Leaderboard

I spent a few hours weeding our families grave sites. It wasn't much of a workout for my truck but it was a pretty good one for me. 6 Months ago today on friday February 17th which strangely enough was also the 15th "anniversary" of my Dads passing, I suffered what the Drs called a "massive saddle pulmonary embolism". I didnt know what happened, all I knew is I coughed hard and from that moment on I couldnt take two steps without having to fight to breathe. I thought I had strained something in my chest and that it would pass but on Monday it still wasnt any better so my wife made a appt (behind my back ) hahaha for me to see my Dr. the next day and thats when I found out what had happened and I was taken my ambulance to the hospital in Tucson where I was a guest of theirs for a week..Six Drs have told me that with as massive as it was I should have died the second it happened and that "I still had work to do here" and or "God wasn't done with me yet" .Man was I scared,no make that terrified. Now here it is 6 months to the day later and Im doing really really good. Actually within a week of "the event" as my Dr calls it I was doing and feeling pretty darned good. Well except for the Lovenox shots I had to give myself 2x a day in the belly for a few weeks but even that was no big deal I was and am just so happy to be alive. A week ago my Cardiologist told me that the damage to my heart and lungs that he had seen months ago was completely gone and that I was free to do as much as my body will allow, and to listen to what my body is telling me. Then he gave me the ok to stop taking the Coumadin YAYYYYYY ! The only effects I still experience is that some days I feel so tired , a bit dizzy at times and knackered from the get go that about all I can do is rest and lay down. The Dr said thats 100% normal and that is can take from 6 months to a year or two to go away. He said its because of the trauma that my heart and lungs went thru and now my body is spending and using a LOT of energy to heal. Most days I feel pretty darned good. After I got out of the hospital I promised myself that I wasnt going to let "the small stuff irritate me anymore" and that I wasnt going to put of doing things that Ive been wanting to do but always seemed to get pushed aside... like working on my truck. So about 5 1/2 months ago I started doing the bodywork on it one panel at a time. I am or was a bodyman by trade for over 30 yrs so getting past the notion that I had to get it all done at once has been a bit strange. All those years of working on commission and meeting dead lines was kind of a hard habit to break at first but its a lot more fun to take it slow and do one panel at a time. I dont want it to be a chore, I want to enjoy it Anyway I started off by doing little things like restoring a Model 36 heater that I want to install in my truck and also a few dash parts that I believe are for I believe are for a 52 that I cant use but were in really nice shape what with being from the Az desert and all . Just small stuff at first to keep busy. As of late I have done both front fenders, the roof panel, the hood assembly and replaced the left front stake pocket. Along with doing the bodywork I've been stripping each panel because there was a LOT of paint on it . Ive been taking lots of pictures as I go along so I can look back at how it was when its all done. Sorry for the overly long and babbling post. Its a really huge and kind of emotional day for me what with it being 6 months and now Im off all the meds and everything . So very thankful . By the way, about the not whole not let the small stuff irritate me part.... easier said than done. I still get POd at some really stupid insignificant things at times but Im still trying hahaha. Its a work in progress. Again please forgive me for the long winded post. John

1973 D100 Adventure Club Cab. Another first for Dodge was the introduction of the Club or extended Cab pick-up in 1973. This is the one that was used in their advertising campaigns.

Excellent pictures. Regarding the special exhaust tool, was this designed to be used with the air hammer or was it used to install guides or both? And you indicated the video with the threaded rod procedure did not work for you.. Was this because guides were too tight? Bad news is, our numbers appear to of been ground off the boss, I read that this often happened if block was rebuilt?? One problem I am having is getting the valves to pop out of spring keeper cups. I will take a second look at the pad and make certain. Also will take pictures of engine and add to post. I have trouble posting pictures through google and have to use explorer, however when I click on my profile explorer closes the page for whatever reason in which I then have to log back in..So I will keep trying. Gentleman, I can't thank you enough for your help.

Been there, done that.. Rebuilding the top assembly for my '39 Plym conv coupe was a very daunting task, the car had sat in an open field in Montana for thirty-eight years. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that the '39 Plymn was the first open car to have a power top which is vacuum operated by two large cylinders located behind the seat in the quarter panels. I had the assembly acid stripped to remove all of the paint, rust etc., A very smart move in lieu of trying to sandblast and/or wire brush and/or sand. There are twelve special shoulder bolts and four very large rivets that hold the assembly together, The fasteners were in very poor shape from years of use and exposure, I had new bolts made out of stainless steel to match the original fasteners, head size, etc. I polished the heads of the fasteners which made them look like chrome. I had new shafts made out of stainless steel for the vacuum cylinders, making them slightly over size to allow for wear in the canister bushings. The original shafts were hard chrome which is almost impossible to duplicate. I had the many pieces of the top assembly powder coated in a taupe/flesh color. the cost to powder coat was under $200., which I thought was very reasonable. I have done two '39 convertibles the red one shown in the attached pix and my green one.

I used to bracket race a 70 Toyota Corolla with the 4 cylinder engine and auto trans I bought new. I would run in Bracket 5,and dial in somewhere close to eternity. I'd take off in drive with music playing on my 8-track,and just let it shift itself. Almost always won my bracket. The guy that gave me the biggest trouble has a stock 53 Ford pu with Fordomatic. I could take him at top end,but would sometimes run too fast and DQ myself. I was hilarious to watch the rear view mirror and see those 427 Chevelles and Ram Air 4 Pontiac "stock" cars that the dealers had trailered to the track take off when I was already 3/4 of the way down the track. CLOUDS of tire smoke,and they would blow past me at the finish line so fast it would scare me,but they had almost always panicked and ran too fast. I usually made my car payments bracket racing that Toyota.

This is a picture of the truck.

Thanks. Not that hard to find. Roberts sells the hub caps and the beauty rings were on ebay. 235/85r16's

I noticed that our ofc.mgr would occasionally close the door to her office during her lunch hour, then eventually noticed that it was always on every other Monday...I then heard thru the grapevine that once her boys were old enough to stay over at other ppl's houses, her and her husband would head out of town to go kick up their heels twice a month...and yadayadayada Mondays she looked really tired...so one afternoon when she had some big meeting, I hacked into her PC to set an alarm every 6-10 weeks using an air horn soundwave cranked to 11...after the 4th time it scared the bejeezus out of her enough for her to yelp, she called IT for help cuz of some "virus"...GOOD TIMES

It was the 2nd incarnation of the Oz Dart. First produced in 1967 as the VE model but only available in a 4 door sedan, Station wagon and a ute (2 door) versions. As can be seen, front end is more like the Dart. The second incarnation was like mine, a VF, which cam out mid 1969, now available in a 2 door hardtop as well, no soft top option, like in the US. A lot of these were chopped up (like mine) in the 80's and 90's when they were cheap as chips. Then in mid 1970 the third (and last) version came out, the VG. This one is the sporty 'Pacer' model.

New ball end machined!! Test fit tonight into drag link and press in and weld tomorrow.

I found a guy local to me with nos but you could ask VPW https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxzO_Oy1EMLIWVFzSHRzNjlOMWs/view I used a air hammer to remove and install. I had a special tool made to fit the exhaust guide FYI, I was trying to be lazy as mentioned before but this method didn't work for me

I can tell you this about life.............I'VE SEEN BETTER DAYS BUT THEY COST ME MORE MONEY

I've been working, my daughter had a baby, I'm remodeling my living room, I painted my trailer, writing a book, making the wife happy and stealing time for the car. I told her that "the guys" are waiting for some answers but not much compassion. As my dad used to say ( and I'm sure 20 million other guys) "It's a great life if you don't weaken." Or as my daughter likes to say, "I was born weakened."

If you have the factory parts numbers and the patience,amazon.com is hard to beat. I bought brand new Lockheed wheel cylinders for my 39 IHC pu for $3.95 each there. IHC parts dealers were wanting stupid money for them. Same thing with my 51 Ford. It was either my 51 Ford or my 39 IHC that used the same parts numbers as the 53-54 Corvette. The key is searching by parts number stamped or cast on the part. If you look for "1948 Plymouth",generally speaking all you will come up with are parts for a 1948 Plymouth.

I gave the length formula earier...so many have mad e suggestions with no clear report back if/or/maybe checked.....I have gone to my happy place as shown.....

its an Ozmobile

First of all, thank you much for your replies gentleman. I am new to the vintage Chryslers but excited to better understand things and move forward with my project. It is a 25" head, and I did see Brents video while snooping around a week or so ago. I guess I thought somewhere I read that in this engine they weren't replaceable so that is very good news for sure. I have to hand it to Brent, that was a very creative idea in the guide removal and thank you much for posting. Wondering, how much pressure it takes to push guide out and where to purchase guides? When we purchased the truck a valve was stuck in which I figured as long as I had removed the head I might as well do the valves and as long as I tossed a keeper down into the pan I figure I might as well pull the pan as well!!

i had a parts truck that had a fix for that

sorry, I've posted this before but it makes me laugh, although the seat was recovered by the PO..... the only thing I've had a problem with is the really THIN visor! the sun has to be in just the right spot to work! (sure glad i live in Oregon where it's not needed most of the time)

The classic VW Beetles are the cockroaches of the automotive world. No matter how many you kill or mutilate, there always seems to be more...

Don, this is entertaining.........I'm not sure whether the belts on, off or something in between.........if its on then you'd think it would fit......if off then maybe its too short..... .how hard can it be?..............lol........better then watching TV.........lol..............apologies, but seriously?........Andy Douglas

If you want to find out if you have stuck valves , pull the side valve covers and have someone crank the engine over while you watch the valve stems .

Body shop painted them when the car was done in 2003. I can't comment on the truck vs car hubs, but the wheel folks should have that figment stuff on hand.

I used stock 55 dodge 1/2 ton truck 15" rims to clear the front calipers, then beauty rims and caps. I put a set of chrome wheelies but not to my taste.

Can't blame you for being unhappy. They shouldn't have taken your order OR your money if they couldn't complete the contract in a timely manner.

Hit the limit so here's a few more.

Me too. I'm still peeved that none of the y2k hypsters apologized for being so wrong.

Yeah, that '67s a bit rough. It set in the fencerow at the back of my property for about 25 years. I had to move it a couple of years ago and someone asked me if it ran and after cleaning the carb and putting a new fuel line on the bottom of the tank it fired right up! It's hard to kill a bug!!

41 Dodge D19 bz cp, big block, TF, 8 3/4, relocated shocks, discs, list goes on and on....Cavalier rack show, my rendition of dual exhaust..

My first car 37 Dodge Biz coupe and a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport with 29000 miles(has never seen a snow flake) and my 76 Ford F250 with a 5.9 Cummins engine

Helping a friend work on a 251, check out these nice original valves.... they're going back in.

ACE and others have a product called Prep and Primer, by Jasco. It has no color and clear adheres to it. My clear over this product on my controversial patina, shows no sign of peeling after three years of application.

Next would be do a leak down test to make sure the valves are all seating correctly.

Yes. The coil is mounted through the firewall and there is a wire terminal on the backside of your coil (up under the dashboard) which is where the ignition switch power wire attaches and then on the engine side there is another wire terminal with a wire that goes to the distributor. I would pour a small amount of gasoline into the carburetor and see if it starts up briefly. If it does, you have a fuel delivery problem. Again, just a small amount of fuel. Best of luck to you Dave. John R

I'm right in the path of totality. A nearby winery has Ozzy hired to play "Bark At The Moon" right at the peak of the eclipse. If I was younger I'd be there. I've always enjoyed participating in a little weirdness.

I did a run to San Mateo Lumber on Friday. Picked up special order kiln-dried 2x14's and ipe decking..

those grill bars slowed you down...I got a nice set I could trade you that would speed you up....

my all stock 54 runs 85 with no effort and it is 230 and powerflite tranny with 3.73 axle. While there is plenty of pedal left topush down, the front end on these cars with the original stock shocks makes it float like a boat at that speed, not really a comfortable reassuring track and of course I am still running bias WWW's albeit they are new tires may also add to the mix. 75 is comfortable however and is accomplished with little effort.

Pulling the choke mechanically restricts air thereby enriching the mix. So if you need to do that, something must be leaning the mixture, meaning some air is getting into the charge downstream of the throttle plate is a vacuum leak. Carb, is the ported vacuum fixtures stoppered? Are the throttle shaft bushings worn allowing air in? Carb to manifold, tight and peak free, manifold, wiper port attached or plugged? Manifold to block, no leaks? A vacuum gauge attacked to the manifold would go a long way to point you to a fix. With a modified cam you should be looking at 16 to 18 inches of vacuum steady needle at 500 rpm idle.

Contact Rich Hartung Desoto1939 with any questions Desoto1939@aol.com How to use Ammco 1750 brake tool