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Update on Fiddy


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Man, I love my truck, and this forum ain't bad either!  Fiddy was leakin antifreeze and gettin hot intermittently.  Flushed her out, changed the thermostat and the cap, and she's running like a top.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the rear carb (She has dual single barrels on an Offenhauser intake) was leaking.  Kind of bleeding down the side of the carb, and I was worried about the fire thing so I decided it was time to rebuild them.  The rear is a DTC-1 and the front is a DTE-2, but the same kit works for both.  I got the kit from Mike's carbs (very nice folks) they wanted $36 bucks each for the rebuild kits, but since I ordered 2, along with a 20% military discount (retired Navy), they both ended up costing $40, shipping included!  A great deal in my estimation!  I've never rebuilt a Carter carb, so I thought I'd do one at a time and started with the DTC.  Everything went fine, set it to factory bench settings and put it back together and then put it on.  Took the DTE off and took it apart.  The 2 ball, Ball and Ball carb turned out to be a 4 ball, as the previous rebuilder must have had extras and decided to put them in at random.  A small ball was where the big ball was supposed to be and the big ball was at the base of the main tube... Anyway, I straightened that out then noticed that the accelerator pump spring was about 3/4 of an inch longer than what was on the DTC.  I called Mike and he sent me a new one for each carb and since there was an extra bowl gasket with the kit, I could take the DTC bowl cover off and replace that one with no hiccups.  Got the parts in 2 days, from the northwest corner of the US to the SW corner of the US...in 2 days, with no extra shipping costs!  Anyway, got both fixed up and back on.  Fired her up and dialed her in.  She runs like a top!  So I took her to work yesterday and she ran great, but a Florida monsoon hit in the evening on the way home and the wipers were inoperable.  I found a YouTube video saying the spec sheet for lubricating these motors was to use brake fluid or some other light oil, then I saw a couple of posts here recommending to just disconnect the vacuum line at the intake and pour the oil down the tube while moving the wipers back and forth.  So being the lazy guy that I am, I tried it and thought - there is no way this will work, it's too easy.  I moved the wipers back and forth, then hooked the vacuum line back up, turned the wipers on and could not believe my eyes.  Those dang wipers move so fast and smooth across the windshield that I thought they were going to fly off the posts!  

All in all, I must say, this truck is just a pleasure to work on.  Next up, a completely new bed.  This is a functioning work truck so I figure I'll get some marine grade plywood, cut it and paint it black, and get some regular steel strips and paint them black as well.  Right now there is just a piece of 1/2 inch ply in there over the original bed...or what's left of the original bed.  Look out Mar K, here I come, I hope you are as accommodating as Mike's Carbs was.

Sorry for the length of the post here, I got a little carried away.

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If you want the right strips avoid Mar-K and the others that sell for "Dodge" trucks, those are Chebby and Ferd strips.  The ONLY, and I mean ONLY, one selling correct Dodge strips is Midwest Military.

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Mar-K has been good when I bought from them. This is my 46 with strips and upper floor from them. At the time they didn't make the cross pieces for 39-47s which are also wood. I have since bought SS strips for my 47 but they aren't installed yet.

P9060004.jpg

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7 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

If you want the right strips avoid Mar-K and the others that sell for "Dodge" trucks, those are Chebby and Ferd strips.  The ONLY, and I mean ONLY, one selling correct Dodge strips is Midwest Military.

Since you say only Midwest Military, I'm assuming the strips from Horkey's aren't right either?

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4 hours ago, Jerry Roberts said:

Wow Ed !  Sometimes I wished that I had three arms like you have  when working on some stuff . 

Haha pretty sure none of those arms are mine! The closer guy is my friend Bob and I believe the black sleeved arm is my life long friend John.

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17 minutes ago, Fiddy B2C said:

Since you say only Midwest Military, I'm assuming the strips from Horkey's aren't right either?

I believe that's right. However they all function and since you mention marine grade plywood I am guessing you aren't going for 100% restoration. 

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12 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

I believe that's right. However they all function and since you mention marine grade plywood I am guessing you aren't going for 100% restoration. 

I would like to restore to 100% eventually, but she has a 1952 T310 230 engine with dual carbs and a dual exhaust already.  They are period correct I suppose, but Fiddy will never be like she came from the factory.  For right now, I'll save some money and put the marine grade ply in to get her structurally sound and then think of changing it out when I have the time and cash to support better lumber. So I'm thinking Mar-K will be getting my business as well.

Edited by Fiddy B2C
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19 hours ago, Fiddy B2C said:

Since you say only Midwest Military, I'm assuming the strips from Horkey's aren't right either?

yah, MM has their own dies and presses Horky and Mar-K are the same parts...Chebby/Ferd parts.  There is a thread on here someplace about that showing the difference in the profile.  The Dodge profile is a bit smaller on the bumps compared to the others.  If I have time I'll dig the thread out. 

Merle is a funny guy...but the center strips won't match the side strips on the bed sides.

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11 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

They do on mine... since I replaced the side strips too.

FRANKEN truck!  Burn it!  BURN it!

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