Dave72dt

It still has holes in it and the bottom has not been blasted. If moisture can get in and sit, it'll rust. Panel adhesive has been used for years now. A lot of roofs are now glued on as well as some doors, rocker panels.

Since you don't weld (preferred), an alternative repair method would be to make a panel and glue it in with panel adhesive (not the stuff you get from a hardware store but the kind a body shop uses to fasten panels). You still have to cut the bad metal out. Leaving the rotten metal in and covering over will rot both pieces. If you decide to make a panel and pop rivet it in, still cut the rot out and seam seal top and bottom. Fiberglass has been done and some swear by it. Your choice.

I'll assume it's pretty dirty and caked with old grease around that end. Start cleaning. Remove the grease fitting and start looking for threads inside that end as well as a slot. Something on that end will unscrew to allow the ball socket to be adjusted/removed. There may be an external set screw locking the adjustment. do a Google search for drag link sockets so you know what to look for.

If your local shops won't do split rings anymore, maybe they still have their old cage stashed somewhere that they'd be happy to get rid of.

It was probably round originally and has been subjected to years of being compressed into a square cut groove. I wouldn't want to subject cork to the pressure that is developed in an oil pump. Are those Ebay rings square cut or round? Calipers to measure ID and OD of groove.

My 93 F250 rear shock upper mounts sit about 2 " inboard and below the frame rail. To install these on my truck would require mounting them on the inside of the C shaped frame, open side of the frame is on the inside so I would guess the standout to the shock stud to be about 4 inches. you'll have to wait till it stops raining and dries up a bit if you need more accurate measurements.

The drag links I'm familiar with had one end with cotter pin and slot cut into the end that a wide screwdriver blade or drag link socket fit into for adjusting and the other end would be a tie rod style. If the end that has play is similar to the tie rod style Sniper put up, replacement is your needed. If the other style, I believe some replacement sockets and cup, spring may be available. Post a pic of the bad end if you can.

And when you turn the key back off, the current flow is interrupted

The best I have found so far is Wizards metal polish. I've tried Mothers and Never Dull and the Wizards works far better than either of the other two.

Will it do after the truck has been started? Does the engine need to be brought up to temp or just started?

I consider points a switc0h. Open, close, on, off. Ignition switch on, ign switch off. Logic tells me my previous post is a possible scenario and every electrical circuit in the truck is available when the key is on.. I don't know whether or not Pertronix would or could respond similarly. How repeatable is this condition? Now that it's sat for a while will it do it before starting the engine or does it have to be run for a while. Will it do it after sitting for ten minutes or a half hour? Will it do it a second time, turning the key on and off immediately after it does it?

By turning the ignition on and then off you did the same thing the points do when opening and closing, letting the coil fire a plug, and if a gas mixture is in that cylinder when it fires it'll rock the engine. That's my guess.

That's the correct direction.

If you could put some periods in your post it would help separate the one thought from another. Are you saying the trans runs quieter when starting it in gear with the clutch pedal up than it does when starting in neutral with the pedal up? Does the pedal come all the way up? Is the free play correct? If you found of ring of brass on the input shaft, it's probably too tight and likely slightly deformed from the install.

It sounds like you're having difficulty getting the trans into gear because the clutch isn't releasing. If you had to pull the trans in with bolts, the clutch disc may be binding on the trans input shaft or the pilot brg is binding on it. The trans needs the correct oil and amount in it to provide some resistance to help slow the gears and the clutch itself must be properly adjusted for free play. Using a disc that was saturated with oil is going to be a problem and may be the problem you're having. The most likely is the disc binding on the shaft, One other possible I have seen is the disc installed backward.