Sniper

Old school relays like the one in your truck originally don't care about polarity. Newer ones do if they have a diode in them. All's it is is a coil that generates a magnetic field and closes your contacts. The old school relay will generate that magnetic field being fed either way. A later relays with the diode I mentioned have those diodes for noise suppression more than anything else and in your truck there's nothing to worry about if there's noise on the line.

He condenser is not required for the ignition to work. It is there to help her then arcing across the points. You can remove for testing purposes

Yes and the high amp feed for that relay would bypass the amp gauge.

That's 3M weather stripping glue is the real deal however, you need to make sure that you have that rubber exactly where you want it before you touch it down because it will stick right there.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by full charge running through the ammeter. The ammeter is supposed to read the charge going to or coming from the battery and it's virtually instantaneous indication of the status of your charging system. Because if you're driving down the road and it's reading negative you're charging system is not working. I'll voltmeter is somewhat slower to react and usually what happens is you notice darn my headlights are really dim then you look at the ammeter and you're down around 11 volts in which case you better be looking for a place to park. Or you can run that indicator light from your alternator as an instantaneous indication that it's not working.

In the factory setup the only thing the amp gauge indicates is the charge going to or from the battery. If you want it to work like that you have to wire all your loads and the output of the alternator to one and meter stud the other stud goes to the battery. If it reads backwards you need to swap the wires on the studs.

You're looking at the PARTS manual?

The parts manual usually shows that

Yes it is supposed to be there, it's the drain for the housing, Is it engine oil or gear oil? They do smell differently.

Someone is quite the optimist

Did you find were the oil was coming from?

Most like the blower motor resistor is bad, not uncommon. But it could be the switch, a meter can answer that.

Stop leak won't. It'll just let you find the next weakest point, BTDT.

If you have a compression tester you can use the hose from it once you remove the schrader valve

Pretty sure the one on the right is just the rear cover for the cam tunnel, not a coolant passageway. The one on the left is a coolant passageway and you are likely going to have to pull the bell housing to get to it anyway.

Looking good, Lewis

There is no perfect sealed system, stuff leaks. the residual pressure valves will leak by over time.

I do not know the intricacies of a generator's regulator setup. I do know that on the alternator's setup the VR has to be capable of handling the field current of the alternator. I assume something similar in a generator setup. But as with anything, input determines output. You aren't going to need that extra amperage if the load for it is not there so a fuse protecting it is probably a good idea.

We can argue semantics, but any increased resistance in a circuit is a load increase. Total voltage drop will remain the same, current drop across EACH source of resistance will change in the circuit as unwanted resistance will consume it's share of current. Remember V=IR So, as the unwanted sources of resistance consumes it's share of current, in the circuit, less is available to the wanted sources. The ammeter will increase it's output because it is voltage regulated, not current regulated. So until you hit the upper limit of the alternator's output it will overcome. That's what gives you the dim lights at idle symptom. My 65 Cuda had that issue, till I cleaned up all the connections and it went away. Original style mechanically regulated setup. Now you can see the headlights flicker as the mechanical regulator cycles on/off but the lights do not go dim. Not sure why you bring up starting, the charging system is not involved except indirectly insomuch as it is what keeps the battery charged. Being that the starter is the biggest load on in the system any unwanted resistance's effect in the starting circuit is magnified and will negatively effect starting. But that isn't part of the charging system and has no effect on how the charging system works except for the drain on the battery that needs to be replenished after starting is complete and that is matter of increasing the amount of time it will take to recharge the battery.

I am going to play Captain Obvious here and add to Kilgore's post. If the vent is not clear, pressure can build up inside the axle housing forcing stuff out the ends of the axle tubes, right on your brake shoes.

I went thru my parts book, if goes uo to 54. Seems those shims fit a lot of our stuff.

R10 12v http://site:p15-d24.com Copy and paste into your browser

Thanks for the follow up, may it help someone in the future

You have the vertical height to use one of Harbor Freight's gantries. But they are kind of pricey for a one time use. Me? I would think about using an engine hoist to lift one end of the body, hold it up with sawhorses and cross pieces, then lift the other end of the body and support, roll the old frame out, then build a cradle to hold the body that has casters. Or think of a way to use the lift you already have.

I was wondering if it was carbon from the intake valves getting in there, but your ports look pretty clean. DI engine are known for carbon build up on the back side of the intake valves.