Holley is about to do for ’72-’93 Dodge D-100 pickups what it did for ’67-’72 GM C-10 trucks, which is to raise their performance profile exponentially and make those old Dodge trucks highly sought after.
You may recall the Warlock, a special edition Dodge truck from the ’70s, along with the L’il Red Express, both prized by collectors. But as Holley noted, once they had reached that number of limited production trucks, Dodge returned to their regularly scheduled programming. It wasn’t until much later, when Dodge trucks all became Rams, that they built another hot rod hauler.
It should come as no surprise that Holley, with its vast array of performance products, has found a way to modify those ’72-’93 Dodge D100s, and has packaged them in a way that works almost effortlessly. The plan they’ve put together is deceptively simple, and it starts as they did, in finding a D100 in decent shape. The ’84 Dodge Ram D100 in Beige Sand that they chose is about as innocuous as they come, outside of a slightly lowered stance and their selection of wheels and tires. Nice, but hardly a predecessor to today’s TRX, right?
That was before they took the anemic 318 V8 out, and in its place installed a 392 from a 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack, with 485 HP and 475 ft/lbs of torque. The 6.4-liter Hemi and the Tremec TR6060 that came with it will fit nicely in the Dodge’s engine bay, using Hooker BHS528 Blackheart motor mounts, a BHS525 transmission cross member, 71223029HKR polyurethane transmission mount, and a BHS528 transmission adapter.
Mopar Performance’s 392 crate Hemi engine kit, part number 77072454AF, contains the power distribution center, accelerator pedal, engine wiring harness, chassis harness, sensors, and the powertrain control module (PCM) needed to connect today’s technology with that of the past. Fuel is provided by a custom sending unit with a 255 LPH 12-935 fuel pump, and a 19-390 returnless regulator, used inside a ’92-’93 Dodge fuel tank. The Tremec transmission uses a Bowler Magnum tail shaft conversion and a Hurst Blackjack 3918309 short-throw with a Hurst 5384331 Hurst shifter stick. Custom cast-iron, prototype exhaust manifolds, and replacement catalytic converters for a 2015 Dodge Challenger are used along with a Hooker Blackheart BH2356 exhaust kit that imitates the factory’s side-exit exhaust.
A later-model Dodge D-series clutch master cylinder is used with a factory replacement Hellcat dual-disk clutch and hydraulic slave cylinder, transmitting power through an Inland Empire driveshaft to the 4.10-geared, limited-slip rear axle. A set of modified Dodge B-series van control arms were used to lower the front end, with a custom-made flip kit in the rear.
All in, Holley spent roughly $17,000 on their D100, including $6,500 for the truck itself, and $5,000 for the engine and transmission. One of two trucks like this that Holley assembled to test how well all the components worked together, the other differed in that it used an automatic, and is a long bed. In the past, I took one of Holley’s C-10 trucks for a drive, and if that was any indication, the D100 will put a big smile on your face.
[Images: Holley, Ram]
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