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Good afternoon all, I have had my truck for about a year and a half and have decided to post some pictures! Started out as a barn find farm truck from Kansas that was brought to Ohio a few years back. That owner did nothing with it until I purchased it as it was when it came from Kansas. Did all of the usual work such as brake overhaul, cooling system, fuel system ETC to get her going. Been driving it consistently for about a year, and it runs and drives great! It's a 1948 B1C, 4 speed. As original as it can get. I love the original patina and it gets looks everywhere it goes. I am pretty much done with the big work, now just fine tuning some stuff. I know my user name says '49, but it was until after I discovered it was actually a '48! Feel free to ask questions and enjoy!

See post # 3 here. http://p15-d24.com/topic/30871-finding-external-bypass-thermostat/ Napa carried them last year and I bought both a 160 and 180. You may need to call them as I could not see them on the NAPA website this morning. My engine head has an internal water bypass. However, the thermostat housing I have is for an external water bypass .. so I bought both the THM 155 and THM 55 from NAPA on 29 Jan 2016.

On the tank connection, or in it, is a small barrel shaped ferrule which seals the space between the fuel line and the dip tube inside the tank. This item is really easy to lose and its absence will allow air to leak from inside the tank and it the tank is over half full fuel will escape around the line. As for later tanks fitting a 40, I see no reason why they should not. The chassis frame is different from 42 onward but the bodies, at least in this area are the same.

The most I have driven my truck since rebuilding it prior to today was 15 miles. Prior to this morning, I had put 89 miles on my truck. I had work to do in Fredericksburg (TX), so I warned my wife and the person I was going to work with that if my truck failed on the 25 mile (one way) trip, one of them would be getting a call. Lots of hills between here and there. It was about 85 degrees F when I left the house and 100 degrees F when I headed back home. Truck ran basically good - no top end over about 55...and I know this truck would go over 70 back when I first got it. After about 15 miles, I noticed my normally 40 lbs of oil pressure started slowly dropping. By the time I got to my destination, it was about 10 lbs, but it was starting to go up again (slowly). After the truck had cooled for about 3 hrs, it was back to 40 lbs again. The only stumble was about a half mile from the house - a small backfire out the carb as I went up a hill and it ran rough for a short distance, then smoothed out again. I am blaming the oil pressure on the fact that one qt in the crankcase is Marvel Mystery oil, as was recommended by the engine rebuilder for break in purposes. I will be draining it soon to go to straight 30 W or 40 W (damn hot around here). I am blaming the lack of top end speed and the stumble on timing, so I have to check that later this evening or tomorrow. When I timed it with a vacuum gauge, I had to advance the timing A LOT to get the vacuum "in the green." Now, the engine will spin, then slow down as the compression builds, then start. I will try just using the timing light and see how that works. One thing I was really impressed with is the new radiator from US Radiator. I purchased the one that is one step up from the OEM. What a difference. I am currently not running a thermostat and the temp gauge never got above about 105 degree F all the way to Fredericksburg. I couldn't believe it, so I opened the hood and touched the radiator and the block - neither was too hot to touch, only warm. On the way back, the temp never got about 130 degrees F. The radiator impressed me. On the way home, I stopped by the Gillespie County Livestock Auction facility to take a photo. I used the truck to pull a small cattle trailer there when it was time to sell calves.

weekly we see similar post of cars grinding to a halt and folks coming here for diagnosis. You are your best mechanic at the time this happens and the following steps will give you an indication to the problem or at least enable you to inform the forum of the condition at the time of the fault.. You need three basic ingredients for the internal combustion engine to fire on compression, air, fuel and ignition....as we are assuming by your follow up report you continued to be able to breathe so we are taking the air availability out of the equation. That leaves ignition and fuel. Quick look at the shooter (accelerator pump) action should be a quick test for fuel That leaves ignition. Pull the coil wire and test for spark..if none or a very faint reddish spark you do not have enough energy from the coil to fire the plug under compression. You can feel the coil for temp...while they run quite warm sue to the constant current drain of approx. 9 amps for saturation..you should not be able to light your cigarette off it waiting for the tow truck. As stated by others, quick cool down of the coil with a cooling agent..soaked wet cold rag or other items convenient and your spark returns or at minimum increase in spark voltage as in jumping a wider gap and increasing to a bluish look. You getting on track now with your cause of shut down. I would also recommend that you become more attuned to the sights, sounds, temps and function of your components at temp and when running proper so to help you do a quick check. Attention to these small detail may one day be the only reason you were able to limp home with a temp fix with money in your pocket to buy the replacement part instead of shelling out for a tow truck.

I think there is a very good chance the ignition coil is the culprit here, not fuel. In the 50s,, my first car, a 35 Plymouth had an ignition coil which was faulty. It would run fine when cold but refused to start when hot. A rag dipped in creek water got me going. I was just a kid driving on farm roads but it was a good lesson. Later, a 40 Plymouth gave the same troubles as its original coil grew weaker. Improved insulation materials have made this problem a thing of the past. I choose reliability over authenticity when it comes to ignition coils.

I left my freeze plugs in and bolted the head back on then filled the block with molasses. Sat it for a week then it pulled out with pliers

Thanks for the input! I did not change the #37 shims, just put them back in the same way they were before... there weren't new ones in the "kit" i ordered (not to mention most other parts didn't fit so we had to machine them ourselves). i'll drain the oil and take it apart again, and then follow the steps from the imperial site manual. great link, James! Thank you, everyone. Fred

Stuff is starting to go back together! Got the rear leaves put back together and new bushings put in. The first one made me wonder why I was changing them and then the second showed me why! Now the spring that had the really bad bushing was hard to push the new one into. And now that its in I can't seem to get the pin to push through. Could the spring eye be out of round somehow? Would it have distorted the new bushing??

Too hard for me to use.....

Took this picture a couple of years ago when I did a head swap. Top one came off my engine, block numbers indicate it was from a '47 Dodge One ton truck, at some point it was swapped into my '56. Bottom one I pulled from a '54 Plymouth That was at the local U-Pull-It, then had it shaved .060" . There are some differences in the chamber designs.