55 Fargo

when the engine is turned off, and you are on level ground, can you easily shift into 1st and reverse, or does it hang up too? On my 55 faro pickup, with 4spd trans, sometimes I can't shift into to 1st or reverse, until I have the clucth pedal presse and wait a bit until trans stops spinning. If your input shaft is spinning while clutch pedal is fully pressed, then something is still causing a partial engagement.

The "tip and Roll" method of painting has been done by many a Yachtsman , using marine enamels, and urethane formulated for this very use. There is plenty of Industrial Alkyd enamels, this stuff mixed with a wet look hardener can be used with excellent results. I have done some of this myself. I have also used unorthodox methods such as, spraying on rusty metal primer, cut with acrylic enamel reducers, , then waiting for it to cure, than have used filler,s 2 k urethane primers and epoxy primer, with fantastic results. Incidentally Rustoleum primer, once cure blocks and wet sands very nicely, but it must be cure fully first and that takes 2-3 weeks. Production shops for obvious reasons don't have time for this, as R&R and collision work is where the bread and butter are, so time is money. If Paul is not having some shop do it all, He might as well do the prep, and send it to Maaco, if the prep is done well, Maaco can do a reasonable job. the recipe, strip panel, hammer and dolly, fix rust, acid prep metal, primer, do filler work, 2k high build primers, blocking to perfection, glaze filler, more blocking, wetsanding and sealer and topcoat or topcoat. So yes it is a long process, a lot of work, if you can afford it, find a shop or someone, have it done, or spend some time, and doa lot of it yourself......good luck

I vote yours the best post on this thread, and I am not smokin anything.......

Nothin

Okay Paul, do some research on the web, talk with others in the"know", before making any decisions. Try this website, there isa forum, with experienced individuals, 1 being Len the owner of the website and store. www.autobodystore.com I knew diddly squat about paint,primers reducer,thinners,catalysts, sprayguns, setting sprayguns, tip sizes, mxing, etc. But I did learn a lot on here and elsewhere, and I was not afraid to try, make mistakes and try again, I am still a novice, but have learned a lot, and hopefully will learn more in the future. Others on tis forum, have learned to do body and paint, maybe not show quality, well some are show quality, but have done respectable decent paint jobs on there cars and trucks. I hope some of you will chime in, and maybe help Paul with his quest, and make suggestions. Now some of you cannot or will not be able to do body paint, upholstery, mechanical, you name it, but you can pay for it, Cheque writers", nothing wrong with that. I see you Paul as some who wants to learn, who enjoys learning, and is driven and willing to get results. That is evident with what you have done with your truck. When I brought my 1947 Chrysler home in 2005 to begin it's ressurection, a longtime friend thought I was nuts, it was a real basket case, needed a lot osf metal welded in, body and paint interior you name it. You know what I welded in 90% of the new metal, I fabbed 90% of the panels, I did all of the body work, primer, blocking, filler primer, blocking wetanding, and shot on the final topcoats. I that had done very little of this before, infact a lot of things were a 1st time for me. "Necessity is the mother of invention". Good Luck Paul, with whatever way you choose to go, having watched you with the truck project, I firmly believe you have the determination to carry this out, if you so desire.......but do research,study and practice....

Bring your car into the ring if you dare..... Just got home from Smash-up Derby time....

I have repaired these before, but obviously the manifolds were in good condition. I think what you stated is correct though, drive with this in the wrong position=highheat=possibly cracks. I do have a donor in good shape, or maybe I will buy and intake and headers from Moose and go 251 super stock, watch out Coatney.....LOL ps for you Guys south of the 49th parallel, 1956 Dodge and Fargo pickups in Canada are 120 hp long block 251s

If the flap inside the manifold is taken out, exhaust gas from the front 3 cyls can flow through, but some of the hot gas will rise up under the carb intake area. If your taking this flap out, you should weld a plate to stop hot exhaust gases from entering the area driectly under the carb. If you do not, then possibly the carb will continue to get hotter in warm weather driving conditions. If your not going to repairthe heatriser to function, then seal off the are, and allow xhaust to exit freely through the exhaust manifold, not doing so will allow gas to rise up into the area...

Paul search around for a decent used compressor, in the 5 hp range, you can get away with less, but the spraygun must then have a lower air volume rating. Get a decent MSA or 3m respirator mask, preferably full face, but I have used 1/2masks all the time there are rreaonably priced, you are obviously not going tobuy an air fed mask, for home use.. You could then use an elcheapo Harbourfreight Purple gravity fed HVLP gun, and learn to shoot primer first. Then graduate to paining inner panels, and floor frames etc with a topcoat. Do you have a 1/2 decent building you can shoot paint and primer in, you could build a temporary paint booth on the cheap, if your only going to paint the 1 or a few vehicles. I have shot primers and frame and floor paints outside, many times too. Be on the look out at swap meets, Kijiji, Craigslist, ebay fora Binks model#7 suction feed spraygun, they are great sprayguns, were used by many production shops over the years. Devillbiss, and others do have entry level sprayguns too. To be honest I shot paint on my 47 Chrysler with a $25 spraygun, and it came off pretty good, a decent gun, some experience will be all that much better. If you decide to use 2 k urethane produst, be very carefull with safety procedure, that stuff can be deadly so keep all precautions in mind. Evercoat fillers, are great, from there basic fillers, to the gold premium fillers, to the 2 k glazes etc. Paul go to autobodystore.com, there is tons of info and products on there for the novice. A decent compressor you will always use, no matter if your painting or using it for tools, a sandblast cabinet, or to fill tires, buy the best you can afford and justify. The spraypaint guns, but a cheap unit and learn to spray pirmers or Rustoleum or something, get a good fell for it before trying top/finishcoats. Trey this site for paints,and supplies, and they still sell acrylic lacquers and enamels, www.tcpglobal.com Good luck Paul, there are others on here that do bodywork and shoot paint....

Paul, did you weld in some plate to allow exhaust gases to exit out ? if not you may have a full time heatriser going on in there. 1 thing I can tell you is this, years ago had a 1979 Ford Fairmont 6cyl, heat riser was not working. I was driving down a highway, engine fully warmed up to temp, outside ambient temp around 30, very wet, carb started icing, had to pull over several times to allow the carb to thaw. On the return trip, no problem going with the wind, musta helped keep things warm underhood. So in some case a heatriser is necessary beyond warm-up...

Actually I don't have to split this manifold, as I have a donor waiting that has the flapper working well. I see no reason to have it anyway. I do not need it to drive in mostly warmer type weather. In cold weather it can warm up a little longer. If I can get the flapper to move, I will not even take it off. I have done 2 of these before, and it ain't fun if a manifold stud breaks in the block....thanx

Thanx Bob, read it a long time ago. I do know the reasons for the heatriser. i would simply turn mine open if I could but I cannot, so unfortunately have to pull it off the engine, but will try again beforehand.

I have tried heat,penetrating oil, trust me, it ain't gonna budge, at least not for Me. The hot starts are not too bad, as I am 12 volt, which makes a huge difference. I just came back from a few miles drive, it is a warm night, nothing got overly warm, but was just puttin around and it's evening. I just do not want to do damage to exhaust valves head etc. I do plan to not drive in the heat of the day, until I have fixed this problem....thanx

Hey all, started a similar thread on the car side a week ago. On my 55 Fargo 251, the heatriser flapper is seized in the cold warm up position. the weight is off the shaft, the shaft is broken off too. i could not move it to allow exhaust gas to flow out freely. Here is my ?, is it safe to use this engine with this problem in summer? i will not have time until fall to remove the manifolds, and install the donor manifolds. The carb will heat up, but will i do head or exhaust valve damage if I run this engine in summer. I would of course avoid the heat of the day, and not drive it too hard or long. I do not want to do engine damage though Perhaps I could install a heat spacer under the carb for now.....thanx

Thanx Keven, send them an email

Try a yard of sand, or 50 2X4s , I live in the country, so not just hauling a few light things once in a while. When I need to haul things it can get heavy. But pulling a leaf out, might not be that much of a problem to haul a 1000 lbs. Getting these trucks to ride smoother is nicer thats for sure, but they will never handle like any modern vehicle with Independant front suspension, or any other old vehicle that has had these items added. I can live with that, still like the truck feel, just want to make it safe for speeds up to 65 mph, but figure will most likely cruise at the 55-60 mph range..thanx

Enjoyed your story Larry, fluid drive was an improvement in a time when folks were looking to not have a standard trans, but could not have a true automatic I suppose. The fd and 3 spd trans could be driven around town a lot in 2nd gear, only shifting to 3rd at higher speeds. but you could stop and start like an auto trans. If anybody wants t to convert your dodge to dry clutch, you could get all you need from a Plymouth or Canadian built Dodge also came a lot with a regular clutch and 3 sp trans. This job is not a small to-do, but not that huge either.......take care

Larry OP, any comments, as per How my fluid drive was converted to regular clutch and 3 spd trans. Was wondering, as you asked the question, but did not comment afterwards.......Fred

Thanx John, hoping as you have metnioned, new tie rod ends, tires, will really help correct problems. I also figure adding weight in the box will bea must, because of the stock leaf springs, I do not want to remove any, as I intend to haul things once in a while. I also find these trucks manouver easy too. I find them a pleasure to drive, except on rough surfaces, then I find the stiff suspension isa rough ride, especially with no weightin the box.....

OKay means in good condition, while not new, they were replaced in this chassis not many mies ago, they take grease and are not loose, what else do I need? The tie rod right off the steering box is NOS, steering box in decent form, new seals lube and adjusted. Now the outer tie rod ends are a mess, and I need new tires that are balanced. All of this should help. Incidentally, ever verify your speedo correct with a GPS, is your speedo accurate. I don't know but would think any of these old trucks would get a little harder to tame and control at speeds over 65 mph. I do like the steering but do undertand because of the truck springs front and back, that they will not ride like my modern day vehicle or even the 47 Chrysler I had. I would further claim a 108 inch WB truck would not ride quite as well as longer WB trucks

Hi Chance, yes did we once talk about this on the telephone? On the 47 Chrysler, the factory rear cross member that bolts to the clutch/bell housing was moved forward, thus allowing the regular dry clutch shorter/smaller housing to mount onto it. That is exactly how it was done on my car, and it worked just fine. This could even be reversed back for fluid drive if someone wanted to return to fluid drive....

My 1947 Chrysler Royal Club Coupe, was modiifed with a dry clutch and 3 spd standard trans. This is what is needed to undertake this change. -pull out trans and fluid drive and it's clutch housing -move rear clutch housing mount forward, this is to accomodate donor shorter regular clutch housing and dry clutch and flywheel. - use the same shifter linkage for 3 spd trans, may require some adjusments -same clutch pedal linkage, except the clutch rod to throw out fork, needs to be shorter, either with a donor or cut the longer FD type to fit. -ebrake cable should be the same, and fit without problems -speedo cable should plug in no problem speedo drive gear may not be the right tooth count throwing off your speedo accuracy You will need to get all donor parts from a P15 or similar Plymouth or Dodge without FD, your FD 3sp trans could work, but you will need the shorter input shaft for a regular clutch setup. Not a Saturday afternoon job, but not a major deal either.......good luck

Hi and thanx for your input. I have not done any more adjustment of this steering box, it is got very little play in it, and was this way on the bench before I installed it, may have to look at it again, once I install the new tie rod ends. The tie rod ends are loose, I did check them again early today, 1 is actually moving in i'ts socket a lot, so a lot of play is created with just that by the looks of it. Yes would agree will not ever ride as comfy as my 47 Chrysler did, just want to have reasonable handling at the higher highway speeds........PS the 3.23 diff is sweet though at higher speeds, the down side is only this, if in 4th gear at lower speeds, fighting high winds, picking up speed becomes a little slower of course.

Thanx Guy, the road was a bit rough too, and a good cross wind too. I am looking forward to the change with new tie rod ends and tires. But your right these trucks were meant for 50-55 mph highway speeds, not 65-70 mph... what type of stabilizer steering shock are you referring too?

Cool Pic Robert, like the stripes on the fan blades.