It seems that finding a solid, original paint, short box Sweptline is becoming a difficult task. Thankfully this 1971 model is relatively clean and simple with an updated drive-train. Despite having a swap, this truck appears unchanged at a quick glance. Probably the most surprising view is the solid lower body work! Currently bid up to $5,000 this Sweptline can be found here on eBay out of Dubuque, Iowa.
Underneath of the stock exterior appearance is a lot of time, maintenance, and money, to make this truck an excellent condition driver. The swap of choice is a Cummins 4BTA that has been upgraded over its stock form. Virtually spotless, the engine and the compartment are nearly clean enough to eat of off. The builder was wise when working on this truck as the cooling system, brake system and suspension have been rebuilt and upgraded.
Simple and to the point, the interior is suitable enough for the simplicity of this truck. There is some minor surface rust on the floors, but the rest of the interior is fairly clean. The dash has a few blemishes and some fade, but overall does not suffer from any major damage.
The Sweptline body line is a stylish attraction to this otherwise simplistic pickup. The factory paint is worn with a matte finish, but in this situation, I see nothing wrong with that. There are a few areas that have been touched up that I would assume had surface rust. I see no visible rot anywhere on this pickup which is miraculous. Only one thing concerns me with this truck, and that is the bed to cab gap. The gap is tighter towards the bottom and expands towards the top. Despite that concern, I am quite the fan of this simplistic short bed pickup. Will you be putting in a bid on this Sweptline?
Nicely exicuted conversion, the first thing to address is the cab to box body gap. I’m willing to bet that this is more about the body mounts and less about the frame and should be fairly easy to fix. I’d repaint it to original colours, I’d do a bit more work inside and in the end have a pretty dam nice truck. The baby cumins is perfect in this sort of application.
Hooray, non purists, here’s your la-de-da Cummins conversion. I don’t have much experience with the 4 cyl., I’d have to think, it puts out as much as a gas 6 cylinder or small V8, but could it pull anything, besides itself? Looks like a nice job, I don’t know what the deal is with the box.
That seems to be the first thing most people suggest in any Dodge truck older than about 1979, some kind of Cummins conversion, so with that plus “original patina” this example should bid into the thirties. That is unless all the shows like “Rattlecan Garage” and “Truck Kings” or whatever are wrong.
FYI – A stock 4BTA puts out 420 Ft Lbs of torque.
When I saw Cummins, I thought “cool!” before I saw which one it is. I guess it would make a little since if your half-ton has a bad engine and you happen to have a 4-cyl Cummins on your coffee table. Other than that, it wouldn’t seem worth it without the turbo 6.
If it is an actual BTA, then it puts out a pretty decent amount of torque though… still slow.
I have 3 4BT’s In equipment and boats………..they are rated about 120HP. Pretty light for a full size pickup. In the Marine world (with unlimited cooling) they are pushed to 250 HP. They were used in Frito Lay step vans coupled to a T98 4 speed trans. Many removed for simple reuse In Jeeps and other vehicles. Lots of work done here for little improvement. I wonder what he did with the differential gearing. The orignal Dodge Diesel pickups were very high geared to cope with the narrow torque band and low RPM. This could easily be a 50 MPH truck. You have to admire his ambition.
Nick the 5.9 turbo 6 weighs 1150 lbs there’s a reason that they’re in 3/4 tons and up. These 1/2 ton suspensions are to light for that kind of weight. That makes the turbo 4 a more logical choice for this truck.
That is only 300 lbs heavier than a big block Chrysler……..no more than a fat guy sitting on your bumper.
That’s ok if you like driving around with a fat guy on your bumper everywhere you go. It’s still wears out ball joints, A arm bushings and the much smaller wheel bearing much fast. This is also true of the 1/2 ton trucks that got big block engines. And when these part get half worn out the this extra weight will make your truck a tire eater. So if your ok with rebuilding your front suspension more often I’d say go for it.
If that was the case……..you would never want to drive the truck loaded. This truck is probably over 6000 lb GVW and a net capacity load of maby 3000 lbs……..we frequently have trouble distributing weight to the front end of trucks………you don’t sound like a truck guy.
No way its 6k its only a 1/2 ton 4500 tops, And I’m not talking about the back suspension I’m talking about the front. I’ve been doing this for a very long time Dave and Im very knowledgeable on the dynamics of these suspensions.
And by the way I’ve been driving pickups since I was in high school I’m knocking on 59 right now. I held a class 2 air brake licence for many year up here that allows you to drive up to 84 passenger buses.
Curb weight of this truck new was about 3500 lbs, so add a half ton payload and you’re at 4500. And that weight was riding on the rear suspension mostly, not directly over the front suspension.
This may be a well-executed bad idea.
You have no knowledge of how tonnage is rated on a light truck. There is no literal connection like you describe to actual GVW capacity and the simple terminology used to describe trucks. In reality, it is simply a realitive term, a 3/4 ton has more carrying capacity than a 1/2 ton. My 3/4 ton trucks easily carry 3 or 4 tons of cargo without exceeding the assigned GVW. Oriental auto manufacturers attempted to obfuscate the issue when they claimed there mini trucks could carry a ton and tried to foist the fiction on the world that they are a one ton truck. My ‘One ton’ has a GVW of 16,000 lbs and a net weight of about 6,000………..I hauled 5 tons on it this afternoon……..doesn’t make it a 5 ton truck.
A lot of time and $$$ went in to this ugly Dodge truck. Never cared for this body style of Dodge trucks, just seemed so blah or homely, Ford & Chevy styling blew this truck away but this is just my opinion and anyone who likes them go for it and place your bid.
They were blah and homely… and worse yet were the 4 door versions where they clearly just filled in the extended body side so that they could use another set of front doors!
Nice concept…not sure about the box and the cause/cure for it, but that twisted rear bumper that accompanies it gives me cause to pause.
Ruined. Give me a 440,340, or almost anything besides this Cummins swap.
Maybe for gas mileage if he’s running nice gears ?
Torque monster for sure!
Looking at the pictures a little closer it looks like it has the original rear differential. I’m wondering if that stock differential can handle all that torque? Maybe a DANA 60 would be more in line for that application?
Apart from the engine, is this body style worth anything?
Sort of a Tonka look to it!
I love the looks of this truck. It has a nice Pro Street vibe going on. That being said, the first thing I would do would be scrap the little diesel in favor of a gas guzzling V8. But that is just my opinion.
You can have your gas guzzling v8 this engine will still be running long after your gas engine is worn out.
and your point is………?????
I don’t disagree with you. However, this is a toy. Not something that you have to make a living with. That is one of the things I like about my old toys. Build it, play, upgrade, play some more.
As I said before, just my opinion.
Can’t argue with that I guess it’s just comes down to personal preference.
A diesel engine will easily last longer than my tolerance for putting up with the smell, cold weather issues, and embarrassing exhaust.
I can’t find info on the 4 BTA, just 4 BT. The 4 BT has a torque rating of 265.
You need the CPL number off the engine to identify the exact specification.
The A refers to the presence of an aftercooler (intercooler).
Love the truck.
To bad about the engine transplant. 😎
Beautiful work on the swap, however, for some reason it reminds me of my dog when he’s taking a poop. Ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I stole the “poop” comment. I drive a Chrysler Crossfire and have heard the dog-pooping analogy before.
Interesting colour. Factory color per under hood.
But I wonder if you could order this or was this Truck a fleet order ???
I love it , I’d drive it the way it is