JBNeal

I ran into a similar problem a few weeks ago...basically ya have to try to do a search for the target information as those old links are broken...

I took a closer look at The Money Pit with less fuzzy vision and should clarify the washer usage: The front top mount has a shoulder big enough to seat the rubber bushing, so a washer is only needed under the hex nut. The front lower mount needs washers on both sides of the rubber bushing. The rear top mount also needs washers on both sides of the rubber bushing. The rear lower mount has a shoulder big enough to seat the rubber bushing, so a washer is only needed under the hex nut. So a total of 12 washers are needed for the 4 shocks

is this Salesman's Model Book the same as what you have? http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/salesmans_models/imgcol/index.htm

those tiger tools are pricey but the proof is in the pudding...I have several projects looming that this might be a good investment, definitely a time saver and reduces chances of tearing up hard to replace parts ?

additional information - help for hard to start after being parked

this fitting looks close enough that I'll get a few shipped to the house to try out... https://www.mcmaster.com/50815k103

When I started fixing up my '48 1/2 ton back in the 80s, I had trouble with engine parts fitting because the reality was that somewhere along the way, my great-grandfather's truck's original 218 was replaced with a '55 Plymouth 230...then Al Gore invented the internet and I was able to do some research to figure out what was going on with the flathead in this not-so-original flathead. I don't know if the rebuilder did this or the mechanic who installed the engine in the truck, but the 230 has an internal thermostat bypass with the external bypass thermostat housing installed...my guess is that a crated rebuild was installed in the truck, and whatever bolt-on parts were missing from the rebuild were stripped off of the original and slapped on the rebuild...though this 230 also has a Plymouth exhaust manifold...at any rate, I think corn liquor was involved somewhere along the way

I was looking at the specs for the Monroe 34803 and Gabriel 61500 shocks and am curious if ya had any trouble installing these replacements as they list 5/8" inside diameter bushings, and the B3s have 11/16" diameter studs...also, looking at the specs for the Monroe 66858 and Gabriel 82065, it looks like the 34803 might be over 1" too long on the retracted length, and the 61500 might be almost 1/2" too long, so ya might bottom the shocks out if ya hit a dip too hot...but I reckon the bigger issue is how them shocks mount on your studs, I'm not sure if there is any difference between American and Canadian models, but the shock bushing should mount tight enough on the studs to not slop around but not too tight or the bushing will tear up from too much compression + torsion from the shock hoop and mount stud, kinda like an Indian burn on your arm...

additional information - Shock Absorber Replacement

one of the interesting pieces of information I found doing the shock absorber research was that the mounting guide for the Gabriel 82605 listed the bushing free length of 1.72" and compressed bushing width of 1.55"...so that's the target width to figure on the mounting studs...each of the trucks I have with shocks in the yard have the shock bushing sandwiched between flat washers and 1-3 threads showing on the mounting studs...I didn't have a caliper to measure but the washers on the trucks looked a shade thinner than a beefy hardware store flatwasher...

I have a couple of frames with similar damage, both came from farming areas near the coast so there was plenty of clay mud that would deposit in the frame and not get rinsed out...one frame is so eat up with rust holes that it's destined for the scrap heap, the other may be salvaged as the rusty areas could be patched...

I've worked with several engineers who didn't care about details, they only were interested in big picture stuff, and when their work would hit the production area, I would eventually get the call to fix their screwups, getting an earful from production at the same time...management allowed this reactive approach to continue because they were under pressure from sales dept + upper mgmt to get product out for invoicing, so it was a challenge to be proactive with limited resources and even less talent to work with... and there was always the cost associated with fixing designs and documentation...one of the OEMs I worked for sold a kit that could be installed at the factory or out in the field, and a typo on a part # on the material list included 2 machine screws that were not needed...bottom line, to remove those 2 screws (that cost pennies) from the list, would cost the company about $500, whereas if they kept issuing those useless screws for every order cost about $25 annually...I lost track of how many instances where I would be tracking down problems like this, finding solutions to the problem, doing a cost analysis of the fix vs status quo, having the paperwork ready to go just in case the fix was green lit, and being told by mgmt to put the change on hold indefinitely due to costs...there would be the rare occasion that I would be told that some of my work would see the light of day on the next redesign, that was the only way mgmt could justify the expense

I believe you need an external bypass water neck for the head and a bypass elbow for the water pump so the pump will run more efficiently when the thermostat closes...the newer pumps should have tapped holes for a flanged elbow and an NPT port that is plugged on the top of the pump when it is mounted on the engine block which is shown in the cooling system diagram

Nicely done...though I wonder if ya might could use something to suspend them spark plug wires over the ignition coil to keep them from flopping around too much...I saw a guy use a couple of modified afro picks he snagged at the store for pennies, mounted between the coil and the block; he would later admit to replacing them with something he found in a JEGS catalog

well shucks ya haven't mastered the art of starting a flathead from inside the engine compartment yet...safety first, so take your time, make sure your brake is set and the transmission is in neutral, key on...I made a temporary linkage to the spare hole in the carb throttle bellcrank out of some rod, though a stiff wire like a coat hanger can work...from the driver side, I can grab the starter arm to engage the starter motor, shoot some ether in the carb, and pump the throttle as required...it's kinda requires some athleticism and good hand-eye coordination but I've done this plenty of times, on a few occasions to win a friendly wager for a free lunch from doubting whippersnappers

The newer style water pumps will accommodate both internal bypass and external bypass blocks as they have the bypass hole in the pump casting and back plate. With external bypass blocks, this pump bypass hole is blocked off by the engine block and sealed with the water pump gasket. The newer style pump should not have any performance difference in warmup nor overall performance as the pump design is based on the original external and internal bypass designs...if anything, the newer pumps (if built well) should be maintenance free as late model pumps are since they use coolant as a bearing lubricant instead of water pump grease

I recently replaced battery cables on my neighbors 40yr old red tractor, and that brought the thing back to life as the starter really spun at startup better than it had in decades...this repair was completed after the tractor ate 2 new 12V batteries in 6 months...so a strong 12V battery should work if the starter cables are in good enough shape...I do not have an rpm value to give for you to compare as I judge a starter's speed by ear, after years of fiddling with engines I can tell if a starter motor is cranking well or is laboring... Many times I have used starting fluid as described when I can tell the engine wants to start, especially if I'm getting smoke outta the tailpipe...I generally don't like to rely on starting fluid but when used sparingly to get over the hump, it works well and reduces wear on engine components from prolonged cranking...

What is a universal carb? I have found that when I do initial startup on a rebuilt engine, the starter needs to crank as fast as possible so ignition can commence...this means hooking a battery charger (preferably with a boost setting) up to a fully charged battery so the starter has plenty of oomph...in a few cases where engines were being ornery, the battery was switched to a high capacity tractor battery or even a 12V battery on a 6V system (with the charging circuit disconnected). This higher cranking speed also helped build oil pressure so that engine lubrication would be slightly improved during starting. Though it is frowned upon by some (for good reason), I also have a can of starting fluid to shoot a 1 second burst into the carb throat after 15 seconds of cranking...typically I limit cranking to 60 seconds, then take a 5 minute break to allow components to cool and repeat as necessary. If the engine doesn't fire within 30 minutes, it's time to reassess fuel delivery, ignition timing, etc before continuing further

are the freeze plugs weeping at the perimeter or have they developed a pinhole somewhere in the face? Before I thought to use some sort of sealant when setting them steel freeze plugs on my builds, I was advised by several older mechanics to just use some thick yellow axle grease to seal it...this was their go-to sealant back in the day, to stick cork gaskets in place and whatnot...so far, I've had one steel freeze plug weep using the axle grease seal, but the modern sealants should be more effective...as far as I know, the freeze plugs are designed to fail to relieve any excessive pressure in the block water jacket to save the casting, kinda like the concave bottom of a coke can is supposed to pop out when a soda freezes. I have found out (the hard way, of course) in recent years that aging coolant becomes acidic and accelerates cooling system corrosion and component failures. When the manufacturers say to flush and fill with fresh coolant every 2-4 years, they ain't kidding...I've had to deal with blown head gaskets, leaking water pumps, and in diesel applications, erosion of the head passages that have caused some nasty $$$ problems, on engines where the coolant wasn't touched for years...the coolant was still green, but when repairs were required and a coolant flush was performed, all kinds of gunk blew out of the system, on engines used daily. It learned me and my neighbors in distress how cheap a coolant flush is compared to deferring maintenance, that's for sure...so if you've got some corrosion showing up on them freeze plugs, you might have another impending problem that ya might be able to head off if you catch it in time

A slight variation on this that I did was with everything still on my '48, I put the Marvel Mystery Oil on the cups and gave each yoke ear a few raps with a deadblow hammer, a few days later I rotated the driveshaft 90° and re-oiled, repeated til I went all the way around as this truck had sat for decades. I then used an old socket as a drift on the cups to break them loose first with a 5# hammer, the socket was just slightly smaller than the cup OD. I worked the cups until they would move in about 1/8", then re-oiled, waited an hour, rotated 180° to work it back into the yoke 1/8" to re-oil, then after another hour, I started with the dead-blow hammer on the driveshaft yoke as described above...with cups and yoke bores cleaned up, and extra grease packed into the cups to keep the needle bearings from flopping out, I was able to press the cups back into place with a big C-clamp

additional information - Column Shifter Adjustments

additional information - Bed Strip Dimensions

#3 spacer keeps the spring off of the manifold...a flat washer or piece of aluminum could be substituted...I won't tell anybody if you won't... The dual horn setup I found was purely by accident 8 years ago...answering a CL ad, I crossed the border into Oklahoma and headed to Kingfisher to go look at a '49 1-ton, then was told it was actually in Hennessy, then was told it was at a wrecking yard north of town...the truck was in much worse shape than advertised, and for the $$$ he wanted, I expected to drive it back across the border with a warm bucket of chicken by my side...we came to an agreement that I could buy as many parts as I could pull off of it before they fed it into the crusher 100 feet away, so I had to hustle to get little stuff of that hulk...them turkeys didn't even wait for me to crawl out of that filthy cab before the big loader started scooping it up...and they mashed that thing into a brick right in front of me, like they enjoyed it...it had salvageable stainless grill bars, fenders, doors, even the cab was ok (still had the corner glass in it)...se la vie, I reckon...so ya might be able to find an example with less drama involved on eBay

As far as I know, all timing covers have the pointer for timing purposes...however, it does not take much to knock some pointers off if the spot welds weren't very good to begin with...the Plymouth 230 I worked on, the pointer got knocked off when I was trying to turn the crank to TDC...I have another spare flathead that I can clearly see the 4 spot weld contact points that held the pointer that is long gone. In the case of that 230, that was the 1st time I used JB Weld on anything...put over 10k on that engine and it's still attached, 25+ years later... Just my opinion, but the timing pointer is just a general guide as its accuracy depends on the viewer's perspective since there is a noticeable gap between it and the crank pulley. I located TDC visually with an engine out, and there was little chance I was gonna be able to have my peepers located at that angle with the engine back in the truck

As with most big parts inside the doors, ya have to hold your tongue just right while grunting expletives then wiggle and twist then magically the part becomes extracted...walking away from it to cool off helps, loads of patience is required, and when it's all working again, the mundane functions of the entire door assembly are much more appreciated...I chatted up a guy showing his nicely restored '49 Chevy 1/2 ton that he drove 90 miles to a car show, and I asked to open and close the driver door; he smiled and obliged, watching me use just 2 fingers to complete this simple task, I said "oh that is just sweet music to my ears" and his smile got even bigger when he said YES IT IS and we both laughed, as we knew just how much work it takes to get these old doors back in shape