Dodge W250 template

[crashnzuk]

^^^is that your truck kafer? That is very nice. I have a standard cab 91 w250 diesel myself.
Travis..

[kafer65]

Nah, its not mine. I needed a long bed side profile picture to test. I have the tower of power slant six in light silver circa 1987. Me and the kids enjoy using it. I like sitting up more than the car, but I don't want to feed and park something that enormous, though I really dig the looks. I've entertained the idea of putting a 2 liter VW desiel in mine and fully restoring it I just don't have the time nor the money these days to get much accomplished. I did put an air dam on, removed the mirrors and dropped the weight down to just under 2 tons. I run a small door dangle mirror that works well for me too. These trucks seem to attract dents like magnets so I've been trying to smooth it out and make it run true. Chevy vacuum overdrive switch helps me lockup very early once I'm in 3rd and off of the throttle a bit. It still has a deep affection for fuel. Totally the toughest vehicle I've ever witnessed!

[kafer65]

Thanks guys, for your pics. The best I can figure is I'll have 13.9 inch drop over the 100 inch length of the bed. My sideview sketch has it looking much like the first template (maybe 4-6 inches above the tailgate). When I look at the top view the taper from side to side is almost done in six feet because the roof is narrower than the sides. That would leave me a couple of feet of flat bed cover that I could use as a trunk. I may rough in a scaffold with bendy cane poles to eyeball it further.

[crashnzuk]

I think a 2L vw would struggle in a full size truck, especially a 4 wheel drive. Can you post up a pic of your air dam and let us in on what you did for weight reduction?
Travis..

[slowmover]

The Leaning Tower of Power can be rebuilt in a more fuel-friendly manner. There is at least one forum dedicated to this motor and though it's been about a decade since I've looked into it, a build featuring HP/TQ and using TBI while mixing/matching some stroke/bore changes could get you where you want (most for least) given that it is a pickup.

As one contributor noted, changing a Slant Six to run on propane would ensure that it would still be chugging along when the sun burns out. IOW, think of economy in its larger context.

.

[kafer65]

I've been educating myself about iphone photos, so I can upload them. Mine isn't 4WD. Its just a long bed base model. No AC, radio and hand crank windows. When the Carter carb and the leanburn computer died I put in an electronic distributor compatible with an orange box and resistor and Holley 1920 carb for now. The jack, side mirrors, rear bumper (I made a rollpan), and spare were removed as well. My biggest problem is the fuel delivery from the carb . I use an unregulated electric pump. My compression test was excellent to. Once I'm warmed up it runs great, but idle tends want to foul the plugs and stall it. New front bearings, torque bar, engine/trans mounts, and lower a-arm to make sure its tracking true and light weight magnesium wheels helped drop a lot of weight to. I still have oversized off road tires on the back, so that is not optimal. I've got a lot of dents to pull and smooth from grandpas feeling his way around the farm with it. Water leaking in from the front and rear really irks me too. I'll have a pic up soon. Oh, my Jetta has about 50 ft/Lbs of torque more than the truck has IIRC. The new VW Caddy hightop I drove weighs about the same as the Dodge and uses a similar 2L TDI as my Jetta. It was pleasantly peppy.

[crashnzuk]

Real quick, a 2wd is a "d", and a 4wd is a "w". This is why I referred to you truck as a 4x4, your truck would be a D250. Your truck should weigh I the neighborhood of 4k lbs empty, I think you'd be working that VW pretty hard. You should be able to make that slant fairly decent without a ton of expense. It sounds like you need to get your carb tuned properly. You should find and read articles on theory and tuning and give it a go, hot rod and car-craft magazines have written numerous articles on carb tuning. Most peolple now a days have no idea how to tune a carb, so it's best to learn it yourself
Travis..

[kafer65]

I defer to your knowledge of Dodge truck nomenclature Crushnzuk. I run a 3.55 ring and pinion gear so the current engine struggles with a slush box now. Thankfully this engine has a lot of leverage with its 4+ inch stroke. With a fan delete it gets moving pretty decently. I enjoy driving it. Ideally, knowing what I know now, an economizer carb would work better. I understand carb theory just fine. I'm used to tuning dual carbs on my aircooled cars. This carb I'm not getting a lot of responce to tweeking though. Honestly, we grew up with slants and most would do 12mpg (68 Valiant, 72 Demon and Duster). This one got 17 mpg when newer. This truck is lightweight by todays standards of a full sized truck. There is only maybe 500 Lbs difference between it and my 06 Jetta. With a full load of people and luggage I get a pretty good idea what driving a TDI would feel like my pickup. A good 5 speed manual would make it much better hauling a load no doubt. Interestingly, the 2L TDI engine weighs about the same as the slant 6 engine(450 Lbs).

[crashnzuk]

There isn't a whole lot to those 1 barrel carbs, have you cleaned and kitted it? Maybe it's just worn out or has mismatched internals? I have always run as much timing as I could put in it without pinging, typically with a stock dist that's in the neighborhood of 12-14 degrees initial. I have never had much trouble getting 16 or so mpg from any of my older mopars. I can imagine that thing being a little sluggish with 3.55s, I have an 82 club cab longbed D250 with 3.55s and a 318 that feels pretty lazy. Once it's rolling it's not too bad, but I think the emissions era carb'd engines are just kinda soft. I figure it's subtle differences in cam timing, and the heads aren't very good. I have a 71 D100 longbed with a 318, 4 speed manual, and 2.76 gears that is a rocket ship in comparison.
Travis..

[kafer65]

Yap, carb is a donor from a "running" car. Pitted and weepy, but clean. Shaft play is good and the linkages, float, and jets that I can get at look good visually. I have another 1920 for spares. I'm positive its running rich idle circuit since I tried a warm air intake and it ran much better with the cold air replacement. Its a little sooty and loads up idling too. I wish I could do fuel cut coasting. I wish I'd kept the vapor recovery too. A 318 would be real nice, but I like the music the 6er makes loafing along at 45mph so much!