Desotodav

Looks good. I saw this one on FB the other day (attached pic) and it looks like he had similar design thoughts as you...

There is a fella who sells those vent window pivot posts on Ebay Mark. I'm not sure if he has what you need, but even modifying something might be easier than making one from scratch - hope the link works... https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_ssn=dmedennis&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.Xvent+window.TRS0&_nkw=vent+window&_sacat=0

I remembered chatting in this tread some time ago about a diff ratio change from 4.1 to 3.54 in my 52 DeSoto truck... I dropped two diff centres at the diff shop this morning. The one on the left of the attached photo is a 3.54 from a 54'ish Dodge car and the one on the left of photo is the 4.1 from my 52 truck. I should know within the next few days how well this change will work. My 52 truck has a 10 spline axle and the car diff appears to be about 15... so hopefully it will all work out as well as it did when I did the same swap in my 53 Dodge truck !!!

Hola y Bienvenidos al foro. El eje delantero tiene una curva natural en él de la fábrica.

Seeing those parts stored in glass jars reminds me of a funny story... My Uncle stored many old nuts, bolts, screws, and washers in glass jars. He would nail the tin lids of those glass jars to the wooden floor beams in the garage under the house and then screw the glass jar up and back onto the lid. Their house was right on the water on the east coast of Australia, so in time the seals on the tin lids would loosen and the glass jars would fall causing glass to shatter on the concrete garage floor.... and the contents of the jar to be spread everywhere! My Cousins called those jars ‘Dad’s bombs’ as they reckon they went off like a bomb exploding when they hit the floor shattering glass and ‘shrapnel’ in every direction.

I was at a car show yesterday and spotted a couple of nice looking coffee trucks. My mind went back to this thread from 2013 when Paul was discussing plans for his camper/truck canopy. Neither of the trucks I saw were MOPAR's, but I found them quite interesting and thought they might provide some ideas for all here....

All of the 6v fuel senders I have were worn. I ended up using a 12v tank (has different sender & fitting to 6v) in the 6v 52 truck and had a 12v sender modified to suit. My gauge fella reckoned it was a pain as the sender internals at the top of the arm worked in the opposite direction, so he hand-made a small brass cog to suit. I installed a later model plastic float and have set the arm to read empty with an inch of fuel left in the tank.

I haven’t changed too much from stock on my 52 DeSoto truck or my 53 Dodge coupe truck... but I did chop the internal section of the oil bath air filter/s to convert ithem to a stainless steel cage which is covered by an oil-soaked sock. I have changed out the diff centre (from 4.1 to 3.54) in my 53 coupe truck but am yet to do the same with my 52 truck.

Our trucks are a little different here in Oz. My Canadian built (but Australian assembled) 52 DeSoto 1/2 ton truck has the internal rear vision mirror, passenger side door mirror, steering wheel horn ring, electric wiper, 802 radio, & under-dash ash tray. I pieced together my own set of 6v dual horns working from factory specifications... and I’m actually piecing together another 12v set for my 53 Dodge coupe truck at present (I have all of the parts but am yet to have them painted). I have another 802 radio which will be retro-fitted with all modern 12v components for the 53 coupe truck, and I will keep all of the old valve electrics for spares for my other fitted 6v (fully rebuilt) radio. i have fitted a USA internal door latch mechanism (which I picked up from Mark at the BBQ in CA last year) to my 53 coupe truck so I now have external door locks on both doors. i have changed out my 4.1 diff centre for a 3.54 for better highway cruising, but I am yet to install the other 3.54 in my 52 truck. I brought home a good set of bumper guards last year also... but your USA bumper profile is dirrerent to ours here in Oz, so my mate Hank will get a nice gift when I am back in CA for the BBQ in 2020.

I've been a bit busy with night shifts at work, and then packing shipping containers with hospital and school charity items in every bit of my spare time. I did get time to get the blue truck out recently and picked up the 'best old school' trophy at the local NAPA car show. Hopefully the FaceBook link works... https://www.facebook.com/pg/napaautosuperstorelogancity/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155288563680957

It's a pity you weren't here in Brisbane KD as I have a great Auto Electrician just around the corner from my place who is really good with old cars. I had him repair all of the electricals for my 53 truck recently, and it turned out that I had issues with the old starter motor. As luck would have it... it also turned out that I had a compatible spare starter motor in my shed anyway. He suggested that they used pretty much the same starters on all of the Oz Dodge vehicles around that era and that they were a Lucas branded M45. I have attached a couple of pics of the one which he fixed for my truck. I could call him and see if he has some reference numbers in his manuals for you if you don't have an 'old school' Auto Elec there in Adelaide somewhere. Do you have similar numbers stamped on your old starter motor?

I only have a few of each spring left now, so I'm probably best to keep them for my own needs. Joe's Auto Door Lock Springs goes by the user name whiterivertreasure on Ebay. and he seems to have a supply of springs... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1935-1936-late-Dodge-Chrysler-Plymouth-DeSoto-Door-Lock-Latch-Repair-Springs/132626310268?hash=item1ee124e47c:g:xQ8AAOSwDNdVrBG5 … I haven't really seen anyone else who has been selling these springs.

keep looking my friend ?

The window channel near the center of the door gets in the way... so it's best to remove it to get the door latch mechanism out. There 2 screws down at the bottom of the vent window channel and another 2 down to the bottom of that channel which are accessed from the inside of the door.

You guys get a good deal on Optima batteries there in USA... the red top 6v battery sells for $290 - $300 here in Oz.

Actually, now that I see the photos from others... I recall seeing Brent's truck was like that when I was at the BBQ last year. Some joker's had placed a heap of beer bottle caps under the overflow pipe there ? There sure are a few differences between our trucks. We seem to have stayed with the same parts longer here in Oz and just changed the dash and the nosecone. The hood from my C series truck would actually interchange with my B series truck.

They are the same here in Australia... but who knows what crazy stuff they do over there in USA ?

Looks like you're missing a vital part...

I run a Milodon high-flow 160 thermostat in the 218 long block of my 52 truck and have never had any issues with it.

I'm so pleased that you got the old truck running again Michael. Greg owns and runs a company called FTRS just north of Brisbane... http://www.ftrs.com.au/ ... he would be the best person to call if you wanted to keep that original honeycomb style radiator. He's a wizard at fixing fuel tanks as well! I know that Harold Ireland had a couple of NOS radiator cores which would be from your model truck, so I could put you in touch with him if you wish. I'm not sure where you are here in Qld, but I'm just south of Brisbane. I'll send you a PM on the forum here with my email address - click on the envelope to the top right of the toolbar when you get a chance.

Welcome to the forum Michael. You talk like an Aussie... where are you from? I know that GeeKay has recently fixed a problem with low spark on his old Ambulance in Victoria, so I've mentioned your post to him and expect that he will get in touch with you when he returns from his fishing trip (off Gladstone QLD) soon. You might be best posting in the truck side of this forum, although the electrics on the car are the same. Got any pics of your truck?

Check out the AACA forum under the 'Dodge trucks' section as they seem to be more interested in the earlier MOPAR vehicles there... http://forums.aaca.org/forum/43-dodge-trucks/ .. otherwise, it might be worth dropping Countytravler (Dave) a personal message here as he is a member on both forums and he's quite knowledgeable on older MOPAR's. I would love to see some photos of your friend's stakebed if you can manage it.

Hope the screenshot from my phone works...