John-T-53

Looks pretty hank! Hey are those two metal lawn chairs partially in your second picture yours?? As for adjusting, I don't have a miller tool or a home made version, but just used the drums as a reference to adjust the shoes. It's a trial and error process, but not that bad. Rotate the cams so they're way in and first adjust the end with the eccentric anchor bolt (I don't know which end is called the heel / toe). Get the anchors adjusted so they are just under dragging while rotating the drum, then move the cams out slowly. You'll have to go back to the anchors and adjust again, and then back to the cams, but it works. Edit: Very important....make sure the hydraulic line at the rears doesn't hit the rivet heads on the inside of the drum! I had this happen on mine after I made a new line and failed to check for this. Took the drum off one day to inspect and caught it just in time!

Yes, it's a good idea to check all switches to make sure they're working correctly. Rheostat switches like the heater switch do produce heat - in these cases it's important they are built correctly and anything combustible is not near or touching the switch. I had a smoking ignition switch in my Chevy last year - due to a loose connection in one of the contacts. If any of the contacts on the back of a switch are loose (mainly from a rivet coming loose or insulation breaking down), replace it! This causes the current path to get smaller creating heat. Light switches also can produce heat. Also - Ignition voltage resistors too (if so equipped).

Wow, just reading this now. My worst nightmare! So sorry for you, the truck, and the cat. I'm sure you'll pull through though....and hopefully you'll still make it to the BBQ! If the body sheet metal isn't warped, it should be fine to clean up and paint.

Mopar's version of multi-displacement must be a lot better than the early 80's Cadillac V-8-6-4, which was a flop!

Jeff: Might want to knock the plugs out of the block again and get in there with a good stream of water to flush any remaining rust scales out. There's a lot that can accumulate at the bottom the water jacket around the cylinders, especially towards the back. Put your hose nozzle in the heater hose that connects to the head and hit that good, too. Did you pull your water distribution tube out previously? If your t-stat was caked, it might be a good idea to pull the radiator and flush it from the bottom to the top. Perhaps even use a flush aid since you had so much debris in there. The next time I do a rebuilt, I've contemplated filling the block with "Evaporust" for a few days and letting it dissolve all the rust - the product is claimed to be non-acidic, and leaves metal surfaces bare after a good soak. I have not tried it yet myself, but would seem like a good method for de-rusting impossible places to reach by mechanical means. Anybody ever use this stuff? Green coolant is what we should use. Nothing else. 50/50 and no more than 70% strength. As said above, the H2O is what does the work of transferring heat energy, not the coolant. With a stronger solution, you have less cooling efficiency. Distilled H20 is an added plus, too.

I'm not a believer that anything special is needed for increased "slip" between the leafs on a truck application. I would assemble the spring dry and then paint it. I used POR-15 on mine and they came out great. After that, they were sprayed with WD-40 and squirted with 30-WT oil with a can at a few points along the spring. This soaked in to provide some corrosion protection between the leafs. Perhaps I got a little better ride out of it, but nothing noticeable. What made a difference was the re-arching, new bushings, and new shackles.

Wow, that's pretty cool. Good resource to know about, thanks for sharing!

That's some good fence work you got there. Hopefully the grass will get watered a little this winter, if we're lucky. I'll bet you miss seeing green this time of year!

How much are they boring it out there?

Barry - I never removed my manifold studs but I wouldn't be surprised if they do intrude into the water jacket. There's also two bolts that go through the exhaust manifold and DO go into the water jacket - I'm 100% certain on this!

Will he be container-shipping his truck over for the BBQ as well? lol!

I think it all was around $500 including exchanging my old single carb and manifold.

Thanks Jim...yeah the original linkage can't be beat! I heard offenhauser castings are prone to quality issues, also their design for our motors puts the carbs so low the flow ain't that great. I like the Edmunds manifolds, however they are rare and expensive. They also have an heat pipe supplied by the engine coolant. The exterior brazing on the manifold George sold me is untouched. That's how it came and he did a great job. I just deburred the inside.

Here's some pics. From one year ago - just before dropping it into the truck! I got the manifold, carbs, and linkage from George. No cam, though....still running the stock one. The manifold had two uprights brazed onto the cast iron, and was a little rough inside, so I took it a step further and smoothed out the passages for better flow. Took moderate effort to fine tune the linkage to work right, but haven't had to mess with it since. George set these carbs up with '41 tops so I could keep the hand choke. Air cleaners from Tom Langdon top 'em off. He had to get me modified air cleaner bases to work with the straight style air horns on the carbs. Takes longer to warm up, and more choke is necessary, but it runs well and gets slightly better mileage. Power is a lot better but this is also due to making the motor a 230 where as before it was a 218. Most noticeable was a huge increase in low-end ability.

Another one for ya...

As requested...

I hand brushed por-15 black on the knobs after cleaning them good and sanding with 400 grit. Then a day later I brushed in Rust-Oleum "antique white" in the letters, let that dry slightly, and went back with 3M adhesive cleaner on a blue shop towel and wiped off the excess. They came out sharp! I have two reasons I used the por-15: 1. It is not affected by solvents after it's dried like most rattle can paints. 2. It brushes on easily and levels out nice. 2. It's very durable and won't wear off with the constant use the knobs get. It has been two years now with daily use, and they still look good.

I'm running dual 1bbl's on my truck and they have been working working great. I got the George Asche setup with manifold supplied by him as well. Linkage is very easy - just hook it up to the stock bell crank on the manifold. I'll try to post some pics this weekend.

I was looking for the same thing when I rebuilt my distributor last year with a Pertronics solid state unit. Couldn't find anything other than what the shop manual says: Initial timing: TDC Maximum mechanical advance: 18 to 22 degrees at 3200 RPM Max vacuum advance: 18 degrees I tried to have a couple shops in my area test my Distributor on their Sun machine, but they couldn't get it to work with the 6 volt + ground setup. So, I've been meaning to chart the advance curve with the dizzy installed on the engine using a tach, but haven't got around to that yet....need to get a 6v tach first!

Looks great Jeff! So you going to put some type o' spar varnish on it?

My heat riser had been blocked off in the past, before I bought the truck, by a metal plate sandwiched between the two manifolds. All riser parts are gone. Despite this, when i was running a single carb before, start up and warm up didn't seem to take very long. And I have always lived within 10 miles of the coast (now near Tod). However, after switching to a dual carb manifold, warm-up takes a lot longer. The heat chamber is now between the carbs, not below it like before. I'd vote to keep the heat riser if you have it intact. Heat your intake with every option you get and your fuel will work better for you.

Aiight, Aiiight... I took out my sender last summer, actually 2012, when I had the tank cleaned and sealed. Never had any prior issues with the gas gauge. The sender had the original cork, and like discussed here, appeared to have a sealer on it. Some of the sealer was worn off, but I just put it back in and still works fine. When the needle hits "E", I still run out of gas, lol. Actually on the way back from the Clements BBQ last April, I almost made it there and back, plus another destination, on one tank. But ran out one block from my house. (lol again)

Tim - Can't wait!!! Now that my GF's family lives in Lockeford, I can get out there earlier than last time and get a good parking spot! I'll be bringing guests this time too! And of course more tri tip!

Continuing with the off topic banter... Our structural engineering professor in college once said in class: "Now when ya young'uns get a job and start visiting construction sites, there's one thing you gotta know first off. Every tool on the job site is made by the same manufacturer. And that manufacturer's name begins with the letter F." Confusion averted!

It's a "pooper" to hear so many pumps are failing prematurely. Especially with such a simple issue as the pivot pin. I plan on stashing a rebuilt pump under my seat too (along with tools to change it). Will check out "Then and Now". There was past talk on here of another place that sells pump rebuild kits as well, and the name slips my mind. Hank - I always appreciate your "exploded view" photos of parts. So how the heck do you R&R the diaphragm from the link?" Grind it down and re-peen?