William Davey

I had to wire the tach backwards from the Westac instructions to get it to work with the Pertronix ignition. Wired according to the directions, the rpms was all over the place and seemed to have no connection to what the engine was doing.

Life situations have resulted in my selling my '55 C-3-B8. Thank you to all that have helped me through my troubles. I hope I have payed it forward a little as well. I'll probably visit once in a while as I still love old Mopars, but its time to move on.

Don't know where I saw it, but I believe that round signal lights like used on semi-trailers will fit the opening where the stock light goes.

I took my rusty old one to a local metal fab shop and they made a new one for $50. Mine was a lot worse than the one shown by 59bisquick above. I gave the guy a $20 tip. Bolts and top battery bracket were from NAPA - a universal kit that only needed a little adjustment to fit.

My 55 has a 259 Poly V-8 with a 3 speed and 4:10 gears. Red line is 4,400 rpm so 60 is comfortable at 2800 or so. Sounds really busy 'cause we're all used to today's overdrive engines chugging along at 2000 rpm at 70. You'll have no trouble keeping up with traffic. If you do decide to swap rear ends to a better ratio, be aware that the older B series trucks were narrower so the Jeep and Ranger/Explorer differentials may be too narrow. My truck is about 62" between wheel mounting surfaces (WMS). Look at 1st generation Dodge Dakotas for good options with lots of ratios available and the 5 bolt pattern on 4.5" diameter is the same as your existing wheels. Try to get a diff out of a Sport or a V-8 powered Dakota as they were a little heavier duty. One other possibility - try Randy's Ring and Pinion (advertises in Hemmings) he may have replacement ring and pinions for your existing diff, he told me mine was too old and the only options were 4:10 and 4:56.

I bought a "vented" cap from the local NAPA. Then found out it was not vented when I removed it to fill the tank - almost blew the cap off and got a big rush of fumes from the tank. So I drilled the guts out of the center of the cap and tested it by blowing on the little hole in the center. It passed air easily after drilling, but not before.

These flatheads used at least 3 different distributors sometimes in the same year! The only way to know for sure is to get the numbers on the ID tag riveted to the side of the distributor. Then NAPA can get you the right rotor and cap set.

Here's a Mopar differential identification guide. Assumes this is a Mopar diff.

Back on topic - My 55 C-3-B8 has a 259 Poly V-8 that uses the front engine mount bolted to the front of the block. Also uses a rubber motor mount to suspend the engine from that mount. It looks like the same ones used on flathead 6, but I can't say it's identical. I second the suggestion to get every part you can from the donor car.

Just a guess - that could be the bracket that holds the master cylinder and clutch linkage on right hand drive trucks. Mine is 1500 miles away and I won't see it until mid-May or I'd look at mine. Look at the bracket on the driver's side for comparison.

My 55 C-3-B8 also rubs, but I figured out that my cab mounts have compressed and the cab has moved in relationship to the clutch pedal. Temporary fix was a rat tail file through the hole in the floor.

I spent 7 years in the Submarine Service, but never saw an engine that could run underwater. We always had to have the snorkel mast up so the engine could get fresh air from above the surface. The snorkel mast had a valve that closed if water covered the mast, when that happened the engine would suck all the air out of the boat in a heartbeat. Big diesels need a lot of air.

If you also wire up the fuel gauge and the generator/voltage regulator, you'll have rewired the whole truck! Search in the DPECTA web site for a complete diagram. That site is listed under resources above, or use Google.

My mistake - I saw the post about the 315 Poly and just wanted to explain that my 259 Poly had a WCFB in 1955. Sorry for the confusion.

My 55 second series (late 55 & all 56) C-3-B8 has a 259 Poly with the same 4 bbl WCFB carb. It may not be original to the truck, but I know it was used on 55 & 56 Plymouth cars as an option. My truck uses the front mount "floating power" bracket behind the water pump and bolted to the front cross member like the L6 engines used.