55 Fargo

Hey All, just met up with Forum Member 4mula-dix, He was gracious enough to bring a top loader and shifter assembly all the way From Western Manitoba to the City Of Winnipeg. Had a nice chat about , you guessed it Don Coatney and Plymouthy Adams, oh just kidding, Old Flathead Mopars was on the agenda. It was sure nice to meet you 4mula, and I always enjoy flathead banter with forum members. The unfortunate part is this, and it is my fault, should have had a closer look and possibly taken some pics of the top loader I need, the 4mula toploader is different. I am not sure if it will still possibly work or not, but will find out soon, well once the raining around here stops. Hey 4mula, thanx again, hope to meet up with you again sometime soon....

Here you go Don at NAPA in Fort Wayne, http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Radiator-Cap/_/R-BK_7031412_0441427668

265 engine, shaved head, bored .080 over, cam grind, triple intake and dual dump exhaust, that could very well light the tires up.... I am no expert, but there are others who have made these engines go.........

okay, what year is the trans, is it the synchro trans? I am not trying to be fussy, just hoping to find the same trans as I have. Please send me a PM for all details including how much you want for the trans....thanx

Okay, need to tackle this job, this is a synchronized 1955 4 spd transmission. Thanx to the posters so far. So I am understanding, the trans top cover with shifter is to come of, then there is a pin, that is either broken or weak? I have very little tension now, although the trans will shift into all gears, reverse is real fun lemme tell yah. I have looked for exploded views of this trans, not the older types, but have not found any yet....

Duck Dynasty type Scary man.....

Hey all, check out this radical dragster powered by a 265 Chrysler flathead 6. Tim Kingsbury sent me this link...

I could, but these old oil pans should be cleaned out don't ya think?

Found my answer, in a search.

Today had truck going 65 mph @ 2500RPM, because I have 3.23 gears. I had more to go, probably could hit 85 mph, but no thanx in the old truck. I am not sure how much fun these old trucks would be to drive @ 70+ MPH, with stock solid axle front end and truck suspension. I personally enjoy driving at 50-55 mph, when possible, faster if I need too. This old beast is only spinning at 2200 RPM at 55 mph.

Don, not quite like untrained valves.......

Hi Jeff, sounds like yor plan is working. I am like you, no oil smoking, good oil pressure drops a bit at idle, but some valve train noise with the 10 W 30 oil, maybe will try the 20W50 or straight 30 approach with some oil thickener like STP, that I sually don't add. I do need to drop the pan, the side covers wee off with the manifold job, they were fairly clean, but not perfect, according to the Mechanic who did that job...

Not sure what Dave, 10W30 viscosities from oil brand and manufacturer compared to each other? I do notice this Castrol seems to thin out a little more than another cheaper brand I have used. I do figure some oils will be produced in a cheaper manner than others, don't know don't really care. I was just curious about Castrol oil in specific, and if anyone else has had a similar experience. I will say this, this ain't a problem here from November to March, great oil for the cold...

I can certainly try COOP straight 30. But to be honest, with these low rpm, valve springs type, really do not believe that ZDDP is a huge issue. I think on a brand new rebuild this may be a consdieration for a break in period, but any of the oils today, minus a lot of the ZDDP is better than anything of the 40s,50s and 60s...

Hi all, anything different on dropping truck oil pan, as compared to a car, with the obvious being sumps are reversed. I am going to drop oil pan this week, this engine leaks very little oil, but want to clean the inside of this pan....

I changed the oil in the Fargo late last fall, used Castrol GTX either 10W30 or 10W40. I previously had been using Rotella T 15W40, and other similar diesel oils, have for fun added a bit of STP type stuff too. Anyway, point of this thread is not to fire up an an oil debate of any kind, my query is this, those who have used this oil, did you find it would thin down real easy as engine warmed up. I am finding this to be the case, but possibly it is just my older engine. I do plan to switch back to 15W40 diesel oil real soon. I am not 1 for any "snake oil" ideas, just an observation on this oil.....

I actually bought 2 appropriate length studs, brass nut and flat washer, so there is no requirement for a special conical nut and washer, this is more sensible than using just another set of bolts in this case. Yup the spring was so tight, the weight would not spin open the flapper even while revving, not a good scenario, I stretched the spring a bit, but that is most likely not the correct method of repair...but for now it'll do....

Hi Jeff, yes this was a real bugger of a job. I did hire out, to a Man that is well versed in Old Mopars, and is fussy in his work. The problem was this, on the long block engines, the 2 center studs, that are about 3 1/2 inches long are just about always bolts, so what do you do. By the time you try and heat the head of that bolt, the surrounding cast iron sinks the heat. So what was left was 1 broken stud, the 2 broken bolts, all broke off flush to block, not much option there. I do fault him on breaking the stud, he should have spent possibly a little time applying heat on it first, but he did not. The counter weight and bi-metallic spring, spring ws tight, and did not relax when the engine got hot, it was tight enough that when revving the engine, the counter weight would not spin. This at first caused me some concern, thought perhaps the metal damper was either rotten or not on the heat riser shaft. I confirmed this by pulling off the spring, and held onto the heat irser, revving engine same time, there was quite a force created by the exhaust to force the counter weight forward, so it is working fine, the spring is the culprit. Last night I stretched the bimetallic spring a bit, and it wroked well, I may have done it a little too well though. I do not see this spring expanding with heat, so will finda another. I would venture to guess if the bimetallic spring is tight, but allows counter weight to move when revving a cold engine, and then allows damper to open fully once the engine warms, all may be well. If the counter weight returns to the cold position once engine cools and spring contracts, all should be considered functioning and well.....

Now that new manifold set is on, this engine runs better, and is quieter, the broken exhaust manifold was worse than I could tell, while it was on the truck. 2 things need attention though, the conical nut and special washer on the stud at the very rear of engine, needs to be installed, there is just a regular nut on there now, I have the conical nut/washer, it can go on. The other item, the bi-metallic spring is very tight, does not seem to relax, so have to replace it, it will not allow counter weight to spin when engine is revved. I have it unhooked to allow heat riser to be in hot position at all times. I do not know if it was damaged or if I damaged it while bead blasting the manifolds, it is not cracked. I need to get another spring, from some source. I did have some minor weeping out of 1 of the 2 long center studs, it would disappear as engine warms up, but dripped a tiny bit, when cold, seemed dry this morning...

Just checked the 52 fenders I have, right side of course is beat, thought it may be a viable 1 for you, but no such luck, will keep my eyes open in the Selkirk Winnipeg areas for you....

Okay, lemme know when and how?

The new manifolds, need to paint rest of engine and parts too. I am dropping the oil pan soon too...

Yes she was a farm truck north of Gladstone Mb, hey I might need that trans we been talkin about

Hi Rob, not sure why this was such a tough nut to crack, pardon the pun. My 47 Chrysler was not bad, broke 1 of the 2 long bolts, the drilling out went south because of Me. But this thing having 3 break off, WHY? What would cause this engine and manifold to have such seized in studs/bolts?

Today, my 4 spd truck trans shifter got broken, it still shifts into all gears but the shifter is super sloppy and now spins around. Is there a spring and pin set-up, have not had time to investigate this yet..Any solutions welcomed....