Bobacuda

Who is using one, what brand, and where did you mount the GPS antennae? Are you happy with it?

ggdad1951 - Thanks for the info and fixing the photo. If I can’t find anyone selling a set, I’ll have to look at some way of making something similar. Bob

(photo rotated)

My ‘51 and ‘53 1/2 ton Dodge trucks both came with the long, “thin” mirror brackets - not the extendable type (see photo). Unfortunately, they were broken off of the ‘51. Both trucks were originally from the same, local dealership. Was this type of bracket a dealer option? Does any vendor sell them? I prefer them over the “industrial” looking brackets DCM sells.

This should be good for a laugh. The drain plug has been out for years, but the oil-muck was gooey enough to stay in. As you look At the crap the bottom of the pan, you can see where the sump was submerged. The sump is also pretty gummed up. Now, cosider the engine was upside down when I removed the pan.

Pulled the oil pan…yuck. About 3/4” of emulsified goo. The oil pump intake was submerged in it. Lots of cleanup required. Since the engine is “upside down, I pulled a rod cap. Some very light marks on crank - could not feel/scratch them with my fingernail. Pulled the inner two main caps. Once again, no scarring. Overall, the bearings need changing. And they are marked 020 on their backsides. I lubed and retorqued it all back. Next, I opened up the front end to check on the timing gears and chain. There is about 3/4 to a full inch of slack in the chain. Definitely going to be replaced. The big surprise for me was on the timing gears! They are Mother Mopar originals - stamped DPCD. Kind of hard to see in the photo. Time to start searching for parts.

Had time to pull the head today. Black soot, not greasy. Thinking it was run very rich before it went to the boneyard. One stuck valve, freed it up with PB Blaster. Cyl walls could use a dingle-ball hone. Slight ridge at top of cyinder. Pistons are stamped “060” when read from the valve side. Need to pull oil pan and see what the lower end looks like.

Found the 1 5/8 freeze plugs (Melling 14B) in stock on Rock Auto 😁

Ivan - The engine had not been in a truck or in use for at least 3 years. It is from a truck that was in a boneyard that was bought just for the body. The engine (longblock) was stored in a garage. It only took about 1.5 hrs to get the water distribution tube out, and it wasn’t rotted. I have other stuff to do before I will have time to pull the head and oil pan to assess the engine’s internals. If it all looks rebuildable, then it’s machine shop time. BTW, looking for brass concave freeze plugs to replace the steel ones. Everywhere I check says “not available.” Anyone have a good source,?

Moved the free engine for the ‘51 farm truck out of the shop to scrape, steel brush, degrease and pressure wash it. I think I removed enough crap to fill a 2 lb coffee can. I also removed the 5 freeze plugs - wow. The crud totally covered the 2 lower plugs - rust, calcium carbonate, and Stop Leak. On top of that, during the replacement of one of the lower plugs (photo attached) the mechanic knocked the old plug in the water jacket and left it. That one was a challenge to de-crud and get the ancient plug out. I dug a lot of crap out by hammering a screwdriver into it. Then I used the pressure washer. Took over an hour to finally get clear water with no chunks.

Another quick thought A friend of mine recently rebuilt an old tractor engine that had been rebuilt once before in the ‘60s. He said the rod caps were stamped with the oversized bearing required. That makes sense. Anyone else seen this?

I know pistons are stamped on top. Where are rod and mains stamped?

When I rebuild the ‘51 farm truck, I was hoping to find a rebuildable engine core. I got lucky. A man in Dallas gave me a ‘51 Dodge truck engine. It’s pretty much a “longblock” that can be turned over and probably has a few stuck valves. All he wanted for it was to get it out of his shop. So all it cost me was about a 10 hr round trip, but that gave me some quality time visiting with my son, since I talked him into driving.

My son was able to assist today, so with further assistance from a U-Haul trailer and my tractor to do the pushing and pulling, we got it loaded and hauled to the house. Of course, I took an awkward fall on my back, hurt like hell, so my son did everything but run the tractor.

Went by today to free the diff up. I had a half qt of auto trans fluid, so I topped that off with diesel - not enough. Used a funnel and began flooding the diff with diesel - took about another quart or two before it flowed back out the hole. Still frozen. I guess the 70 yr old gear grease had become a semi-solid. Finally, I used the U-Joint straps to clamp a 5’ cheater to the diff. Took all of my weight, but I finally worked it loose. Worked it back and forth till I could rotate it. Got it loose enough to tow. PITA. The tires came out of a barn, and they still hold air. Wow. I only need to tow it about a mile, so I will only put about 25lbs in them. Next, air and install tires, get some more stuff out of the way, then drag it where I can get the front on a tow dolly. I will get it in the open before I get a dolly. Maybe I should just buy a cheap tow bar. It would cost about the same as renting a dolly.

I think it is a factory accessory. All of them I have seen look like that. The “D” was added by the guy I just bought the truck from. Current plans are to use it when I rebuild the truck.

Here is a photo of the brush guard, IF the computer photo gods allow...

Got to spend some time with the truck. Got the bed and the cab emptied out. Disconnected the rear U-joint and tied up the driveshaft… and the diff does not turn. It’s going to get Chem Tool and diesel to loosen up the old gear grease. Found the license plates in the cab - last tagged in ‘79. And they threw in a grille guard - it was not on the truck when we owned it. Score! Getting closer.

8” of rain? I don’t think we have had that much rain total since December. Still drought conditions here. It was totally overcast for the eclipse. I’ll take the tractor and a rented tow dolley, hopefully within a week to get the truck - it’s only about a mile from my house. They have a lot of crap on the back of the truck and around it that has to be moved. The tractor will be good for that. The tractor also has a much better turning radius. On top of that, I have to go to a barn and move all of the stuff stacked on tbe tires. It’s going to be a treasure hunt, for sure.

While taking the photo of the block numbers, I noticed the starter is not not a “stomp” starter. And as my usual Mopar luck, there has been plenty of mods done to the wiring - looks like Silly String scattered about. For example, there is a 110 V female connector mounted in the dash by a purpose unknown switch. I need to get that Chevy done just to dig into this Dodge and get a good laugh.

Thanks for the detective work. Carb is open to the world, no oil in crankcase. Clutch is frozen, so no turning over. Since I still have to get it home, and I need to finally get my late FIL’s 54 Chevy wagon done, I’ll flood the engine with diesel+auto trans fluid to start dissolving stuff.

Not home yet. Got lots of crap in the bed, the cab and in the way to move. Once the crap is out of the bed, I need to go thigh there (wood all gone) to unbolt the driveshaft and tie it up. Pretty sure the clutch is fused to the pressure plate. Can’t get the shifter to move enough to get to neutral. Got to borrow a tow dolly, as well. The guy that sold it to me said nothing had been done since he parked it. I think his son and nephew disconnected stuff playing mechanic back in the day.

Throttle linkage on top of the head. D1 E1 (?) carb. Numbers on other side are hard to read.

The numbers on the side of the block, by the dipstick.

The tools used to remove the rear hubs