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Continuing with the off topic banter... Our structural engineering professor in college once said in class: "Now when ya young'uns get a job and start visiting construction sites, there's one thing you gotta know first off. Every tool on the job site is made by the same manufacturer. And that manufacturer's name begins with the letter F." Confusion averted!

Welcome to the suburban 'club'. We are neither cars nor trucks. I've got a build going also so will be watching yours. Put 1955 Plymouth Suburban into Google and then on the upper bar hit 'images'. You will find all kinds of color combinations there. Will see you on the web.

I've always liked the 55 Plymouths. Thought it was one of the best body styles they made. I'd love to have a 55 Plymouth 2dr. wagon. But you hardly ever see them. Good luck with it.

Right.....the old mopar stuff is normally pretty scarce. Sometimes you find one or maybe two guys with something useful.....some times not. I encountered a fellow at the Springfield, MO swap this summer who sells on ebay...including ome car parts. He had a few P15 items for a dollar each as he was trying to clean out a shed at home. So I helped lessen his stash. Didn't really need the items, but you never know..............

My compliments to your dad (light blue coat in the picture below). He not only has good taste in cars but also good taste in TV selections..

The 1953 B-4 models was the first year tinted glass was an option. Green tint

Have tried various ways to email Jim Benjaminson but the email connection to him doesn't seem to want to work.........Bob is there any chance you could scan those 2 pages to which you refer or just repeat what is said.....tOD...I've had a look on the chassis where you mention without success.....lol.......this car is starting to annoy me.........lol.......regards, andyd.......

I came in from working on the truck tonight and my dad was watching the twilight zone. I looked at the t.v. and there was a pilothouse looking square at me. Kinda cool to come in from working on one to enjoy a few seconds of one on t.v. I had to laugh, cause the character jumped over the bed to get to a guy on the other side of the truck, and that bed looked as dented as mine when I started. The truck must have been over 10 years old at the time and was still looking pretty good. Here's the episode, the truck is around 20 minutes into it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWCvje72NgY As far as the truck, I have the metal work on one bed side done. I got it cleaned up and worked the dents out as best as I could get them, and I put a light coat of filler over the bad areas. One day at a time...

That's the way it should be connected. Still seems to me that the problem is under the horn button. You are providing a ground, and when you move the horn button the ground is being interrupted. Something out of position under there.

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Tim - Can't wait!!! Now that my GF's family lives in Lockeford, I can get out there earlier than last time and get a good parking spot! I'll be bringing guests this time too! And of course more tri tip!

http://autorules.blogspot.com/2011/07/cars-2-mater-and-whitworth.html them ain't metric them ain't inches

As I see it the date is not too firm. Show up 6 months late and you still get counted. And you still get treated to a great meal.

I've answered my own question. Yes, it can be done very easily with the pitman arm left on the box. You need to jack up the frame of the truck and relieve the front suspension. If this works with the 48-50 box with the cast mounting bracket, it will be even easier with the later styled boxes.

I know but we know all those Cali people are a little "off".....

Mark; I am just calling it by the name it was originally known by. When I first started working at 15 it was in a full service filling station and garage. I pumped gas and when I wasn't busy doing that I was helping my mentor Huck in the garage. Huck was well into his 70's at that time and had been working on cars his entire life. In those days you had to learn the correct names for tools and fasteners quickly or suffer a foot in the ass. And believe me I don't ever recall Huck asking me to get him a 3'8" hex key........it was always a 3/8" Allen wrench. After that job I worked in another garage and then a Ford dealership. No one called them hex keys or hex wrench's ..... it was always an Allen wrench and the fasteners were referred to as Allen type. Today we use all sorts of terms for things that already had a perfectly good name. For the most part it is a bunch of BS perpetrated by lawyers and spin doctors. I know a lot of folks buy into this so called new world language and politically correct stuff. But I will tell you right now that you would have gotten a whole lot of grief using the term "hex key" when I was a youngster working in a garage. You might not have gotten a kick in the butt..... more likely it would have been something more subtle....like a shot of grease down your trousers when you were otherwise occupied......and you would have certainly never heard the end of it. So you call it whatever you want......but for me it will always be an Allen wrench. Jeff

I have a 39 Desoto that uses the same Autolite electric motor EW 4001 if i remember the number correctly. Send me you home email and then I will copy the wiring diagram from the wiper switch to the wiper motor. There are three wires A, B, C and these go to the same letter onthe switch. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com

The grease inside gets hard and doesn't always allow them to turn. Clean and repack the case with fresh grease and try again.

Don't watch them much. Friday evening some show from Texas. Four teams four cars. All farmed out most everything, fixed the bodies and sold them. Not much to learn from them and in my opinion give a false picture of what the reality of fixing up an old car is.

Another successful job of taking the "real" out of reality. Should be called the ity show.

When I got home from work today I installed the clutch, bell housing and bearing. You can see in one of the pics that the 1 inch bolts work fine and are just about flush with the flywheel. Should I be able to push the clutch fork in by hand? I cant move it, do you need the leverage from the pedal to operate it? Clutch disc with alignment tool Pressure plate installed 1 inch bolt installed Bearing installed Bell housing installed

I took some close up shots to show how the spring and counter weight get installed on the exhaust manifold in case anyone needs it for future reference.

You are fine. Just line the dots on the cam/ crank gears as you have done. Now rotate crank to set # 1 cylinder TDC with #1 clyinder valves closed (cam lobes down-pointing away from lifters) this is TDC for #1 cylinder and then install oil pump into the block as described in the manual. When pump is installed correctly withthe distributor installed correctly the rotor can only point either to 1-O'clock or 7-O'clock position. Have it point to the 7-O'clock position. Thats factory rotor position for #1 cylinder @TDC. Now do a preliminary cold valve adjustment on all your valves. I set mine .002" wider cold. Thats it -it will run properly after setting timing! Re-adjust valves again hot. Good luck-nice rebuild! Bob

Great thread!!! I am really impressed by how nice and neat the whole process looks! I pulled my motor and transmission out about 2 months ago and it looked like a murder scene when I was done!!! Slowly getting mine back together and I wish I had taken photos along the way so I could offer a contrasting / "what not to do" thread to yours

I got the drum all cleaned up,it cost me $30. I thought it was a little steep but got it back right away. I also included a pic of the new seal installed and the completed transmission. Now hopefully I will get my block back soon!

I decided to attack my transmission rear seal today, not a bad job with the right tools. I used a strap wrench to hold the brake drum in place and used a inpact gun to get the nut off. I then used the pictured puller to remove the drum,for some reason the other pullers I have did not fit. I then used a screw driver and hammer to pry the old seal out. I also took some side by side shots of the seal so you can see old and new. I bought the new seal from Rock Auto for about $7.

Like this? There should be a gasket between the trans and the bellhousing but it won't cover the hole in the second pic.