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  1. My baby. This is Fiddy. I had a 2005 Harley FatBoy, her name was Fatty.
    8 points
  2. Hello all this is my new toy. Well actually it's been in the family my whole life I rode in this truck as a child. Was recently given this truck by my uncle already this forum has been a help in the last couple days. I was able to fire up the 218 after a 25 year sit very excited to make this truck my own
    4 points
  3. Some of you are connected to me on Facebook, and have seen the pictures, but the back story I want to share here might be of interest. Last week I followed a lead that took me to a house about 19 miles northwest of me where I found another P15c Plymouth patiently waiting for resurrection. The car, a nice example of loving care over its 70 years of existence, is now in my garage and has become the second in my permanent collection. In the past 6 months I've bought two other P15's but that I was tempted to keep, but they've since taken a boat trip to Holland where my business partner will find decent homes for them. The newest acquisition is a convertible. I've yet to have the documentation pulled from the archive, but the car is believed to have been sold in Massachusetts originally. I am very anxious to see which dealer and to be able to see if the building still exists. The original owner was from Lexington Massachusetts, as shown on one of the 30 or so registration cards that came in the glove box. He was a Doctor of Physics and worked at a small institution known as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Labs. Some may recognize the name of this establishment as being home of a small project code named "Manhattan". While unconfirmed as of yet, there is an endowment left in the owners name and I have written to enquire if this learned individual was indeed connected to Atomic research going on at the time. This gentlemen kept the car for many years, and I suspect the last year of ownership was 1964 which is documented in a Midas Muffler lifetime warrantee also delivered with the car. The glove box was filled with maps of the eastern seaboard and a list of antique shops in each state. Researching his name I found that this man and his wife amassed one of the countries largest collections of Shaker furniture, a portion of which was sold after his death and another portion donated to the Smithsonian in DC. Further research has shown me that the man died at the ripe age of 94, leaving a sizeable chunk of money to create an endowment that reports assets over $1mil today. The second owner of the car is another local gentlemen who owned the car from 1964/5 up until 2001. This gentleman is still alive and well and living in Concord Massachusetts. He started a small business in the 1960's that has now grown into one of New England's largest Asphalt paving contractors and does a lot of private and highway paving work in the region. This man was the last to drive the car up until this past weekend. The car was last on the road (legally) in 1980. In the trunk of the car were many treasures, one of which I was told should always stay in the car. Under a small blanket were a dozen small flat stones about 2" in diameter. The second owner stated he and his wife collected these stones on their first date in Wells Beach Maine. Coincidently my family has owned a home in Wells Beach since 1919, which makes the tie to this car and the story a little sweeter. Amazingly enough the car has never been titled as they were not required or needed during the use of the car with its first two owners. I will likely title the car due to its value and estate reasons, and will become the first titled owner. The fella I bought the car from almost backed out of the deal, having owned the car since 2001, he had ideas of restoring it, but I am glad he left it alone. Among other items in the car were three spare hubcaps, a set of spare leaf spring shackles new in their NOS boxes, an original cloth bag for the bumper jack equipment, a wooden hand screwdriver which I believe may have been Plymouth OE, five brand new pairs of windshield wipers, a dozen spare vacuum radio tubes, and a couple boxes of spare fuses. A few sentences about the condition of the car as found, what I've done in the past week, and what I plan to do; General condition; - The car has not run since 1980 after the keys were lost, but the motor turned by hand so I knew there had to be some life in it. - The motor has a reman tag on it, a sticker on the firewall and yellow grease pencil writing on the firewall indicating it was replaced at 99,257 miles. The car now has 27,175 miles, so relatively new considering. Inspection thru the #6 cylinder port has proven the motor is a 230. (big smiles on my face when I learned that). - The body has two small issues to correct, but I likely won't touch them for several years as the patina is very appealing to me. One area on the front edge of the passenger door, and another paint separation issue surrounding the rear stop light on the trunk. The rest of the car is undercoated (rather thickly too) as well as under the hood. - Braking is terrible at the moment despite replacing the right front lower cylinder to make it yard drivable. Brake fluid is orange proving that what ever is in the tubes is long overdue for replacement. - The interior is trimmed rather smartly in - The top is original to the car and has a HUGE hole in it above the front seat. Mechanism goes up and down by hand easily. Vacuum cylinders are as of yet undiagnosed. - The car came with a factory supplied boot cover that is in decent shape. I will attempt to use this for the moment and in the future have a new one sewn up from its pattern. - The car also came with a rather unique and suspected non-oem option: Full Custom Tonneau Cockpit Cover. At first I said to myself what a shame, then I saw it on the car and fell in love with it. Getting her running; - Drained the 37 year old gas, boy does that stink... now to find a place to get rid of 10 gallons of it. - Replaced a very worn fan belt. - Swapped out the ignition switch for an OEM that I had in my stash. - Swapped out plugs, cables, coil. - Replaced both battery leads with heavy gauge OE style. - Added some MMO to each cylinder, placed the car in gear and rolled her back and forth a few times. - Installed a new 6V battery. - Disconnected the gas line to the carb and hand fed her some gasoline whereupon after several minutes of cranking she jumped to life. (and shot out an dust pan full of mouse crap, acorns and dirt from the muffler all over the garage floor.) She ran fine for an hour then died rather abruptly, whereupon several hours of playing whack-a-mole with intermittent doses of ATF has resulted in some less-sticky valves. Latest suggestion was to run some lead additive and to pull the gas tank and clean it. Plans to get her roadworthy; - Remove the gas tank, and thoroughly clean it. Looking for suggestions as to what might be best to use to clean the inside of the tank, noting that it has been wet with gas so residue is assumed to be fairly motile. - New brake cylinders, new brake lines, new MC, new brake switch, all four corners and in between. Curious as to whether or not I will need the miller brake tool (or reasonable facsimile) since I will be using the shoes/pads that are on the car as they are nearly in new condition. Any opinions here? - New top on order from Bill Hirsch to match the original factory colors; Black on tan, (my irish blood appreciates this a lot). Local trimmer has been selected and reports having done two 40's mopars in recent months. (they are on my hit list for names and addresses...) - Fluid changes - ALL of them, including oil, coolant, gear box, and rear end. During the winter months; - Interior betterments. Haven't decided if I want to rescue the interior or go new. I am partial to the patina, but if the cost would be too much to repair it may make sense to spend some dough on new correct color leather. The leather is in decent shape with no holes, but the cotton stitching has disintegrated on the front seat. - Passenger side vent wing window has a broken pivot point and the threaded post that attaches it to the doors A-pillar is sheared off. Both will need to be repaired. Glass will need to be removed from the frame before it can be corrected. Working on glass will be a first for me, and with such a rare part, I will have to work myself up to the challenge. - Overdrive swap. Later this year I will haul the sedan down to our house in North Carolina and park for a few years storage until we begin to full time in the winters down there. Before she goes down I will likely pull the OD and replace shelve it for installation in the convertible. And before I end this, a few notes of thanks for guidance in recent days; - Robin Weathersbee for his enthusiastic support and un-ending archives. - Greg G for giving me his phone number 7 or 8 years ago and allowing me to ask random questions in the middle of any given day or evening. - Young Ed is always there with his matter of fact - Bob Toft for sending me a dozen emails and a bunch of pictures of his car which convinced me to open the safe. I'll be a pest to all you for a while - bear with me. - lastly to my wife, to whom endured the "surprise look what I bought!" without sending a waffle iron flying in the air towards my head. And to her credit has instructed me to hurry up and get it done summer is here! AND said why would you consider selling Ruby?! AND doesn't understand why a 70 year old car is so special but allows me to spend every waking non-wage earning hour with it.
    3 points
  4. That is a simple fix. The link between the shifter and the transmission has two rods. One transfers the motion of the lever up and down, (or clockwise and anti clockwise.) The other transfers the motion of the lever being pulled toward the driver. It is this rod in your car which needs to be shortened slightly. The adjustment will be found either at the steering column end or at the transmission. If you tighten it up too much you will have first and reverse but no second and high . For reasons of the angles involved, it is always reverse which gets difficult. I learned this at the end of a country lane in my dad's car and with a "date"....... so it is a lesson which has endured for 52 years now.
    2 points
  5. 2 points
  6. 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.
    1 point
  7. Hey all, like to start an thread on braking systems, whether you are stock, or more modern drum, or conversions to disc. I often think these Lockheed drum brake systems get a bad rap, and lot of people have no idea how to set them up or deal with them. I am like a lot of other Guys on the HAMB, who like drum brakes, think they wrok great, have there positive and negative aspects, but do not resign to the fact that only disc brake conversions provide a safe and good stopping vehicle. Beginning with a car I used to own, a 47 Chrysler Coupe, had all stock brakes, in fact the fronts were 10 inch, as the backing plates and brake drums etc, came of a 51 Dodge, the back were 11 inch stock drum, single wheel cyls, on the back and the duals up front. At first when I rebuilt the entire brake systems, everything new or rebuilt, drums machined, and the drums needed very little to clean them up, they were well within specs. The brakes once all was together, I adjusted the brakes as per the manual, and proceeded to bleed the brakes, using DOT 5 silicone, once the brakes were all bled, I focused my attention to the brake adjustments and kept an eye out for any leaking parts. For the first 500 miles the brakes were so-so, they needed to wear in and seat, after about 2000 miles and further minor adjustments they were great,. I could put a front seat passenger into the windshield no problems, they stopped the car and worked very well, pedal nice and high and firm. Now onto my 55 Fargo, stock front brakes, singles wheel cyl Lockheed style brakes, and 10 inch rear bendix self energizing modern drum brakes. All new brake lines, hoses components and machined front drums and new rear drums. I opted to use DOT 3 brake fluid this time. Once everything was installed, brakes bled, and the fronts adjusted, they were okay brakes, not super great in the front, again until they had a chance to wqear in and seat, they were not arced for the drums. My front brake shoes were relined locally with a Kevlar based ling a d good quality product. Lockheed front brakes are good, the dual wheel cyls types are better than the singles cyl type in my opinion, for the obvious reasons. The truck locks the brakes up, the truck stays nice and straight on course. Now the disc crowd will no doubt mention the superiority of the modern disc, and the fact they have much less issue with "brake fade", but comparing a well adjusted and peak performing drums brake, might not be no worse than a disc,conversion, I am not talking about super hi-perf disc brakes with 4 piston calipers. I am not bringing into the thread a discussion on single pot MCs versus dual MCs, that is another discussion, dual and separate MCs certainly have their merit, in the old days, some would run dual jelly jar MCs and a linkage to make it all work. So there we have it , I am not the type to think I have to convert to disc, to get decent brakes, nor just because 2 people said it's the only way to go, but again I march to the beat of my own drum. I am very tempted to go my own route and convert my front brakes to more modern bendix type brakes, rather then do the cookie cutter disc brake conversion. Gentlemen Start Your Engines...
    1 point
  8. How close is the front axle to the oil pan? If you remove a leaf to soften it up you would loose more clearance. Have you checked he spring shackles? If they are dry, or have old caked grease, hey may not be moving freely causing a more harsh ride
    1 point
  9. Mark will be the only one that would be able to tell the difference.
    1 point
  10. I prefer the spare tire hidden underneath as well. I would have thought that the side-mounted spare tire fittings would be on your passenger side in USA for traffic-related safety reasons. Our 'mono-style' truck body's here in Oz don't really allow us that mounting choice... although, I did see panel truck here a few years back where it appears that the owner modified his spare tire mounting to his individual preference...
    1 point
  11. Yes, great find Mark... I think the seats would look great getting sewed up. Bet a shop could recondition the leather.
    1 point
  12. "Problem" solved I went to two big tool stores and the biggest phillips they had in stock was 16". I went to Menards (Young Ed can relate to this) and they had a 24" one for just about $3. It worked slick I could reach the screws from the backseat. Now the embarrassing part... I disassembled the latch from the decklid and still could not open the trunk. I decided to apply pressure with a pry bar and finally it popped open. It turns out I got some Bullfrog rust remover on the rubber gasket and it stuck so well that when I got the trunk open the rubber gasket pulled out of its track!
    1 point
  13. Dang, now that there is a sharp looking truck! I'm thinking passenger side as well.
    1 point
  14. The main thing I would look for is to make sure you are purchasing one that has a throttle bore of 1&11/16" not 1& 9/16". An E7T1, E7T2 or an ETT1 are all good choices for the 251or for that matter, any 25" long motor IMO. I am running an E7T1 in my IND-7(236) with no problems at all. The motor is smooth as silk with good acceleration and no "Flat spots". I'm sure the very last model carbs installed on the 251 powdered WM-300's were probably the best, you just have to see if they are able to be installed on an earlier manifold. Hope this info helps.
    1 point
  15. additional information - Dodge Truck Registry Serial Number Decoder more additional information - Frame Serial Number Location
    1 point
  16. Great find,Mark - looking forward to seeing you on the road in it and here's another vote for keeping it's appearance as much 'as is' as possible!
    1 point
  17. where's a trunk monkey when you need one...
    1 point
  18. Wow Ed ! Sometimes I wished that I had three arms like you have when working on some stuff .
    1 point
  19. 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!
    1 point
  20. Yes, I believe this is the reason for "anti lock braking systems"..........
    1 point
  21. Sorry for your trouble. I had a problem opening the trunk lid on my '55 Desoto. I took the back cushion out and with a couple of flashlights, and every ratchet extension I had, I was able to reach the bolts and remove the lock. It wasn't easy lining up the socket with the bolts, but doable. The trunk on your car is probably shorter than on the '55, so it might not be that bad of a job. Worth a try, hope that helps and good luck.
    1 point
  22. There is also the weight of the solo driver and the battery to off set. That's why I moved mine to the passenger side.
    1 point
  23. Red Kote is good for coating the inside of rusty gas tanks. It is made for that purpose. There are threads on here to help with cleaning the tank out before using the Red Kote.
    1 point
  24. Did Jr Johnson used to own this car?
    1 point
  25. kope49, If the prospect of an adventure doesn’t lure him into the project, you might try bribery with an offer of candy of his choice. And, should that fail, money always works . . .
    1 point
  26. Congrats again! Hope you leave that body as is!
    1 point
  27. Yes, once upon a time. In Missouri, for instance, lettering was required on each side that indicated the name of the owner, the city where the truck was registered and the gross weight for which the truck was licensed. Additionally, the licenses were issued for farm, local, and beyond local. John Smiith Buttcrack, MO BL GW 6,000 Businesses often had the door with a logo of some sort and that was ok with the state. As long as it had the req'd info, folks were ok with the state. Most of the pick up trucks lettered the bed side in front of the rear wheel well and behind the door. I've been thinking about doing this when my C1B6 is done.
    1 point
  28. Congrads on such a great find, with such a great story behind it. You never forget such experiences and I think your wife knows this. Enjoy! lookin forward to more posts on this.
    1 point
  29. Hey Mark, Great score! You now have two great P15's to drive and enjoy. Top down on a summer day cruise = not much better than that. Have a great time. John R
    1 point
  30. The attached picture from the manual should help...
    1 point
  31. Discussions can always become heated on some topics, and sometimes people look to make them heated, or get that rise, but overall I think the forum works pretty good and the mods do a good job...if Jeff left then it's sad, but somewhat his loss for bailing on the situation, rather then trying to help change it. We have strayed pretty far off this topic as is, but I'm fine with that...I'm going in a 180 degree way on this anyway now..lol
    1 point
  32. It's a flasher relay on the bottom, but I believe the item on the top was to make it click louder so you would hear it clicking.
    1 point
  33. As far as the sticky valves, my dad and I battled that on our 48 Desoto. The car had been sitting since the late 70's and the gas was varnished. We drained what we could (not enough apparently) and put 10 gallons of fresh gas in. It would run fine until you shut it off, then the valves would stick open. It took a few "freeing up" sessions along with letting it run for a couple hours before it cleaned itself out. Good luck, and have fun! Great find and story by the way!!!!
    1 point
  34. Mark D, First let me say that my jealousy knows no bounds at your recent addition. Next let me say a big congrats on it. Glad to see you have the time and funds to do a proper restoration. As far as your gas tank goes, I bought one from Andy B. It had a bit of rust in the bottom I used about a 2 foot length of chain and swirled it around the bottom of the tank to remove the rust. If it is just light crud in the tank you might try some sand and a little water and sluice it around to remove the crud. then a good flushing with the old gas, then a light flush with some new gas. Joe
    1 point
  35. Congratulations (again) on a great find, Mark, and thank you for your kind words. I'm looking forward to regular news updates. Good luck with everything. Robin
    1 point
  36. I'd keep the original radio and check out this website for fixing/upgrades, www.southtexasantiqueelectronics.com Joe
    1 point
  37. the defining point of the requirement was "your car at a car dealership" looks like a truck to me...
    1 point
  38. transmissions...throttle return springs...paint colors...mirror arm strength...hole plugs...posting pictures...VIN usage...I have witnessed these subjects become arguments to minor amusement
    1 point
  39. you can have am/fm, bluetooth and Ipod conections added to the original radio. Many people do it.
    1 point
  40. I didn't realize that Jeff had gotten caught up in bickering and was the subject of bullying, and/or censorship. Damn! I didn't think it was too prevalent on here, until the recent flare-ups about transmissions.
    1 point
  41. If you are going to spend so much money on the truck why Sell It? You will never make what you sink into a classic like this....might as well enjoy it for awhile....
    1 point
  42. while the information is useful to an end user, the reference to the brake kit by Charlie is misleading.....the parts that gave you the problem were supplied by sources other than and not within the quality control of his brake concept...I do agree, the thin and yet harder copper washers supplied today is giving many folks a fit...anyone doing a random brake job could get stuck with such a part..
    1 point
  43. This week I completed the installation of new front and rear leaf springs on my B-4-B. This afternoon I took it for a spin to experience the results. What a huge difference the new springs and shackles made! I ordered the springs from Betts Spring in Fresno, CA (available in standard or heavy duty configurations, based on original Mopar specs). They have been making springs since 1868. I dealt with Sam Holmes who was a delight to work with. Mounting hardware came from Eaton Detroit Spring (shackles, shackle grease seals, and U-bolts. DCM provided spring pins (which take 3/8”-24 grease zerks, by the way). Yes, I had to deal with three suppliers, but the results were great!
    1 point
  44. Pictured is my George Asche manifold dual conversion with a stock fuel pump on a 255 CI Desoto long block engine. The glass filter on my fuel pump sits directly below the pump as seen in the second picture.
    1 point
  45. Interesting topic with a lot of emotion involved, rightly so when smashing into things is at stake! The MoPar brakes as supplied in our Plymouths, Dodges and Chryslers are superior to their contemporaries. The double-leading shoe and well matched drum diameters to the vehicle made them better than the competitors. With today's far superior lining material, the drum brake system, properly maintained, is pretty hard to beat. Some facts about drum brakes: - No brake dust on wheels - Drum brakes are self actuating so they have a great pedal feel. - Drums are lighter than discs. Calipers are much heavier than wheel cylinders, and the brake surface area of a drum brake shoe is much larger than a disc pad. - There is a company that will drill your drums with all of the same benefits of drilled disc brake rotors. - Most big trucks use 4 wheel drum brakes What bothers me about the disc conversion that some do, is that it is highly doubtful that the owner/mechanic has the engineering expertise to properly set up the disc system. Factory engineers spend a lot of time balancing pedal effort, proportioning, and choosing size and type of discs. Brake systems also affect other components such as suspension and steering... A lot to consider. It's pretty certain that some of those folks who install disc systems (you do install a whole system, right?) are going from poorly maintained junk to new components and lots of labor replacing hoses and lines, so comparison to the drum system may not be valid.
    1 point
  46. Mine was done using a 80 diplomat donar car. pics of my slant 6 i didn't do it. i
    1 point
  47. I have now gotten over 40 complaints on this thread not being about "our" trucks or a build. This thread is now locked. With in the first 2 posts in this thread it wasn't about "our" trucks and doesn't need to be, so if you can't read the thread and understand it's intentions, no one gets to play. THIS IS NOT OT INFORMATION. This thread IMO has been being filled right. You got a problem with this thread quit reading it.
    1 point
  48. Aircraft manufacturers used to hire "little people" as riveters for working inside tail cones and such. That's all I meant, I don't want no wrath of the little people.
    1 point
  49. Since you can see them they suggest you put the head back on
    1 point
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