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hi guys heres some pics of my new truck. truck details 360 v8, with Edlebrock 600cfm carb and mild cam, c7 3 speed auto with shift kit and b&M shifter, adjustable ladderbar rear suspension with coil overs, upgraded to torsion bar front suspension from a Plymouth fury with disk front brakes, 4.5 inches chopped out of the roof, Diamondplate bed, custom gauges and bucket seats.

I think the problem comes with expectations of the whole package once you add a strong motor. It wont handle better because of a more modern motor....it won't brake better beacuse of said motor.....it won't ride smoother because of said motor....etc. The hot rodder has to expect to make changes across the board to accomidate a motor with more torque ( V8 twists on the frame differently then a L6 ) and more HP......"you need more whooa for more go"....and so forth. Figger out what you want front to back before you let a guy bolt in that motor tranny. Otherwise it may be lost money. 48D

This is how I always wanted it to look. Tom Hollister, CA

Yeah an old fart was driving. It was me. I turned 60 a little over a week before World of Speed so I figured I had that coming... drove every run with the right turn flashing. Not everyone got it. Good spotting.

Bought this from the second owners nephew, it was parked for about 12 years because he got cancer and passed away earlier this year. I was told he had the truck from the early 50's and just drove it around his neiborhood. Recently I found out the original owner and it was my dentist's grandfather. He said he was a pig farmer and cooked for the military on the Big island of Hawaii.

It's not going to ride or handle any differently than the stock drivetrain unless there is a noticable weight change between drivetrains or the front to rear weight bias has been changed alot. JMO and I've gotten a bit pessimistic over the years but I'd rather see him drop his price on the combo than have him "give" you the labor for dropping it into your frame or end up selling you an adequate subframe to install it into. If his old streetrods are still around, find out where they are and take a good serious look at his workmanship before biting on his offer.

318s are inexpensive and it's not a hard swap. Plus they are great engines. I've got one with an AX-15 Dakota 5 speed behind it in my 51 Plymouth. I paid $100 for a decent 318 on CL and it looked great inside; didnt even have to do a full rebuild. I put a Summit Racing street/strip cam along with a used aluminum intake, a $79 Ebay Mopar HEI distributor, and it really runs strong. There's a few pieces of the puzzle you need. One is a mid 60's-early 70's small block Dart or Barracuda drivers side exhaust manifold. It has a curve that wraps real nice around the steering column. Also you need single groove pulleys and will need to move the radiator to the front side of the radiator support for clearance. There's some fabrication involved but it's a great swap.

In your quest for steering box perfection, do not overlook the fact that there is a high spot in the very center of the worm shaft gear. It is on this high spot that your sector shaft must sit when you adjust the mesh load scrrew on the top of the box. Threse boxes all have play - even from new - when off-center. The high center spot is what makes the wheel return back to center when you let your hands off the wheel, after you've turned a coroer - that plus the caster adjustment built into your front axle and king pins. If you make your mesh load adjustment off-center, you will have a tight spot when you do get the worm to the center. This adjustment is best done on the benvch, but can be done in the frame, if you drop the pitmen arm. Good Luck PS That corn head grease is almost like adding power steering, AND when you hear creaking or snappding when you turn the wheel hard while sitting still it is most likely dry or worn out front spring hangers and bushings/shackles. Lube 'em up and try again. JMHO

Corn Head Grease is #0 (very soft...like mustard) Specially designed for John Deere Corn head Tractors gear boxes, but used on other types of equipment too. part# AN102562 John Deere Grease, part #TY25083 is a #0, but not as fancy as the Cornhead Grease. used on mower grears and golfcarts. Corn Head is a hybrid, which means it'll thin under heavy use and thicken back up when idle. Kinda of a #0 to a #00 and back. Its used on thier mowers and carts too. Grease is for gears that can't get a continous oil supply or are low velosity...I would say you don't need an oil (90w) to "flow the heat away" like in a rearend differential which will have a high pressure/heat stituation. The steering is a simple gearbox, the Corn Head would be perfect. IMHO 48D

Don, My thoughts on steering box lube - In 1948 I think you would have been correct to say that grease was not an acceptable box lube. The stuff they had was stiff and thick, and more like paraffin than the lithium multi purpose stuff we all take for granted today. Lithuium lube is used today for all chassis requirements, all wheel bearings and all CV joints and U joints - pretty amazing stuff. I had my baptism by fire on steering box repair and lube on Ford 8 and 9N tractors. These tractors were so well built and pereormed so well they same as never died. If you could read an hour meter on some of these you would not believe your eyes. Even the notches on the throttle quadrents would wear off from hours and hours of use. The nature of these steering boxes was that when they failed, the caged ball bearings at the top of the box wore out so badldy they came out of their cages and dropped into the worm and sector gears beneath them. Then, if someone tried to force the steering wheel, the case would crack, and the box became useless. I have fixed many of these at the Vo Tech school where I taught. Our welding instructor got to be very good at welding cast 8N steering box cases, for this part is not available anywhere. I'll bet we fixed thirty or forty of them over the years, and they are all still running and happy today. The problem was that the boxes all leaked oil after they wore out. We could not get them to hold gear lube, and without lube they failed and the bearings would fall into the gears - again. I began to pack these with lithium brease after we could not keep them sealed to hold 90/140 gear oil. I just put a grease zerk in place of the fill plug - same thread - and pumped them full of grease till it came out the vent. We never had a failure once this change was made. I use grease in all manual boxes I rebuild. Never had a problem. I would not mix grease with old oil. If you feel safer using gear oil, go for it. Only problem is that most old boxes with oil in them leak. Keep an eye on yours if you fill it with oil. Given the choice between a box dry of oil and one filled with lithium grease, I know where my money is. JMHO:)