'75: W200 'Adventurer/ 3/4 ton: no mods, all 'stock', drive it away!

PHOTO GALLERY1. 'Adventurer' logo on rear fender2. DOG hood ornament (it's still a DODGE)3. 'Power Wagon' logo on hood4. 'Club Cab 200' logo on front fender5. 'the Dog' from the rear, showing missing tail gate6. DOG cab showing new naugahide seat and dash panel/steering wheel/shift levers etc.7. engine compartment showing Jaspur rebuilt 360 motor, top grade battery & recently replaced radiator. . .original air cleaner with new air filter/new brake master reservoir cap (replaced during recent brake overhaul) (new distributor cap/rotor. . .part of the recent ignition parts/wiring overhaul)8. the 'DOG'
'SAGA'
"I purchased 'THE DOG' from an old fisherman named Dan in Defiance, Missouri in 2005. The sale took place right down the street from where Daniel Boone lived. 'Uncle Dan' (as I now refer to him) said 'everything works' ! My girlfriend hates this truck. . .I love it. I keep telling her 'When the revolution comes we're going to need a four wheel drive truck to scrumble over the roads littered with abandoned wrecks'. I had intended to equip it with an electric motor which would have made it TRULY revolutionary but I couldn't quite pull that off. So, OK, the new parts started immediately in Defiance at the Sears auto place where I asked the mechanic 'what should I fix first?' He said 'the tires' so the 'Dog' got a new set of Michelins, a new battery and some lug nuts. It ran pretty good 'till I got back East to Ocean City and it started vibrating so I took it in to Fleet Maintenance there. Bucky said the drive lines need pulled and so the Dog got new 'U' joints, front propellor and rear. I realized at that point that keeping the Dog on the road was going to be expensive but I didn't give a sh_t . It's my Dog and I'm going to make him run. The parts list ran on and on all the way to the Panama Canal and back until the motor started kicking and it was decision time. . .do I junk it and loose thousands of dollars of new parts or do I spring for a rebuilt 360 and move on? Of course! The Dog gets a genuine Jaspur and we're up and running! That took place in 2009 (I have the papers) and since then I've put 32K on it, so you could say it's 'broke in'. The last upgrade I did was rebuilding the ignition from the key on out. Next scheduled work is new header and exhaust gaskets. After that comes the new starter motor that's been sitting around. It starts kinda sluggish and I attribute that annoying habit to the old starter motor which I've been threatening to replace for a couple years now. . .There's so many replacement parts on the DOG, I think the only parts that are original would be the body and the frame. . .It doesn't have the original radio which I regret. . .It would have cranked out Gene Autry campfire stuff yeah?"
TECH NOTES: The '75's still had a mechanical distributor. . .but with a Hall switch and a solid state dwell unit which was the beginning of the proprietary ignition system plot. Suddenly, the tools that a back yard mechanic needed to work on a motor included specialized diagnostic electronic boxes which evolved into software driven systems. Me. . .I like to sit inside the spacious motor compartment and and wonder over this beautiful machine with a six pack on the bumper and my girlfriend offering encouragement from the safety of the cab while she articulates with the four inch thick repair manual. I liked having the feeling that I had some 'analog' control over this ton of hurtling metal. The other vehicles on the road are pretty much at the mercy of the 'programmers' and the 'black box'. I'm sure there's a predictability curve on who's safer but I offer this. . .'have you ever known a computer to fail'? I think we were all safer with the back yard mechanic. At least his prime directive was 'let's keep her on the road'. Today it's 'my corporation, right or wrong'. Today machinery is built to 'die on time' not 'built to last'. What good is a perfectly designed internal combustion engine if you can't seperate it from its black box that has all the corporate mandates programmed in telling it not only how to perform but also WHEN TO FAIL. Sooo. . .get yourself an old truck and be in control of your transportation destiny! Get yourself a DOG!Also note: The only way to get this baby out of four wheel drive is to disconnect the front propeller shaft. . .I've done that on occasion to get better mileage. It's all connected up now and running in 'full time' four wheel drive mode. The tranny seems to be indestructible. . .the one that also goes in the tractors.
features: first off it's a '75 pickup truck second: it's a '75 Dodge pickup truck third: it's a '75 Dodge Power Wagon picup truck which means it's full-time four wheel drive and super heavy duty all around (including the HD farm implement type frame suspension & tractor tough tranny) fourth: it's a '75 Dodge Power Wagon Club Cab pickup truck which means it's got an extended cab with room behind the seat for tools-people-dogs etc. and a sliding rear window for extra ventallation fifth: it's a '75 Dodge Power Wagon Club Cab 'ADventurer' model rated at 3/4 ton load capacity which means it's got heavy duty EVERYTHING with two gas tanks giving it a cruising range of up to 600 miles and a flip switch to access the two tanks (52.6 gallons of fuel total capacity). Heavy Duty Tranny is #542. Some Adventurers had AC, this one doesn't. It does have the two tone paint job though, (bottom cream, top gold). sixth: It DOESN'T have the 440 motor. . .you lucked out. . .The 440's were one ton trucks with duellies in the back and different -everythings- including gas sucking mileage and extra pullies that serve the pump that can drive stuff like add-on snow plows. The one tons are very useful if your dragging something or hauling something really heavy. . .then it's indespensible. . .otherwise, you shouldn't be lugging all that extra beef around. The 360 motor in this 3/4 ton version is alot more user friendly and kind of a universal doner kind of machine that was used in many Dodge models so the parts are available without having to order them from catalogs.
note: tail pipe clearance (street to exhaust port) 18" Recent Florida storm brings to mind flood escape capability.
There, I've just about talked myself into keeping this truck it's so cool.OK, I just heard from my girlfriend . . .she's kicking me out unless I sell the DOG.