JBNeal

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additional information - flathead rebuilding

I reckon ya want to go with a sealant that stays somewhat flexible during heat cycling, which isn't exactly JB Weld's forte...also, JB Weld can be a bear to clean out if the welch plug starts to weep at a pinhole from corrosion. FWIW I installed several sets of Dorman steel plugs in dry bores, only one leaked from the center not on its perimeter, and that was over 10 yrs after installation...the sealant is good insurance on eroded bores, but if your bores are clean and robust, it may not be necessary but won't hurt

FYI the stamped lettering on the tailgate was standard up into the early 70s, when it went away and was replaced by a vinyl decal...

Maybe put some weight in the back to get the chassis to nose up a li'l bit and take it for a test drive to see if that changes any of the dynamics...

I regret not having taken pictures of the shafts and bores after disassembling to show some of the details I saw during my field testing analysis...when I say verry thin layer of grease was applied, I basically smeared on with one finger, then wiped off with a clean finger...this left a grease layer so thin that it almost did not look like there was any grease on the shafts or bores, but it was there. When I disassembled 10 yrs later, I took a white paper napkin and wiped down the shiny shafts and bores to see the original green grease residue on the paper...the surfaces felt slightly tacky, and the key and keyways were pristine, with faint line witness marks on the keys. There were some indications that the bores and tapers were slightly non-concentric from imperfections in the machining process...these shiny areas had practically no grease residue, so I assume that there was some interference in these areas and the grease was displaced. These interference areas would have effectively given the dry fit that is desired to protect the key from shear. This subtle lubrication trick was shown to me by a mechanic who worked on old stuff, and he mentioned that he learned it from older mechanics as well when he was dodging german bullets back in the 40s, back when they needed to keep their equipment not only running but be able to service it in the field and in a hurry, during nasty weather or while staying a few steps ahead of belligerent bohemians...so they learned all kinds of little tricks to reduce service requirements that transferred to civilian life

FWIW I put a verrry thin coat of grease on my tapers and hub bores, and when I pulled the drums off 10 yrs later for the 10k checkup, all I needed to do was rap the hub then the edge of the drum with a rubber mallet and them drums popped right off...not a lick of rust had formed on the taper or hub bore, and that's something for a truck that's been basically parked outside, so that grease did a fine job of displacing moisture

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I've checked the valves cold, .002" over the specs, as outlined in the Tech Tips, then once the engine is warmed up, checking while engine running usually puts the tappet right on...adjustment with Craftsman wrenches works OK but #5 and #6 are a challenge... It might not hurt to try to remove some of that buildup in the valve area to keep the oil from getting fouled up too quickly...might be overkill, but running some shop towel through there couldn't hurt...

Prior to self adjusting brakes, step bores were used to apply more brake pressure to the rearward shoes so the shoes would wear more evenly...no modifications are required to the shoes if changing over to straight bore...not sure why shoes need to be modified, they either fit or don't fit, unless there's some sort of issue with lockup on a particular modification but alotta custom guys are more bs artist than technical wizard so who knows what the motivation is there...

the later cab pivots moved from centered below to the corners of the windshield panes, making the linkages longer...also, the angle sweep and orientation changed with the relocation...so just making longer linkages required some 4-bar linkage math that I am super rusty on, but VOÍLA eBay gold mine produced once again...just gotta dig on there awhile and be real patient sometimes

I can verify that the Pilot-House electric and vacuum wiper motors and linkages cannot be mixed...different motor arms, pivot arms, linkage geometry, and the vacuum pivots have their linkages riveted whereas the electric pivots are attached with a clip. I tried to make a B-3 parts truck electric setup fit into my '49 over 10 yrs ago, and after a lot of finagling, a B-1 electric setup popped up on eBay for 20 bucks and my experiment was over... Seeing that big wingnut on the spare tire carrier made me wonder how it kept from falling off, and I was reminded of the original thread locker: rust. I figured a fix is to cross drill the hanger bolt for a cotter pin, click pin, mechanics wire, rusty bent 8d nail...

I don't have a picture handy to illustrate my concerns, but I see 2 problems here. The bearing cap should seat firmly to the yoke bore with a tight fight, practically no clearance. The width of the u-joint appears correct in the driveshaft yoke (tho that one snap ring isn't fully seated), but the width appears a little off in the pinion yoke, as the bearing cap should fit tightly against the inside of the yoke tab, not on top of it. The Precision 369 specs are listed in that link to verify against the parts you have. The front and rear u-joints should be identical on the stock driveline setup...a word of caution is to verify part specifications as I have acquired mis-boxed u-joints in the past, which is a whole other headache...

Still curious about that u-joint part #...the bearing caps are supposed to fit tight against the pinion yoke, and the u-bolt keeps the caps from popping out, so that driveshaft torque is transferred through the u-joint into the pinion yoke...that last pic kinda looks like the bearing cap OD and the yoke bore are not within clearance specs, but maybe it's just the shadowing of the lights...

Flip over to the rear axle section of the shop manual for more information on how to service that full-floating axle...eventually you will need an axle nut socket and a flashlight

From my research of other axle swaps, the ideal for the flathead is 3.73, as 3.55 is great on the highway but the flathead struggles off the line at low speeds...3.90 should give ya better highway speeds, but around 65 the flathead may seem to start hollering a li'l bit tho it can handle it...I drove 65 my 4.1 on a few occasions and the flathead could do it, it just didn't get in any hurry to do it nor did it seem like it wanted to do it for long...ya might want to examine those rear axles closely before liquidating inventory, I've seen ring gears get cracked and them things do not grow on trees

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OK I see now that the driveshaft yoke is on the floor and that the differential yoke is not so the perspective makes that u-joint look small...btw what part number is that u-joint? I took a break from the hunnert degree heat to enjoy some air conditioned Wanted Dead or Alive and did some digging on the internets to pull up a few part numbers. The u-joint part number listed in the factory parts manual is 1321115, which appears to be a common Spicer 1310 style used in everything from later Pilot-House trucks to later Vipers. Precision 369 appears to be a valid part number with dimensions that match the parts I have on my Frankenstein project. The u-joint u-bolt is listed as Mopar 1122683, and the corresponding Spicer 1310 u-bolt appears to be: Spicer 2-94-28X Neapco 1-0089 Yukon YY-UB-002 Allstar ALL69015

With the rear axle at neutral position with no load on the axle nor hanging by the leaf springs, the end of the driveshaft spline should be about halfway into the sliding yoke at the transmission...when the rear axle is dangling in the air, that sliding yoke should be up against the driveshaft as pictured...when the rear axle is loaded to the bump stops, the sliding yoke should have about 1.5x to 2x the spline diameter engaged... The u-joint is held onto the yoke with u-bolts...might be able to get new ones at a good parts house or maybe a forum member has some sitting in an old mayo jar in their garage...

I found that pressure bleeding is best done between 15-20 psig...below doesn't provide enough oomph to force the air bubbles out, above that seems like overkill that could damage the weakest component in the circuit... Something seems off on your u-joint setup, like the u-joint doesn't match the pinion flange width or cup seat radius...my B-4-B-116 has a u-joint cross length of under 3-1/2" and a cup diameter over 7/8"...

I'm a little rusty on this but as I recall, the generator and voltage regulator need to be matched as they are working together to maintain the battery...if your generator output is greater than the regulator can handle, that's a recipe for letting some smoke out...check the technical information provided with the regulators to verify if it will work with your generator output...

The risk of removing material from a drum is twofold: these drums have been out of production for decades, so great care has to be exercised to keep them usable...too much material removed from the drum might not be seen from a performance standpoint with new shoes, but as those shoes wear, the wheel cylinder pistons may travel too far in the bore and may get jammed or blow out, causing total brake failure from the ensuing brake fluid loss ? These are not self adjusting brakes, so every 5-10k miles, the brakes have to be measured and adjusted, which is a tedious task but necessary to optimize braking performance. With brake shoe wear, the distance between the shoes and the drums grows, increasing brake engagement time which ultimately lengthens braking distance. A few years ago, I replaced some suspension parts on The Blue Bomber, which amplified the vibration in the rear rotors...when I had them turned, they were under the min.thickness, but I had new brake pads so I ran those old rotors for another 30k without any problems...probably could have put another 10k on them, but had a break in my schedule and replaced them rotors which had 200k on them at that point...this budgetary approach to brake maintenance is kinda in between the lines in the shop manual for our old one tons, with the listing of only the gap between the shoes and the drum and not the maximum diameter

I looked at the brake service chapter and there wasn't a maximum allowable diameter listed that I could find, but pages were spent detailing how to bond new brake material to shoes...these brakes are set with a gauge that is used after measuring the drum, which is detailed in the shop manual... additional information - brake service

It's your dime so you make the call... for starters, the steering sounds like it needs adjusting, leaf spring bushings and shocks are probably shot too...that Dakota could be a good frame swap but it is A LOT of work that will take up a lot of space and time, which can also be said for a restoration...I have done mechanical restorations that allowed me to drive my old buggies for more than 10 yrs...several guys have made modifications to their existing powertrains to make daily drivers, such as front disk brakes and 3.73 rear axle (optimum for the original flathead), radial tires too...IMO the novelty of the 6V flathead 6 has its own WOW factor, but a daily driver is nice too, if there are not too many knucklehead uninsured drivers bouncing between the ditches...bottom line, the best approach is to plan ahead and proceed methodically, as tearing everything apart in fits and starts leads to loss of interest and unflattering yard art that causes friction with ppl within spittin' distance