JBNeal

Grey Beard mentioned the article he wrote after he finished his own bed reflooring in 2007, maybe the info is located somewhere in that timeframe.

back when I was being a grunt at Firestone in school, on a particularly busy summer Saturday, I was tasked to find out what the clunking noise was in a 90s Delta 88. I drove the car in the parking lot, and immediately pulled back into the shop, where I was greeted by the nice lady driver, her mother, and her teenage daughter. I popped the trunk with a grin, much to the confusion of the 3 generations of ladies, as it was explained to me that they could not figure out what the noise was or what was causing it for days. I opened the trunk, and like most lady drivers that came through that store located on a corner of the mall parking lot, it was full of stuff. I fished around the shopping bags, clothes, coats, etc and produced an unsheathed bowling ball and the bag that it should have been secured in. The three gals all purty much made the same face while hiding their eyes..."y'all come back when ya need a new set of tires, no charge today" I tell them as they wanted to know how much was owed on such an quick diagnosis

Grey Beard's thoughts on Bed Reflooring here & here

I was not able to find Dave's article in the technical archive, and it looks like the links on the DPETCA website are dead, with the exception of the pdf link...anybody know where the originals went?

maybe it's just an optical illusion, but that body looks to cover the rear of the hood...them aluminum window frames were probably not original to that delivery truck

this is what I'm accustomed to seeing:

With practice, ya can get a feel for gear tooth engagement thru the gearshift knob...then ya can feel when to slide into the next gear without grinding, might make a few clicks but the shift can be fairly smooth even with the spur gears

I took a lady friend for a ride in the '49, and she was wowed that she could see the road as the floor boards were still sitting in the garage...I then showed her the shifting-without-using-the-clutch trick, she thought I was The Devil

Tanks, Inc. sells some parts that a conversion can be done with your old unit for a few bucks

Could ya explain why the John Nidas interior is superior to the Quiet Ride interior? Is it based on looks, fit, functionality, durability, cost/benefit ratio...?

somehow this Wiki entry has gotten fouled up again, probably because of the inclusion of the vans also called B-series Dodge trucks...Predecessor: A100; Successor: C-series

my setup is only half complete per the original PCV factory setup right now, but that may change soon. The air cleaner modification allows excess vapors to be drawn out of the crankcase through the oil filler pipe

Speed is great, good brakes & tires might be helpful sooner or later

Since I installed that test setup, not only is the stink gone, but so is that oil drip from where the draft tube was. My perception is that the truck starts better now and that the oil is a little cleaner, but I never established a baseline for these so I cannot say for sure how much improvement has been made. I do know that on a few startups where I did not choke-throttle appropriately and there was a small backfire, I did here a -CLICK- that I had never heard before whenever I goofed up this way. I am assuming that was the PCV valve slamming shut, so at least that works

here's an example of a similar setup

Looking in the parts manual, there are several configurations listed resulting in 6 different part numbers for 23-04-103 used on 1/2 to 1 ton trucks & panels. If you have a cover that ya can stand on without it crunching, I say clean up the holes by removing sharp edges, then attach some sort of rubber sheet with an opening cut to allow for the penetrations to seal off a bit to help keep dust & moisture out of the cab. Once this sheet metal is covered with a floor mat, only a few folks will know that it ain't correct. I'm guessing he may have put ya in touch with Leadville Larry, I've bought some stray parts from him over the years, he's good people I reckon

a few thoughts

Flathead Identification one approach I have read others make work is split the flathead exhaust manifold & upgrade to 2" exhaust pipe for better flow, switch to a 2bbl carb with an adapter on the original manifold, shave the head to boost the CR, electric in place of mechanical fuel pump, 195F thermostat & PCV system to reduce engine sludge, disc brakes up front on radials, Jeep Cherokee rear axle for lower gear ratio, LED tail & turn signals on 6 volt, headlight relay instead of straight off of switch, Gener-nator instead of alternator or generator, and gutting the factory radio to a solid-state AM/FM/MP3 setup. This will get ya a truck that looks almost like an original beast but with various upgrades that improve performance across the board...don't forget the 3-pt seatbelts

Build threads are nice

Build threads are nice

Mothballs loosely wrapped in tin foil, sitting atop the starter, in the glove box, and in the back corners of the cab help keep the varmints out...tis cheap, too

Originally they were screwed in, repaired ones are normally brazed

additional information - Rear Wheel Seals

Just to add my 2¢

Verifying the engine casting date, found between the distributor & the oilpan, is important in getting the correct head gasket & rear main seal, as I believe there was a redesign of these parts somewhere around '51. I had ordered a gasket set for my '48, and the rear main rope seals would not fit in the engine, which I found out years later that I actually had a '55 Plymouth 230 and not a '48 Dodge Truck 218. I've been looking through various other sources, and the best I can tell is that the D43 is a 230.