John-T-53

Toyota's problem is that they've gotten huge, (and that they're foreign). When bloating happens, problems get harder to avoid and solve, and more people want to take from the company what they think they deserve. Just like Government Motors (GM).

My pins slipped right in the pistons at room temp. The fit was not tight enough to warrant heating and cooling of the parts. I could use my thumbs to move the pins in and out....is that too loose? Hmmm...

So Tod, you must be down towards Redwood City? Are there any machine shops around here that work on old stuff? I'm new to the peninsula so I 'm starting all over again... I'm walking distance to work, so at least that's cool for me and the truck as of now...but I'll have to get another car soon so I can go to San Jose for job site visits.

The pistons in my 218 were balanced with their respective pins...when I got the parts back from the machine shop I was told not to mix up the pistons and pins.

The new .040 pistons came from Egge, and the rings were from Hastings. Everything was legit, and all parts were balanced.

I drove another 130 miles yesterday to the lovely town of Gonzales, Cal where I called AAA for a flatbed tow truck. By then we were within 100 miles of the destination so I decided to play it safe. The engine was still running but the knocking was slightly worse. It's definitely the characteristic metal-on-metal knock of a worn something in the reciprocating assembly. Also getting a lot of blow-by fumes and some smoke. Probably a wrist pin bushing like Merle had mentioned, and the rings must be shot. The oil pressure is still good, although just a hair lower, so I'm not holding onto much hope for the rod bearing. I wonder if the oil hole in a rod got clogged, depriving the wrist pin and cylinder walls of oil??? Is there a small passage up the center of the connecting rod that lubricates all of the above, or is it splashed? I will do a compression test this weekend, then take the head and pan off to see what's up. I'm really hoping the damage is localized to one cylinder. If so, with an idealistic view, I could replace the rings, pin, bushing, and rod bearing and hone the cylinder out. Maybe replace the piston too. I gotta get this baby back on the road asap...wish me luck!!! Until then I'm stuck at the bus stop with the vagrants.

Hank, I'm already in San Luis Obispo and heading to the Bay Area today, for good. Unfortunately, for that distance, the freeway is the only option. I've tried to find different gears but no luck...so I'm using what I got. I think after this trip I will focus on getting a different tranny in the truck to make the highway a better experience, both for me and the engine. If you're ever up north, stop by any time in my new town of San Mateo.

Nice shot of Catalina! I got a couple thumbs up from two truckers on the 91 and the 110 today, but also a couple hi beam flashes from a Mercedes on my rear, followed by a swift pass on the right. I gave 'em the bird.

SJC isn't that big of a town, but I usually head south to San Clemente or San Diego from where I am (was). Bottom line is - I always run the truck for a minimum of 30 minutes each time I take her out. Anything less is just enough to get everything wet. No sign on the swallows yet, but the official day for their return is March 19th. All new guides and stainless valves. But the updated status is...smoking still a little, but less now. I removed the pcv and reinstalled the draft tube, and it made no difference. The engine has developed a bad knocking sound today. Its getting worse, and occurs when accelerating or going uphill. Oil pressure and temp are good. I drove the truck north 300 miles, the bed packed to the brim since I'm moving. Before I left, I changed the oil and found no water or any other bad signs. I pulled the plugs and they looked fine also - no oil or moisture. I checked the head bolts and they were tight. I checked the coolant and didn't see any oil and its level hasn't gone down. I wonder if its a just a cylinder that has gone bad? Why such wear after only 3,000 miles? I have been driving this truck on the highway regularly doing 50-55 for 5 hours at a time...including after I broke it in. Never had any problems before. Would driving the truck at these speeds during the first 1,000 miles play any role in premature piston and ring wear? I'm really bummed...after investing $6k into a rebuild and 7 months of my time, this could have not come at a worse time. Gotta drive 230 more miles tomorrow, and start my new job Monday. I'll let you know if I make it.

Every time I start up the ol' gal, I always get 'er up to full temp. Usually my drives involve some highway time. I'm gonna pull the PCV and reinstall the draft tube for another freeway outing coming up at 3 p.m. today. I'll see what that does. The head bolts are tight, and the head and block were milled. I used the copper spray on both sides of the head gasket when I installed it, so in theory that should be leak-free. I had a problem sealing the two lower exhaust manifold bolts - the two long ones that protrude into the water jacket. I wonder if they also pass through an oil area?

My rebuilt flathead has just over 3,000 miles on it and has started to burn a little oil when it's hot. There's a puff of oil smoke out the tailpipe when the truck gets going in 1st gear from a stop...usually the engine revs a bit. It's on its 3rd batch of oil, and it was last changed at 1,000 miles. It runs fine, has 40lbs oil pressure, and no other problems. The only thing that has caught my attention is a small amount of white greasy susbtance on the dipstick. I have a PCV system so not sure if that's caused by condensation. Could the rings go bad so soon???

It's hard to tell from the photos, but make sure the filter inlet line comes from the upper fitting on the block, the pressurized oil galley. The lower fitting on the block is the return line. Otherwise, you'll be running your filter backwards and it'll get clogged much quicker.

In that case, use vise grips or a pipe wrench. To make room, you may need to swing the distributor so its vacuum advance is out of the way. You might also need to heat the old petcock up with a torch and give it some taps with a hammer to get it loose.

I replaced the petcock type drain with a solid brass plug for a similar reason. It never worked good because chunks of scale and rust from the water jacket always got stuck in the petcock's narrow opening.

Wow that's a lot of work. Sounds like I need to invest in some metal working tools and a welder too. I wonder if I could get the OD bellhousing and just use that with the OD tranny? I told my friend who gave it to me - if I can't make the OD work, I'd give it back to him, so being an honest dude, I'd be at $0.00. The T5's I've seen have the shifter way back on the tranny housing and it looks like it would interfere with the seat, or just be out of place, if installed in a Pilothouse. That and the e-brake issue are the reasons deterring me from it.

I lived in San Luis Obispo for 10 years, a big ag county, and that's where I bought mine. But never saw another up there....Chevys and Fords left and right like you said. All the ones I've spotted in Orange County have been on the road, but parked. This Friday, my old Dodge is about to do another drive up the 101 to its new home in the Bay Area. Time to be spotted and represent! Wikipedia has an entry for the B Series Pickups, and it states these trucks are now rare because they're known to "buckle and break in the middle".....what the freak? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_B_Series

In the last 8 years that I've owned mine, I've only seen 4 other B-Series Trucks in person, by chance. One of them was a Panel that used to live in south San Clemente, but its owners recently moved. Never seen any B-Series at a car show, but at the same time I never made it up to Pomona yet.

Hammerite is a shop staple around here. Aside from the durability it provides, it doesn't require primer, can be applied over rusty surfaces, dries quickly, and looks good! I used it in my Chevy's heater and it came out great.

So I picked up this Borg Warner R-10 overdrive from a buddy of mine up north, for the price of "on the house". He said it came out of a '52 Plymouth, and he showed me the flathead 6 that it was mated to as well. Not knowing much about these trannys, I said sure, I'll take it, and see if it could be installed in my B-4-B. I did some research on these, and I'm now informed they're known for being bullet proof and easy to operate. If I were to put it behind my truck's motor, I could get 5 speeds, keep my rear end as is, and make my daily driver more enjoyable and economical to drive. But take cover, the big elephant looms in the room.... Taking some preliminary measurements and observations: 1. The mounting holes on the bellhousing don't match up. 2. The throw out bearing collar surface looks like a smaller diameter (from memory). 3. Not sure if the input shaft is the right length. 4. The e-brake control is on the other side. 5. The Speedo cable needs to be longer. 6. And, finally, the driveshaft will need to be snipped a bit. Anybody ever do a mod like this in their truck? Not sure if I'm wanting to violate the backside of my flathead with a different transmission, I'd like to get some imput on the items listed above, and any others, from y'all. I like this option for OD better than a T-5 because I can keep the column shift, which I like. I had also looked into a Gear Vendors divorced mount unit, which would be easy to install and provide great performance, but they're cost prohibitive ($3k +).

Tom, Welcome to the site. There's lots of friendly folks here who have more than enough knowledge to help you out. Looks like you live out here in the Golden State...where 'bouts? As for the spark issue...check that the points are opening and their gap is within range, and also check to see if the coil is getting power on the negative side from the ignition switch. The old cloth covered wiring is easily shorted out with the age that it is. The Pilothouse knowledge section on the DPETCA site is another very useful page to check out: http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/know.htm

How 'bout using a small spring bottom oil can for this mix? Also, the small 3-in-1 oil cans might work well. I'll have to give this mix a try....Dextron for GM rusty bolts, Type F for Ford rusty bolts, and ATF+3 for Mopar bolts. This might have been a good thing to try on the door lock set screw!

Since we're dealing with flat glass here, I would consult a local automotive glass shop. If you have the originals, take them down there and have duplicates cut. Probably would be a lot cheaper than catalog ordering, and keeps your money local. I plan to do this when I replace the windshield. I want to get tempered glass instead of AS2 for the doors and wing vents, but not sure if tempered glass can be cut to shape in the shop.

A variation of bus driving from some of the locals in Oakland:

I think I can definitely make it. I'm moving up to the Bay Area in a couple weeks, so from there it will be about 300 miles less to drive at 50 mph!

I can't tell but I would guess they put the head aft of the rear wheel. In either case, you probably wouldn't want to use it while the vehicle is stopped on a public street. Just like the trains in Italy - they say don't flush at the station.