Moparts

new toy... 79 lil red

Posted By: abodyjoe

new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 02:36 PM

so in the later 90's to early 2000's i had a lil red. ended up selling to for a number of reasons.. super original truck but not fast enough for me at the time... went to a great home.. the guy i sold it to did a frame off restoration on it.. truck is perfect now...

fast forward to current time.. i get the bug for another one from time to time and lok around on craigslist and ebay and various other sites.. the ones for sale are usually over price junk or nice ones that are way over priced....

so a week or so ago and lil red thread pops up on FABO and i read through it, post a couple times in it and yup i'm on craigslist later that day...lol... now i did see this add up a few months ago and it disappeared so i figured they sold. i knew the trucks just by the add. one (the one i ended up buying) had been sitting in a tent for as long as i can remember. hell when i had mine it was in the tent just sitting.. stones and plastic down on the ground, truck under a cover wrapped in plastic under this tent...

so the day i see the thread here i search craigslist and theres the add again (see below).. this time i call. he tells me a price thats quite high and i say i can't get there till monday (this is thursday) he says well i have 4 guys coming to look this weekend.. i say ok i'll call monday since i'm off if they are there then i'll look at them..



Quote:
1979 Dodge Lil' Red Express

condition: excellent
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
paint color: red
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: pickup

Up for grabs i have Three Little Red Express trucks. yes three ... I have two 1979s and one 1978. Also i have lots and lots of extra parts that can go with them! The 1978 there is only around 600 of them that are known to be left. The one here in the photos is a 1979, and i can get photots of the others upon serious request. This 1979 truck pictured is all original including the wood bed. Yes they all have a 360CI engine thats all they came with and the 3.55 Gear Ratio Rear Axle as they all came with... This truck was parked as a running driving truck a few years ago (1994).. It was covered up and Wrapped from underneath to keep the moisture out of it.. This truck with very little work could be a every day cruiser again and will turn heads all day long. Come and See these trucks if you are interested or call me with any questions, but do not try to low ball me with stupid offers because I don't have time for wasting on tire kickers




the owner had someone put the ad up for the him and he wanted 15k for all three. so i asked and asked what he would sell just one for.. he told me a number i thought was high but said screw it i'll look at them and see whats what.. so i'm looking at this 79 up and down.. i had the price in mind that he told me on the phone thinking i'm walking at that price. not that the truck is bad but its been sitting since 1994 so its gonna need some time/money to get it going and safe again. i tell the woman l'm gonna take some pics and see what my better half thinks.. so while i'm out there getting pics she comes out and says he will take $2700 less then what we talked about on the phone... so i say to myself CRAP!!!! thats a good price and hard to walk away from now.. i tell her again i'm going to see what jamie thinks.. so i get to the car call jamie and tell her the price and she asks what i think.. i say i think its very fair but i want to ask the guy who restored my old one what he thinks since he is more up on pricing then i am.. send jason pics and he says its a real fair price.. call jamie back and tell her what jason said.. she says buy it we will find the money somewhere... well she found the money. i call the owner and say i want to look at a couple spots that are known problem spots and if they are good i'm in at his new price.. went back the other day, spots checked out and i left a deposit. picked it up thursday. its safe in my driveway and titled in my name already..:)

so what i'm bringing home is an all original 79 lil red with 51,000 miles on it.. appears to have all the hard to get lil red specific stuff still on it.. gonna need a couple of doors but thats pretty common,

plans... get it running,driving and safe. then i'll buff it out and have a cool driver. maybe even put a 518 trans in it to make it even a batter cruiser... also like to pull that ugly omni wheel and put a tuff wheel on it. pretty excited about it...




Attached picture DSC_0003.JPG
Attached picture DSC_0022.JPG
Attached picture DSC_0024.JPG
Attached picture DSC_0025.JPG
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 02:38 PM

..............

Attached picture DSC_0028.JPG
Attached picture IMG_7062.JPG
Attached picture IMG_7061.JPG
Attached picture IMG_7063.JPG
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 02:47 PM

,,,,,,,,,,,

Attached picture P1290012.JPG
Attached picture DSC_0030.JPG
Attached picture DSC_0031.JPG
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 02:48 PM

crazy headliner someone put in.. debating on weather to keep it or not...

Attached picture DSC_0030.JPG
Posted By: redraptor

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 03:00 PM

Congrats. Sure got your work cut out for ya.
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 04:47 PM

Sweet! We have a surplus of factory LRE wheels around here if you need a 4th correct wheel.
Posted By: bboogieart

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/03/18 05:07 PM

Nice score. up
If you get rid of that head liner,
Can you get it out without damaging it?
I would like to have it.
Posted By: 4x4 Roundup

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/04/18 04:37 AM

Congrats up I suppose you know there is a Club in Va. dedicated to those Trucks and a registry etc. work
Posted By: Iowan

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/04/18 05:19 AM

Fun project!
Posted By: 5thAve

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/04/18 07:37 AM

Cool! Gotta like the lil red trucks. Altho I do have to say, I like driving the newer Rams better. runaway
Posted By: NV69B7RR

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/04/18 05:34 PM

Cool LRE!
Posted By: I_bleed_MOPAR

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/05/18 05:10 PM

Nice score. up beer
Color me jealous. wink



Tim
Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/06/18 03:43 PM

I digs the diamond tuck and would keep it.

I gots me the same rust on the 85 tailgate here in Fl. LOL!

as a matter of fact RIGHT CLICK SAVE! I will talk with the seat shop to see if they can do me up the same way.

nice score on the LRE. I like the patina on it myself.
Posted By: ric3xrt

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/07/18 09:40 PM

Got to love the Diamond tuck, That wasn't one of the ones up in Wind Gap Pa? that guys been trying to unload those 2 for a few years now.
Posted By: OrangeProwler

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/12/18 06:12 AM

I got to admit I'm a bit jealous here. Congrats on the new purchase. Hopefully, I'll have another someday.
Posted By: racerx20

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/15/18 06:29 PM

Saw your email on the LRE mailing list, welcome to the club! up

Posted By: oldjonny

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/15/18 08:03 PM

Had a '79 back in the day. Still have one (1) of the original wheels still carrying the factory GT Radial. Wheel is not in the greatest of shape, but it is the correct and original wheel if you are looking.
Posted By: bobby66

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/19/18 03:53 AM

Sweet truck. I would keep the headliner.
Posted By: racerhog

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 02/19/18 06:07 PM

Cool Project... Hope you got a bunch of his leftover parts...
Question: Was the A/C Diverter under the dash?
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/13/19 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by racerhog
Cool Project... Hope you got a bunch of his leftover parts...
Question: Was the A/C Diverter under the dash?


A/C was an dealer under dash unit. not there when i got the truck..
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/13/19 06:01 PM

so i pulled the truck out of the tent a couple weeks ago. have a pile of parts for it in the basement.. rims,tires, all the brake stuff, fuel pump and hose,water pump and a bunch of other lil things to get it road worthy. hopefully i'll have time and good weather soon to work on it. dying to drive the damn thing.


i did pick up a bunch of original parts. all bought from dealer stock in the 90's and have been sitting in the guys attic since.

Attached picture parts.jpg
Posted By: abodyjoe

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/13/19 06:04 PM

so i'm trying to get the exhaust parts together. looks like all i need now are the pipes that go from the H-pipe to the mufflers. may just get them made locally. i also need to decide on mufflers. anyone with a LRE have any suggestions on a muffler a little louder then stock but not obnoxiously loud and doesn't drone?

walker site has a few numbers listed. was wondering if anyone has used the dynomax super turbo # 17747. says its a direct replacement. just don't want a drone...
Posted By: basketcase

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/13/19 10:21 PM

great project! I like the headliner myself. I keep debating on looking for a set of stacks for mine, wouldn't need to be pristine since it's not a LRE by any means. I always wondered why Dodge didn't put a four speeds in these.

Attached picture PTDC0002 (2).JPG
Posted By: larrymopar360

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/15/19 05:55 PM

Nice bunch of parts you have. Those headlight trim pieces for the quad headlights are gold! The mirror heads in good shape are getting hard to find, let alone NOS!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: new toy... 79 lil red - 06/17/19 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by abodyjoe
so i'm trying to get the exhaust parts together. looks like all i need now are the pipes that go from the H-pipe to the mufflers. may just get them made locally. i also need to decide on mufflers. anyone with a LRE have any suggestions on a muffler a little louder then stock but not obnoxiously loud and doesn't drone?

walker site has a few numbers listed. was wondering if anyone has used the dynomax super turbo # 17747. says its a direct replacement. just don't want a drone...


I have a pair of 17747s on my 440 75 Charger - the rumble is great at idle as is the roar at WOT. In the middle there is a bit of drone but it's not horrible. Also put a pair of 17748s on my 318 RC, same muffler with different pipe sizes. Same good rumble, not as much roar because less cubes and much less drone. Might have something to do with clearance between muffler and floor on B body vs truck.

My LRE is running NAPA 21848s which are probably Walkers. The body is an inch longer than the ones above and my notes say they came with a lifetime warranty. At the moment I've got 15 yrs and 25,000 miles on them. Sound great, loud without being annoying, zero drone.
© 2024 Moparts Forums