With the internet’s rise to power, gone are the days of swap meets and newspapers as the only source of finding your car parts (don’t get me wrong, swap meets are still awesome!). The internet has essentially exposed us to a world (literally!) of new sources; Kijiji being the most popular choice for Canadians. On Kijiji, your only limit is as far as you’re willing to drive to get what you need. For us, that limit is currently a 4 hour drive!

With that in mind, we thought it would be worthwhile to document the purchase and eventual upgrade of a vehicle through Kijiji ads. We have a soft spot for Dodge trucks, so we were on the hunt for a D 100 with the 318 V8. After a few days of digging through ads and messaging owners, we settled on a 1982 D 100 near Ottawa. It needed a water pump to run, as well as cab corners, a floor patch, box repairs and brakes for safety. The guy was asking $800, but we eventually got it for $500, so we were off to a good start.

The first order of business was to get it running. We replaced the water pump ($100) and did a tune up ($150) and it fired right up! Always a nice feeling, especially knowing that we were now into it for only $750 and have a running, driving truck. Now it was onto the safety items. We patched the holes to the best of our abilities and instead of patching the box, we were able to find one in better shape on Kijiji for$300. We finished off the body work with a camo Plasti Dip job from cans we got from a large lot on Kijiji. The only other safety item was the brakes, which we did not purchase on Kijiji. In our opinion we felt it was best to go new for brakes. With safety in hand and Hagerty Classic Insurance, we were registered and on the road for under $1500.

To recap, here’s our expenditures so far:

• $500 to purchase the truck (Kijiji)
• $300 on a box (Kijiji)
• $40 on rims and tires (Kijiji)
• $50 on Plasti Dip (Kijiji – prorated from a larger lot purchase)
• $150 on tune up items (New)
• $150 on brakes and patch supplies (New)

Total so far is $1290 plus Hagerty Insurance and Licensing

Now onto the fun. We did a baseline shakedown on the dyno and came up with 124HP and 193FT/LB of torque to the rear wheels. The 318 V8 stock configuration is stock air cleaner, 2bbl carb and intake going through stock cast manifolds, collected into a single-out exhaust. Watch the dyno video here.

Next, it was time to set out and find improvements on Kijiji. Right away we found a K&N air filter for $20. The big score so far has been an Edelbrock Aluminum intake manifold, 650 Carb and throttle body spacer. We were able to get it all for $350, which is well over $300 in savings! We also just recently found a 318 block that has been bored .040 over for $300, but that’s not a test we’ll be doing right away.

The dyno is put away for the Winter now, but over that time we’ll be replacing the tired 2bbl setup with our 4bbl Edelbrock configuration. We’ll be anxiously waiting to get it back on the dyno in the Spring!