Desotodav

I have a clutch/brake return springs and door handle escutcheon springs presently being worked on Mark. The clutch/brake springs are different from the ones that you have pictured. Hanks and mine look like those in the attached photo. Unfortunately, they both involve a fair bit more work than the others and will cost considerably more than the gas tank springs. I am hoping to see the spring maker on Monday about the two throttle linkage springs. I am going to work with Hank to try and provide a complete spring package. I would like to have this available to forum members as soon as we can work out all of the springs that are required. All springs will be stainless steel and made as replicas of the originals. We still need to do some more homework in order to reduce freight prices, but I am sure that we can get something up and running in the near future. Desotodav

Good job Hank!!! Desotodav

I have found electric motors in all of the trucks that I have played with so far John. My 51 (Canadian) Desoto truck was the only truck that had a Mopar brand electric wiper motor though. From what I've seen here in Oz, our truck wipers are activated by a small switch under the dash rather than the top centre dash mounted switches in the American trucks. My mate Dave has vaccum wipers in his 61 Dodge Phoenix, so I don't know where (or when) the change came in. Desotodav

Woodie, I recently played around with my manifold studs due to water leaks. I agree with Aero in that the leak is more than likely coming from your 2 long bolts. However, the un-removed studs may have been disturbed when you removed the manifold six months ago. I would probably start with the long bolts, and then venture on to the other studs if that doesn't work. I lost count of the amount of times that I had to drain my block in the process of fixing my water leak. I also found that some of the studs in my truck motor block were longer than others and installing the wrong ones in the wrong holes can cause grief when trying to re-install the manifold. Good luck with it! Desotodav

Mark, the cowl vent hoses that I have seen on a few trucks now seem to protrude from the firewall only a few inches. I don't imagine that they would be too different from the car ones. I used rubber fuel line for my cowl vent overflow - it was a tight fit with pre-heating with hot water required to get it on. I extended the length down so that I could end it with a metal holding clip mounted off the hand-brake bracket as I thought that it looked neater that way. The hose size would obviously depend on the grommet that you used. I measured the hole size in my firewall with my digital vernier caliper and it showed 0.963". Desotodav

Hank, good job on winning those Ebay visors. I have a couple of upholstered visors that I plan on using as a sample when I have mine made. Although our visors differ slightly in this part of the world, maybe you could use the attached picture as a guideline for what you want to achieve on your visors? My sample visor appears similar to those pictured on page 37 of the Bunn Bible (apart from the mounting block). It would appear that the visors should also be made of the same material as that used to cover the inside of the doors and cab roof. Desotodav

I bet your ggdad would be proud of your achievements so far. The project has certainly come a long way. Are you painting the gas tank black? Desotodav

Robert, I recently installed my sump (with new gasket) after trying to fix a couple of leaks. My truck manual suggests to leave the end gaskets protrude 1/8 to 1/4 inch above the oil pan to allow for compression when the pan screws are tightened. Your small rubber pieces about half inch long and the size of a pencil lead baffle me. The part that they call 'oil pan front seal plate' (part # 1113161?) has a couple of small rubber seals inserted at the top which sound similar. It is mounted inside the sump to the front of the motor under the crankshaft. The front seal forms against this part. Maybe your small rubber pencil lead-like seals were made for this? I hope this info has been helpful. Desotodav

Good job on the starter Mackster. I don't know about your theory about trying it on wifes or girlfriends though - they call that domestic violence over here (or foreplay in the lower class areas!) Desotodav

Tim, I had a problem with leaking brake wheel cylinders a while ago. My brake man used a product called Brakeclean, which seemed to remove the contamination. I'm not sure what products are available in your part of the world, but search for 'brake clean' on the internet and that should bring up a list of products available to you. Desotodav

I got a text message the other day which said: How much coke did Charlie Sheen have? Enough to kill two and a half men! He still seems to be kicking on though. There is word of a late night talk show host job for him. Maybe it's all just a publicity stunt? Desotodav

Austinsailor, it looks very similar to this truck that I saw recently that I thought might be around the '46 era. Desotodav

Bob, I used Autosol metal polish on my truck windows and it seemed to bring them up well. I was fortunate to have plenty of windows to choose from so that I could use the best ones, but the metal polish worked a treat. I would imagine that it would work the same as other metal polishes like Mothers (used by thrashingcows). Desotodav

What a great find Bob. Congratulations on picking up a truck that "was designed to draw traffic into dealer showrooms" (the Bunn Bible pg. 133). I am sure that your truck will be the envy of many. Desotodav

Congratulations on a good job on the vent and door window dollydodge. I am hoping to get on to mine as soon as my 'fuzzy' bits arrive. At least I have some of your progressive photos to go by now. Thanks Desotodav

I'm running 6.50 x 16 Firestone 4 ply whitewalls on my Desoto truck. No complaints here. They did cost me about $350 each, but well worth it for the look! Desotodav

After working in the conversion, fuel is about $5.70 per US gallon here in Brisbane (Australia) at present.

This should answer your question ggdad1951... Desotodav

Looks like you have a nice supply of parts there to keep you busy over the weekend Mark. Its a lovely 88° (in your talk) here in Brisbane today. I couldn't pass up such an opportunity to take the old 51 Desoto truck out for a run. I think that I clocked up a little over 30 miles this morning. I will give it a clean up now and park it back in the garage before I have to run off to work. Have a great weekend.

Mark, I agree with Don. I am not sure what the law states in your part of the world, but we have laws here in Oz (Queensland) which require brake lines to be double-flared. I think single flares are alright on fuel lines here. Perhaps it is a pressure related (and safety) consideration? Desotodav

Yes, the bolt does tighten down on the spacer to allow for frame flex. The spacer fits comfortably over the bolt without force required. The tank lip holes are threaded to cater for the bolt thread. I used zinc-plated spacers on mine with a smear of copper anti-seize paste (like Merle). Desotodav

Good job Dollydodge. I'm looking forward to seeing some photos when you get it all back together. I will be 'doing battle' with my vent windows again soon. Desotodav

Gas tank spacer dimensions: 13/32" hole, 1 1/4" long, 1/32" material thickness Desotodav

The photo attached shows the bolt/spacer/spring for the gas tank. The bolt appears about 3/8 with a fine thread (UNF?). Do they use Dyna-bolts in your part of the world ggdad1951? The Dyna-bolts in the attached photo show a spacer that is used in order to tighten the bolt whilst it is in the ground. I would imagine that they would almost be an exact match for the spacer if you had the correct size Dyna-bolt. The skinny Dyna-bolts in the photo are long with 2 small spacers + a split spacer. You might get the 2 spacers that you need from 1 Dyna-bolt by purchasing a 3/8? bolt in a longer configuration? I will speak with the spring maker again once we have a better idea of what needs to be made. I will ensure that sufficient quantities are made at the time. I may look into the Dyna-bolt spacer idea and include them in some sort of spring package once we have all the particulars sorted out. I do have a spring on the pedal shaft Tony. After viewing your photo, I notice that mine is attached to the tab at the front of the shaft and not to the rear like yours. Maybe I will have to look into having it made into stainless as well?

the answer is simple... whichever side she darn well wants!!!:D:D Right for the driver and left for the co-pilot. Desotodav