since i sold my mustang a few weeks ago i've been obsessed about finding an old truck. man decent ones for decent prices are hard to find around here.

well i pulled the trigger.. so now i'm an official D100 owner . its a 65 d100 with a poly 318,727 and a 3:55 8 3/4 rear HEI distribtor, jeep cj gas tank between the frame rails but pretty original besides that. i drove it 187 miles home. truck was originally from mississippi and was used on a cat fish farm from what i understand. has a couple smaller patches in the floor but the cab mounts are spotless which i liked after seeing a few other trucks. it did well. pretty much outta steam at about 70mph . couldn't believe how nice it drove. straight as an arrow. i have a few things i want to do to it down the road but nothing major.. its gonna stay looking exactly like it does for the most part ( it has the look i was after). i think i want one of those big go to hell rear bumpers for it though. also going to paint the rims a different color. probably white.. it needs tires too. don't like the look of whats on it. too car looking.. need to find a more correct looking tire for it. also want to re do the seat. want it as stock looking as possible. i'm also planning on disc brakes upfront.
man it seemed to get quite a few looks on the turnpike. can't wait to get it out and about on a regular basis

i know nothing about these poly motors.. what kind of timing do these things like? any other tuning recommendations on these motors?









i also bought this cool lamp from the seller. he makes come cool stuff..

[img]https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...amp;oe=573D2A01[/img]

That is sweet. I would swap a Cummins in it in a heart beat.

WAY COOL RIDE! rare to see 318 Poly in full size truck....got NOS cap,rotor,points&condenser in stock....PCV valve also.

great score. love the look of the early Dodges, and that dash shifter is great.

Poly's had adjustable valves. Just for kicks, I think I would run through the adjustments to be sure they are right. A poly with 3:55 gears should run bit stronger then 70, but the single exhaust is pretty restrictive, and the 2bbl carb is pretty small. Poly's can be made to run pretty strong, they were good motors. Bean counters (the heads were expensive to make) and narrow engine compartments spelled the end for them. 1966 was the end of the poly in production vehicles. Some did show up in commercial vehicles into the 70s, but they were probably left overs. Gene

Poly engines are actually very common in Sweptline era pickups.

Most but not all Poly 318 had adjustable valves. Many had hydraulic lifters

AFAIK the only hydraulic lifter Polys, at least in the '60s, were the heavy duty trucks, running the 318-3 engine. Everything else ran the solid cam. 0.012/0.018 valve lash.

My '64 ran good at around 36 degrees total. Swapping the DC distributor with the high perf curve really increased the fun factor. LA distributor drops in.

My Poly with stock 2-barrel and 32" rear tires would run all day at 80 with either 3.91 or 3.23 gears, but I ran 2 1/2" duals off the stock manifolds and Dynomax Super Turbos, the long "hemi" ones.

I hated the stock 2-barrel as it would stick the float every once in a while and bathe the top of the engine with gasoline. Also I live at altitude and that carb was running rich. I lucked out and found a Weiand 7503 for a good price and ran a 600 Holley 1850 that I could rejet. Picked up about 40 hp, felt like a larger engine. Also after rejetting I increased mileage from two-barrel's 14 to 15.5 at 70.

The brakes suck, the Scarebird disk swap is quick and easy, gets you Lincoln rotors on the stock hubs. I have not done this.

The largest tires I could fit were 32-11.50 x 15 on 15 x 8 on the back, 31-10.50 x 15 on 15 x 7s on the front. I believe the wheels I used were Americans white spokes.

After I wore those tires out I switched to 16s. I'm running ford cop wheels, which are 16 x 7 with the D shaped holes. The wheels bolt right on the 1965 and newer rear, the fronts the hub is a little too big for the centerbore so I run a thin spacer, although when the hubs are off for the disc conversion it'd be no big deal to machine down the hub to fit the wheel. The wheels are from 1998 to 2002 Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and some Town Cars, also Ranger pickups.

The steering box can be adjusted and if you need parts it is a Saginaw 525 which is in wide use. The link connecting steering arm to axle is expensive.

I used the DC electronic "race only" distributor, IIRC the 732, it is still going after 32 years. It worked with the stock alternator, no more dim lights at stop signs. Batteries lasted 7 years, I have no complaints.

The three best things I did to my '64 were:
1. HP curve electronic distributor
2. Holley 4-barrel
3. Electronic voltage regulator

Good luck with your '65! PM me if you have any more questions.

R.

thanks for the info guys..



yea i have the disc brakes planned already..
someone put a HEI dist in it already. i want to curve it now.. what was your total in by? 2000 or so?
planned on a dual fld set up. think i have everything laying around to do it.

thos 4bbl intakes are up around $600 now.. if they werent so damn much i'd buy one tomorrow..:)

1. I didn't really science timing out. I set total timing at IIRC 35 degrees at 3000 rpm, I'm sure of the rpm. The curve is whatever was in the Direct Connection distributor. I let the initial fall where it went to, I'm sure someone could scare up the curve. Initial was probably more than the stock setting.

2. The alternator...Original alternator has one wire from the regulator to the field connector, the other end of the field winding is to ground. In the newer alternator, both ends of the field are connected to the regulator. One of those two wires is a ground. That's why the regulator has to be grounded for the second type. You can run the newer distributor with the older style regulator by simply grounding one of the field leads to the alternator case. It takes a spade connector and a couple inches of wire. Then hook the single wire up to the other field connection.
Only reason to switch to two wire field is to use a bigger alternator.

3. Good on you for the disk brakes. Remember the studs are swaged to hold hub and brake drum together. The swages have to be removed somehow.

4. The intake, yes I feel your pain. You should try to buy a stock cast iron single 4-barrel intake! Even higher.

R.

Looks like a neat old truck....have fun !!

Very cool! My boys are building a '64....they are neat trucks!

Bring it to Carlisle! Stoked to see such a nice truck on this side of the country.

Sweet

Sweet

think i found a stock cast iron intake for $100. just have to find time to meet up and pick it up. have a few holley 600's laying around i'll throw on it.

i'll have to get a re-curve kit for the HEI dist. i'll put it at 35/36* total and then play around and find out where it likes initial.

i'll have to look up on how to remove the swaged studs.

thanks for all the info...

i'd like to.. have a few things i want to do before i make that ride. plus have to see if i can get off from work that weekend. i'm sure jamie will want to bring the dart. truck will be easier to pack though..:)

oh one more question.. is there an easy way to put a screw on oil filter on this poly motor? like to get rid of the canister style..

I think you got the answer over on sweptline.org, but I believe you can swap out the stud/plate from an LA

let me know what parts you are looking for at carlisle and I will look around while I am there

That cast iron Poly 4-barrel intake is worth over $500. May need an adapter for a Holley.

You better snap it up fast.

Regular LA kit works on the poly for spin on oil filter. I used the Fram kit.

R.