fireguyfire

Thanks, that’s very helpful.

I’m in the process of re wiring my 1940 1/2 ton, and I was able to get an original dome light from a parts truck nearby. A couple of questions regarding the dome light. Can someone share a photo of where the dome light should be located in the headliner? I’m guessing it would either go dead Center, or center Ed but back towards the rear window. And secondly, where should I take power from to run up the A pillar and above the headliner to power the dome light?

There is a separate dash light switch on my truck which gets its power from a pigtail from the headlight switch, which then delivers power to the 3 dash lights. While testing that pigtail lead from the headlight switch for continuity, it only delivers power when the headlight switch is pulled fully out to its second setting. I’m just curious if this is correct

I’m in the process of re wiring my 1940 1/2 ton, and the original switches and cables were gone when I acquired the truck. I have since bought replacements from a parts truck. Following the FSM wiring diagram, and playing with the headlight switch it appears that the panel light switch will only receive power if the headlight switch is on. Can anyone tell me if that is correct?

Is there a way I can bench test the 6 volt coil (with the armoured wire that goes to the ignition switch) that came in my 1940 1/2 ton to ensure that it is still good and useable?

Thanks 47

The Center dash cables (choke and throttle) as well as the panel light switch we’re missing from my 40 1/2 ton. I’ve acquired replacements from a parts truck, but wanted to confirm the correct order of the knobs in the 5 holes. Obviously the ignition switch goes in the middle hole, and the lights switch goes in the far right; it’s the other 3 I am unsure of (choke, throttle and panel). Can someone confirm for me the correct order of the knobs, reading them from left to right, or drivers side to passenger?

I’m still on the hunt for a 1940 hood ornament for my truck. I wanted to revive this thread and ask if you guys can confirm that the 41-47 style will fit on a 1940? They seem fairly commo so if they will fit I might put one on until i can find a 40.

Excellent, that makes life easy. I’ve always done it that way on muscle cars but wanted to confirm that makes sense to do it that way on these old girls.

I’ve got the axles out of my 1940 half ton as I’m going through the brakes and replacing the axle seals. I will replace the pinion seal as well and my truck is currently up on my lift. Do you guys feel it’s easier to replace the pinion seal in place, or remove the diff and replace the seal on a bench? Obviously I need to decide that before I reinstall the axles if it’s better to pull the diff.

This light has is loosely bolted to the firewall on my 1940 half ton. I’m pretty sure it was added from another vehicle way back when as it doesn’t show a firewall light in the wiring diagram but I thought I’d check with the experts here before I get rid of it.

Thanks for the intel Jim; my truck is a Canadian made dodge by the way. That would be the exact colour combo on my 1/2 ton other than my rims are the plain steel rims with the dog dish hubcaps.

My 1940 dodge 1/2 ton had the original dog dish hubcaps under the seat, but the old fella I bought the truck off of had swapped out the rims and tires years ago so that it was a roller. I am currently tracking down a correct set of rims with the tines on them for the dog dish hubcaps, but I remembered that the old owner stated he may have one or 2 of the original rims that came on the truck when he bought it 40 years ago laying in the corner of his Quonset. I stopped by today, and sure enough he still had 1 of the rims tucked away, but what was very interesting to me was that it is red. He said that all 4 rims were red on the truck when he purchased it (the truck is royal blue). Looking at the rim, there doesn’t appear to be any other paint underneath the red, which is surprising to me. I was under the assumption that all rims for these trucks came out of the factory black? Or were there other colours of rims available on these trucks? I was assuming I would go black on the rims once I track down a set, but I am now intrigued by this red rim which would look pretty stunning on the dark blue truck. Can anyone enlighten me on what the factory rim colour options were on this era of 1/2 ton truck?

I’m assuming the windshield assembly separates to allow for the replacement of the glass?

Can anyone help me out with the inside windshield trim?

I’ve got both the shop manual and the parts manual for my 1940 VC.

Perfect, thanks!

Is there a rule of thumb out there regarding the number of strands in a wire, and the gauge?

Page 129 in my FSM is in the middle of the engine section. My FSM is the Dodge truck shop manual 1940 series VC,VD,VF,VG,VH,VK,VL,VM,VKD,VLD. Do you have a different manual than that lostviking?

I’m thinking that I will do what Keven suggested and get the main harness the same as the original as far as “splits” go, and leave an extra 6” on the end of each wire in the harness. Then install the harness and make the lengths of the terminations perfect to where they are going.

Definitely looks like a good source for cloth covered modern wire. is there an easy way to determine the gauge of my badly deteriorated original wires? I’m thinking if I strip the cloth sheathing off, which is falling off and use calipers to measure the diameter of the strand copper wire inside; is there a chart or something that I could use the diameter to convert to a gauge size?

Thanks; this could still be very helpful as a basic how to and starting point. Again I wish there was something similar out there for earlier dodge trucks!

So the thin inside metal trim on my windshield that holds the glass into the frame is badly rotted along the bottom passenger side of the windshield. The main part (outside) of the windshield frame is solid. Does anyone reproduce the inside thin steel mouldings that go around the windshield? I’ve had no luck looking on the internet for them.

I wish a guy could buy one of those colour wiring diagrams for my truck; I’ve used them on later trucks and a bunch of muscle cars I’ve restored and they are super handy.

So I’m going to soon get to the wiring harness on my 1940 1/2 ton, 6 volt. The original harness is there, but is in terrible shape with a lot of the cloth insulation missing, or falling off. I am in western Canada, and by the time I pay the extra 30% in exchange and then shipping, an aftermarket harness will be over a grand for my truck, so I’ve decided to make a new harness as close to factory as I can. The wiring diagram in my FSM is super basic, and doesn’t show wire gauges, colours etc. Can anyone make any suggestions on how to go about best making a new harness for my truck?