Dan Hiebert

Just bought a shiny new 2019 RAM 1500 a couple months ago. There is not hide nor hair (I know...double negative...) of "Dodge" anywhere on, in, or around the vehicle, although it does still tout "Mopar" in various places. As Merle and JB noted, a conscious decision to separate the truck line from the car line after Fiat took over. No one around here calls them RAM trucks, though. We still call it a Dodge Ram or just a Dodge, I called it such during the purchase process, too - no one at the long-time Dodge truck dealer even batted an eye.

Those clips are still out there. Here in the U.S. many auto parts stores have a "help" section with seemingly random small parts. The manual doesn't have a diagram, but it calls those parts "spring locks", but I've seen them called retaining clips as well. That would be in a blister pack with others of varying sizes. Also, many hardware stores will have isles of varying fasteners, and fastener specific businesses (i.e. Fastenal) will have them as well. I found some several years ago in a general hardware store (can't remember the name right now) in North Tonawanda, NY, but I had to search through two big isles.

I have a NAPA Commercial #7244 in our D24. 785 amps with 640 CCA. I prefer higher CCA as well, I seem to be moving into colder and colder climates. NAPA's commercial warranty is as Dave72dt cited. Although NAPA was the only place here with a 6v battery in stock, I'm still pleased with it. It was about $77 if I remember correctly, pretty much the average price if I had ordered one from one of the other shops (O'Reilly & Advance Auto), but those had less CCA. Tractor supply supposedly has 6v batteries, but the TSC here is a smaller one and never has any in stock. I wouldn't be opposed to an Optima red top, but at over $200 I'm not convinced it's necessary...yet.

Happy New Year to everyone! Started the year off right by moving the 12" of fresh snow we got this morning. We actually stayed up past midnight New Year's Eve for the first time in probably 15 years or so, and this morning I remembered why I don't like staying up late very much any more. I hope everyone has a good 2019!

I've had monkey twice. First time was when I was in the Army. I was in Panama back when the U.S. had the jungle operations school there, predating Op: Just Cause. Kids selling BBQ meat on a stick that turned out to be monkey. That time I knew what it was, and being the Sergeant, I was naturally "obligated" to try it first. We had just completed the JOTC school, so it was certainly better that the bugs, roots, and snakes we had been eating, but I didn't think I'd eat it again unless I had too. The monkeys were a PIA there anyway, but I doubt we ate the ones that were harassing us in the jungle. Then I had some monkey stew when I was in Bolivia with the Border Patrol on a DEA assignment. I didn't realize it at first. We were on a patrol with the locals in the Chapare Valley, and the Alcalde from a small village out in the jungle invited us to dinner. "Hearts and minds" stuff, so we couldn't turn him down. Discovered there was monkey in the stew when a couple of their little heads bobbed up when the cook stirred the pot. They treat their monkey stew like a squirrel stew aficionado - gotta include the heads. A little disconcerting at first because they initially looked like little human heads. The locals considered it quite a delicacy, and that we should be honored to partake. There was enough other stuff in it to make it OK, but it was still gamey, nothing a good dose of Tabasco didn't cure. I also recall that the bananas in Panama were OK, but the ones in Bolivia were awful. Sorry for the long post, the thread got me reminiscing...

I'll reiterate that $15 for the proper flexible section is quite inexpensive, and well spent. I installed one from A. Bernbaum going on 25 years ago, holding up very well, no problems at all

...so...he wasn't off on the factoid, because it was actually a...factoid... I used "factoid" as a small point of information, as opposed to a "false fact". Apologies, live and learn...

He's a tad off on one of his factoids, the first American all steel station wagon was the '48 Willys. I've watched a few episodes of his Garage shows, he often gets little things incorrect, but I'm more thrilled that I know a couple things than annoyed that someone gets something wrong, I've certainly spouted a few erroneous things on occasion, besides, I haven't met anyone that uses "Because Jay Leno sez so" as an argument. Fun show to watch on occasion, more power to him that he has the resources and chooses the old car hobby, he rescues a lot of cars I would never be able to. He has employees to do a lot of the work, but he busts his own knuckles, too.

Auto focus worked, it was just focusing on those tree limbs nearer to you. I have a Nikon D3300, when I need to change where it is focused because of something closer it thinks I'm filming, I have to move it away from the focused object past what I really want, then back, until the camera IDs what I'm really wanting to film. Gorgeous scenery there, must be a struggle to get up in the morning to look out on those views... We're just the opposite here on the other side of the continent, we just had the coldest November on record, although it's warm (40's) and raining today. Back into "normal" Sunday, which is Ok by me, I like the cold and snow as much as the warm and green in the summer. Thanks for posting the photos and video!

Several folks have installed rack & pinion steering from a Volare (years unknown) with very good results. I'd never heard of using a Vega steering box until this thread. My concern would be whether a steering box designed for a compact car is robust enough for our big cars, although they don't weigh as much as one would think, but the geometry is quite different. As for rebuilding the existing steering box, the kits you can readily get are only seals and bushings, no sector shaft or worm gear & shaft. If your sector and worm gears are worn, they have to be either replaced, or I believe rebuilders can be found. If the sector shaft seals & bushings were run bad for too long, they'll wear the shaft down to the point where new seals/bushings just won't work. Getting those parts can be problematic, when I rebuilt the steering box in our D24 in 2014, there was one (1!) NOS sector shaft available in the Nation (at the time), and I lucked out getting that one because I made a phone call, vs. anything online. And there were only a few worm gears w/ shafts available. The decision point for me would be how much having the original rebuilt would cost over finding NOS parts, in my case, since I did the labor myself, finding NOS was less expensive. I knew rebuilders were available, but their quotes for both cost and time were way too high for my taste. All that being said, restoring an original steering box is still just that, restoration of the car's original steering, which isn't all that stellar in the first place.

Most, if not all, of the outfits that sell that have the info you seek. I bought some for our D24 from Andy Bernbaum. Just had to tell them what vehicle I needed the channels for, and whether I wanted beaded (shiny trim) or not. It's a rather standardized part, primary difference between applications is how it is mounted.

Very nice, that is thoroughly awesome! I've got a friend that does stained glass, that gives me all sorts of ideas. Luckily, he's relatively easy to convince on new projects, just needs the idea, a couple beers, and maybe an "I bet you can't do it"...if he balks a little.

I imagine you've already researched travel accommodations, but I'd echo that you'll get what you pay for. Our daughter and son-in-law took Amtrak from Albuquerque, NM to Portland, ME in the fall. They travelled on a package deal that got them basically a small room to themselves and meals. They loved the trip. My brother and I travelled by Amtrak from Laredo, TX to St. Louis, MO in the early '70's on cut-rate fares, just had bench seats and had to buy meals separately in the dining car, the scenery made the three day trip quite tolerable even for a couple of 12 year olds. Remember that the railroad routes were there first, you'll see scenery that you'll never see by car. Their schedules are almost always messed up due to the aforementioned railroad priorities. You do have to be careful with valuables, trains are still relatively inexpensive ways to go a long way if one isn't in a hurry, my former agency inspected the Lakeshore Limited and Empire Builder (In PA and NY) on a regular basis, there were occasionally some pretty nasty folks and conditions on the low fare cars.

That would be a fine snow-plow in northern Maine, too. It's short for good maneuverability, and an airplane tug should have good weight, but it'd still need chain. I echo Uncle Pekka's sentiment, it has a construction blade on it, would need a much higher blade to work well here, typical good snow day is 12-18 inches, bad ones are 18-24. We've already got two feet on the ground this year. Uber cold and windy here, too. I don't currently have a tractor or riding plow, but I've used my neighbor's without a cab in the winter - the clothing is easy (for here), and I just wear my snowmobile helmet. Looks goofy as all get-out, but works quite well.

A well done black paint-job will look awesome cruising up and down Woodward during the Dream Cruise. You'll only "have to" keep it clean for that event, when you cruise your local Big Boy, or go on a date - because you'll be attracting some attention... (When we lived in Port Huron, MI, I noticed that every single Big Boy restaurant had a cruise night, coordinated so adjacent ones didn't have their cruise on the same night. You could cruise a Big Boy somewhere every night of the week. We left in 2008, I assume - rather hope - they're still doing those. Lots of fun.)

...the silver lining, from lots of practice? We need those road crews here in northern Maine - we don't get serious earthquakes, but we get frost heaves that'll surprise you and get you some air time in the winter, then either smooth out, or open up to eat your car come spring. Maine DOT can't seem to keep up with them. I imagine that, like Alaska, the roads here can be awful. If you'uns happen to drive in any of the far northern states and see an often hand made sign that sez "frost heave"...it's not a Burma Shave slogan - slow down. DOT will post them, too, but the ones with the hand made signs usually have divots from an undercarriage or two across the top. Road crews can't/won't do anything with them in the winter unless they're really bad, but then can't find them again once they thaw out. Folks like the onset of winter because the snow and ice gives us a smoother ride into March.

Although I ended up in the Army, I think I knew the Marine Corps hymn before I knew the Star Spangled Banner. I remember singing it with much more enthusiasm than talent, walking down the streets of Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood when I was 8 or 9. I imagine the neighbors thought me an odd lad.

I would vote for a combination of approaches to a "start from scratch" interior. Upholstery is not as difficult as some make it out to be, just takes patience, the less skill/experience you have, the more patience you need. Don't take any shortcuts, either. I did the interior on our D24 with zippo knowledge or experience, and it came out nicely, although now at 27 years old it's starting to show its age (again). And I did the interior of our daughter's Falcon several years ago, and the seats in my Beetle this last spring. I've tried mightily, but I can't sew a straight line worth a hoot. For the D24 we got a local (El Paso, TX at the time) upholstery shop to make the kits for us, but I've seen them available commercially as well, but we couldn't afford them at the time. For the Falcon I used commercially available interior kits (at the time we lived only 10 miles from a major antique auto / Ford shop in Lockport, NY). For the Beetle we still had good covers, the guts were just all shot, so I "restuffed" them with commercially available pads and cushions. But - I still don't care for doing the upholstery / interiors, can't put a finger on why, I just don't. But I like the results, and satisfaction of doing it myself enough to keep doing them. I still have to do our Terraplane in the next year or so, and will probably redo the D24 eventually...besides whatever else may creep into our shop...

Somewhat surprised that it is 1300 on the east coast already, and no one has chimed in on Veterans' Day as of yet. I was up early for it last year and was already beat to the punch. 'Cause it's a Sunday, maybe? No biggie, just curious. So, from one Veteran to all of you'uns who served, happy Veterans' Day! Thank you for your service, I'm forever proud to count myself among you.

You're correct, it would have originally been intended for industrial use. Military used a different block number and hardly any, if any, straight 8 engines. The occasional staff car was an exception, but those officers also usually purchased their own staff car. There have been a few Forum members who used an industrial 6 cylinder, (usually from a fork-lift, although I've seen Chrysler industrial engines on oil and water pumps, too) in their cars or trucks. An industrial 8 cylinder would not be rare, depends on what it's needed for. I've heard that some industrial engines are set up to run counter-clockwise depending on their application.

I did indeed. And turned in the wife's absentee ballot, too, since she is in NJ this week. I echo Plymouthy Adams' sentiment, and even told the Town Manager and her assistant (that's who administers the voting in the small townships here) the same in a room full of people...but with a tad more tact, they're nice ladies.

That's bizarre, but not surprising for NJ. We bank with KeyBank, no charge for coinage, at least not here in Maine.

The contact patch on the ground you are asking about will not make the car squirrely with narrower radial tires. You'll actually get a hair better gas mileage (less contact = less friction) and better traction on wet surfaces. Wider tires are better for traction on dry surfaces, and the slow speed maneuvering will suffer a tad. But in the long run, you probably won't notice enough difference between the two to overcome whichever style you prefer the look of.

Someone is bound to have a better photo than this. This was to show what kind of air cleaner I have on the D24, but it also shows the builder's tag location above the firewall beltline in front of the driver's position, just right of top center in this photo. Neither of the tags on our car have any red left, they are the silver/gray tags. The builder's tag has a shadow from the photo flash diagonally across it.

I hate to see any of those cars trashed like that... Granted, the cop cars weren't even close to "old" when this was made, but who wouldn't like to have one now-a-days (brand loyalties aside...). Amazing how the "bad guy" stayed in that seat through the whole chase...