine got a long block 3-4 years ago from a parts store for just under $2k. Previous owner said motor has less than 25k and to the best of my knowledge I do believe him. He also put brand new wheels and tires (some off road style tires, not too familiar but they are so big you can't turn more than 10 degrees without them rubbing). The body of the truck is extremely straight for its age and it only has one small rust spot on the drivers side floor pan which I plan on fixing. I picked the truck up for $800 cash non-running. (Was sitting because was un-drivable after previous owner got huge tires.) Luckily there was an O'Reilly across the street. Picked up a new battery for $170 (which I plan on returning, $170 for a 2 year battery is ridiculous) and a new points style distributor meant for a 1970 318. The reasoning behind going to points is I could not get the truck to spark with the stock distributor in it. The previous owner(s) had done some very sketchy looking wiring trying to fix the ignition system leaving random colored wires in random places, random switches hanging around, wires missing from ICM / coil / etc. I just wanted to get the truck home so I purchased a new coil, ballast resistor, and the points style distributor. Made a simple ignition system and was able to get the truck started. Went down to my local junkyard got some steel wheels with maypop tires for about $9 a piece off an old Ford. Sadly the hole in the center of the wheel was just slightly too small to clear the front hub but I was desperate to get home so we lugged it down as tight as possible. Wheels wobbling so bad I could go over 35 MPH but made the 40 mile drive home. Now I have to start making my list of to-do's in order to turn this into a nice reliable daily driver.

First thing I need to address is those wheels. Does anyone know what the center spacing needs to be or does any have any cheap wheel recommendations that they know fit these trucks? I found a few sites online supposedely selling stock wheels 15x6.5 with 5x5.5 bolt pattern and a large center hole for about $50 a piece restored. I am thinking about just going down that route as I couldn't find the correct wheels at any local tire shops or pickapart.

Next issue is about the wiring. I can either leave it as it is and just clean up the wiring currently in place using whatever still works of the original wiring along with my DIY ignition system so I at least know mechanically the truck will stay running regardless of whatever else doesn't work. I could also tear everything out in regards to wires and start from scratch, rewire what I need myself, do it correctly with proper gauges, relays, fuses, etc. (Aside from a set of aftermarket gauges the only thing I really need wired on the truck would be windshield wipers, horn, blower motor, headlights, breaklights / turn signals, all of which I could wire the correct way myself using original switches and relays.) I could also look for an aftermarket or factory wiring harness and attempt to get everything back to original. What would you recommend? Just looking for a nice reliable daily driver. If I went the wiring harness route, who even sells a harness for these trucks?

What are your thoughts on this trucks original ignition system? How reliable is it with the ICM? I like points / condenser because I understand it and can troubleshoot it as compared to an electric box.

Thanks in advance.

slam

Here are some photos of the truck sorry if links not allowed
https://imgur.com/a/hhZtCzM

 

The electronic ignition was an option in 1972. It cut warranty claims and made the engines so much easier to start and smoother running, it became standard across the board in '73. You definitely want to go back to electronic. DO NOT bother with lean burn. I've converted many of those to regular electronic ignition over the years. See if Mopar Performance still offers a conversion kit. They were phasing them out for 6 bangers the last time I bought one. To go with it, you'll need the brain box, a ballast resistor (keep a spare, that is the one weak link) and electronic ignition distributor with vacuum advance and a plug for the brain box. Regular ignition you have to tune it up twice a year with points, plugs and condenser. Electronic you change the plugs every 30,000 miles or so. Mopar Performance used to offer the wiring harness to convert but dropped it. I bought a bunch but I'm running low on them. The brain box, resistor, and distributor you can get at the parts store.

On the wheels, if you got Ford wheels, the center hole is too small. Enlarge them or get 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern wheels. Cars (RWD) used it up to '89 or so but trucks were different. 2wd trucks used 5 on 4 1/2 until '87 or '88. 4X4 trucks went with 5 on 5.5 in 1980.

 

I am a bit confused. Are you recommending I go back to an all stock factory set-up or something aftermarket from Dodge? What is lean burn? Is there any real world benefit to electronic ignition over properly maintained points?

Thank you

slam

 

Chrysler, like all other manufacturers, upgraded from points to a rather simple electronic ignition. You can easily create that early ignition for your truck, there are instructions on the internet for this conversion - but will require you sourcing one of those distributors. MoPar Performance, a product line by Chrysler, made a kit that basically included the parts to do this conversion. It wasn't all that special, as all the parts were stock engine parts. You could buy everything you needed from the jyard. It was a nice upgrade, adding longevity over points.

Later, due to EPA pressures, Chrysler upgraded the ignition system to include a lean burn capability. There were lots of problems with the lean burn system. Grouch is suggesting you replace your points system with he early mopar electronic ignition.

Wheels shouldn't be a big deal. I think the wheels from the rear wheel drive chrysler products fit the 1/2 ton 2wd trucks. I would think there would be some of those in FL jyards. Or you could go aftermarket, probably some cheap steel wagon wheels if budget is a concern. Measure your wheel hub (front drum hub diameter, or rear axle flange hub diameter) and take that with you when jyard shopping. I have a set of 15" diplomat police rims, as well as a set of 80s 15" cordoba aluminum wheels that are sitting on the shelf in my shed.... if you come up with the dimensions, I could measure those to see if they'd fit to give you an idea of donors.

 

was a reference to American Racing's website...

 

The Lean Burn was supposed to clean up emissions and work with the computer. It wasn't much good. Every single car or truck I've worked on, whether I owned it or worked on it for someone else, I pulled the LB computer and either disconnected it or removed it and closed the hole with a piece of sheet metal. The regular electronic ignition was great. It eventually became obsolete with the advent of fuel injection but a normal electronic ignition WITH the vacuum advance, will do you just fine. The advantage to it is you can just drive it and it has less maintenance. With points, you have to replace the points, condenser and plugs twice a year. Just a lot of extra work and not as reliable. More prone to flooding too.

 

This is what Mancini Racing is selling today.... its cool they still sell it. I did a couple of those conversions back in the 90s, good to know the aftermarket is still strong... Like I said, you can assemble your own out of used parts on the cheap, but its nice that someone offers brand new stuff in a nice package. Links, pics and instructions below!
https://www.manciniracing.com/ma27331834033.html

 

^^^ Yep. That's all you need and it will run just fine. Slap in some new plugs and plug wires and you won't need to worry about ignition.

 

Summit had that same kit, used it on my 360 magnum swap in my 91. Pro-form makes it, but it's licenced by Mopar. No problems from mine. Easy install.