Will This 1978 Plymouth Trail Duster 400 Big Block Run After 16 Years?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ธ.ค. 2023
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Are we really still wondering if these classic Mopars will run? Don't they always run? Well, almost... anyway, let's do big block Trail Duster things. And if it does the running, the driving, and the stopping, I suppose we'll have to go bury it in a mud hole or something. And then go check out Tom's video telling the crazy story of buying this truck over at @rocketresto - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Really like this truck. Got the gas tank out yesterday…and I still smell like 20 year old gas…ugh. Tank is now cleaned and should be able to drive it off the tank on Monday.
Yup the fat bore 400" can't go wrong nothing to hate about it....great truck back in the day....thanks.
You guys are having way too much fun with this one. "NOTHING could be finer than a big block Chrysler in the morrrrrr er er nin'!"
70s Ramcharger/ traildusters are just Awesome!!
I miss my lemon yellow 2wd Trailduster. She went from 318 to 400 to 440. Such an easy swap. Move the motor mounts, holes are already there, and voila’! Don’t even need to change the driveshaft
Hello Mopar Dudes, I wish I still had my '75 Plymouth Trailduster, got it 4 nothing, back in '95!!! It had a 318, 4×4, I traded for a motorcycle I'd always wanted, that truck went to a serious Mopar Guy!!! That's why we're great friends today!!! We meet at Carlisle every year!!! Mopar Nate Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
You might get lucky and find the collar for the shifter, as these trucks used the same Saginaw tilt columns that GM used for years. Because as we Mopar fans know, parts for us are hard to find, but every one of our GM friends can always find everything they need!
I didn’t know they were Saginaw columns. I knew that the 80s Dodge truck tilt column was essentially a GM part. This makes sense. Yeah, that. Haha.
@@DeadDodgeGarage from what I've been able to discover, the tilt column in my '71 Coronet is the GM one, so wouldn't surprise me if this is the same one. And no, ya can't have my shifter pieces... :D
GM = dime a dozen and cheap as hell
Luv these. In 1979 I was a lot boy at Aurora Chrysler Plymouth in Seattle and amongst all the t-top cordobas, volares (including 2 RR,s...one was a 4speed!), and horizons there was a couple left over 78 traildusters and a couple 79's. These were my preferred vehicles for lunch-runs and other errands for the obnoxious dealers. I liked the round headlights better than the square. I would remember if they were big blocks, so guessing they were all 318/360's. Good times... Lots of used cheap muscle cars back then.
My dad had an early 70's Club Cab pickup with that hood on it. Rare truck in it's day; his had a 3 on the tree.
He asked me to convert it to auto, so I did, complete with a B&M StarShifter!
Hilarious stuff in the early 90's....what a great truck that was. I'd love to have it (and him) back now.
Miss you, Pop.
- Ed on the Ridge
Ramchargers and Traildusters are great. My favorite grille was always the 74-76 Trailduster which was basically the 72-73 Dodge pickup grille with the center section blacked out and a Plymouth badge bolted on. One of those with the top off and a slight lift kit and fat grips is just pure 4 x 4 fun. Oh, and a 340 under the hood and a 4 speed.
Right. I feel like that grille actually looked distinctly different. The ‘77-78s don’t have the same unique character. But that’s ok - it’s a great grille.
Im A die hard Ford man, 4THgeneration of Ford man in my family but I do have a soft spot for trail dusters. My uncle had a 75 when I was a kid and I always like dthem
Every mechanic has done it at least once you flare the line and you look over and you go damn it
Once… five times… yep. Haha.
Hi from Norway, I had once a 79 Ramcharger se with a different grill with 4 headlights and to different green paint, only a 318 Cid 4x4! It had a different cam convurter innlet and 750 Holly dubel pumper, a little overkill but juse was cheaper then! Sorry for my bad English..
I love to have one today, at the age of 63🔥🔥😎👍4" lift cit and BF 35.12.50 .15 tyers
Yep - stacked headlights came in ‘79. The hood is also different. And big blocks were no longer available. I have done a lot of seat time in a 318 powered short bed pickup, and it was amazingly capable. Great trucks.
i don't think a bigger engine whas available for Norway than a 318? But I whas happy with it, running the crapp of the Chevy😂
I like these units as well. It's a pity that Mother Nature and various road maintenance agencies in the salt belt hate them.
Ramchargers and Traildusters have definitely made a come back in popularity. I bought an 87 Ramcharger 3 years ago because it was the only vehicle in the area I could afford, and I told myself I wanted to learn how to work on my own vehicles. The only time I've seen any other RCs in my area is when I broke down at the gas station on Hwy 98 after first buying the truck. 3 different guys stopped with theirs to show them off, but offered no help. As of today, I've been through probably 75% of every nut and bolt and I know more than I ever expected to. As an everyday construction worker, I long for a life away from the city where I can work on old cars and enjoy a simpler lifestyle.
I just realized I haven't seen a Trailduster in my area since I don't know when! They were once so common, my brother even had one. I guess sometimes things just slip away before you know it! Cool to see some again!👍
I had never seen one before getting to Rocket. Now I’ve seen three!
Love the tin grill content!! Keep up the great work!
My 78 K5 is pretty much the same vehicle and does buck and shake your kidneys on every bump just like the trail duster
Yep… sounds about right. I have always liked the K5s too. My friend has owned one for 30 years, which I’ll be putting an engine in at some point.
Leece- Neville alternator, I believe...as well as a Pennzoil or Quaker State-fed engine
Yep - that…
Pulled the fuel pump out and inside is bad! Might have to do a few quick oil changes.
I had a 79 SE prospector and now I miss it.
Always loved the Ramchargers and Bronco’s, never seen a Plymouth Trailduster up here in canada
with two RC/TD videos underway I seems only fair that you guys answer the age old question: how many dudes does it take to get the top off and on again
Apparently, four… I wasn’t there the one time we’ve collectively done it so far though.
@@DeadDodgeGarage sure dude, this is like that band of brothers scene where no one saw the German prisoners get shot (no big deal, closest one was from Oregon) - I’ve never seen it either but ‘4’ seems to be the common rumor
Like the body style bought a new warlock in 77 loved it thanks for sharing
BTW the last time I checked Dick's U Pull it in Spanaway had a tilt column just laying on the floor of a 78 magnum in the parts section. That was less than a year ago so probably still there. It wasn't the column for the magnum cause the magnum had a floor shift. But it was for a column shift period correct Chrysler product.
If it’s a car unit it should be different - Chrysler actually made those. But they farmed out tilt columns for trucks for some reason.
@@DeadDodgeGarage I don't know what exactly it came from, but the shift indicator was the same as the trail duster and also the steering wheel.
Good time of year for those!
During the course of this great vid. I watched you get a years worth of rain where I'm at. This and the 67 Charger made my weekend.
no one asked for trailduster comment, we asked for ramcharger content - they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT!
Haaahaha. Right. Several people saw Evan’s two rusty Trail Dusters in the back of random shots and asked about them though.
I figure you guys must get all kinds of folks reaching out with all those cars and cool trucks!
I love the bird bath hood trucks. I had a '76 M884 (Army speak for a W20). Beefed up spring pack to 5/4 tons, 318 2bbl, auto, NP203, aux 24v charging system. Cool AF.
Very cool trucks.
There is something special about seeing a dead vehicle come back to life.
It’s my favorite thing to do. It’s so rewarding and satisfying.
XJ to the resue!
My '91 has been a yard tug more times than I can count.
They'll pull anything but a heavy tongue weight trailer and they're SO maneuverable.
Interesting truck, good job getting it going!
IIIIIIIIIIIIYYYEEEEEEEEE!!! NOOOOOO!!! Jamie! NOOOOOO!!! I knew you were up to something! I had a wonderful day at my wealthy friend's huge air-conditioned shop. He has a black '68 Charger R/T, an orange '69 Charger R/T, a '69 Coronet R/T convertible All 4-speeds except the Coronet, and none of them crap green. All beautifully restored. Anyway, we spent the day tossing a new cam in his '69 Charger and talkin' about Mopars. He showed me the '70 Super Bee that he wants to buy for $90K. So, I headed home all happy, and picked up my favorite pizza to go. I immediately turned on your new video, and as I was rushing to grab a slice, I swore that I heard you say... "Steve's gonna love this!" What?! I quickly backed up the video, and that's exactly what you said! That was awesome! However, everything went to crap when I saw the crap green paint and crap green interior. The pizza tasted like crap! A headache hit me like a ton of crap! Then my brother sent me pictures of his '55 Chevy that he just painted CRAP GREEN! There is only one crappy thing left to do. I must sell all my crap... learn how to paint a car... and paint all of the crap green vehicles in the country white, one at a time! That's right! Free paint jobs! I confidently predict all the same anti-quality paint job of the Garbage Can 'Cuda! My happiness will be restored!
Haaaahaha… so much damn green… you’ve got your work cut out for you for sure. Nice.
I remember seeing these out in the wild back in the 70’s. K5 blazers, Bronco’s and Scouts, too. Such a cool format. Sooooooo 70’s!
We had that EXACT SAME fan when I was a kid.....ah memories of making Darth Vader voices through it.
It seemed MUCH bigger then.....
Another awesome video Jamie. I dig that green machine...also the big 4 door dodge pickup you showed...I would love to see him again too. Keep up the awesome work uncle dead 😉
There will definitely be a crew cab video eventually. Haha. Thanks!
Truly this truck and all the trinket treasures found within are without a doubt "NIFTY"!! LOL.
Very nifty!
Those 2 together are so badass and sound cool as hell...i especially love the dual 90 degree exhaust...make mor videos like this please
So i started and am now putting off doing the bushings on my w150 because they refuse to go on by hand like on my 90 and i have to pull EVERYTHING and press it all on. Unless if buying the cheap ones off ebay and the ones in my glove box harden alot over time im just not going to be happy having to pull everything then manage to get it all back in
I definitely admired the body lines of that old trail duster when you were power washing it. ...As long as you keep the camera on the driver's side ;) Those 2 door big suvs (bronco, k5, ram charger) sure are starting to go up in price...Especially with removable roof tops.
You have made me love my Cherokee all over again.
I am completely in love with my rusty POS. I’ve driven it like 700 miles now I think. I drove it through some flooded highway spots tonight. I’m having way too much fun with it.
I passed on a 440 trailduster because of the rust. Here in the northeast we have rust. You have brown stains. 😂
😅
You guys are giving me the itch for another tin grill.
The saving of the line nut. Standard practice out in the boonies.
Currently signing a contract that may require me to use my personal vehicle for long driving field service work, and also currently looking for a Jeep Cherokee with 4.0, preferably with manual transmission. Coincidence? I think not.
Not at all. Haha. My friend has one in Olympia, WA… mid 90s model with a five speed. Grandpa stock. I might have to own that one soon.
I had an original black '75 440 Ramcharger SE 4wd. I changed the trim to "78 and made it two-tone Black over red pearl metallic. It came pretty loaded, and I added some extra options like the optional factory gauges, factory rear swing-away rear tire mount. I also insulated the double walled removable roof. I sold it to my friend and fellow Mopar fan, Rick T., and he sold it to someone else eventually. Someone told me they saw it up in Port Angeles, delivering beer kegs with a trailer.
My brother bought a jeep just like your jeep and it was so bad that you couldn't keep it on the road.LOL. It was hit in the frontend and the frame was broken on the driver's side and he is not a car guy and he bought it without driving it. LOLOL. Needless to say he got taken for a ride and it got taken to the shredder. LOL.
Yikes. Yeah that ain’t good. Mine hasn’t been wrecked! It’s just full of holes 😅
Nice✌️
I owned a 79 trail duster sport.
Brings back memories of bondo and bad valve seals
"Fortune favors the bold..." I'm just here for Latin proverbs.
Me too.
Could you do a video on pistons selection when building a short block?
Types of pistons, compression ratios, octane detonation, etc…
Honestly, I’m probably not the guy for that yet. I’ve always just used whatever pistons I had, could get, or the machine shop spec’d for me. Most of my builds have been mostly warmed over stock. I’m definitely not some hot shot builder. But I will be doing a lot more in the future.
Its not a matter if its been done before , everything has been done before, its how its done that makes it interesting, and you definitely have my interest. Cheers
🎶🎶 I LIKE BIG TRUCKS, AND I CAN NOT LIE🎶🎶
My Dad has a 1979 Plymouth Trailduster Sport with the 360 V-8, Torqueflight, Power Windows, Air Conditioning, and Tilt Wheel. I loved that truck's tu-tone Yellow/Orange exterior and tan interior. Awesome looking! I love the sound of the old Chrysler starters! Plymouth is my all-time favorite classic car, plus their neat little trucks, Plymouth Arrow (Dodge D-50), and later the Plymouth Scamp front-wheel Drive compact pickup. I learned to drive stick in a 1980 Plymouth Arrow pickup (5-speed), floor mounted. I would love to see Plymouth come back to life if only in CUDA. I miss the simplicity of cars of the '60s/'70s/early '80s versus the complicated drivetrains in the current crop of cars including my 2018 Chrysler 300c Platinum Hemi.
My favorite part was when you said 2007 wasn't that long ago
I wasn’t old enough to vote yet then, so it kind of was - but relative to when a lot of the vehicles I’ve revived were parked, not long!
Such a cool truck
From 1975 to 1991.... my family owned a Plymouth Valiant Brougham hardtop. It was the local dealer promo car and mom drove it out of the showroom. On the drive home, the speedometer cable unravelled. Less than 16 miles on the odometer and that was the first of many failures. The car remained a low-miler for years because mom only took it to work and back. The car never went on a long journey for one main reason - it would randomly die when ever it decided to. The car was parked for a decade after which I inherited it. I drove it for 3 months and couldn't for the life of me solve the ignition issue. Most unreliable car.... ever. Such a shame because it was so pretty. After sitting for years, I sold it to a friend of mine in 2009.
For years, I looked for a points-style distributor to just kind of "rule out" that maybe the electronic ignition was a problem. My friend found one and tossed it in. Remarkably, the car ran better than it ever had and wouldn't just randomly die.
Long story short, it wasn't the ignition module, it wasn't the wiring, it wasn't the ignition switch.... it wasn't a bad coil, it wasn't the BBD carburetor everybody is so quick to blame.
It was the friggin' pickup inside the distributor!!! Nothing to do with the air gap, the actual pickup itself had some sort of internal failure. We had an electronics friend of ours loan us an oscilloscope, and we'd spin the distributor by hand, watching the pulses on the screen. When the pulses stopped (at random) if you were to give the pickup a little rap with a screwdriver, it would start pulsing again.... until it wouldn't. Completely repeatable. My parents both loved and loathed that car because it was a) very expensive, b) stunningly gorgeous but c) an absolute bitch to drive and NOBODY could figure out why it was randomly crapping out. Mom joked that the dealership should have bought it back because the car spent more time in their service bay than in our garage. For nearly 20 years, they just lived with it randomly dying or unwilling to start.
Sadly, my friend gave up on the project when he learned what reproduction sheetmetal was going to cost and rather than sell it back to me, he sold it to some local, well-known mopar scrappers and I had to watch my childhood car get chopped to pieces and sold on Facebook marketplace.
I’ve seen many pickup failures do strange, unpredictable things. My ‘73 Challenger ran great, but wouldn’t hot start unless you cranked it for 15-20 seconds with the throttle open. I always assumed it was a fuel problem… until it finally conked out completely with no spark, I replaced the distributor, and it was perfect. Ugh. That’s really unfortunate. I like those Broughams. A really nice one was for sale down the coast a ways for many months. They were proud of it… but it was really nice.
@@DeadDodgeGarage Ours might be hard to replicate. Cruise, AM/FM, Fuel Pacer, 727 trans, 3.21 Sure Grip, Buckets, Burgundy Outside, Bugundy Interior and white top. Ours barely had 80,000 miles on it. If I only knew then what I know now - could have saved the car.
I had a red trailduster. You know I put a bigger engine and finally went with 318. That truck was my 3rd first two were the ram charger and last traildister. Wish I kept one of them. Great trucks.
Sounds so good 👍
You have sparked my interest in the mopar!
All that initial engine fire-up noise is still concerning.
Hoping a oil and filter change gets rid of that.
Oil in the sump looked great so I wasn't too concerned. It made a bunch of noise immediately on startup and almost all of it went away, except one or two stubborn ticky lifters. The nasty buildup I found on the distributor when I pulled it could well be related. I'm sure an oil change is on the program.
That 78 grill does it for me.
I had a 78 w150 adventurer. It was full time 4x4. And fairly rough all the way down one side. But it did have a pretty hot 360(cam, headers, Edelbrock intake, carb) it was way too much motor for such a rough truck. But it drove incredible concidering what it looked like.....
O good grief please put those wheels back on! and keep that spare! .....that thing is just perfect! Im super jelly!
What a great truck man!
Oh it’s happening. Haha. Thanks!
wow the good ole days ,these were amazing gas guzzleing trucks,the traildusters are really rare
Love the sound of an old Mopar starter. Reminds me of my ‘71 Plymouth Fury III broke down in the driveway. Good times.
Those Chrysler starters sounded like a monkey ******* a football.
Awesome! Prefer the 440 over the 400 any day, but as long as they are Mopars 😊
Need to see the first time on the trail dusters came out after seeing ram charges for years
It's almost similar to seeing a Plymouth van that looks like a Dodge tradesman van in the 70s.
Very similar. They did that many times over the years… the Neon is a classic example
Really enjoyed this video! I'd love to semi-daily drive this Trail Duster! Any chance it ever goes up for sale, let me know, I have cash waiting!
You have the best job in the World!
I am strongly inclined to agree. Haha.
You're ten times the You Tuber Dylan Mccool everthought of being!
No comment on that… but thank you very much for the compliment. 🙂
That thing sounds amazing!!
well done!
Have a field like that behind my house, unfortunately it's not mine. Would love to be able to rip around like that in my 81 K20 or my cars.
Great video!
I have underwear older than 16 yrs. I have T Shirts that are 30yrs old still wear frequently/
Thanks!
She is a beauty.
Sweet truck love those things.
Cool thanks 👍🤗
Hi Jamie. I was wondering . Did Plymouth design its own 440 air cleaner or was there only one design for all Mopars?
Love the truck. Wish we had them here in Australia.
The chrome air cleaner on this one of course isn’t stock obviously. I don’t know about any decals or engine callouts on the air cleaners at this point in the 70s, but as far as the units themselves, they were essentially the same across brands. They changed through the different iterations of emissions and sound controls, but usually a Plymouth and a comparable Dodge had the same air cleaner, but a different pie tin / decal. Good example I can think of is ‘69 Roadrunner 383 vs a Super Bee 383. Same air cleaner, but the Roadunner engine had the Roadrunner name on the pie tin, while the Super Bee engine says Magnum.
Thanks Jamie. We had the Chrysler badge here in Aust. and only Valiants( until '75 to '78 with the advent of the Aussie Centura.)You can Google what we had. No dodge or Plymouth badges. I think we missed out on a lot of good stuff.@@DeadDodgeGarage
@@richard63Actually you may have overlooked the many Valiant utes that for some reason were badged as Dodges, and Dodge light trucks .Iv'e heard that when Valiants were first planned for being sold in Australia, they were going to be Plymouth Valiants, but it was perceived that Australians wouldn't like the name Plymouth, it would have been fine with me.
Get rid of that POS Edelbrock carb and put a Thermoquad back on it, then fine tune that kickdown linkage-since it wás for the Thermoquad anyhow.
Wow, that is not where I thought that comment was going given how it started. Haha. Most people come out swinging against the Thermoquad, so props for getting it there… anyway, 1) Edelbrocks are great, which is why I recommend them to everyone, 2) are you aware just how similar the AVS and AFB are to the Thermoquad? 3) I already adjusted the kickdown, and it’s perfect now. It sure wasn’t when it got to us… it was hilariously wrong. 4) there is no 400 4 barrel in these trucks. It was a two barrel from the factory. This is a 60s 383 intake with square bore that was used to upgrade from the two barrel.
I really should do a ramcharger video on my 52k miles ramcharger and show its high quality body and drive train.
Oh definitely. Haha.
Very cool machines.
Oh yeah another cool note you should get a hold of me because those little black boxes all that is is a transistor on top there it's too bad we couldn't unpop one of those and rebuild the electronics inside it wouldn't be that hard
Yep. Oh yeah. Definitely could be done. We have a pile of them.
De ja vous alright. Got sent here straight from the video about buying it 😅
My back yard looks just like that field at the moment, in Australia, it's supposed to be summer. By the way, we had 113º (45C) 2 days ago 😵💫
I'd say that came up pretty good with very little.
Haaahaha. Nice. Thanks TH-cam… that’s wild. It’s pouring more here so Tom’s field should be a lake pretty quick
HATE to say it but finally just wired in a Chebbie HEI module and heat sink into the cab of my '78 W-100 short bed 4 speed, with M880 axles, mud truck. Carry a spare module but have YET to need it.😢
I've done it myself, many times. The carrying a spare module thing is important, unfortunately.. but it works very well.
I wish they sold these in Canada😢
I guess I'm kind of funny on these models and even the trucks. I'm always looking to see if it has that little tack on the right side. I've always thought it was cool. Not many came from the factory with a tack..
NEVER hammer with large pliers.................when small pliers would do!
70s Traildusters/Ramchargers awesome
Also are you open to a facility tour?
That thing is cool! I’d love to find a good one in northeast PA! The Chrysler black box ignition modules seem to be pretty reliable. My aunt’s ‘72 barracuda has one and it never failed to this day. My 1974 ‘Cuda has a blue chrysler ignition module , which also has never failed, I think it might be from the ‘80s because the engine was allegedly rebuilt in 1983.
I have seen a couple bad black boxes - but they’re definitely more reliable than the junk that is available now.
Traildusters are awesome
Wondering who made the wheels mounted to this Trail Duster. Slightly direction chrome steel wagon wheels? Not sure I've ever seen those before. I think I like them.
Probably going to put slots on it so if you are interested let me know!
I’ve never seen this style either. They remind me of 90s Ram wheels. I don’t strongly dislike them but I definitely prefer the slots.
@@rocketresto - Thanks! But no, I don't have anything they would fit on. Slots will look great on this thing.
I love it
So much I will never understand. Enjoy your evening.
Everyone bad mouths glasspacks, I 👍 'EM!
But they're such a classic! I don't think they belong on Hondas... but they sound great on V8s.
@@DeadDodgeGarageIt's my go-to. EVERYONE thinks they sound GREAT until you tell them they're glasspacks, then they turn their nose up.....HILLARIOUSLY hypocritical!!!
New sub!
Thank you!
if he ever wants to sell one. let us know. ill jump on it. finding one around me is nearly impossible.
And ound a Dodge B300 tradesman to, party van😎👍
I’ve got a B300 high top window van here at home. 440 going in it… some time…
What’s shocking to me ain’t the Plymouth, it’s that much open space in one place, when I was out there it all strip malls and urban sprawl.
You might have been in the wrong spot then. Haha.
I beg to differ Polly glasses were not gone by 78 I've ordered a set of l78 polyglass black walls on my 78 440 Ramcharger cuz I didn't like the tires that they offered from the factory and I knew Wrangler was coming out with a new radio so I first thing I did was put a set of 12 5033 on it
“I don’t know.” - me
weak poionts ,front axle ,they were full time 4x4 ,the frames would brake front right ,right at adge of upper shovk mount
had two where frame had cracked in that spot ,they could go anywhere,i never got stuck in any i had ,
my favorite was ,i had a 75 trailduster ,5mpg pushing a heavy wind best 11mpg with the wind pushing me
Interesting. Haven’t seen a cracked frame yet.
My dodge pickup is a 78 and my Cherokee is a 99
Niiiice!
Great minds think alike. My Dodge W150 is also a 78 with the Mitsu diesel. (added a turbo) My XJ is a 1990. Now I need to find a 78-79 Ramcharger/Trailduster.