Is this a good forum for this era of truck? I'm a car guy but I have only had Chevy vintage cars before this Dodge truck. I have to unlearn 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

I've attached a few photos.

 

I've never learned it! Always had mopars and always will! What's it's history and your plans for it?

 

Oh man, it has a flat tire. Better scrap..... I will be over with a flatbed here shortly.

Nice! I'm with Moparite, what ya gonna do with it? Looks rather solid. Not in the rest belt I take it?

 

Congratulations. This is the right place for information. There’s a few very knowledgeable and helpful guys here.

 

Hi guys, thanks for the welcome.

At this point all I've done it get it into the garage, which was no small feat with two flat tires. I haven't even cleaned the barn dirt off it yet.

I've ordered all new ignition components (cap, rotor, wires, plugs, condensor, points), new filters and a new battery. I'm going to pull the plugs and add some oil into the cylinders and then see if I can get it running. I may have to drop the gas tank to clean it out, not sure how bad it is yet. The truck has literally been sitting in place for 24 years.

My first goal is to get it running, clean it up and drive it in stock form. The end goal I have right now is to keep it as stock and original as I can without restoring it. It is the truck my wife learned to drive on. It has family significance and I want to keep it the way it was. The only thing I'm considering changing is the wheels and tires.

 

If it has been sitting for a quarter century, it isn't gas in the tank any more. Drop the tank, clean it out, and flush the fuel lines. Likely have to rebuild the carb as well.....

Pull all the plugs, be generous with the oil you squirt in there, and crank the engine a bit with the plugs out. Or, if you are feeling really froggy, turn it over by hand a few times first.

 

Good advice. I expected to rebuild the carb and I'm not afraid of that. I had a 61 Corvette with 2 carbs that I rebuilt not too long ago. This is a slant 6 with 1bbl. It's so tiny in comparison.

I'm still reading the forum here. I will document what I do so you all can follow along and warn me before I do something stupid.

For the cylinders, I was planning on using Marvel Mystery Oil before I try turning it over by hand. I haven't even looked yet to see how accessible the crankshaft pulley bolt is for turning it over. My last two projects were so much smaller! (The Corvette and a 67 Camaro) This thing completely fills up my garage.

 

Truck looks great, if it was close enough I would gladly take it off your hands and save you a headache
What engine does it have ... 6 or 8?

Be nice to get it started off of a temporary fuel source ... just to hear that it runs ok and no major bearings demanding a complete tear down .... I agree with adding oil to the cylinders.
No doubt it will smoke after sitting so long and then adding oil to the cylinders .... oil really will help the old rings loosen up and seal again. In the meantime it will double as mosquito control and can charge the neighbors for exterminating them.

I would avoid using the original fuel system .... A 2 gallon gas can gravity feed to the carburetor should be good enough for testing.
I would drop the original tank and get it cleaned one way or another. I would replace the fuel pump ... even if it does work now, the rubber inside will not hold up to modern fuels and quickly fail. They are cheap enough.
Replace the rubber lines and filter .... metal lines is your decision. Would be a miracle if the accelerator pump in the carb worked ... good enough for a test fire though.

I have a truck that sat for 20+ years. I got it to run off of fresh gas in the tank, actually ran pretty good once the smoke cleared.
Then after a short time I had some issues that turned out to be rust or crap in the tank clogging the fuel line ... I had a store bought rebuilt carburetor I had to pull apart and clean up after the mess.
Trying to use the old tank just created more work in the end .... I automatically replaced the fuel pump before starting the truck. .... My tank is older and had rust holes on top so I replaced it for $200.
Hopefully you can just clean yours.

I wish you good luck with the ignition system ... Honestly I might keep the original points/condenser in it if you can clean the points and get a nice spark.
Many including myself have had a horrible time finding working replacements. Everything is made in China and I have received 4 condensers in a row from NAPA that was DOA right out of the box.
The 4th one, the engine actually did start 1 time. Never started a 2nd time .... I went out to the shed and pulled a condenser from some chebby engine and installed it and it worked fine.
The new points the nylon rub block would wear too fast and had to constantly adjust the points to keep up. Then replace them again. .... Check ebay for NOS tuneup kits for your vehicle. Stock up on them if you want to run points.
Even the rotor on my latest project was junk .... fits so sloppy on the shaft, you can rotate it 20 degrees without the distributor moving.
Points are fine if you can find NOS ..... I'm switching mine to electronic ignition for more reliability .... there is more demand and more choices forcing some sort of quality control from the parts suppliers.

 

Man, that's disappointing to hear the replacement ignition parts are so poorly made.

You and the last guy who commented have convinced me trying to use the existing fuel system may create more work for me long term. I bought a service manual on ebay and am anxiously waiting for it to get here. I haven't even crawled underneath it yet to see how the gas tank is mounted. But I will take your advice. On my Corvette the fuel tank came out from the top, behind the seats and getting it back in was not easy. Hopefully this thing will not be as difficult.

 

Looking at the photos, the trucks looks to be an original 21K unit. Usually, when it's a low number, I figure it's flipped over. You don't have points or condenser in your ignition at it's the third year for electronic gnition as standard. 1972 it was optional. I'd replace the cap, rotor, plugs and plug wires along with getting an extra ballast resistor to have as a spare. Those were the weak spot on Mopar ignitions back then. I always carried a spare wrapped in a towel in my tool box.

Personally, I'd pull the plugs and spray fogging oil into the cylinders. Then I'd rotate the engine by hand. If it spins free, change the oil and fire it up with a portable boat plastic fuel tank. They have a bulb to prime it and you can run off that.

Your fuel tank is held up by two straps. There are a couple of lines on the top of the tank. Eastwood used to have fuel tank cleaning kits, although I haven't had a metal tank in years. There will be a pipe going into the tank with a couple of hoses. Remove the fill pipe, undo the straps and lower it enough to disconnect the fuel lines. You've got a couple of emissions lines for vapors too. Your truck may or may not have a catalytic converter. Cars had them but a lot of trucks didn't get them for years.

In your door, will be a plate. Open the drivers door and take a picture of the plate. It will give weights, gears and all sorts of stuff. Your truck may have 3.23 or even 2.71 gearing. It was built to haul stuff but also be fuel efficient. Just try not to race a snail, you'll be embarrassed.

You have the 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern so wheels will be plentiful. Personally, I like the dog dish poverty caps you have now. Paint the wheels wither black or body color and it will stand out. I've always liked the step sides with the tire mount on the side. Partially because I like the looks and being able to grab stuff from the side, but also I had to jack a HEAVILY loaded truck up once to get the spare and out did not like the experience.

Your truck was advanced for the time but also really simple to work on. The hood scallops went away in later year as water on the hood will dump on the ignition when you open the hood if you aren't careful.You can put a later model single din radio in it but you will have th rewire the speakers. The original ones grounded to the frame while later, 1980 and up, were wired positive and negative to the radio.