55 Fargo

You are a creative devil aren't yah. I always admire you innovators, I can follow a lead on things like this but never have the creativity to start. Just not my attribute.........Fred

I see in one pic the trusty/handy palm sander, these things are great little units, I did a lot of stripping with mine........Fred

Lookin good Greg, what's next, paint or primer/surfacer, blocking,then paint. Or is just ready for paint. Man what a mess to start with, did you weld in metal first, then cover with fibreglass resin, a big job, but she came out nice, what a good feelin to look back and see that transformation. I know the patches I have put on my 47 Chrysler turned out pretty good, and so far not a bubble or a rust spec on them, and their still in primer.......Fred

I need to make a gasket for the trans to bellhousing, what material should I use and what thickness, I have the old gasket, it seems pretty thin. All I need to do is make this gasket, get the release bearing on snuggly to the sleeve, then reinstall the trans, driveshaft etc. Should be good after that. Not going to pull the engine, don't want to do that unless swapping or rebuilding.......Fred

here is a pic of the 2 release bearings, the old one is on the left and the new one is on the right.........Fred

Here another question, plan on taking out clutch, flywheel next, then the bell housing is to come off. This will allow me to fix the freeze plug leak at the back of the engine.But how od I line up the cluch againon reassembly, without a clutch alignment tool or a spare trans input shaft. Any tricks or suggestions........Fred

Another thing Shel, the new release bearing is identical, to the old one, same brand and everything. The bearing still needs to be pressed on, how does one go about doing that.........Fred

Hi all, bought a brand new NOS release bearing and sleeve in a box. It is the identical bearing as what I had, the sleeve is slightly different, but fits on the input shaft, and the release fork attaches to it also. The outside shape of it is slightly different casting. Will this be okay, is this common, that a sleeve could be a little different in shape.

Glad to hear someone is going to try and revive this old girl. I would have thought this car would need a total body-off to deal with all the corrosion and silt that found its way into the vault. Just how bad was the body on this car, whats involved in bringing it bcak to life, and to be "presentable"...........Fred

Speaking of hot, what enamels are best for engine painting, will Tremclad (Rustoleum), stand up on the engine block, not the manifolds, just the block. Or do I need to get High heat paint for the block also...........Fred now I am thinking of pulling the engine again, but I know I can paint it reasonably well in the car........Fred

Trans and drivehsaft, yah I like blue, my engine will be this color someday, I know it's suposed to be silver aluminum,buttttt.

I know she is not as purdy as some engines, I plan to paint the starter, repaint breather, oil filter, should spruce up the look a little more, get a proper st of battery cables and a new battery hold down bracket.

I have been mulling this over for a week, I have to agree with you on this. The engine in my car is not original, neither is the dry clutch and 3 spd trans, there all from a 1951 Canuck Dodge. I really don't plan on returning to fluid drive with the M5 semi-auto, I also have this set-up here in my yard. I really like the plain old standard trans.So having to keep the engine I have is not necessary, I also have 2- 251s, one is my rebuild candidate for the future. My plan is a 251, a 3spd trans, maybe with OD and a 3.54 diff. Here are my problems, I have a leak at the back of the block, hoping it's just a freeze plug, hope to repair this and re-install everything. The clutch was fine before all this happened. If I can get away with it it will go back in. I do need a release bearing set, a trans to bell housing gasket. SO far This is whats needed. SOMe day when I rebuild an engine for this, a brand new clutch can go in with it, unless when I remove the clutch it's very evident it should be replaced, maybe I could get away with just a new disc. Time will tell. Now trying to cheap out, just very low in funds for this car at this time in my life, but I love th car, and want to keep the project moving forward. Plus around here there are very few people who know anything about flat head engines and old Mopars...........Fred

Don, is this possible, I have found that the original bearing is superior to the replacement bearings available today. Last transmission removal I reinstalled the original bearing with fresh lubrication. I used a hypodermic needle to lubricate the old original bearing. I have the steel cased release bearing, would like to use it again, as I am limited in funds, at this point in the project. But will of course open the wallet if need be. By the way, what gauge of needle and what length. I would say 23 to 25 gauge with a short needle to lessen the distance the grease needs to travel. What type of grease did you use, do I or should I put any on the input shaft itself, such as never seize, or would it heat up and cause problems...........Fred

Rodeny, if it ain't broke don't go fixin with it. Sounds to me like you had everything going right with a 13 lb cap, the temp was running around 185. A 350 engine will probably do just fine with the way you had it set-up, no reason necessarly to go with a 4 or 7 lb cap as was used with a 1950s style set-up.........Fred

Hi all, I did another thing wrong, I washed my release bearing in solvent, these are not to be submereged, did not know till just now well reading on clutch service. Is it now garbage, can they be relubricated somehow, or not.............Fred:D

Local brake and clutch outfit, will machine flywheel, rebuild clutch, resurface clutch disc, for $185.00, what do you guys think of the price, a reman, clutch and disc is about 170 , but you get a new release bearing, but would need to machine flywheel, so another $40..........Fred ps he relined my ebrake band for $36.00

It's not that I mind the work,buttttt. What advantage at this time would be if I pulled the engine, I am not in a postition for a rebuild at this time. I also own another engine, a 251, this will be my eventual rebuild candidate, this engine also still runs. I have pulled the side freeze plugs before, pulled the water dist tube, flushed block. My engine now seems to run at a decent temp, I need to pull the exhaust manifolds, but I don't need the engine out to do that. I guess if I pull the engine, I could clean and paint it blue like the trans and bell housing. At this point, to fix a "freeze plug", all I have to do is get the clutch and flywheel out, jack up the back of the engine, and remove the bell housing. I will then have the area exposed, for me to repair, as long as this is the problem........Thanx cuz I do appreciate all of your input

Hi all, looking for opinions here,do yall think I should pull my engine from my car to fix the rear freeze plug leak, I could do other thing to the engine at the same time,ie re-paint change some gaskets.Or should I repair the leak with the engine in car, the trans is out, just need to take out clutch and flywheel, before the bellhousing can comeout, the rear of the engine will need to be blocked up or held up with a jack. The repair can be done through the removeable floor panel.Thanx Fred

That would be great, how can I get a copy of this from you.........Fred ps Greg one other thing, should I pull the engine or not? In order to fix the leak probelm. I am not crazy about lying on my back undoing the clutch and flywhhel bolts, although it would appear or might be easier than pulling the whole engine out

Justin, Bernbaum does have this gasket, it's under the trans gasket set, for around $14.95, have a look again at their website. I need to make on for mine also, Lou's advice sounds good to me, use a thin gasket material cut to size, install with gasket sealer, or buy the whole trans set from Bernbaums

Hi all, cleaned and painted my trans, ain't she purdy. Would like to know where to get a gasket for the trans to bell housing gasket, can I use silicone gasket maker, or can it be omitted, as Greg mantioned it's there for a reason...........Fred

How do you know for sure it's a freeze plug at the rear of the engine, check you r side plugs, sending unit on the head, feel the back of the head,( let engine cool down first). I am really not sure this is a common problem for these 6s, could it be a lot of crud sits in the back of the engine, up against the rear plug, and they rust through. Can hardly wait to get mine fixed, will sleep better after it's done, just the way I am. I amvery tempted to pull the engine, and give it another good cleaning in the process and a new paint job, but really don't want to do this unless I am swapping or rebuilding. I have a 251 engine, it runs, but I would want to rebuild it first before it goes into the car, the engine I have now, runs great, at least for now.........Fred

Hi Roar, so now you have a good rad, from me I might add,LOL, and now you are cursed with a leaking freeze plug, up here in the great white north we call em frost plugs,"like we only get frost in Canada, not freezing". Anyhews, I have not done the job quite yet, either I am going to do it next week, or a small country shop is going to do it. Right now the trans and driveshaft are out, they are now cleaned up and painted, will post pics later. Could it be, because the rads were flowing better, the leaks began through the rusty freeze plugs. Now Roar, you just had the engine out, too bad you didn't pull the clutch and replace the freeze plugs, so get busy and do it again. If you will pay for my airfare, I can arrange a time and come to Norway and install the freeze plug, tour the country and have a general good time....Fred

Do I or should I, drain the trans oil, before washing it and painting,the trans oil is fresh, but the case has a few leaks here and there you can tell, nothing serious. In reality, the trans probably doesn'treally need a paint job, it's pretty well cleaned up with solvent already........Fred