In reply to Mazdax605 :
No worries, my dude! I did drive it again today, and noticed between 20 and 40mph it is smoother, but it's bounce city everywhere else. I might buy another cable (the one that supposedly fits but doesn't) and swipe the cable and install it in this sheath. This one isn't getting any better.
I wonder if the bouncing is not the cable?
After all that lubin' it should be smooth.
There is a worm gear in the mechanism that transfers motion from the cable to the odometer.. i had a noisy bouncy one that I fixed with vasoline on a Q tip applied to the worm gears in there. Fixed it up well.
Greg
In reply to slantsix :
It could be, but this is the 3rd speedo in the truck, and they all do the same thing. The cable does have some spots on it that don't look great. Changing it out wouldn't hurt.
As I mentioned a few posts back, I ordered a new oil pan for the truck, since the original has a putty patched hole and the gasket is leaking again. That showed up recently, and I wanted to paint it Chrysler Corporate Blue instead of just slapping it on. Turns out parts stores around here don't stock that color anymore, so I had to order a couple cans online. The paint showed up the other day, so I decided to paint it up today on my lunch break.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Yeah, that's beautiful. The color is real close to the GM Corporate Blue they used on 1979 model year stuff, but slightly lighter. Now, I'm debating painting the valve covers and intake when they are off the truck for the intake gasket replacement and EGR delete. I've thought about just clearing the valve covers to preserve the patina, but fresh paint will look good as well. Right now, it looks like this:
I'm leaning toward new paint. Thoughts?
New paint
Paint
You forgot thermoquad install on that list, by tbe way.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
I still haven't been able to find a reasonably priced 4bbl intake around here. I have an Edelbrock Performer (Carter AFB clone) ready for a rebuild when that happens. The stock 2bbl is honestly fine for now. It'll be better once what's left of the EGR system is gone.
Another dumb thing regarding that speedo cable (I'm spending far too much time on this):
Last time I bought a new one, I didn't think to do the ol' "try a different year truck" game when looking up a cable. I may have found one that fits.
Here's what Rock Auto lists for the '79:
And here's one for a 1975 without cruise control:
The speedometer side (the white plastic part) is the same, but note the difference in the silver part that threads to the transfer case. The one listed for the 1979 model is smaller than the one on my truck. The 1975 one, however, looks close enough that it might work. I think I'm going to order one up and try it.
If you have a stand Chrysler Tranny Speedo Adadpter in the TC then that bottom one is prolly correct.
Greg
In reply to slantsix :
Yeah, there is some sort of adapter sticking out of the transfer case. This has to be the one.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Mother Mopar is notorious for parts-binning trucks together. You'd be amazed at what will crossover...
Recon1342 said:In reply to Tony Sestito :
Mother Mopar is notorious for parts-binning trucks together. You'd be amazed at what will crossover...
They part bin everything not just the trucks.
Had some time here and there the past couple of days to tinker with the truck. First off, I wanted to start scoping out the EGR Valve delete I've been planning, so I was making note of where the vacuum lines were.
As I was looking around, I wanted to make note of what was going into the carb, vacuum tree on the intake, and that vacuum amplifier. And that's when I noticed this (look at the base of the carb):
So, you know how I've been saying it's been running like crap for a while and sometimes nearly stalling? Whelp... yeah, a giant vacuum leak would do that. I hooked up that line and not surprisingly, it ran A LOT better. I took it out for a drive, and it was still running funky under load; it was laggy and the drivetrain felt clunky on/off throttle, and it dieseled upon shutdown. After tuning the idle circuit again, it runs silky smooth and better than it ever has since I've owned it. Lesson learned: sometimes, the easiest, most simple solution IS the solution. And how did I not notice that before? For the record, I still plan on doing the EGR Valve delete when I pull the intake, but now I can move it down the list a little.
Next, my new speedometer cable showed up, and I couldn't wait to get it in there. But was it the right one?
That would be a YES.
And yes, the speedometer actually WORKS!!! No more bouncy needle, but it's still off a few MPH, which I'm guessing is due to tire size. No more weird dead spots, either; I tested it up to about 65mph and it did its thing without issue.
Next up: That oil pan. I need to do an oil change anyway. 
Geter done.
Greg
One other note from over the weekend:
I thought I caught a whiff of coolant when I was under the hood yesterday while tuning the carb, so I decided to check out the radiator:
Well, that's looking all sorts of crusty. The truck has never gotten above normal operating temp even on really hot days, and it hasn't lost a drop of coolant since I've had it, but I'm going to keep an eye on this. It's the original OEM radiator that's nearly 42 years old now, and it's not looking like it's going to make year 43. Might be a good excuse to upgrade to an aluminum unit. Also note there's no fan clutch; this baby has a straight fan snout right off the engine. It works, so I'm not messing with that.
I hate the noise of direct-drive fans. But if you're maintaining normal temps, just turn up the radio.
My 77 has a 4 solid blade fan and I replaced the rad a few years back with the spectra premium unit.. Good stuff and runs cool when towing.
Greg
Circling back to my post above about the carb and vacuum lines...
After I hooked up that line to the carb, all seemed great. Yesterday, I had to do Truck Stuff (pick up a new garage side door from Home Depot) and the truck wouldn't start.
Huh?
Checked for the usual things, had fuel, air, and spark, yet no vroom vroom. Checked timing, and it was still 12 degrees BTDC, just as it should be, so timing didn't change. Then, I got to thinking... what did I change? The vacuum line, that's it. I was able to eventually get it going with starting fluid and some coaxing, but it wasn't running right. Driving it, the truck hesitated and had no power. It dieseled upon shutdown as well.
All I changed was that line, and since it doesn't like that, I had to eliminate that vacuum amplifier completely from the equation. So, I went out today and got some vacuum caps, pulled the line I attached, capped it, and capped another one I found that goes to the vacuum amplifier. This time, barely touching the key starts it right up, and it runs even better than before. I still plan on pulling the intake and all that, but right now, it should be good to go.
Quick update on that last post: I took the truck for a small around town cruise to see if it ran better on the road. The answer is YES. Now it runs as it should; no hesitation, tip-in is normal and snappy, and it feels great. I ended up happening upon a photogenic spot on the ride, so yeah...
My passenger Frank the Skeleton wanted some pics too!
As you can see, Frank was pleased with the carb tuning.
Glad that is out of the way. Onto the next project...
I haven't really been doing much with the truck lately, mainly because I haven't been doing much "truck stuff". That said, I needed to use it for that reason yesterday, and it didn't want to start. So, I went down the list:
Fuel? Plenty of it.
Air? Yep.
Spark? Also yes.
So, what was the issue? Fuel, specifically, the carb. Not sure why, but when it sits for a while now, it doesn't like starting. I had to treat it like it was flooded: stick the screwdriver in the carb to hold open the choke plate, spray some starting fluid in there, hold open the throttle to clear it, and it fires up. This seems to be a thing after I capped that open vacuum port on the carb. Once it's running, the thing runs great and has no issues starting after stopping. I don't get it. It makes zero sense.
In other news, I got this yesterday:
Yes, it's a 1978 D100, not a 1979 W150, but it's a long bed 1972-93 D-series and it comes with a sweet Rupp Roadster minibike! I plan on picking this model up next so I can swap some parts:
If I swap the hood, tires, front bumper, and grille, I can build my truck AND have a sweet Ramcharger to build as well. I'd probably build the Ramcharger as a replica of my great uncle's '78 that I was going to pick up about 10 years ago. It was too far gone, so I ended up passing on it. Kinda wish I still had that thing, as it would have made a great parts truck.
Does the choke pulloff work properly and is it adjusted properly?
You might have to get a mitghtyvac or some other handheld vacuum pump to verify proper operation. It went bad on my 79 Disco Wagon 318 with a Factory Thermoquad.. Stared fine but did not run properly until the thermostastic choke came off with heat from the engine. it was sort of flooding itself until warm or lots of airflow opened the choke flap.
I might also throw a new fuel pump on there to be sure.. if you haven't done that already.
Greg
In reply to slantsix :
Both the fuel pump and the choke thermostat have been replaced in the past year. I haven't replaced or touched the pulloff itself, which was most likely replaced when the carb was back about 3 years ago (before I owned the truck). It's entirely possible it's set up wrong, just like 99% of the things the former owner touched. There's a good chance that this is what's going on. Once it is running, and when it is at operating temperature, everything behaves normally. I'm planning on bringing it to my friend's shop in the coming weeks to finally replace the oil pan again, so maybe I can sneak some carb tuning into the schedule.
One last thought on these MoPar LA engines is that the factory timing chains strtch pretty easily.. some afyer only ~ 60-80k miles.
I am putting a new one on my 78 van now ...which has only ~84,000 miles.
I am also doing a bunch of other work at the same time, but I could never get the thing to idle smooth... went through carb, intake, dist, heat riser etc.
Finally pulled the k frame the other day and the chain is toast. I will also be adding a chain tensioner from the 3.9 mopar v6 in there on the rebuild.
Here's a blurb on the work so far..
Drop the engine out the bottom like a Porsche....
It needed Rings and a timing chain.
so after I dollied the trans / K frame out from under the truck the disassembly and cleaning began!
I got some botox to fix the stretch/sag in this chain - It will plump and firm up again like new.
Only ~80k - These LA chains are sure a weak point.
Greg
In reply to slantsix :
Good to know! I think my timing cover has been off before, judging by the RTV in that area. The thing runs really well, so I'm guessing it's been rebuilt at least once. At some point, I'm planning on pulling the engine for a little refresh and maybe a cam/intake swap. That's a long ways out right now, but it's on the list.
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