JBNeal

Finally finished this book this morning during a rain delay...I empathized with the narrative's salty language, high expectations and distractions from the task at hand. It's a good read for the Pilot House trucker, kinda wonder what happened with that ol' beater since it was 'fixed up' about 40 yrs ago, the serial number reported is not listed on the registry yet...

FWIW: the 02 Ram CTD has an asphaltic sheet material on the firewall, a heavy rubber-backed carpet with a durable vinyl in the foot areas, a light carpet-like material on the back wall, and the foam-backed headliner. Rust-O-Leum has the bed liner in a can that I've heard is a good alternative in the floor area to the bituthane, but it's probably a li'l tricky at the battery lid, fuel tank sending unit access, filler neck opening, etc. Then a decent floormat can be laid over that for a good trim job. I did a search using "firewall pad" and remembered that the Quiet Ride firewall pad has gotten high marks from users as it is tougher than the cardboard firewall pads.

have ya tried to clip an old wheel weight & hammer it into the pits as a gasket filler?

sounds like somebody started working on it, then gave up; engine does not sound to be original and it may be shot...shoot 1500 at'm and see if that'll get the ball rollin'

FWIW: on cold flatheads (especially in temps below 50F), full choke, 1/4 throttle, stomp the gas 2x, crank the starter; upon engine fire, reduce choke to 1/4 and have throttle just cracked open to get idle rpm to about 1000 until the thermostat opens, then reduce choke to 0. In electronic fuel injection systems, the cold engine is in open loop mode, requiring a more rich fuel mixture to optimize power. Once the engine has warmed up, further engine re-fires shouldn't require choke and little to no throttle input, depending on ambient temperature. From what I've seen, automatic choke operates off of engine manifold heat, an early form of open loop engine controls. One of the driving instructions I was given by Dad was to drive the truck with the 1/4 choke when it was cold. Without 1/4 choke, the truck will idle fine, but stumble upon acceleration. With the increased rpm & 1/4 choke, the engine will warm up faster. Consulting the shop manual, there are different carb settings that will control the stroke of the accelerator pump lever, allowing for more fuel delivery with the winter setting. With the winter setting, maybe not so much throttle is required at cold startup. I might try that someday...without a heater in the truck, I'm not too motivated to drive the beasts when it drops below 40, so I'm on the intermediate setting year round

haven't tackled the knobs just yet, but have refurbished some Farmall stamped aluminum emblems with similar recessed lettering details and had gotten some advice from a fellow Red Power enthusiast. Painting the background, then waiting a few days to letter by paintbrush works depending on a steady hand, a good brush & paint, and a good wipe cloth that is slightly moistened with a lacquer thinner (preferably a cheaper, less aggressive brand from the chain stores & not the body shops) and won't track any lint. An alternative to lettering by brush is to mask over with a quality tape and use a sharp knife to stencil in place, but that can be tricky as tape has a tendency to curl up when ya least want it to, especially at sharp points like the letter K. Another alternative that I've only read about is to paint the letters first, wet sand the excess paint, then fill the recessed lettering with petroleum jelly or grease, cleaning off the excess with lacquer thinner, then painting the rest. That one sounds kinda tricky, especially on these control knobs, and might be prone to having paint too thin at the transition from the black to the white. For best results, as with most paint jobs, applying multiple thin coats results in a robust appearance

The concept of the fuel injected turbocharged flathead 6 reminds me of something I had to learn before I earned my engineering degree. My design group was tasked to develop a fuel injection system that ran on LPG. What we found was that extensive program mapping was required for the fuel injection system under a variety of loading conditions, something we did not have time to do in one semester. But the thing that changed the project direction was calculations that showed that in order to keep the LPG flowing under certain high acceleration conditions, that the fuel injectors could not open & close fast enough in a very short amount of time. The lesson learned was that before installing hardware, be aware of any of its physical limitations. When it comes to maximizing bhp in the flathead 6, increasing induction is one part of the equation that has to be balanced with managing exhaust. With the increased bhp, how will this affect the lower end of the engine? Will lubrication need to be increased to the crankshaft & cam? Will the valves & head gasket be able to handle the increased pressures? I don't know the exact answers to these questions, but I do know that Chrysler only did so much with the flathead 6, so I reckon they had good reason to limit the output of these engines because they may have found problems in their test labs that pointed them in the direction of going with the eventual slant 6 (rather than the Hemi V6). Heavy duty Dodge trucks had flathead 6s with dual carbs & split exhausts; later flathead 6s had increased CRs & sgl 2-bbl carbs, with optional 180F & 195F thermostats available; a factory aluminum head was available for a few years; and there were variations of a PCV system available as dealer installed items. These upgrades are practically factory approved for today's flathead 6 owner. As several flathead 6 owners can testify, upgrading the transmission and/or rear axle can make that flathead 6 come alive

sometimes it's a train

had to catch the light at sunset before it got away...catching light at sunrise don't take much skill cuz it's a-comin' right at ya

ya might want to stick that rubber to the drawers, cuz it'll slide on ya over time unless it's super heavy & thick. Putting the heavier, larger items in the bottom drawers helps to keep the thing from tipping over. Organization & labeling is up to the user, I've never seen two toolboxes organized the same way, with the exception of small tools (mini screwdrivers, razor blades, spark plug gappers, pencils/chalk/paint pens, etc.) in the small drawer(s) on the top. If ya wanna go all Martha Stewart on them tools, get'm all cleaned up & shiny before ya put'm away...it's a good thing

truck picture B-1-B-108: headed up the road to catch the light at sunset...

the '48 has been running much better since cracking open the carb to unstick the moving parts, it even started in 20F weather a few weeks ago. So yesterday, I fired it up for a trip to the post office as temps were in the 40s. Who needs a heater when most of the firewall & floorboard insulation is gone, the heater is on all the time. Later, I loaded some lumber into it (and a frying pan with some hamburger grease) for a ride up the hill to use my Dad's carpentry tools (and let the dogs clean out the pan). I'll even take a ride in it today to blow some more of the leaves out it

truck picture B-1-B-108: during a sight-seeing tour, I made a stop at the rock pile...

another possibility could be the rear cab mounts might be busted...the doors on my '49 were sagging about an inch, then I noticed the back of the cab sheet metal was resting on the frame rails. When I pulled the seat out, the cracks in the cab were obvious as they radiated towards the door jambs & sills. Had to fab up temporary brace plates to fix the cab so the doors could operate without using some creative german phraseology. Eventually I followed the instructions in the shop manual and strategically placed a wood block between the door and door jamb to bend the doors/hinges into position...it took a few days for my shoulders to recover from that

if ya disconnect the tube from the carb, the carb now has a vacuum leak, causing the engine to run a tad lean. Any moisture and combustible fumes in the crankcase would then stay there until they could escape through the vented oil filler cap and/or the PCV valve (if it was open). additional information - PCV system operation

I can't remember exactly when I ordered my copy, probably around '99, but I distinctly remember ordering it cuz there was a Pilot House on the cover and was disappointed at receiving a copy with a chewed up Apache. I was so miffed I never bothered to crack it open, just put it on the shelf and forgot about it. Now that I've found it again, flipping thru the pages I see plenty of references to the Pilot House...reckon I ought'a give it a read now that I've grown up a li'l bit

I have seen most heater controls mounted to the left of the steering column, many mounted in the center of the dash below the key, and several where they drilled holes between the radio & gauges to mount the heater controls on the B-1 & B-2 cabs, and several where they drilled holes in the center of the dash on the B-3 & B4 cabs. Even seen a few on the B-1 & B-2 cabs where they only had the HEAT & TEMP controls, and one was mounted between the speedo & gauges, and the other was mounted between the speaker & gauges. Cain't say that I've seen the under-the-glove box mounting before, I kinda figger that'd be a little tough to operate while on the road, but if that's all the control cable length will allow, then that's where they were mounted. My problem with the location to the left of the column is that I'd hate to bang my knee against that metal hanging below the dash for any reason. The center location might be trouble as stated when dealing with the parking brake or cab vent. With the control cables mounted in the unused space of the dash, ya get'm out of the way and ya can still reach them. My guess is that the original mounting bracket was used as a template for hole spacing & alignment, then tossed in the scrap metal bin or re-purposed as a handy paper weight in the shop. Since this is your truck and ya ain't aiming for trophies at car shows, do however ya please cuz I don't reckon too many folks would know if it was "correct" or not

that is not a factory installation, but the adapter mounted on the block appears to be similar to the adapters used on Power Wagons. At any rate, that's a start on a PCV system, as this will draw combustible fumes in the crankcase into the charge air stream. That PCV valve looks similar to ones I have seen used on early slant 6s, as the PCV valve mounted in a rubber grommet in the valve cover with a hard line screwed into the valve from the intake manifold, similar to your installation.

go 5150 Eddie Van Halen...it cain't miss

If the mechanical or electric pump generated flow that was in excess of the carb needs, how does the electric pump know when to stop producing flow? The mechanical fuel pumps I've played with have two check valves: one upstream to keep flow from feeding back into the fuel tank, and one downstream to keep fuel from the carb to flow back into the pump. When the carb needle valve closes, eventually the downstream check valve closes. But if the engine is still turning the cam to operate that pump arm, then the pump is drawing a suction on something. Bypass is the wrong term I reckon as flow is not going in some alternate circuit at this point. So the upstream check valve closes with the pump in operation causing the downstream check valve to close, which brings pump flow to 0. With fuel injection systems that I've worked on, the electric fuel pump pushes flow to the injectors, and unused flow is re-directed back into the fuel tank. This allows the fuel pump to run continuously during engine operation, with unused fuel going through the bypass circuit. This allows for quicker injector response as it sees max fuel pressure at all times and only allows the injectors to use what the ECM requires for optimum operation. With an electric fuel pump used on a carburetor, what shuts the fuel pump flow off so that the carb needle valve is not forced open, causing the carb chamber to flood? There are no external sensors involved to control a logic circuit, nor is there a bypass circuit to redirect excess flow. My guess is that on pumps designed to be retro-fit on fuel systems that had mechanical pumps operating under 10psi, that the sealed electric pump has check valves in it that are similar to the mechanical pumps. But I don't know for certain, and the Carter 6V pumps I have on the shelf did not have any documentation on operation, just a warning to add an oil pressure sensor for a safety precaution.

Some folks use both, with the electric as a booster to get the truck started that shuts off when an oil pressure switch closes (or opens, depending on the circuit), then as an emergency backup if the mechanical pump fails. My only problem with the electric pumps is not knowing when they shut off during operation, as the mechanical pump goes into bypass mode when the carb needle valve closes...haven't done enough research into it to find out if the electric pump would also go into bypass mode or if it would flood the carb chamber.

somebody's gotta show everybody else how to get things done

I had a Craftsman 12" fluorescent work light that lasted about 20yrs before my chronic clumsiness finally caught up to that thing as the last time I dropped it caused the hook end cap to split open, breaking the bulb and splitting open the lens in the process (the hook broke off almost right after I got it). I had a traditional work light, but my clumsiness meant that I would break a bulb filament almost daily, and when I wasn't dropping the light on the floor, it would bounce off my face...so that got retired when the fluorescent light came out. To replace that fluorescent, I went back to the well and found that Craftsman had two good candidates: a 60 LED replacement, and a 35 LED rechargeable replacement. The 60 LED has an equivalent light source to the 12" fluorescent light and weighs next to nothing. The 35 LED rechargeable is slightly heavier, but can get into smaller spaces and no cords to get wrapped up in when in use. I got the 60 LED and Dad got the 35 LED rechargeable, and the 35 LED rechargeable is a lot dirtier after a year's use as it has come in handy for many things outside the garage. O'Reilly's & Advanced Auto have those $1 LED flashlights with the aluminum body, and they come in handy too. Those lights can be stuck in many places in an engine compartment and are quite bright, and are easy to stick in yer pie-hole when ya need both hands in a tight space. But ya get whut ya pay for, as I haven't had one yet that lasted more than one battery change. The switches wear out first, and it's cheaper to get a new light than it is to fabricate a new switch. In contrast, Batteries Plus has some pricier LED flashlights, I tried out a $10 and a $20 flashlight. The $10 flashlight has a single LED and a heavier aluminum body than the $1 but was just as bright as the $1 flashlight. The $20 flashlight has 7 LEDs, a magnetic base, and can toggle between LED, laser pointer, UV blacklight, and flashing lights. Since that light went on sale, several more useful flashlights came available that only had the LEDs & the laser pointer with the magnetic base, and the light switch was much better at toggling between the two light sources. As LEDs become cheaper and more widely available, they are a competitive alternative to the incandescent & fluorescent options that can illuminate your workspace...but with all things that aren't made in North America, ya get what ya pay for

I must have just missed out on the original forum startup...I found the original site & relayed the story about the road-timing I witnessed to GTK and he added it to the Tech Tips section back in '99. But my work schedule intensified at the same time my home PC upped & died, and I didn't look at the p15-d24 site again until I found a laptop on clearance about 10 yrs later. That was 10 yrs of struggling with a faulty carb & wonky steering & old batt.cables and stewing about what to do with that rusty paint job...can't help but wonder sometimes how much further along the '48 & '49 would be if I had accessed the brain trust years earlier...ohhhh well, water under the bridge I reckon, one of these days I'll catch up

the optional heater hose port is pointed out in the attached NAPA photo...the top port can be used with the original bypass elbow, or the bypass elbow port can be plugged because the passage is tapped with pipe threads similar to the heater hose port.