John-T-53

The cable, and needle shouldn't be moving if the truck is stationary. Sometimes at very low speeds, the needle in mine jumps around as the magnets pull the mechanism up before the spring retracts the needle. Are you back wheels off the ground and the truck in gear while cranking?

I dealt with this gap too... after a generous coat of primer and paint, I filled the gap with polyurethane caulk - "PL" brand for siding, windows and doors. It dries nice and hard and makes a good seam sealer, and is paintable. 3M seam sealing caulk would also work well, although more expensive.

Soak the block in a product like Evapo-Rust or equivalent....This might help free it up. Let the chemicals do the work. There are some yoo-tube vids of people cleaning blocks this way which appear to make them come out like new; I'd be tempted to try this on my next motor build to save lots of time over using the wire wheel on a drill approach.

I ordered a few as well a few years ago, mainly for the 5/16" bolts on the body sheet metal. The only difference I found was that the I.D. was slightly larger on the replacements, so the teeth didn't contact the bolt shoulder. On the originals, these washers often were retained on the bolts with the bolt removed...in other words they could only be removed by force.

Is that Wildcat's? I see a batmobile '72 Fury lurking!

Thanks for your dedication in keeping this site in a easy to use and dependable state. Like an old Mopar, it needs regular maintenance. My only comment is about the classifieds. A forum section for individual ads would be nice, like we had in the old format. I would encourage the ability to post pictures, as these are very helpful to both parties and saves a lot of time in the subsequent back and forth. Even if somebody is trying to give stuff away for free, a photo is very helpful. I don't think the classifieds are a money-making opportunity on here, no one's going to retire selling old mopar parts (except for Mark, lol). It's mainly for helping others out and passing on stuff you don't need. Thanks,

Here's a couple shots from the recent truck show...I mean wedding...out in Clements, Calif. The Brick was done just in time! Congratulations Tim and Stephanie!

Wow, now....

Time to kick off the sunvisor bracket project, then!

I helped my machinist friend rebuild a flathead V-8 Ford in his shop about a year ago. My first time working on one of them. I was surprised by the "very light" design of the internals...mainly the bottom end. Only three mains, for pete's sake!

literally....

I can't accurately quantify the increase in power, because I didn't put this thing on a dyno, but just my ass confirms a big "10-4" on the increase. Also, I don't have to downshift as much for uphill grades, which confirms it more. I built the motor at the same time and changed the bottom end, resulting in a 230 instead of 218 c.i.d. The motor was running well before except for rod bearing troubles, but the increase in displacement combined with the better breathability of the dual carb setup resulted in synergy that gave me more power and economy. You will definitely notice something when you bolt yours up. The A833 gears of 3.09, 1.67, 1.00, .71 or .73, when combined with your 3.23:1, result in 9.98, 5.39, 3.23, and 2.35 respectively. This is a little on the high side for the flattie, and it will definitely go with these, but having a first gear in the 12 to 13:1 ratio will give you a little better performance. So yeah, the 3.73 as you mentioned will "be nice". Or better yet, a 3.9...

In CA, commercial plates were issued for 1/2 ton trucks.

This is a very nice setup, and George sure has this thing dialed in! I put the same on mine (except for the dual exhaust) back in '12, and besides the cool looks it sure made a difference in power and economy. Before, even with OD, I got around 14-15 MPG, but now it's usually 17-18. And the biggest power increase was mostly noticeable on the low end. I have no idea of actual HP, but the seat of the pants is 'nuff for me. One of the good things about this setup is it keeps the manifolds sandwiched together providing the much needed heat xfer. It will still take longer to warm up than a single carb setup. One thing I still had to do before installing, is clean up the inside of the intake where George brazed on the new uprights. It needed a lot of cleanup with a deburring tool, otherwise the air flow would have had a lot of turbulence. As for the 833 tranny, it will be nice to finally see one getting installed in a truck, after all of the banter going on lately. If you know what the tranny gear ratios are, you will know how it will work with the 3.23 rear, without having to drive it to find out.

The pedal might just have to be moved over on the shaft too, sometimes the clamp gets loose and allows pedal migration. Or, the engine mounts wear out or get loose and the whole thing moves over, resulting in your pedal hitting the floor!

That's like the one I have and it works very well. Even for working on the valves with the engine in the truck. Goodson is a great source for machinist supplies.

Jeqs seems to have a good selection of these, and they list dimensions on this page: http://www.jegs.com/p/Energy-Suspension/Energy-Suspension-Tie-Rod-Boots-Ball-Joint-Boots/743964/10002/-1 I put some similar boots on my Chevy, and the cup was too deep that it hit the rod part, so I simply tripped a half circle out of the boot so it fit snug. A while ago I tried just looking for boots at Nappa and a few other stores, and you can't buy 'em separate from the suspension part. Just as you can no longer buy shock absorber washers.

The 1250 stand is essential! This cherry picker that I borrowed was from Harbour Junk, I think. it worked ok, but was at its limit.

Far out man. Done! Maybe I will rebuild carb #2 this weekend. That's about all the truck needs at this point.

...and oil pan too. The temp of the oil is really important. If your oil is running on the cool side you will not have proper lubrication.

How about some pics? I had my #6 sleeved as well, and there was a very slight pitting from the water jacket coming through back in 2010, according to the machinist at the time. If a total bust, blocks are not rare. I think you can even order one from Vintage Power Wagons.

Very nice! Welcome to the world of dependable & simple transportation. 108" wheel base model? Nice fat tires on that thing too.

HM Elliott in North Carolina: http://www.hmelliottcoatings.com/coatings.html I had my skirts done in their HM-30 coating because my machinist usually goes that route on engine builds and I liked the appearance and feel of it. Just basically a friction reducer...it's a few tenths thick. They also have a buildable coating version of this if tolerances need to be taken up. My machinist also coats bearings but only on high reving motors. I don't think bearing coating would make any difference on our flatties. Any yes, ARP fasteners on a few select applications makes a difference. I think I paid about $150 for the fasteners for my engine - head, main caps, and cam gear. I wish I had used them for the rod caps and flywheel too!

I had really good luck obtaining all of my engine parts from Vintage power Wagons. They sell Badger pistons which I liked because of their heavy duty design. A few tips from my engine building in 2012... Build with all clearances on the lower limit. These engines were "tight" from the factory, so they say. I am not sure if the 228 has the offset rod journal design or not, like the 218 and the 230, but this is one of the reasons for building it tight. Get a good crank grinder who knows how to cut the journal radii correctly. If he's got a Berco, even better. Get the block align-honed. Bake and blast the block - get all the scale out from the water jacket as much as possible. Or, soak it in evapo-rust. Resize all the rods to the exact same diameter, to the .0001" Use ARP studs and nuts for the main bearing caps. Machine the washer seating surfaces on the caps so they're perfectly flat. The original lock washers will have probably torn this surface up a bit. I really liked ARP studs for the head as well, this permits superior torqueing and re-torqueing without disturbing the thread seal in the water jacket. Balance the entire rotating assembly, including the flywheel and clutch. Also, balance all of the rods and pistons. Piston to cylinder clearance as outlines in the shop manual is very subjective. Check with piston mfr. With the VPW pistons, they recommended .002". I coated my piston skirts with a hi-temp friction-reducing coating. If I did another motor I would coat the piston tops and the combustion chambers with a reflective coating. I would also install bronze valve guide inserts if I did this again too. The cast iron guides on stainless valves is no the ideal metal-on-metal combo. Bronze is far superior. Do a three-angle cut on the valve seats, followed by lapping to check sealing surfaces.

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