TFC

My two cents: This is a bit late as you have ordered a tool. I have used/tried various flaring tools over the years with mixed results. When I got my 52 B3B a few years back and realized I need to replace all the brake and fuel lines I went for a good tool, one that worked quickly and easily, it was a good choice and so worth the money. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/kti-70081?seid=srese1&ppckw=pmax-tools&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxYOiBhC9ARIsANiEIfZPUzPl2EWosXE200qeB7ZxNF9Vn3dvsoYX3weYiEUtxcFfGJsjj8AaAqn6EALw_wcB

My truck was "in the service" and still has it's id plate mounted on the glovebox door.

Another Yikes!!! Thought I would wait until the brass plugs I ordered came in before addressing this, think I'm going to put in the temporary rubber expansion plug now and see where I'm at with this... FTR: My vehicle karma has not been good this summer, about a month ago a crankshaft broke in another old car I have, yes I did said crankshaft.

Yikes!!!! I hope I don't head down that road!!!!

Poking around I found Dorman 550-023 is the right part#, this item is made of steel, anybody know the manufacture and part# for a brass version? A brass version is Melling# MEP-14B

Thanks, I did work on the rebuilt of this engine but did not install the plugs(installed by machine shop), did not realize just how shallow the seat is. Todd, I did not consider the pressure that can build up when the thermostat closes, when it happen I was driving up a slight hill at about 50mph, yes she was working , makes total sense. Great information, thanks to all.

Out on some errand this morning, truck running great, heard a loud distinctive "PING" followed by the strong smell of engine coolant and a very sharp rise in temp, shut her down quickly and drifted into a convenient driveway, opened the hood and this is what I found, lower freeze plug top missing, looks like it failed at the fold and the top blew off leaving the pressed in part still in there. Never saw this before??? Anybody else had this experience??? Makes me feel like the other plugs maybe headed for this too as they were all change a few years back when the engine was rebuilt.

Almost a year later: Finally got into to the oil leak issue, fixed now!!! I did replace the input shaft bearing with a NOS Mopar one if found on EBAY, the bearing I took out seemed OK and was shielded, had the idea it was not shielded and that was causing the leak. What I did find that I think was the cause of this leak had to do with the spiral oil channel cut in the bearing retainer. Made a modification to the relief at the end of the channel based on information I preened from a thread on this forum, see attached image. When I got this vehicle and started working on it found the inside of the bell housing caked thick with oil and dirt, pretty sure this had been an issue for a long time for my truck. So nice to have a smooth clutch and no transmission oil leak.

JBNeal thanks for the response, finished the installation over the rainy Memday weekend, looks good plus now I do have a spare tire available if...

Finally installing a spare tire/carrier in my 52 B3B, have a carrier that I got off Ebay that I cleaned-up and repainted also have new mounting hardware from DCM. Looking over this project I see 2 groups of 4 holes each in the major frame crossmember that line-up with where the tire will contact this member, wondering what goes in these holes? Maybe some sort of bumpers? Thanks

Always enjoy your posts...

Had this issue with my 52 B3B, ended up that the throw-out bearing carrier ears were heavily worn where it contacted the fork, clutch shop built them up by welding and resurface, no more issues.

Yeah, with a little searching I did find part# and sources: Found original Mopar part# from Pilothouse web site(PDF of truck parts manual) 619167 Found cross reference part# from this site Timken or Federal Mogul 1207SL

Radarsonwheels, thought I would try brakleen and maybe get through the summer. Now I'm wondering if anybody has input on where to find a replacement bearing with a shield? Thanks...

Thanks dodgeb4ya, that seems like the problem, no shield on the bearing. Next question: Easy job to pull the input shaft and replace the bearing or do I need to disassemble the transmission to get this done right?

I did install a rebuilt clutch plate and disc when I had it all apart, think those are good. Always leaves a fair amount of transmission oil on the tray I keep under it in the garage. Guess I would say It is not really slipping, it's more grabby and not smooth, takes a lot of "finesse" to start off in first or reverse. I have removed the flywheel cover and saw that the end of the input shaft housing was wet with tranny oil, One thing I did notice when I had transmission out, looks like the input shaft bearing has no built in shield, have seen other vehicles that have shield/baffle(my model A Ford has this set-up). Wondering if there is a better bearing with a shield available?

Thanks for the info JBNeal, going to have to pull transmission eventually to check this out, may be awhile though...

Got my 53 B3B on the road last year, went through most of the mechanics i.e. engine, drive train, brakes etc. A few issues but over all runs good, biggest problem, the clutch has been fouled with oil and more specifically transmission oil, seems as though oil is coming out of the input shaft housing. FTR: This is a "3 on the tree" transmission. Have not pulled the transmission out yet to check this out yet, even with this lousy clutch been enjoying driving him too much to dry dock. Curious if anybody has any experience with this? Also, did not notice a "vent hole" anywhere on the top of the casing, should there be one? I will add oil type and level are correct and that the few gaskets/seals that there are on this transmission have been replaced. Thanks...

Had the same issue, this is what I did about a year ago, cap made from brass and soldered, rubber gasket at the base, still holding and dry.

Had the same issue with my 52 B3B 3 speed transmission, shafts were leaking/weeping at both ends(front and back). For the back I made a cover(brass "box" soldered together) and rubber gasket. For the front I made a shim/gasket that covered the entire mating surface of the trans to flywheel housing from 5 mil brass shim stock, the brass extends below the mating surface to cover the area where the shaft is uncovered, during assembly a used some RTV in the area of the shaft. No leaks, yet...

This truck came to me with a Mass inspection sticker from 1968, pretty sure it has not been on the road since then. Have been working on this just a bit over year, body/paint done before but needed much mechanical attention, engine rebuilt - brakes - steering - drivetrain, just about anything you could think of needed something done to it. Finally on the road again!!! Still need some "bugs" worked out, but runs good and I just love driving him. Have preened a lot of knowledge and info from you guys - THANKS.

OK guys, appreciate all the input, here's what I did. Guess I went "rogue" on this, have had luck repairing/patching a rusted through oil pan and differential cover with this method. Brass shim stock and RTV silicon, kind of a Band-aid approach. Thoroughly cleaned the area, generously coated the "Band-Aid" with RTV and applied, let it sit 24 hours before refilling the system. No leaks so far and the patch sits behind the oil filter and is hard to see, this gets me pass this leak(at least for a while) and allows me to get on with all the other stuff I need to do to get him back on the road.

Thanks guys Merle, Looking over the internal wiring of the gauge I can see that it actually requires grounding to make connection to end of one of the coils. Keven, Yes I read 27 ohms between the posts , so that lines up. What I'm not sure about now is which terminal is tied to the sender unit and which is tied to the power from the ignition switch. SW - ties to ignition switch(power)? GA - ties to sender unit? Also wondering what the max/min resistance of the sender unit should be, mine is currently reading 93 ohm with maybe 4/5 gallons in the tank

Fooling around with the gas gauge this morning, trouble shooting this system. There are few indication that the gauge mount is to be isolated from the ground of the vehicle(paper gasket and paper washers under mounting screws). Any insight on this will be appreciated.

Thanks for the observation, Sure hope I did not cause this, did switch from bolts to studs/nuts with this rebuilt. Yes, I did dial the torque back(55ft lbs) as required with the fine pitch thread.