JBNeal

hope he rolls up the windows if he wants to drive thru a puddle

Flathead Engine Decoder

if ya compare the surface area of the entire cooling system with the surface area of the thermostat, and if there is just a little bit of crud in one corner of the head or a blind corner around a cylinder that wasn't removed, once the coolant agitates the system, that little bit of crud will break loose and collect on that thermostat and inside the radiator. I've come to accept that I'll never be able to keep the cooling system 100% clean, and as long as I'm running within the acceptable operating range of the cooling system, then that's good enough for me. One of the things I've learned in manufacturing is that ya have to take into account contamination in hydraulic systems, as they can be a killer if not all factors are taken into account. There is a breakover point with regards to efficiency, as more efficient hydraulic systems tend to be prone to contamination failure. These flatheads I reckon were designed with that in mind, as hydraulic efficiency is lowered to allow a greater rate of contamination. Since the coolant system is not filtered, there is a service interval suggested to remove contamination from the system. On a side note, I went through the coolant system in my '02 CTD at 125k when I noticed the operating temperature was not at 195 in the summer. A new thermostat, all new hoses, rad.cap and a coolant system flush was followed with driving on the highway for a couple of weeks with straight H2O, flushing again, running another couple of weeks with H20 & flush, then going 50/50 glycol. After a month, I noticed there was a little crud on the rad.cap, and after 2 years and nearly 30k more on the odometer, the rad.cap isn't much dirtier and there is a little crud in the radiator...all acceptable as the operating temperature is right where it needs to be, especially in the summer while hauling a heavy load on the highway with the AC blowing

scroll on down & you'll see the pic for the drum puller on the tapered shaft axles

this is why I tell folks to use straight H2O when they first start up an engine and drive it around like that for a few hundred miles in temps above freezing. Ya might think ya get stuff cleaned out, and then SPLAT everything is brown again...also, if something comes loose or malfunctions, all ya lose is water, not that high dollar ethylene glycol.

I had never heard polar vortex before, and a few days later, I see Al Roker give his knowledgeable & humorous explanation

I've got access to a blacksmith anvil, and the horn on that old iron flares out the filler pipe perfectly. But more common materials can open up the tube diameter: using a couple of pliers or almost-closed crescent wrenches can be used to work the metal outwards, or whittling a 2x2 down to a taper as a forming tool, maybe clamping a round bar in a bench vise and peening the tube over it...all ya need is for the tube OD to be a hair less than the crankcase hole ID. I have not needed to use RTV on the tubes I've worked over, but it won't hurt, and if it's a tight fit, ya won't need but to smear the RTV thin on the tube surface for it to work.

truck picture: finishing up some work around the house before the next gift from The Great White North:

VINTAGEPIC: found this B-1or2 and B-3 wreckers while cruising The HAMB

Thoughts on Mopar Flatheads 1 Thoughts on Mopar Flatheads 2 Thoughts on Mopar Flatheads 3 Links to Building Threads Experience Builders Flathead Gotchas Spark Plugs Engine Oil Engine Oil Filter Engine Oil Filter Installation

Williamson's re-worked my '48 temp gauge & repainted all of the gauge faces back in '99. The gauges were very dirty, paint flaking off & whutnot, as the truck had spent it's life doing farm work and had been parked next to the barn for 20yrs at that point. Since I got the truck re-fired, it has spent most of its time in the heat & dirt out here in the country, and those gauges are the jewel of that beast for the moment, a pricey investment I made that has been worth it. When I told Ron a few weeks ago that they looked & worked just as good as when he refurbished them, he mentioned that he has extended his original 1 yr warranty to a lifetime warranty that is transferrable to new owners. I asked him to clarify, so if my temp gauge poops out any time, I can send it back and he'll fix the bulb or whatever, and all I'll be out is shipping. Not a bad deal...it's also nice that he's in the next state, which helps on shipping (less chance of things getting lost in the shuffle since we both live near regional hubs)

Hemmings Motor News has quite a few listings in their services section for gauge repair...I've sent my Farmall 1206 gauge cluster off to Williamson's to repair an intermittent gauge, had a good talk with Ron and he knows his stuff...maybe there is an outfit closer to your zip code that could help ya out

I stand corrected...I grabbed a flashlight & took a gander at the Spring Special and it has that very plate...looked at a couple of my spare floor boards that came out of column shift trucks and they had the same cutout...so looks like ya got one less leftover part after all

may have been a homemade frame-mounted engine compartment splash shield or cab firewall doubler plate...anyhow, I don't recognize it as being an original part, maybe it belongs in a cardboard box with a big question mark scrawled on the side for left over parts, cuz errrvybody knows there's always leftover parts when putting stuff back together

that's a pilot hole for a self tapping screw

I reckon the paper element is to catch material in the 10 micron range to protect the carb passages from fouling or abrasion, whereas that screen is to catch larger material that can be seen with the naked eye like sand crystals, grizzled whiskers and whutnot

HOLLYWOOD Was watching Used Cars for the nth time and finally noticed the beast in the background...the DVD commentary is almost as funny as the film

one alternative is to remove the damper component and replace it with a simple flange gasket...if the damper is made from rubber that is period correct, it will be destroyed by the ethanol in today's gasoline, possibly sending rubber chunks into the carb. Replacing the damper with a simple flange gasket allows fuel to pass through the bowl without the damping effect...add a paper filter to the bowl, and you've converted this damper into a fuel filter housing. The flange gasket material should be something that can withstand that ethanol component in gasoline, more than likely fabricated from sheet material. The trick I've used is to put a thin film of light oil on the flange then set the flange on the material firmly rather than do a tracing on the material. I can then cut the sheet material carefully with a sharp knife or scissors

the original truck was up for sale for almost 2 yrs, and from all of the pictures I saw from the previous owner, the beast was *ahem* a good fixer-upper. It wasn't a total basket case, but it had been parked out by the road in north TX and it showed: surface rust inside & out, wiring shot, powertrain needed a complete overhaul...it really needs to be completely dismantled in order to get it respectable, more work & $$$ to get it highway-friendly. That's a long row to hoe when there's a buggy closer to the finish line, sittin' in the driveway, ready to go to Dairy Queen on a Saturday. I've got a few parts trucks that I don't have a For Sale sign posted, but when folks roll up to the house to ask what they can drive off with, I motion towards them and shoot them a number cuz they could be fixed up if somebody had the means & motive

additional information - rear fender comparison additional information - rear fender part number change For the B-4 and later models up into the 70s, the 1-ton stepsides had two rear fenders: the styled fenders used on single wheel 1-tons, and the half-rounds with extensions used on duallies. I have seen the duallie step sides used on rural & small town fire trucks, but they are quite rare. As for the modified bed, who knows for sure what all changes were made to that beast, as its powertrain & suspension are far from original. My guess is that tailgate & bulkhead were yanked off a newer (wider) truck at a pick&pull yard and bolted to the older bedsides, with the bed supports & fenders modified to fit.

this damper device looks similar to the fuel filter bowl, but that diaphragm has me a little stumped. Why would this flow damping be needed? Maybe it was used in rough terrain areas to keep fuel from sloshing into the carb chamber which could lead to flooding, my best guess. At any rate, I have seen different styles of fuel filter bowl assemblies from Carter, AC, Fram, etc. attached to the carb, some with no filter, some with a replaceable paper element, some with a permanent stone element. I'm not too crazy about the stone elements because I've tried to clean a few and it's very easy to erode the stone when trying to scrub varnish from the surface, even after it has soaked in harsh chemicals for days. The paper elements have new rubber gaskets for the bowl, and I've monitored these paper elements on the '48 to watch for what kind of foreign elements that they collect. Since the sediment bowl on the fuel pump separates the heavier materials from the fuel, the much lighter elements collect on the paper that appear to be varnish-like. My guess here is that after prolonged periods of non-use, the fuel in the lines starts to gum up a little, and the fresh gasoline (now with ethanol!) has a tendency to flush the lines when the truck is in use. This gummy brown gunk gets caught in the paper filter before it has a chance to collect in the fine passages of the carburetor, which I assume is why I haven't needed to tear the carb apart and clean it thoroughly in the past 4 years. One option I have seen is to remove the fuel filter bowl assembly from the carburetor and place the fuel filter element in the sediment bowl of the fuel pump. Later engines would have a mechanical fuel pump that had no sediment bowl and a downstream filter element to catch all foreign material, and by moving the element to the sed.bowl mimics this later reduction of parts. My only question is finding the correct adapter at the carburetor to the fuel line, as the fitting between the carb & fuel filter housing typically contains the needle valve that works with the carb float to control fuel delivery. The fuel filter elements that I have used are the Wix 33034 for the smaller glass bowls and the Wix 33943 for the larger glass bowls. There are probably other elements available, but they should all fit to the glass bowl being used.

I've had a local shop make the exhaust from manifold to tailpipe and only had issue with the mufflers. The locals don't carry, nor could they find the original style from their sources, the straight-thru inlet/outlet muffler, so I went with the center inlet/offset outlet cylinder-style muffler they could get. It looks great when I'm rolling down the road, so I live with it...eventually, I'll go for the straight-thru muffler, if I can find one. Anyhow, I went with the locals cuz Robert's, etc. was about $100 more cuz of the shipping costs. To get the tailpipe right if'n ya don't have a pattern to go by, buying one from a supplier is probably the way to go. But the manifold to muffler is an easy bend & flange that a local shop can make for a reasonable price, if they have the same material that the tailpipe is made from.

some exploded views are found in the shop manual, but more are found in the parts manual and are helpful in repairs. I've already buttoned up the parts trucks as the weather is about to change again, but according to the parts book, the 1/2 & 1-tons have different washers, spacers & horseshoe clips, with the 1-ton's 11" drums having larger sized parts.

Dodge was playing with the idea of a "lifestyle truck" as a replacement for the Dakota before the economy tanked...kinda liked that term and the Rampage concept truck the rolled out. Anyhow, another option with the fuel tank is to check out that Tanks Inc. unit, I've heard good things about it. That way you can install it in the original location & reclaim the spot for the spare tire. As for the wiring, I replaced the entire wiring on my '48 cuz the insulation was falling off of the conductors. With the factory wiring diagram, you can replace each wire with hardware store conductors. I scratched out a modified wiring diagram that includes a relay to improve headlight performance.

The B-4 shop manual may be helpful, but I recommend getting your hands on a B-1 shop manual hard copy to flip through. I picked a reproduction up years ago, and made copies of specific pages that had instructions and/or diagrams that I would need to consult while working on the machine so that I could dirty up the copies & not the book. As for the assembly of the brake shoe, from the manual diagram it shows the brake shoe rides on the pivot bolt against the spacer on the backing plate, with the felt washer against the shoe, the metal cap over the felt, and the horseshoe clip in the pivot bolt groove over the metal cap. From the service section, I reckon there's mention of using light oil on the washers to keep the pivots lubricated when the shoes are to be adjusted every 10,000 miles.