I decided this spring after going with my buddy to look at a project for him that it would be nice to have something to twist wrenches on again instead of sitting around drinking beer and wasting time. I decided a shortbox 1/2 ton would be a good thing to use up some of the parts I've been collecting for years and get the juices flowing again. I put an ad on Kijiji seeking something I could work with-after a couple false starts I came home today with this:

It's a '78 D150 with a 440. The production #'s have been bounced around on here before so I'm not going to reiterate them. This is where it starts to get interesting. The VIN was the 1st thing that caught my eye....

So I had a look at the door sticker and my eyebrows lifted a little....look at the production date in the top and the MDH in the bottom right....

I'm not sure when the official last date of production would have been before the line changeover for the '79s. This old girl has to have been close to the bitter end though; it's impossible to say that it was the last D150 with a 440, but it has a shot IMO. The underhood sticker is long gone and I haven't had a chance to look for a broadcast sheet or check out the engine/transmission for VINs, but I think it's still a cool piece. I can see by the door sticker wheel info that the rims aren't correct, but they do look cool. Truck is a Custom with factory A/C, buckets/buddy seat, Tuff wheel and AM/FM radio.

Very cool truck! What interior does it have?

Black buckets/buddy seat ala LRE/Warlock. I haven't had a chance to search for all the serial #'s yet, but the tranny part # is the correct 1 for a '78 BB truck with the long tailshaft, and what I can see of the engine ID # on the pad (the AC compressor makes it tough to see) starts 8T440 so I think the odds of both being original are pretty good. I'll get a chance tomorrow to do a little more scraping/staring to see what I can find.

That is a great score! I'd rather have that than a LRE (which are still cool,not hating). Body looks decent too! Wish I could find something like that around here. I used to have a 78 shortbox that I put a basically stock rebuilt 1970 440 in (headers and a crane 282/.450" cam were the only mods, even used the stock tiny Holley) and it was a blast, burn rubber at 30 mph with a 3.23 gear. Marked out a 1/4 mile and, per my speedo that was accurate, it would clip 100 mph at the end. Like a fool I sold the body and later found out it was supposedly a rare color, it was a Warlock painted a really nice shade of orange, almost the color of Orange Crush. MCG had an article many years ago that it was rare, but who knows.

Couple of questions I've had on these trucks lately, did these come with dual exhaust from the factory or single? Could you get a 440 HP in a truck?

Nice score! That will be a fun project.

The body is not as cherry as the pic would make it look. There's bondo in the rear wheel openings, the fenders are not great, but the cab itself so far seems to be pretty solid. I dig the LREs and Warlocks too but I wanted a Sweptline for this project-of all the trucks I've owned over the years the only one that was a shortbox was an '02 2500 CTD I bought to fix & sell. I wish the underhood sticker had survived to know what is real and what was added to it, but that's water under the bridge now unless I am lucky enough to find a broadcast sheet for it. Plan is to make it run, do the work to it to make it roadworthy and pass an inspection, and drive it while I accumulate/work over the sheetmetal. Black is about my least favorite color in the whole world but it should look nice when straight and shiny. I'm going to add a couple creature comforts to make it nicer to drive (tilt/cruise/a decent stereo) and I could see swinging in a stroker/518 combo and preserving the original motor/tranny assuming they are #s matching (I will be digging in this morning to have a closer look) but I'm not doing anything to it that can't be undone down the road.

Wow. Very cool.
Black on Black shortbed 440?
Definetly a late 78 for sure.
I bet that has an interesting story.
And those wheels could very well be original.

What other options? More pic, more pics, more pics.

The only reason I think the rims were added is that the door sticker states 15x5.5 wheels and H78-15 tires in the load rating part. I would guess it had black painted steelies with dog dish caps being a Custom, but without some more documentation, just a guess. I'll snag some more pics today and get them posted if I get a chance. The way it sits now, the option list includes A/C, Tuff wheel, buckets/buddy seat, AM/FM radio, the chrome slot wheels, lower body moldings, rear face bar bumper, front sway bar...it has a rear slider but I'm pretty sure it's aftermarket. I thought the doors had been cut for aftermarket speakers, but looking closer at the wiring as it comes through the doors it looks factory. I guess that would match with the radio? Typical strange Chrysler stuff-rubber floor being a Custom but carpet on the back wall of the cab because of the seat option. The data plate was still on the rad support although it had broken free of the rivets and was stuffed under the upper edge of the grille. It has the #'s to match the door jamb sticker. I'm getting old and fat so I'm having a tough time getting contorted up enough to get the serial # stamping off the block. The AC compressor hides the ID pad up top enough that I can't get anything more than 8T440 off it. The VIN pad on the RH side of the transmission on the bellhousing is blank (anywhere else to look?) but the rail # says '78 400/440 long tailshaft truck although the date code puts it at late August 77 build.

That's a great looking truck for Alberta! Congrats. There's a matching 4x4 to yours on kijiji right now except a 77 and slightly very rougher.

It's not native to Alberta, that's probably why it's not completely rotted out . As he related it to me, the previous owner brought it up from the southern US, then it sat for 5+ years waiting its turn in line until he realized he had too much on his plate and it should go to a new home. I don't think he was real happy watching it go on the trailer, but he still has a couple more '78 440 trucks in his collection for solace that are not for sale. He sold a '78 D150 longbox 440 the week before this in Citron Green and white with a factory sunroof....I didn't get there in time to have a look at it but by the pics it was a truly cool truck as well.

More pics-on the trailer still.

another

front quarter

underhood

interior

Very nice, the rear bumper looks pretty good which is a bit hard to find.

Sheldon

In the pic showing it on the trailer you can see what's left of the truck that started it all for me. A '76 D100 long box Adventurer Sport with a slant six/3 on the tree. I loved that truck at the time but in hindsight I spent every last $ and minute working on it. I cooked the engine the first winter by having the antifreeze too strong, then swapped in the 318 out of my Charger, then pulled it all for a 360 4 barrel and 727 that I built. Blew up the rear diff and parked it for an '86 D150 that I bought. I always wanted to swing a 440/833 into it but never got around to it. I'm looking forward to making this old girl run and move just to rekindle those feelings again. My poor old Charger is gonna get jealous one of these days.....

Is the guys name Ray? I sold him the citron green D150, it was also a skylight sunroof truck, along with a black 78 440 Warlock...

You are correct. I knew the citron green one came from California but never thought about it coming from you. The Warlock is still there and I don't think it's going anywhere. I never wandered down to look at it as he made it pretty clear he wasn't selling it, but it's sitting beside a '78 440 Macho. I missed seeing the green truck by a week-I had my heart set on a shortbox but I would have liked to check it out. I have the remnants of an '80 D150 longbox sitting down below with a factory sunroof and a factory leather seat. I put pics of it on here years ago. Too bad salt cancer ate it.....

Got time this weekend to try and make the old girl run. After a few trials involving ignition issues (at the end of the day the air gap on the ignition pickup was way out to lunch and the distributor was installed 180 degrees out) it came to life for the first time in at least 5 years. I had to fix a fuel leak as well as an antifreeze leak, and it needs some tuning love (both ignition and fuel) but at least it runs and moves under its own power with no major noises and decent oil pressure. The master cylinder piston is stuck down right now so I'll go to NAPA tomorrow and order a replacement for it as well as some tuneup stuff and a desperately needed set of valve cover gaskets. Then I'll start going through the mechanicals to get it ready for an out-of-province inspection so I can get it out on the road. Gotta say I feel a lot better about it now!

Jason