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Done for today. The pillar skin is fully in, welded, and smoothed. The glass edge got drilled for rosette welds which worked out great. The drip rail flange is welded solid and watertight.

I can hardly believe I found this engine advertised on Craigslist. It was in the back of a service station brand new still in crate from Chrysler listed as military surplus. The fellow who sold it to me said his dad bought back in the 1960s? This Mopar flat-head 230 turns over easily, complete with manifolds, carburetor, distributor, water pump, generator, starter, flywheel, and bell housing. I had been looking for a good core for rebuilding in case the one in my 39 PT81 ever failed catastrophically. It's doubtful I will need it, but I couldn't pass this up for $1500. If I could identify what this was intended to fit, I might sell the NOS parts that will not fit my truck. I must admit, it almost breaks my heart to this. I imagine it may have been intended for Dodge Power Wagons of some sort? I think these engines were used in some pretty big military vehicles? T2I4SR-4488 Not sure if the I is a one or a capital i ? Looks like a capital i in photo. Anyone have any way of identifying what this would have been installed in?

Made some more progress this afternoon. I got the three piece patch fit up to the flange, tacked it, fully welded it together, smoothed the welds with a round cone carbide on the die grinder, and finished it with a flapwheel. I also smoothed out the back side so water wouldn’t have any crevices to cling to. I’m looking at the roof lop over part with an eye toward repairing it and starting to think it might be easier to just make a piece to smooth out the roof to pillar transition and delete the lopped over stock piece. I’m really happy with how it’s coming out. Next is painting the interior and welding it up. I’m still on the fence about the glass side pinch weld- I might drill a bunch of holes and rosette weld it since the gasket bedding compound will seal up the layers anyway.

I have found that the stock spring packs on my 3/4 ton provide a very good quality ride. One thing that really helps with this is to spray the spring packs down with PB Blaster Corrosion guard. Makes a huge difference to have springs that move like they should. Jeff

I understood you were not replacing bearings or gears. And yes... the rear end is broken down into sub assemblies.. You will clean it up so you can inspect all the parts.....gears and bearings. If you do see surface rust or pitting on a bearing you better replace it. Usually if one bearing has rust on it another might too. The pictures of your rebuilt rear end showed some spots of brown something in the carrier case bearing cap. Hopefully none on any bearings. I have been there several times as rear ends sitting in a car not driver tend to rust and pit especially in the hot/cold climates. They sweat and rust above the oil level. Of course they are then scrap in severe cases. As for proper set up....I'm out as to any advice. I hate whiny/ringy rear ends that end up with a short service life.. If a person has never worked setting one up .....be careful. Use some gear paste.

If it were mine, I would just remove the carrier intact. Flush the pinion bearing really well with solvent to remove old grease, dirt etc. then flush with soapy water and blow it out well with the air hose. The spray with wd40, a lot of wd40, to remove any residual moisture. Do the same with the carrier bearings and reinstall the carrier and reset backlash. Since you're not taking the pinion out, backlash alone is easy to set.. only special tool needed would be a dial indicator. A special spanner to turn the carrier bearing adjustments would be nice, but there are a lot of ways to 'make do' with other tools.

I would clean up your rear end carrier completely. Look for any pit rusting...if any is found on any bearings...disassembly and replacement will be necessary. Gears if you find a small pit here or there..wouldn't worry too much. Bearings.. any rust marks... the bearings are done. If no issues of rust...oil the gears and bearings make sure it turns over semi firmly and smoothly....install it and set axle end play. The front seal and pinion seal surface might need to be looked at too.

Better your suffering than my suffering! Artistic body work, which is what I would consider what you're doing, is something that I just don't have the knack for. I can cut, weld, grind with the best of them but not like what you've been doing

Glad my suffering brings you joy! haha just ribbin ya I’m keeping an eye on someday smoothing out the wrinkles and spraying the truck a nice color but for now I’m happy to get it close and I’m having fun. There is such a nice freedom in starting out with a heap instead of worrying about messing up something that’s mint. I had to knock it off last night without smoothing the little roof piece because I don’t run the angle grinder past 9:00 and only with the garage door closed after dark. But I was motivated this morning and got after it as soon as I got home from my kid’s schoolbus stop. The pillar skin has a nice dent in the middle that was probably always there. It’ll need a skim of plastic some day. The inside corner and glass flange are looking great though and it all should be water tight at this point. I hit the whole mess with some krylon spraybomb to keep the rust at bay and now I’m gonna procrastinate for an hour or two before starting to cut the other side open. Thanks for the motivation fellas it really does help!

I hear ya...I'm STILL looking for a cowl vent pivot bolt I dropped 3 years ago...

Impressive work ? I'm really enjoying this!

Vintage Power Wagons could probably tell you all you want to know about this engine.

If I ever get to Colorado i will make a point of it. I thought that I had collected a lot of cars in my lifetime but I am an amateur compared to you and bow respectfully to my betters.

My Jeep reservoir is straight up and down, not angled like pictured above. If anyone plans to use any “corvette” swaps, do a pile of research and don’t cheap out...90% of those kits they sell or aftermarket masters are junk, within the last 6 mo my buddies shop has put 2 brand new ones on and neither was any good.

That is exactly what I wanted to hear.....thanks!

Thanks man I sandblasted and tried welding up the holes in the little lacy lop over roof skin panel. It didn’t go so well- a lot of it is thin and brittle. So I replaced most of the top of it with one bigger panel and most of the side of it with a smaller panel. Then I ran a bead around the remaining original edge so it won’t vaporize when I go to weld it in. The little J or L shape that’s left of the original would be a challenge to re-make from scratch especially since I would probably need to also make the mirror image. Hopefully the other side is in better shape but I can already see that side will need some surgery as well. Overall I think it’s a much better quality repair than I thought I’d be capable of and shouldn’t need much plastic to get straight and smooth.

Although I did enjoy reading the lyrics I was also wondering how many hours it took to list all of your project cars?

the bypass is not part of the thermostat or its housing on Dodge after 1950. any Chrysler product 6 except the Spitfire series uses a conventional thermostat, Seems to me one from a 318 should work.

I see all the mopar cars......just don't ask me to point them out......?

The last differential that I rebuilt was the Dana 80 in The Blue Bomber...preload went OK, but backlash was a bear since the Dana 80 uses shims, requiring the carrier to be removed completely to re-shim, re-install, re-torque caps, re-measure backlash...I kept getting .002" under to .002" over specs by changing shim combinations...after the 4th re-shim, it was .001" under, I stewed on that while taking a break to work on something else and reasoned that setting the backlash just a little on the tight side would be OK since all the bearings were new and in time they would wear enough that backlash would eventually get back within specs...so if ya find yourself getting just a whisker on the tight side with backlash, that just means you'll need to drive the truck more to wear it in

.Meanwhile down in the basement upholstery shop: My wife continues to move ahead. She’s learning new things. She’s done a very good job for her first attempt at this work. She’s not 100% happy with her work. I assure her its great for the level of revival for this car. Unless she worked at the factory in 1938 in the upholstery shop, with all the tools and techniques mastered, she won’t be 100% content. She trudges on with limited tools and experience here at home. I sure am very grateful, and tell her so

Assuming Mr. Adams is referring to the posting on the PT81 Plymouth Pickup. Truck 24 is a 1953 B-4-B-116, the second Spring Special Pickup I let get away. The previous owner in Knoxville Tennessee contacted me and asked if I knew anything about these trucks. Provided him with all the information I had. He offered me the truck at a reasonable price. After discussions with Judy, and remembering the trip to Pennsylvania, we declined to get another Spring Special for the hysterical collection. Was told it was purchased in Georgia, and was sold back to a different individual in Georgia later. At the time, I knew of only eight remaining Spring Special Pickups. This one, the famous restored one is in California, https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/Articles/2014/07/08/Little-Green-Pickup, one in Texas, two in Kansas, plus the three I own. Recently, I was contacted by an individual in Nebraska that has four. There may be more, but guessing we can't save them all. Knoxville Craigslist.pdf

Okay, This video is from last night at about 11:00 pm. OMG!

Truck 23 is a 1953 Dodge B-4-C-116 Spring Special Pickup purchased in Wilcox Arizona. Same description as Truck 21 applies, but please note this truck is a 3/4-ton, long-wheel-base pickup. Don Bunn's "B-Series Trucks Restorer's & Collector's Reference Guide and History", page 131, states it was a shock when he discovered a 3/4-ton Spring Special. Maybe Mr. Bunn will be surprised when he sees I found another one. Hopefully it won't disturb his peaceful rest as he looks down on us from above. I will be eternally grateful for his wonderful book on the B-Series trucks. Spectacular, but relatively uneventful trip south through southwest Colorado, western New Mexico, and eastern Arizona to get Spring Special number three. Even got to keep the weather-beaten boots protecting the front-bumper guards. Interesting to see the difference in paint weathering on the three trucks from three different areas.

Jerry Here is th elink to the National Desoto club: https://desoto.org/ Attached is a picture of my 39