Finally got an old pickup truck!

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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And of course it's a Dodge! 1972 D200 Camper Special with a 360-2bbl and 727. Brakes need gone through and it needs a full tune-up badly but for having sat for years it was pretty easy to get started. The last owner to drive it even had the foresight to not put much gas in it in case it had to sit for long periods of time so by the time I went to check it out everything was bone-dry. The carb bowl was surprisingly clean and I was shocked to see clear fuel flowing through the fuel filter once I hooked the tank back up and poured in a few gallons of gas.

Speaking of fuel systems this truck has 2 gas tanks, one under the bed on the driver side and one in the cab BEHIND THE SEAT... when I got it running I went ahead and bypassed the solenoid valve to switch between the two tanks and I'm just going to use the outside one and remove the in-cab tank. The outside tank is pretty huge anyway, at least 25 gallons I doubt I'll have range issues. I'm thinking the seat will be able to slide back a bit farther as well?
 
A few pics. Best part is I picked it up for a whopping $700

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A lot of people are afraid of the tank being behind the seat. There has never been a reported accident caused by it.

Neat truck.
 
Looks solid. The in cab tank was a bad idea, especially in winter, took forever for cab to warm up,20 or so gallons of gas at -30 was like sitting in a freezer.
Will need to modify seat tracks to move it back further. Plus a little room for storage.
 
Jadaharabi said:
A lot of people are afraid of the tank being behind the seat. There has never been a reported accident caused by it.

Neat truck.
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The 68 chevy i had also had the tank in cab. Got a whiff of gas from time to time.
 
They got away from the seat tanks completely a year or two later. Do you fill both tanks from the same hole? I saw a 72 once with two tanks but only one gas cap, there was a Y in the fill tube and you just reposititioned the nozzle to fill either tank.
 
They all had tank in cab, Ford stopped in I think 77ish. Fumes with today's gas would be my concern. Nice truck, have fun finding all the "Farmer Fixes", I swear its a old truck right of passage to have something poorly rigged.
 
jas0162 said:
They got away from the seat tanks completely a year or two later. Do you fill both tanks from the same hole? I saw a 72 once with two tanks but only one gas cap, there was a Y in the fill tube and you just reposititioned the nozzle to fill either tank.
Click to expand...

Yep that's how this one works, it's a goofy setup and it wasn't the easiest time trying to pour gas in from a container. Even if the in-cab tank isn't a safety issue I still would rather have the extra space than 50+ gallon fuel capacity.

First order of business is brakes, this thing has front drums which I can't even get off the spindles because the outer wheel bearings are seized to the spindle. Even if they did work I don't like the idea of 12" front drums on a 3/4-ton pickup I intend to tow with.

Engine is in great shape no smoke or weird noises, just needs a tune-up badly (it has points...).
 
jas0162 said:
They got away from the seat tanks completely a year or two later. Do you fill both tanks from the same hole? I saw a 72 once with two tanks but only one gas cap, there was a Y in the fill tube and you just reposititioned the nozzle to fill either tank.
Click to expand...

very nice truck, you did well
if you shop at RockAuto be sure to register that truck for their Manufacturer Close Outs, I see brake and suspension parts listed frequently for my '83 D150 at great prices.

Your 1972 was the first year of the third generation of the Dodge D Series trucks.
There were occasional sheet metal and dash changes and engine updates, but the basic DNA went from 1972 to 1993.
 
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Should be easy to find some disk brake parts for it. I didn’t know they still used drums in 72... except on 4x4 trucks which had drums until 75 or 76. I think the disk brake parts should fit from any truck up to 93, unless the drum trucks had weird ball joints or something
 
Tooljunkie said:
Looks solid. The in cab tank was a bad idea, especially in winter, took forever for cab to warm up,20 or so gallons of gas at -30 was like sitting in a freezer.
Will need to modify seat tracks to move it back further. Plus a little room for storage
Click to expand...

Easy fix, just don't fill the tank all the way up.
 
Tooljunkie said:
Looks solid. The in cab tank was a bad idea, especially in winter, took forever for cab to warm up,20 or so gallons of gas at -30 was like sitting in a freezer.
Will need to modify seat tracks to move it back further. Plus a little room for storage.
Click to expand...

Good point about the gas tank in the cab, never thought about it in the Winter trying to head up 15 gallons of cold gas. Block of ice, lol . .

Little bit later D100s went to the plastic tanks in the frame under the box, nice plastic not internal corrosion over time.
 
Tooljunkie said:
Looks solid. The in cab tank was a bad idea, especially in winter, took forever for cab to warm up,20 or so gallons of gas at -30 was like sitting in a freezer.
Will need to modify seat tracks to move it back further. Plus a little room for storage.
Click to expand...

In the 60s and 70s we were stronger and tougher. Short sleeves and the windows down in middle of winter.

My 68 and my Dads 70 both have 17 gallon tanks. You don't get very far from a gas station at 8 to 12 mpg towing a trailer.
 
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1976 Club cab long bed 4 wheel drive half ton 318 granny 4-speed sitting in that spot for 20 years in Molalla Oregon...
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6 months later it has a 360 engine with automatic brand new floorboards carpet new wheels and tires all new bearings and brakes three-quarter ton Springs all the way around to replace the half ton all new U joints tie rods and I had to change the gas tank twice the first one cracked....
3 months after this picture I drove it to Colorado and gave it to my son...
 
Notice it has the 72 73 Grill... I love that Grill it reminds me of the program emergency... I even have an extra one hanging on my wall from a 72 that I part it out last year.. you can even see the grill on my lunch box...
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As awesome as it is, the real kicker is the early model 1972 360 truck block. The camper special brakes are usually different than the standard brakes. The best fix is to find a set of spindles and caliper mounts from a 72-93 D200-D350 with discs and upgrade to the D or W 350 large tank master cylinder. The control arms are all interchangeable except the heavy duty trucks have larger ball joints.
 
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j par said:
Notice it has the 72 73 Grill... I love that Grill it reminds me of the program emergency... I even have an extra one hanging on my wall from a 72 that I part it out last year.. you can even see the grill on my lunch box...
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Did you leave a sandwich in your lunch box incase you get hungry? 10 years ago or so.
 
I have a mid 70’s d250 in my parts truck pile, too bad you are so far away. Brakes are all there,would at least be a starting point.
 
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