kencombs

I edited my earlier response as I was short on time when I posted and left out some important detail. IMHO, the clearance specs have more to do with block design, heat retention, expansion etc that with the valve material. What are your measured stem to guide clearances as installed?

They do all have the same P/N, at least at the places I looked last time I bought some. One end is tapered, the other is reduced diameter for a bit. But all were counter-bored on one end. And, that counter bore goes up on the exhaust. Mine are installed per the book, not vendor info. EDIT: I left out a key word in this response, the P/N was the same at SOME of the places I looked. But after further browsing through catalogs I found that the originals were often the same and required reaming to fit the exhaust side. Newer machining technologies produced a part that usually requires no reaming as the exhaust P/N is .002in larger ID than the intake. I ordered mine a couple of years back, I think Perfect Circle brand. Two P/Ns, two boxes of six, look identical except for the ID. I would expect any supplier selling one PN to require reaming. Take a look at Rock Auto. Great lookup tool, pics of the parts and full dimensions on some, like these guides. I think some suppliers are just blindly ordering from 'someplace' without reqard to quality.

I would search this site for info on Tennessee Clutch. They have done work for several members and even with shipping the prices were excellent.

I think Jerry is right, and that is new specs, not wear limit. Edit to add link to material FYI. https://www.clutchengineering.com/products/cathead-and-draw-works-clutch-facings/

Any pitman arm that moves fore and aft can be modified in the side to side direction without messing with wheel alignment. As long a proper geometry is maintained no wear additional wear should occur. Even gears with vertical shafts can have the arms modded, but much more care must be taken to account for linkage geometry changes as they often connect directly to tie rods or idler links. In horizontal applications, like my 56 PU they only connect to a drag link. Done all the time in the hot rod and off-roading worlds.

Not to worry, soap and water has been the 'gold standard' used by quality engine builders for years. It has been found to be the only reliable method to remove all residual honing fluid, along with the grit it carries. Use hot water, blow and wipe clean immediately and lightly oil the machined surfaces. Your WD40 is perfect for this.

I don't think you'll find a bolt-on fit for that. If there is just a small interference and If I were working on it I think the first thing I'd try is removing the pitman arm. Then install the starter and measure a lot. It may be possible to bend the pitman enough to clear. They are forged steel and can be safely bent. Maybe even construct a new arm altogether. That's what I'd try, but some say I'm overconfident in my welding skills. My letter to Santa asking for a new welder was returned. With a note, 'I've seen your welding, you're getting a new grinder for Christmas!". Seriously, don't try either of those unless you are confident in the process and your skills/equipment.

I have never seen a solenoid or relay that was polarity sensitive. There may be some but I've never encountered one. The magnetic field in the relay coil attracts an iron core that moves and make contact happen, passing current through that portion of the solenoid. Forget the starter part for a bit and test the relay by itself. Does it click when power is applied to one small terminal and ground to the other?

Which solenoid is currently on the starter, new 3 term or old 4 term? I'd be curious as to how the 3 terminal was wired, specifically how the relay coil was grounded. Your original was grounded to the generator I believe. As to the wire gauge and amps, one has to remember that amperage (current draw) is determined by the load, not the power source. So a small wire connected to battery voltage, like your starter button wire, will only have the power draw demanded by the load, the relay coil.

Bed wood in almost all pickups from the factory was almost always yellow pine. SYP, especially the older stuff is a softwood only because it has needles, not leaves. It is harder and more durable than most hardwoods, and it's more rot resistant than most also. World of difference between it and other pines. But, seldom available in the North and West. Local yards always have it, or what is classed as SPF (spruce, pine, fir,mixed), The latter is what most people identify as 'pine' and it's not! If one could find some salvaged Yellow pine from 50+ year old buildings, that would be ideal for bed floors. Unfortunately those companies that collect and resell that stuff know what it's worth, and charge more than that!

One cleaning method that seems to be in vogue these days at machinist/rebuilders is oven baking. It does remove all traces of oil and general gunk, but I've seen some cases where the accumulation in passages, nooks and crannies was turned into ash. Sounds like what you may have. The only cure is meticulous handwork as you've found. And you're right, it is the builders task to assure all things detrimental to machined surfaces are removed. If it was baked, or even hot tanked insufficiently, solvents won't do much as the part of the 'dirt' that solvents attack is already gone. It will need scraping, gouging and brushing. Then a hot water/soap wash. JMHO.

I remove all the plugs wherever they are, soak the whole thing with a mix of diesel and Gunk Super Concentrate. I use a spray setup that used air to vacuum the mix into the nozzle and spray into every niche and passage. Let it set at least 24 hours. Then rinse with a pressure washer and hot water if available. Repeat. Then soak it again and use the pencil stream nozzle on the pressure washer, directing it into every little place like those. Finally, hot water and dish soap scrub with all the little brushed I own! Then rinse and blow dry.

I typed up a big response and fat-fingered the enter. Anyway, the inner seal is probably leaking diff lube into the bearing area. The outer seal is intended to seal grease only and will likely not hold the lighter lube.

Too bad its a long way from me as I could use a grille bar. One of mine is sub-par.

Excellent tutorial in the basics of troubleshooting lingo. I might add that IMO, real vapor lock is really rare as it requires the pump itself to have vapor in the pump body. Only if the check valves and /or diaphragm are surrounded by vapor will they fail to work. As long as the pump is full of liquid it can push vapor that might be between it and the carb on through the needle/seat area.

On my 56, I soldered new sockets into the housing. Solder wasn't really needed as the hole would fit a parts store replacement socket, but it assures a good ground. I also added a ground wire from the housing to the radiator support, which is grounded to the frame. Used an 1157 bulb socket.

My little van has 65 series tires and if they are really low it's obvious. However if the sensor is telling me that it is just a little down, like recent cold weather triggers, I can't tell and it's time to get out the gauge and check them all anyway. Still prefer that style for overall ease of maintenance. An friend of a friend had car with the indirect type and severely damaged a tire. One of a set with maybe 60-75% of the tread left. He had two options, buy 1 new tire and have it ground down to closely match it's mates or buy 4. Neither were great, but he opted for all new. Sometimes tech has indirect costs.

The latter is the one on my minivan. And the one I prefer as it requires no learning, or position ID when rotating tires, replacing tires or sensors. Just put 'em on and drive it. If I get a warning it takes all of 15 seconds to ID the low one by eye. And I haven't been required to buy another tool to deal with them.

That's one of the reasons some manufacturers caution about replacing tires in sets. Tire wear must be close to equal to keep from upsetting the computer. Also really messes up the anti-lock and anti-skid software. I prefer simple. Earlier Mopar, like my 07 minivan, use the same sensor in all 4 wheels and only send a low pressure warning, no position or actual pressure info. Enough for me to check the tires, but not so complicated to require any resets or relearns like others. I bought a full set of aftermarket sensors for less than one for my daughters GM product and required no visit to a shop to relearn or purchase of another tool. Just put 'em in and drive!

I actually wanted to do an automatic but the issue I was concerned about was not so much loosing the rear mount as how to re-engineer the front one. all the torque reaction resistance in our flatties is in the rear. Without those widely spaced rear mounts the front would allow a LOT of rotation.

Under most conditions that is correct. However, the auto-ignition temp of a gas/air mix is about 536deg F. I've seen exhaust manifolds glowing red after long hard usage and red cast iron can be well over 500deg, loaded trucks or tow vehicles usually but a hard drive on a hot day can really drive up the manifold temp. Not normal circumstances, but it could happen. Of course the distributor and spark plug wires are also a possible ignition sources of gas vapor, especially the arc inside the cap and weak/leaky wires.

Thanksgiving is almost over and I'm tired and way to full of food. But, really enjoyed kids, grandkids and greats! I really am thankful for the way things turned out for me and mine. But, like a lot of folks I often forget those who came before, thanks for reminding me.

I don't know how my mod would translate to an earlier chassis, but I used a 60 crossmember under a 60 clutch housing with the correct mounts on my 56. That housing is the correct depth for a later transmission, and is drilled for the L6 and early poly/hemi engine also. So, even though I'm keeping the six, I could later unbolt it and drop in an early V8, maybe even an LA version with some machine work. My trans is an A833OD which has a front bearing retainer sized to fit the clutch housing. I plugged the unused holes in the housing, welded some bosses onto it with Nirod then drilled and tapped for the newer trans. I'm pretty sure the same method could be used to bolt up most transmissions without an integral clutch housing. Since that housing has a big opening for the retainer a reducing ring may be needed for some trans.

I can never remember the location of the LH threads, always have to dig up the info.

Those fittings are available straight, 45 and 90deg, and in brass, which I recommend. The steel ones will rust and the cheaper ones are way too thin to be long lasting. eBay, Amazon or local parts place should have (or be able to order) them.