1965 Dodge A100 Sportsman Pop top Camper
318 V-8
A833 4 Speed Overdrive
8 ¾ 3:91 Sure Grip Rear
15” Cop Wheels/New Tires
Still Interested? Read on for more info than you probably want.
I bought this about 5 years ago and have been picking away at it since. It made it’s way to Oregon in 2018 from it’s long time home in Grass Valley Ca. A place with a dry climate and likely why it has very little rust. That being said, it has minor body damage in lots of places. Scrapes/dings/small dents/scratches etc. it’s certainly been used as an “outside” car.
I’ve been focusing on the functions mostly over the past few years when I have time. This is what has been done so far:
The 318 that was in it seemed sound and that’s where I began, It’s an ‘86 318 with “302” casting heads (closed chamber swirl port) I “un-rollered” it and replaced the cam with a mild hydraulic flat tappet 218/228 @.050 with .445 lift. Comparable to the early 340 4 spd cam. I kept the lift kind of low to be nice to the old valve springs. I used a new Comp Cams billet adjustable timing set, Mopar M1 dual plane intake manifold, Edelbrock 600 4 barrel, new water pump, HEI style distributor, ported 360 exhaust manifolds to 2 1/8 outlet and assembled with fresh gaskets in summer 2019. It has 2 ¼ dual exhaust with large mufflers to keep it fairly quiet. I also bought some Edelbrock valve covers and air cleaner and used the colorcast aerosol to give it an anodized look.
The trans.. A833 Overdrive 4 speed on the tree, yep on the tree! It was in there when I got it, the transmission itself seems to be in good shape, I’ve had a few of these over the years and this one shifts well, is pretty quiet and the fluid looks perfect. I’ve spent many evenings trying to sort out the linkage, and have gotten it to work pretty well, shifts reliably, doesn’t get hung up, and is reasonably smooth. Again though, it’s a “4” on the tree, so you know.. keep your your expectations reasonable. It has a separate reverse lever.