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I like that yellow COE...

The hole is packed with carbon on the bottom. It's bigger than a pinhole.

one thing I will add is that the local paint jobber is not going to be that willing to take the time to mix just a touch up amount of paint and even if he does, odds of finding one that is able to work comfortably with a color palette....not so easily found would be my guess. Feel your pain as you want to not have to lose an original finish and forced to recoat for hope of protecting the vehicle.

Dave, I am afraid that the hole for TDC is way too small. The plug itself is 3/8, while underneath there is just a pinhole

Have you tried pulling the plug for TDC and using the borescope through that. With the piston down instead of up you might get a better look at the entire piston.

You best bet is taking the truck or a color sanded and buffed section of the truck to a paint supplier or body shop that has a color camera for paint and can then mix a amount for you if they haven't switched to waterborne paint only. Toners used to mix your color are no longer available and as Tim said, time does have an affect so unless the mixer is really good a close match is all you'll get. With more and more body shops switching to waterborne it's going to get even more difficult for the DIYer.

finding touch up paint for a formula that old is not going to happen...secondly if it did, the sun fading and chalking of the paint due to age and exposure will not at this time be as the original touch up paint and look like lipstick on a pig....this will have to be custom blended to get anywhere close to a match...washing out the pigment to reflect age and fattening to reflect loss of sheen.

AND.....dodging a deer!

I use to think, 'How can I drive this truck into a brick wall at 70mph and survive'.

I’m trying to find some touch up paint for my original 1953 FARGO. I believe they used the same colors as dodge. Color is dark blue. Does anyone know of a supplier who knows the dodge/fargo colors and can provide paint.

I thought I’d chime in to share my success (thankfully) story. I could shift between 1st and Reverse, to 2nd if I was lucky, and to 3rd was ok. Going back to 2nd from 3rd was hit or miss. After reading the posts in this thread, I took the cable off. It was stuck and required a lot of pressure on either end to make it move. I hung it up vertically in my garage and sprayed penetrating oil and brake cleaner on each button and the 'collar' that houses each button. I let that soak a bit - then would press each side back and forth a few times. I'd then flip the cable around and spray the other button/collar to let liquid seep into the opposite end. After about 2 days of doing this on and off a handful of times per day, everything loosed up nicely. I can now make the cable move with very little pressure and it springs back into place without issue. I reinstalled the cable and we're back to normal. Thanks to everyone who posted!

As Paul Harvey would comment, and now the rest of the story....."90% of all ford pickups are still on the road today", the other 10% made it back home.

Not mine! She is wonderful, helps me get my tools and assists me when needed. My wife is the reason I bought our 37 Plymouth.

In 1978 I was going to replace my 65 Barracuda. It was turning into a rust bucket in Minnesota. The front fenders were only held on by stubborn rust. I wanted a pickup, but which one? I listened to all the hype and had a brother-in-law who worked for Ford Motor Company. He assured me it was a good choice Coupled that with, "Built Ford tough" slogan and "90% of all ford pickups are still on the road today", I bought an F150, 6 cylinders, 4 speed with overdrive. It had a 12,000 mile warranty. I had problems from 3000 miles with the transmission. The service backup was, well, pathetic. My dog could do a better job than they did. At 12,164 Miles at night I was on the last leg of a 300-mile trip home when the left front wheel bearing disintegrated at 70mph. Prior to this I had 3 seals replaced in the rear end. I finally replaced the transmission with a manual 3 speed. That truck was the biggest piece of junk I have ever owned. So what part was bad? The whole damn thing!

Finally got the ol' Dodge buttoned up after all the winter work I did on it. I was kind of anxious, as this was the first start after completely rebuilding the carburetor and reinstalling the Sisson choke. And, it started right up once fuel got into the bowl. I have some adjustments to make to get it to warm-up a bit smoother, I am not used to dealing with the Sisson choke and a working fast idle, but it was cool watching the Sisson choke arm relax as the car warmed up. I had my doubts the choke would work, I removed it over 30 years ago because it wasn't working right, but since found out why (thanks to this Forum and Rich Hartung's information) and finally decided to remedy it. Simple enough, it wasn't adjusted right, and it never had the gasket. The bimetal arm is a tad rusty, I thought that would affect it, but it doesn't look like it. Alas, no drive though. The fuel pump diaphragm gave up the ghost. Not enough to keep the car from running, but enough to clean off the side of the engine and start a gasoline puddle (Fuel squirting out from somewhere on the top of it). Annoying but not surprising, since it's a good 30 years old. Installed it when we lived in El Paso, TX after the EPA mandated an ethanol requirement in winter gas, but before anyone knew what ethanol does to older fuel systems - so not ethanol resistant. New one is on the way. "It's only April", so it snowed yesterday and last night, I wouldn't have taken it out anyway.

Not yet. But I see Permatex makes a fuel resistant gasket dressing/sealant, so I think I'll give that a try.

And unless you miraculously find the washer on the garage floor, anything you do will be better than running the car with that washer hiding in there somewhere. Maybe a small fridge magnet firmly attached to a wire so you can fish around better in the nooks and crannies?

Good idea, Tod, I tried that but was not successful thus far. I also loaned a borescope from the zone, but it is a bit too large to get into the cylinder and you cannot see anything with that little mirror adapter. I've got the cylinder to TDC, fishing in there with a small magnet but am not pulling anything out. I also undone the exhaust pipe below the manifold and was able to get up to the valve with the scope - nothing... Tried a vacuum cleaner, at various places, too. I am pretty sure that the intake was closed when this happened, the exhaust was open. So it's got to be in the exhaust... I'll just take the manifolds off, tomorrow, and check some more. It is better than removing the head, at this point 🥲

Ever seen water get pulled way up a leaking low slope roof ? Capillary attraction between layers of roofing. Could happen to a porous casting.

Pistons should be aluminum (non-magnetic) while the split lock washer should be steel (magnetic). You might be able to fish it out or verify it is not in the cylinder using one of those magnet on an extendable wand tools.

To me, that all looks fine. Perhaps your local gas pump is adding something to the gas, wouldnt surprise me one bit. The fuel isnt pouring out the side of the carb, so cleaning up the gasket surfaces to a smooth finish and make sure they are true. Use JB weld to body work the gasket surface if you have to. Also, use a fresh gasket..

Perhaps someone else can repeat the experiment on one of their carbs and report back. I don't have any carbs floating around or I'd try it myself.

Didn't try using sealant on the gasket, yet?

SURVIVOR: saw this Dodge between Lake Graham and Newcastle

Well, I admin - I've done some pretty unintelligent garage stuff, before, but today was probably the absolute bottom record. That likely even beats catching the oil filter on fire... I needed to turn the engine by hand, so I took out the plugs. Then I decided to use the starter (to check for oil pressure) so I disconnected the - wire from the ignition coil and (dropped the little split washer right into the #6 cylinder... Oooops... Cannot get it out because I don't see it. Chances are, it went straight into an open exhaust or intake valve 🙄