jeffsunzeri

Most likely an M37 replacement engine. What voltage is the generator?

Lots of experience. The LA motor (273, 318, 340, 360) thermostats work fine, and can be found in the correct temperature. I run a 160 degree version in several MoPar flat sixes with 100% success. The old accordion thermostats are nice paperweights.

Exist a test to know if the head gasket is failed? Yes. A compression test will show most head gasket failures. Additionally, air bubbles in the radiator is a good indicator of a failed head gasket.

No, the Chevy W1 is not a good alternative. Some better diagnostics are in order other than a hard-starting incident and sooty tailpipe. If the carb was rebuilt two years ago, how did it perform then? There are about 70 quadzillion things that might account for hard starting, and black soot in the tailpipe is not a concern at all for a carbureted engine. It should not be gray.

Ground straps: 1. Engine to frame. 2. Engine to firewall. 3. Body shell to frame.

I painted a utility trailer a few months ago with the Tractor Supply paint. I used their black, along with their catalyst and reducer. For me, their reducer recommended percentages were WAY off. I think they (the paint manufacturer) recommended 1 pint for the whole gallon... No way. The paint went on real well, over an epoxy primer, and after 4 - 5 months in the sun, it still looks great, and is fairly hard/chip resistant. Of course, a few months is not much, but so far so good. I would rate the Tractor Supply paints as an excellent buy at around $30 a gallon. That is compared to over $300 a gallon for the paint I use on customer's stuff.

What you have is orange peel. It is not expected for a good enamel finish, but very common for less experienced painters. Some tips: - with enamel, start with 50% of the mixture being enamel reducer. - If you're real particular, check your thinned/reduced mixture with a Zahn cup against the paint manufacturer's recommendations. With some experience, you'll be able to judge the right thinness by dipping your stir stick in the mixture and timing the change from stream to drip when you remove it from the paint cup. I like about 3-4 seconds. - In humid areas, don't wet the paint floor. The extra humidity is a bad thing. Much worse than the specs of dust. Also, your feet will flip up mud spots from the muddy floor. Not good. Also, a wet floor is a slippery floor. Also, not good. - A great helper to the home-based painter is accelerator/hardener. Read the instructions, and make sure you have good breathing equipment. The accelerator helps tremendously to get rid of a number of problems like fish-eyes, and it also adds significant gloss.

Use Irontite now. Stop dicking with the crack. Remove the hose connecting to the heater core when doing the treatment.

Hung starter.

Change the condenser and see what happens, if of course, you are running points.

With battery disconnected, what does the ammeter show?

VPW have brand spanking new drums for the 1 tons. They ought to give another 80 years of service or more to the original brake systems.

The standard brakes on the 1 ton axle are really, really good brakes. Discs would be a move backward, IMHO.

I've found it to be something of a weak point on the flatheads. Valve stem lubrication is not the best aspect of these motors. Especially on a new rebuild with tight tolerances, cold, damp weather, and hung valves are fairly common. Generally, after a few hours in service, this will stop happening. Suggestion for now is to get lots of lubrication down the valve stem, removing the head if necessary, so that the stem is not sticking. Check to make sure the spring is not broken. Add an oil additive such as CamGuard which will leave a nice film on the moving parts. You may want to play with oil viscosities a bit to see if that will help.

I have used silicon-bronze with the tig process extensively. It (silicon-broze) has a very narrow application suitability. It is best used for very close tolerance fitting where much of the joint (if not all) derives its strength from the base material, not the brazed joint. Think of it as glue, more than a weld. It has very limited application in repair welds/brazes. It sounds like you DO NOT want to use this on your bellhousing. Standard stick-arc wit appropriate rods should work fine. Just make sure the cooling process does not permit the material to over-harden. This sounds like a job for an experienced welder/fabricator.

Vintage Power Wagons

"trying to figure out if the split exhaust adds any performance or if I would lose torque. " Anything that adds horsepower will increase torque as well. There's a mathematical relationship. The worst you can do is reshape the torque curve. You won't reduce torque.

It is not a drop-in. The engine is heavier, wider than the six. You would be using a PowerFlite transmission? Framework will be needed - welding in new mounts. You should strongly consider going to power steering. The transmission will require new mounts and linkages. This would be a big deal.

"I was also thinking of a front brakes upgrade while I am working on front end. Do you think that's wise?" No. If it were a Chevy or Ford, yes. Their brakes are sub-standard. The brakes on the P15 are excellent, double-leading shoe brakes that perform very, very well especially when you have a modern radial tire on them. Just make sure the brakes are in good working condition and adjust them every 10,000 miles or so and you'll be fine. Discs are easier to maintain, but then so's a Toyota. You don't want a Toyota do you? Also doing an "upgrade" has a number of downsides for very little benefit. Some will say "MY discs saved my life!!! If it weren't for my groovy disc conversion, I'd be implanted in the back of a Peterbilt right now!!" Baloney. Your P15 brakes are excellent as they are.

In my younger days when cash was tight, I ran 2 or 3 different brands of plus in my Plymouth 218. All were the correct heat range and style. Never seemed to make any difference to starting or any other performance characteristic. But AC's did seem to be much cheaper and plentiful than other brands, probably because the Chevy guys used tons of them for their oil burners.

"What should I look for if I have someone turning steering wheel so I can watch under the hood? " You will need to get on the ground as someone works the steering wheel. There is a pitman arm attached to the steering box that translates the steering wheel input into left and right movement. That arm is short and exits from the steering box, and is fairly easy to identify. It should move with no slack in synch with the steering wheel. From the pitman arm, just follow the motion to the various linkages which finally attach to each front wheel. Do this inspection with the wheels on the ground. If it all looks ok from the pitman arm outwards, then you may indeed have something wrong in the box itself. Each movement of the steering wheel should transmit precisely to the pitman arm, with no slack if the box is ok. I'll bet it becomes pretty obvious what is out of whack. This sounds pretty serious. Don't drive it until you find the problem.

Return spring may also be whacked out on the offending wheel.

What transmission do you have?

If you are looking for power increases, it will be very difficult if not impossible to improve on a good dual carb setup on this motor. EFI, especially TBI will be more efficient at many power settings, but a carb setup works really well at higher RPM/power settings. If you had access to each individual cylinder intake port, then port-injection might be the way to go, but these MoPar flatties don't work that way. Bottom line, for all the hassle and $$$ of EFI, you may get longer lasting plugs and 1 or 2 better MPG, but no more power than with carbs.

Over the years I've had several types of tie down hooks. I've found the following to be true, at least for me. - Hooks too close to the bed rail cause problems when using ratchet tie downs especially for hauling motorcycles. They don't allow enough length to play out from the hook to the handlebars. - Hooks or other cleats in the bed cause problems. They either won't let plywood lay flat, or are hidden and a hassle to hook on to. - The best all-round hooks I've found are as on the pictures WC-1. They are 1/2 way down the bedside and seem to suit all situations well. Leave it to the military to specify a good all-round solution standard.