Say Goodbye to '65 Fargo W300

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70DartMike

70DartMike

Too many projects
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Well, after picking up the '49 Fargo, I realized I don't have any room for it. I had this '65 Fargo in the back that I had done a bunch of work to and driven for about 6 years, but for the past 2 years it's been neglected in the back. Mostly due to needing brake and engine work... 16" drums and a 318 Poly.
Anyhow, I mentioned to my neighbor the idea of selling it but not wanting a bunch of looky-loo's in the yard. He said his friend was actually just asking him about any old Dodge trucks, preferably a Fargo, for sale. I had the guy come over and look, turns out he remembers seeing it around town and always wanting it. So long story short, he offered me a trade of his '68 Buick Skylark, which I took.
I'm not much of a Buick guy, but I've always liked these better than the Chevelles. It's got a strong Buick 350 4bbl, 2 spd. The body is nice, but it needs interior work. I figure I'll drive it for a bit and probably sell. I need the money more than another project.
The guy just put in new Edelbrock carb, MSD 6A, dist/plugs/wires, alternator, cam, did some top end work, new coils in the rear, slotted mags, and bought new black carpet for it.

Out with the Fargo. Glad he wants to restore it.







In with the Buick.





 
It looks like you made out pretty good! That Buick looks to be in pretty nice shape and should be an easy sell when the time comes.
 
Thanks Andy,I need to hear things like that to feel better about the Fargo, haha .

It's got some minor spots that will need attention soon, but it's a nice driver.
 
holy cow, that was a cool fargo.

The buick is cool too .....really I have no idea why a lot of mopar guys bash GM and ford when they are very cool cars too and a good design.

At least you will be able to find parts for the buick lol

I understand your situation of being out of room ....as much as we all want to save every cool car out there.....sometimes the space and time is just not available .....kinda having the same problem here which is why I let the Cadillac go and considering thinning out some more.
 
The Fargo is cool, however it just sat there in the bush. I had no time for it, and I'd rather see it around in town again than let it rust because I'm telling myself I'll get to it.
I've got nothing against GM or Ford either, I just don't know much on GM. Ford, I have a '75 F250 that I daily drive.

Yes and parts are cheaper too. Luckily it doesn't need much.
 
The 350 was one of the best motors GM ever made. Certainly the most prolific especially through the mid to late 70s......because most every GM product had one. They musta had a surplus.
 
70DartMike said:
The Fargo is cool, however it just sat there in the bush. I had no time for it, and I'd rather see it around in town again than let it rust because I'm telling myself I'll get to it.
I've got nothing against GM or Ford either, I just don't know much on GM. Ford, I have a '75 F250 that I daily drive.

Yes and parts are cheaper too. Luckily it doesn't need much.
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I've owned something from all the major US car companies, they each have their pros/cons.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
really I have no idea why a lot of mopar guys bash GM and ford when they are very cool cars too and a good design.
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I was gonna say "for the same reason they bash us" then I realized that's not true... The reason they bash us is cause they can't beat us!! :toothy1: LOL jk! I actually like a lot of gm and ford cars, I just have a deep, burning desire for Mopar that just isn't quite there for the others.
 
71beater said:
That's a Buick 350 Rob, not the 350 that was in so many vehicles. Lots of differences...
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Yeah, the Buick 350 is not the same as the Chev 350 or the Olds 350 or the Pontiac 350. In the mid-'70s when GM started cleaning up this duplicative mess of numerous same-size engines (good idea) by standardising across all brands (good idea) on the cheapest crud they made (because of course they did) without being honest in their ads or with their customers (bad idea), they got smacked with a class-action lawsuit by owners peeved that the Oldsmobiles they'd bought came with an inferior Chev engine (and a TH-200 ProbleMatic "transmission" instead of the TH-350 that should've been there). That's why GM car ads began bearing the disclaimer "GM vehicles are equipped with engines made by various GM divisions".
 
v8buick.com is a good website for, well, V8 Buicks. Skylarks are great cars; I've had my '65 for 12 years, and in that time I've put about 35,000 miles on it.
 

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NIICE trade, not sure I myself could have let go of the Fargo, but. to each there own and if no time well, I can understand!

What for engine was in the ole Fargo? Were they built just like the Dodge counter part? Power Wagon wasn't it? Only Canadian? (I'm asking as I'm unsure never got to work on, ride in, or even drive a "Fargo" truck.......
 
The Fargo was cool, but that Buick is sweet. Love the '68 bumper, that big 'ol V-shaped monster! Enjoy driving that. The Buick 350 doesn't get a lot of love, but it's a solid motor, and you've got the 4bbl, which doesn't suck. The ST-300 isn't an awesome trans, but I had the Olds version in my '67 Cutlass and it never gave me any trouble.

Rainy Day Auto said:
The buick is cool too .....really I have no idea why a lot of mopar guys bash GM and ford when they are very cool cars too and a good design.
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Not me. In addition to my Mustang problem, I love Buick/Olds/Pontiac iron. Cool cars. I just need a garage with 26 bays.
 
IIRC the olds 403, chevy 350/305/267 and buick 3.8 were the worst offenders to be found in makes outside of their original designers intent.

I believe the pontiac motors had a very hard time passing emissions and that's why they almost dissapeared (save the 301) from pontiac cars.

I remember once seeing a olds omega with a pontiac 301 and a trans am with a olds 403 on the same day.

I also remember a customer with a ventura that successfully got gm to replace whatever it came with with a real pontiac 350.
 
And what about GM's first attempt at diesel for cars? They took regular car blocks and converted them over to diesel....LOL That didn't work very well.
 
67 Power Wagon said:
NIICE trade, not sure I myself could have let go of the Fargo, but. to each there own and if no time well, I can understand!

What for engine was in the ole Fargo? Were they built just like the Dodge counter part? Power Wagon wasn't it? Only Canadian? (I'm asking as I'm unsure never got to work on, ride in, or even drive a "Fargo" truck.......
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Didn't want to let it go, but I've got a '69 Fargo W100 Power Wagon, a '64 Dodge W300 Power Wagon, and a '49 Fargo. Then there's the '67 383 4 speed Barracuda notch project the Rambler I've got to get sold, and a few others.

The engine was a 318 Poly. Originally a 2bbl but I found a Weiand aluminum 4 bbl intake for it, so that went with it. I hope the new owner realizes how rare that intake is.

Yes, basically a rebadged Dodge by that time. The earlier ones had differences. This one was a Power Wagon. It had Dana 70s front and rear, NP435, 205 transfer case, dual levers into 205, etc.
 
70DartMike said:
One big giveaway is the distributor on an angle to the right.

Sort of like how Buick had a 340, it was a 2 bbl engine and nothing like the 340 Chrysler put out.
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For '66 and '67, you could also get a 340 4-barrel! Those are some rare intake manifolds. The 4-barrel intake on my 300 is a one year piece, and they often go for $250 or more because there are no aftermarket intakes for 300/340s.
 
Aaron65 said:
For '66 and '67, you could also get a 340 4-barrel! Those are some rare intake manifolds. The 4-barrel intake on my 300 is a one year piece, and they often go for $250 or more because there are no aftermarket intakes for 300/340s.
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I pulled out the rat piss stained carpet and installed the new black carpet that came with it. I scrubbed down the seats with some all purpose cleaner. Now instead of smelling like rat piss it smells like melons and new carpet. Looks a lot better too. Too bad someone did a number on the seat.
 

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