JBNeal

This and a few other fellas could get a nice posse put together

Make no mistake, I've paid my share in the Learning Tax (although I refer to it with more colorful terminology in private, such as D-A Penalty). This is all accumulated knowledge from decades of engineering experience in R&D, construction and medium- to heavy-manufacturing, something that gets know-it-alls all riled up when I talk circles around them or use their own words to point out their mistakes. Those sectors of the economy are prone to all kinds of delays, roadblocks, cost overruns, technology deficiencies, and mission creep. I once had a much delayed project finally leave the shipping dock only to be held up in customs by Hurricane Katrina, and our European customers could not wrap their purty li'l heads around how big a problem that "little storm" was...anyways, it sounds like ya might need to take a field trip to give them fellas a good talkin-to, or at least arrange for a local proxy with some project knowledge to act as your agent to get that show on the road. As for project management, it's imperative to define the scope of work, timeline for completion, financial budget limits and incentives, and in this case, arrangement for return of property. If ya haven't done so, ya might need to invest in what we refer to as Bunn's Bible: https://www.amazon.com/Dodge-Trucks-Restorers-Collectors-Reference/dp/1583880879 Don Bunn published several books regarding the Pilot-House trucks. Some of the minor details have been called into question over the years, but they are chock full of information that can be relied upon as being accurately published. additional information - Pilot-House Knowledge

I am not sure your strategy so far will net the results that you are looking for...getting work done remotely has the biggest pitfall of not being able to follow-up on progress in person, then ya get put over a barrel with an open ended project and a lack of knowledge about the project, then ya shoot yourself in the foot by informing the first shop that you are changing to another shop without a concrete idea of just where they are in their build progress, which de-incentivizes them to do any quality work if they know the revenue stream has dried up. Without straying too far OT, one of my projects that I scooped up years ago was someone else's build who hired a retired mechanic to fix up this old truck he'd found on Craigslist, mechanic completely tore it apart, stripped all paint, coronary, pushing up daisies, widow told owner to come get the piles of parts or it was all going to scrap...and this was a driving truck that needed new paint and an engine overhaul, not a basket case. So much stuff was missing that it is just a donor now for another project. Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to pay them to assemble it just so you can have some comparison with pictures you have. If things are missing or not working any longer, deduct from the final tally. Unless these guys are boy scouts, ya cannot rely on their honor to return your project intact, as I think they saw ya coming when they took the key from ya and whatever $$$ ya gave'm to get started. These kinds of projects need timelines to follow so that delays can be dealt with and $$$ dispensed when certain accomplishments are made, with some kind of escape clause to deal with roadblocks or budget overruns or unwillingness to complete the project in a timely manner. I know this is not welcome news, but you will have to tread carefully and prudently in order to recoup a substantial portion of your investment. This is a business transaction and it needs to be dealt with in a business like manner, as these guys you have been dealing with have you at a disadvantage and they know it. One way to look at paying too much for something like this is to accept the overage as a Learning Tax...ya learned something, it cost something, ya try not to repeat the events that led to the tax being levied, and move forward...

It's my understanding that the 8-bolt crank was employed to deal with the resisting torque of fluid drive couplings. I'm guessing that if the 4-bolt and 8-bolt flanges have identical geometry, then additional holes cold be machined...not something I would try with a handheld drill. I was also under the impression that the 8-hole pattern was not symmetrical, so there's that detail to verify. I think the flywheels are interchangeable, but there must have been a good reason why Chrysler upgraded to to 8-bolt crank for the flathead torque monsters... ?

additional information - Wix 15480 gasket

That underperforming shock absorber might be OK since it's motion probably will not be as great when installed as previously discussed. With the heavier chassis acting on it in a less articulated fashion, it'll probably do what you paid for it to do. A little budget saving tip: if ya can wait til Labor Day to pull the trigger, there might be a tire sale around or some other discount available.

? In this case, I remember taking pictures of this area and looked through My Attachments to find the thread where I had posted them. I probably would not have found them using the search function since I didn't identify them other then calling them "rubber". The detail stuff gets tricky to locate online if'n the same terminology isn't used by all parties concerned...but it's fun to look around, I've found all kinds of stuff that got me motivated to do side projects like finding shock absorber part numbers and replacing glovebox springs

additional information - fender cowl rubber filler

additional information - shock absorber priming

Looking at some of the filling station body repair done on several of my clunkers, these fenders are plenty thick to learn how to braze with O-A torch and wire coat hangers...I have a rear fender that looks like it was repaired by a somewhat disciplined gorilla, and another that looks to have been massaged by a veteran craftsman, both can still be polished as there was no burn through.

The short answer is that when it comes to restoring an old Dodge, the finish line is wherever you want it to be as there always seems to be some detail that needs addressing or some performance improvement that can be made. This is a nice looking truck ya got there, but I can spot probably a dozen things that are not original or incomplete about the work that has been done, such as the incorrect hood ornament, the incorrect steering wheel, and whatever that contraption is on the dash. Another practical issue to deal with is insurance for this truck, as that might dictate usage especially in a revenue producing venture. Bottom line: it's your dime on your truck, spend however much you feel comfortable with, but do not be surprised that if you try to flip this buggy for profit that ya might not have many viable bidders as these Dodges don't seem to draw the big spenders like shiny gm or frds

Lash the disabled truck to a pole or another vehicle, drive the tow truck + trailer slowly out from underneath the disabled truck with ramps dragging on the ground...be ready with some chocks to slow any wayward runaways.

Remove only the loose stuff in the water jacket for now as you'll never be able to get it spotless in there...scrape out what ya can and leave the heavy scale, odds are it'll stay put for a long time. The water distribution tube should probably be examined thoroughly, at a minimum a hook fabricated to probe each tube outlet. If the tube is solid without any obvious signs of deterioration, then ya might can get by without yanking it out...but don’t be surprised if it sounds a little crunchy around #6.

Your sump sludge could be anything, as long as ya don't eat it or rub it in your eye, it ain't much to worry about. I pulled enough out of my '49 that it was as big as a softball...my guess was that West Texas dust drifted in thru the porous draft tube setup, combined with steam vapors and lingering hydrocarbon mist, to accumulate over time to leave that treasure for me to experience That much crud in the water jacket does not surprise me...a wire coat hanger to snake out the crud while flushing with a garden hose is your next tool to fabricate

How does the fram C-3 and NAPA 1010 compare dimensionally? When I switched from C-3 to Wix 51010, dimensionally they were very close and were interchangeable. There might be an issue with your filter housing.

Ahhhh the West Texas take-it-or-leave-it business attitude...I've experienced this many times from the Pecos to the Canadian...truthfully, that is probably the best he can do cuz he's got a case of the don't-wanna-try, summertime variant. Caravans are quite easy as 4 wheel alignments go, just like you say, plenty of adjustment. His struts will come with a 100% markup from probably the same place you got yours, so his assertions about strut quality are dubious. But that task is done, your tires and brakes will wear better and you'll have much better stability and ride. I concur with cleaning contacts and applying dielectric grease. I don't believe the connectors had them originally but this'll displace moisture and air, reducing any corrosion greatly. I've had enough stuff vibrate loose on the QuadCab and other equipment that I regularly check connectors like this to re-torque. Example: QuadCab AC went out a year after I replaced the compressor, compressor line connection gasket was found to be leaking by AC tech. We had a brief discussion and they let me bring the truck back after I did the work at home as they were swamped...turns out, the bolt holding the line in was loose, I replaced gasket anyway, they recharged system without issue and only charged me for the refrigerant...a year later, sure enough that bolt was getting loose so I re-torqued, as did the year after that...saved a few bucks and sweaty rides into town that way ?

additional information - Pilot-House fluid drive general dimensions

I generally steer clear of other's projects because I've seen too many corners cut by guys wanting to flip for profit. Anything beyond stock makes me wonder what little surprises are hiding like little time bombs. Caveat Emptor ?

additional information - oil filters

From my understanding of various pieces of sales literature and Bunn's books, Dodge truck salesmen were trained on selling to a customer's needs to maximize the customer's budget, which has become a lost art over time IMO, when sales are commission based and selling the most bells and whistles increases resale value blahblahblah which completely dismisses the importance of capital costs. This was the Dodge marketing approach as ford + gm dominated truck market share and salesmen had to chip away at that brand loyalty with whatever they could, from features to styling to utility...if a salesman could sell 11 Dodge trucks to a fleet manager for the same price the competition was offering for only 10, with the Dodge advantage of having only the options the fleet manager wanted, then the Dodge sale wins with rolling advertising in the streets to boot, cuz everybody knows 11 is 1 better than 10 Job-Rated was not only a marketing approach that was used for multiple model configurations, it was how the '39-'47 models were described, and it was on trim pieces from '51-'56. So Job-Rated could be used in some form for Dodge Trucks from 1939 through 1956. As for the term Pilot-House, I believe that this term was first used in marketing literature from 1948 model year, such as shown, referring to the new cab design that increased operator visibility forward and aft, which was used from '48-53. Even though the '54-early '55 cabs were similar, they were not referred to as Pilot-House trucks. additional information - 1948 Dodge Advertising Poster Confused? You're not the only one...yet another layer of confusion is what was happening with build cards. Without straying too far off topic, build cards for model years 1948-1953 varied year to year, which is the big reason why this important document for an owner cannot be readily deciphered with some kind of on-line database. So not only was marketing all over the map with model names, but manufacturing was "evolving" as to how they specified what they were cranking out of the assembly lines...even the leaping ram hood ornament changed part numbers when it went from being standard equipment to an option but the casting number was apparently unchanged When this website went through some changes a few years ago, I asked about correcting references on the main page and to the subheading to these trucks to reflect this original literature hyphenated nomenclature, which jived with the website's original address of pilot-house.com but that sorta hasn't happened yet. It's a minor thing but a unified approach to recalling historical documents helps avoid confusion. And apparently some identity confusion is part of Dodge Truck DNA to this day. It's been over 10 yrs since mgmt decided to call Dodge Truck the RAM brand for dubious marketing budgetary reasons. But local advertisers call them "Dodge Trucks", reporters call them "Dodge Trucks", parts dealers call them "Dodge Trucks", even the official Dodge new vehicle website has a link for Dodge Ram Trucks in their Vehicles drop-down menu

I concur on the input shaft bushing and bearing wear...I had a Dakota 5spd that had a very similar vibration, but without any FD coupling. I could feather the clutch to get the vibration to go away at low rpms when in stop'n'go traffic, and it would disappear while on the highway. My thinking was that engine braking would help to force the input shaft to re-center itself, temporarily eliminating the vibration. With the longer FD input shaft, bushing and bearing wear that cause vibrations can be more pronounced. The droning noise also can be indicative of a worn bearing. Engine balancing issues would be repeatable at noted rpms as the only parts that could vary would be timing chain related, but that would produce a different sound as well as engine performance issues. The engine to transmission engagement is an area where there are several moving parts that need proper alignment for vibration-free operation. The variation here is the clutch, pressure plate and FD coupler, as anything out of tolerance will cause engagement issues. If there is a contact circle larger than the clutch diameter, that is indicative of a clutch that is sorta walking around in there as it is not staying centered.

additional information - flathead starter performance minor upgrade

I found two complete 6V wiper systems in parts trucks, one I had to liberate in a hurry cuz that truck was 3rd next in line for the crusher (long story)...in my area of rolling hills and sudden summertime downpours, the vacuum setup just doesn't cut it. I've refurbished one 6V system (write-up pending) and was able to correct its age related deficiencies. Two speeds on demand is very nice, and the only indication that I'm running elec.wipers is the lack of a vac.hose going through the firewall...I consider this a safety device so it's like spending $$$ on seat belts ??

If your steering gearbox is not properly adjusted, then steering can be a handful to keep that buggy between the ditches.

I've heard rumors that some outfit has available a vacuum to electric wiper motor conversion...?