55 Fargo

Not too many varities of snakes here in Gods country, we have Garter snakes, copper snakes and thats about it, we have horned toads in a desert area of the province, the snakes here are all harmless. I was looking in a shed I have on my property, have parts in this one, the other night as I was walking towards it, I noticed a little head looking at me from the underside, immediately recognized it as a Weasel, tried to club him but no luck, will have to snare him or something.........Fred

All the best to you Don and your Mrs. hope you enjoy your Silver Anniversary, with more to come, any big plans for this special day.

Hi all, was out today for Mothers Day, at my Mother's home. It was a great day, glad my mom is still alive and healthy, at 72 YO. Upon returning home, noticed something sticking out of the mail box at the front door to the house. I thought it was motorcycle helmet lenses. I handed them over to the wife, and she brought them downstairs to the older boy. She brought them back to me, the boy said there not his, I have a close look at them, this time with reading glasses on, I then to my pleasant surpise notice that they are stainless headlight visors. Well one of my old car buddies musta dropped in, but we of course weren't home, and he left the gift. Man I love these visors, tried them on the car, they look great, only thing is, they are shinier then any chrome on my car, oh well LOL, now I will have to phone around and see who was so thoughtful.............Fred

Hi Larry your absolutely right, nice to have folks along the way, just in case. We are 3 hours drive north of Fargo, so if Fargo is 10 hours from your location, it would be 13 to mine. By the way, is your friend in Minto or Minot ND, Minot is about 4 hours from my place.............Fred

[/img]Hi all, here is the crap that comes out of the water dist tube, this one was brass and ingood shape so she went back in after cleaning, I pulled 3 freeze plugs and rod those areas out, I then ran a pressure washer through the block for several minutes till evrything ran clean water.i know it's not all out, but a lot is, if I open the petcock valve clean antifreeze runs out, the antifreeze in the rad always runs clean.............This a must for an old flathead...Fred

Thanx Larry, for the offer that is, but I cannot make it to Tulsa regretfully, but if your near by my place, just 16 hours north of you, be sure to drop in. Hey what da ya mean before the thread dies, how do you kill something like this,weather is contagious LOL. Have a good summer guys, it has been beautiful here in Southern Manitoba, but I wish I had my car on the road, it has been great here..........Fred

Thanx everyone, just came back from a test cruise, had it up to 70 mph on the speedo which in my guess is about 57 to 58 mph, my speedo is out about 10 to 12 mph at 60, because of the rear gears. the speedo originally had the 3.54 gears. Engine was reading about 185 at the gauge, and the rad temp, at the top with a meat thermometer was reading only 160, what a difference from back to front. the gauge is a cheap aftermarket type so it's suspect. Actually in my Chrysler book it says it should be 183 when the therm is fully open. My test ride is on a gravel road, would that make the engine run a little harder/hotter, at high speeds, I would think it would as pavement is a smother easier ride for a car.........Fred

Hi all,now I know I have brought this topic to the forum before, but it's a topic I have not resolved quite yet, especially in my head. Here's the issue, I have a 4.11 in my 48 Chrysler Coupe, as well I have a 230 Canuck big block, 3 spd standard trans, and a dry clutch, the car weighs approx 3500 lbs. I now have confirmed my 47 parts car has a 3.54 diff. If this diff is good, my plan is to swap the hog heads and call it a day. Now how many on this forum run a 4.11 diff, with only a 3sp trans, with no OD. Is it worth the swap, will .57 make a huge difference, will it affect the performance of my present engine. The terrain around here is flat, and traffic is mostly light in my immediate locale. The differences are as follows, 4.11 diff, with P 205 75R 15 tires, this equals to 4.11 x 744 revolutions of the tire per mile, which is 3057 RPM at 60 mph. A 3.54 diff would have with the same tires,P205 75R 15 tires, this would equal to 3.54 x 744 revolutions per mile, which is 2633 rpm at 60 mph. The difference at 60 mph, is 424 rpm. Being the hp max rating of these engines is in the neighbourhood of 3600 rpm, 424 rpm at 60 mph may be a big difference, or is it. Just tossing this around, what's the general consensus on this one with you guys..............Fred

Nice family Don, betcha your a proud Grandad your terrain in Tennesee looks a lot like around here in Southern Manitoba

John, Tanks Inc, out of Minnesota manufacture both a stainless steel and a steel tank for your car, the stainless tank is $350 and the steel is either $215 or $ 250. They are meant for our cars, so no fuel sender mods, the straps you have now should also work with the tank with possibly no mods.You can contact them at, wwwtanksinc.com

Hi all, how many of you guys continue to u:D se sill mats, mine are pretty beat up, thinking of pulling them and running the carpet to the aluminum edge strip. I know replacement mats are expensive, if you can find them, do they repro these for old Chrashlers.........Fred

Hi all, had Speedy Auto Glass mobile service come out and take out my back window in the parts car, and then install it into my Chrysler Coupe. I ordered the window rubber from Roberts, was impresssed with the delivery time, 5 days from East coast USA to Mid Western Canada. Any way the guy from speedy arrived, but only by himself, meaning I was his helper, we removed the old window in about 5 minutes, after the stainless trim was removed, he simply cut away the old rubber lip, the window was then pushed into the car, where I held it securely. the next step was tto place the rubber on the window and cut the rubber to size, this went well. We then installed it into the coupe, the draw string was already in place, I held the window in place and the installer pulled the string and the window went in slick. Now the fun began the stainless trim did not go in so easily, I had to end up grinding one end down a bit, as it would not go in other wise,not easy hanging on the back of the car with the window in place already, after playing with the trim for an hour, I climbed up on the back of my car, filed the edges of the trim, and joined the 2 ends together, slid over the short stainless piece, pushed it into the rubber and in she went. The intaller said good job, and he thanked me for helping him, and that he learned something today. He ended up being at my place for 2.5 hours, he even went back to the shop once to get a special tool. He only charged me $60.00 this included the price for the sealant he used, and I tried to give him a tip for coffee for his crew back at the shop, he declined, as he felt I did a lot of the work, glad it's in and over..........................Fred

Thanx Norm, I would tend to agree, at the least I will convert the fronts back to 11 inch, since I have the backing plates and drums, if I choose........Fred

Thanx Tony, I was under the impression the Fargo truck was a 251ci for 1955, is this in fact correct, is this what mine is..Thanx Fred

Rodger, it has the M5 trans and of course fluid drive, but for me I don't think I want this setup, but I have been known to change my mind from time to time. I personally have not seen a 3 speed 46 to 48 Chrys, evryone I have found have been clunkomatic. My car has had this added into it in the early 80s, it also had a semi-auto originally, it's my parts car that now has these items for me to use if I wish.........Thanx

Ed, I am like you I have the duals, there out of the car right now, but I am only going to use one the right side, not sure if I am going to put in the fersh air intake either, my car will not be winter driven..Fred

One other thing, I ordered a back window rubber last tuesday from Roberts, it arrived today here in Manitoba Canada by mail, thumbs up to USPS and Canada Post, it is also the right one, added bonus, enough from me now:D

Hi all, pulled all of my drums tonight, I repaired the whole brake system it'll be 2 years in July. I replaced the steel lines, hoses, had new lining bonded on all shoes, had the master, and all wheel cyls professionally rebuilt, minus any sleeving, they were sandblasted honed, and all new kits installed. The drums were all machined, and dummy me forgot to write down the measurements. Anyway the wheel cyls are all doing fine, no leakage, I did have some leaking, at unions and hose joints, but have tightened all of these, appears to be no leaking at this time. I also pulled back all the boots, no fluid leaking out. I have silicone Dot 5 brake fluid in this system, and allthough the car is not on the road officially, it gets driven on my country road often,even had to make a few quick stops. The brakes are 10 inch fronts, and 11 inch rears, somebody along the line put these 10 inch front brakes on my car (47 Chrysler coupe). Here is my question, should I leave these brakes as they are and have a vehicle safety, if the drums pass the measurements, continue to use this set-up as is. I would like to upgrade someday to front disc. We live in flat country, and our traffic is light around here unless I go to Winnipeg city or drive on the major highways. Sorry about the long post, just fishin for advice.........Thanx Fred;)

You betcha, all canadian blocks are long since the plant opened in Windsor 1937, are the numbers similar to your new engine............Fred

Hi all, would anyone know what discplacement this engine would be, it is a flathead 6 from a 1955 Fargo 1/2 ton truck, it is a Canadian model, the number on the casting is T335 2184C, I read that a Canadian Fargo for 1955 is a 251 ci. I own this engine it was used in the truck until 3 years ago. It is going to be my future engine for my 48 Chrysler coupe. this engine I want to beef up complete with the dual carbs/exhaust, make the coupe into a bit of a street rod, instead of pure stock, it will also have a standard 3 spd trans, with OD and a 3.54 rear end...........Thanx Fred

Hi all, got a 47 tag for my Chrysler today, although my car is a 48 officially, it's a 47, with it's serial number and a lot of parts from a 47. Also in this picture is my electric flathead, it's a 251 from a 1955 Fargo was driven regularly until 3 years ago when the owner pulled of the body and put it on a S10 frame and running gear, his truck unfortunately burned in a hillbilly bodyshop, just after he did all the changes, but I still own the frame, engine trans and late 70s mopar rear end on it..........Fred

Thanx a bunch Frank, that was my thinking also about the straight glass, I plan on repairing these , I can also buy NOS here for $20 a pair. The wipers are electric, ssem to work fine, but the slow speed is well slowwwwwwwww. Check your email, I sent you one Frank........Fred

Another thing, when rewiring, this could be a good time to pull the dash, clean up under there and clean and paint the dash. I have the Model 54 dual heaters, but will probably fun just the right side with the fresh air intake for now. they are pretty dirty, filthy at the moment, but the motors run and the cores don't leak.........Fred ps does everyone use the one under the dash light for the hand brake indicator, I was thinking of running a small seperate light for that and to use both under dash lights for the door switches, I have them both on the under dash toggles switch right now, the dome light works from the pillar switch only, and I am still using the oem style brake light switch, it works fine.

Pat, are you running a 6 volt system, I have some, well actually all of my lights with the exception of the wires running to the front lights from the terminal block which are 12 and 14 gauge. the rest of the lighting wires to the rear of the car and swirtches are 16, will replace with correct color code and 14 gauge wire. The heater motor does call for 12, and the horn is 10 or 12, these could probably be 14. In fact could you not put fusable links, or a fuse panel running all of the electrical, Princess Auto in Canada sells all of the wiring items I need, but Napa has better terminal clips and hardware. Oh just go to Wallyworld for the hockey tape....Fred

Hey Neil, keep the stories coming from the old days, I for one enjoy reading them..................Fred