JBNeal

For what it's worth: Grandma's '86 Diplomat had a 318 with mechanical fuel pump that pooped out, the retired Chrysler mechanic who opened his own shop installed an electric fuel pump in its place. So if ya looked at it, that fuel pump appeared to be a mechanical fuel pump until ya noticed the wires coming out of the horn area

I've seen some aftermarket Frd and ChvyGMC taillights that fit into the bed side roll, above the tailgate. From what I've heard, the problem with those is that they get water in them and crp out, but those are the incandescent versions. I've seen some round LEDs that might could be adapted for this location...yet another idea to try out on the wish list. I've also seen period correct aftermarket bumpers (some with checkerboard tread plate!) that have a brace that bolts to the rear stake pocket and the bumper, with cutouts for taillights and turn signals. Even then, these lights are lower than current light locations, and inattentive drivers might not get the hint that these things are trying to express when they are illuminated. I'm all for period correctness, but safety trumps accuracy in my book...hence, the planned installation of seat belts, extra tail lights, radial tires...

SURVIVOR: I got sucked into the armpit of Bell County on business and saw this li'l fixer upper:

The pitman arm seal is National 240151, the dust seal can be soaked in diesel for a few days then squeezed out & dried then soaked in light oil

truck picture B-1-D-126: the Indian blankets are in full bloom, thought I'd take a picture of'm:

I found a li'l gem on eBay for $10 a few weeks ago, and have had a few folks ask for a comparison of the draft tube adapter conversion I did and the VPW adapter:

The '48 has been sitting in Dad's barn up the road for the past few months as I organize my 1-car garage into a makeshift workshop in between odd job requests from friends & neighbors. My '02 CTD started dripping out of the transfer case output shaft, so I figgered I'd swap places to take advantage of the covered smooth concrete floor to roll around on. I hadn't started the '48 in about a month, but it fired right up. I put a couple gallons of fresh gas in it as it warmed up, then drove it back to my place, and it struggled the whole way, trying to bog down, as it did the next day on the way to the post office. It really struggled climbing the hill, something it hadn't done before, so I spoke to Dad about all this. We went back and forth about how it fires up cold, idles fine, very slow to rev up, struggles under a load, and hard starts when hot. We decided that the condenser must be about to peter out; it's 14 yrs old, and the heat from the engine might be making the condenser cut out. It helps to know somebody who grew up on these machines as they have this diagnostic information buried in the back of their mind. I recall seeing something about this in one of those old Mopar Tech Bulletins (the phrase "collapsing magnetic fields" was used on occasion) but need to study those manuals a little more closely to understand this ignition system more fully. At any rate, the '48 is running well enough to move under its own power but not road worthy...maybe I can get started on that '50 Plymouth motor by D-Day

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wear driving gloves...I got a pair of goatskin work gloves for the ol' beasts until I get the steering wheels shiny

That lock plate pulls double duty as it has a tooth that holds the adjuster in place and also covers that slot. The cap helps to hold the lock plate in place against the fill cap area as shown here

The Roberts units work great, but my experience is that they are not perfect because the design is based on the original design, with the only improvement being the zinc plating on the flange & resistor cover. The 1st one I purchased for the '48 back in '96 was $65, and it lasted 3 years before the resistor snapped off from the wiring terminal. I replaced it with another Roberts unit, and it immediately broke in the same area. When speaking to Roberts about this, they assumed I had used an air ratchet of some sort to install the terminal screw and were balking at replacing it; they later replaced the unit at no charge (and let me keep the old one) after I told them that I used a 1/8" screwdriver with the tank installed in the truck. That one has lasted 12 years with the only modification being a ground stud installed. The unit I have in the '49 is also a Roberts unit and is 9 yrs old but malfunctioning. Since I've got the bad Roberts units sitting in a box (somewhere), I've wanted to try the adjustable float conversion as these units use a different style resistor that is less prone to corrosion. With the Roberts zinc plated flange and the newer style resistor, I'd be curious how long that combination would last

The Roberts unit is a zinc plated version of the original design, and therein lies the problem as the variable resistor is prone to corrosion failure. I have one in my '49, and it reads E until the tank is over 1/2 full, then jumps up to the correct reading, so at the halfway point in the tank, the gauge needle jumps all over the place. I've been trying to get an equivalent JC Whitney unit since December, but they appear to have stopped carrying the 78-10 ohm versions they had available a few years ago. The original Datcon unit JCW carried and the Tanks, Inc. unit look very similar, so maybe they are one in the same.

how 'bout some before & after pics...yer teasin' us by talkin'bout yer new springs but we wanna see'm

I thought this truck looked familiar...they've been trying to sell that li'l red wagon on CL a couple counties over for weeks

when no kerosene is available, diesel is a suitable substitute

a cautionary tale: I lost count on how many times I rebuilt the carb on my '48, probably did it every year from when I got the truck roadworthy in '98 all the way to '09. It idled fine, it was responsive on the road, and fired up quickly in the cold and hot (after years of struggling with hot starts caused by the original battery cables). The problem I had was when driving down the road it ran fine, but when I'd hit the brakes, the engine would stall; the only way to counter this was to open the throttle to get about 1500 rpm at 'idle' rather than the factory spec of 450. After being stymied for over a decade as to what was causing all of this, I finally threw down $20 on an old B&B carb on eBay, picked up another rebuild kit, and rebuilt this 'new' carb. Over three years later, that carb fires right up, idles fine, and operates as required while driving down the road without much of a pucker factor when approaching a stop light. My best guess is that one of the fuel check valves (them little b-b looking gizmos in the rebuild kit) would get stuck in its passage and choke the fuel supply leading to the main jet; either there was some debris in that passage that I couldn't see to remove, or the passage had eroded from being gummed up from the truck being parked outside for over 20yrs. Not that you should condemn your carb now, but finding another carb to rebuild may be an option in your future, or at least have an extra carb on the shelf to experiment with when ya get bored

I ran out of gas in the '48 on the back roads while going up a long hill cuz I didn't calibrate the fuel float to read E when I had about 4 gallons left in the tank. Since these tanks don't have baffles, 2 gallons of gas just barely submerges the fuel draw tube when the tank is level, and when going up an incline, that small amount of fuel sloshes away from the draw tube. So I bent the float arm so that the gauge would read E when I had about 4 gallons remaining...that way when the gauge said E, I'd have enough fuel to head back to the gas station. Also, I drilled a hole in the top of the sending unit, put a 10-24 machine screw with an external tooth lock washer & nut to act as a ground stud, then ran a ground wire to the battery to complete the ground circuit. That settled down the jumpy gauge needle with better ground continuity rather than having ground interruptions at the sending unit lock ring, gas tank mounting bolts, frame rivets, motor mounts and transmission mounting bolts from corrosion. Also, the '48 ammeter would show a small discharge while at idle, but when I'd get RPM up to around 1200, there'd be a clicking noise from the voltage regulator and the ammeter gauge would show charging

I've seen the tie-the-steering-wheel-with-a-rope trick done before and it can have some nasty consequences

additional information - steering gearbox overhaul with the following post giving some detail about the gearbox shaft dust seal

RTV does not cause rust, nor is it corrosive. If it were either, then the automotive industry would have done away with it years ago. In fact, the auto industry has embraced RTV & silicone/urethane sealants as cost-saving & performance improving gasket alternatives. The problem is that shade-tree mechanics (myself included on occasion) attempt to use RTV as a cure-all for any type of leak condition. If a RTV seal is formed improperly, it can pool moisture rather than shed moisture, which can accelerate oxidation in exposed steel areas. The key to any RTV seal is that the base materials have to be cleaned & dried and free of debris; this detail gets overlooked more often than not, so the attempt to address this issue with more RTV is often erroneously attempted, similar to turning the heat up on a welder to 'burn' through surface contamination of base metals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it only masks a brewing problem. Ideally, a friction-fit of a pliable rubber gasket should be adequate unless there are surface irregularities that the gasket cannot seal over, then it's time to supplement that rubber gasket with a flowable sealer

Cameron? that's just over the hill from my neck of the woods...hope ya stopped by Clem Mikeska's for some righteous bbq

if'n that upper rad.hose ain't too tight or have a good seal on the t-stat neck, that rad. will seep out overnight...been thar, done that...and that's why when I rebuild an engine, I only use straight water as coolant until I get all the leaks figgered out and the fluid level stabilizes (it also serves as a final flush before glycol introduction)

1. Clean all the junk out of it so ya have just the truck to work on 2. Engine: drain the oil(s); pull the spark plugs & add the diesel/ATF/marvel mystery oil in the cylinders for the soaking of the rings; pull the side valve covers and see if any of the valves are stuck once the crankshaft gets turning, prepare to replace all seals, gaskets, hoses & all other rubber on the engine as they'll be toast; with the correct socket & long enough breaker bar, turn that crankshaft (back & forth) to get it spinning again...if the engine has been sitting for decades, ya might have corrosion rings in the cylinder walls, valve stems, etc. so the engine might need a complete teardown, possibly some machine work too. 3. Electrical: Replace all of that original wiring...the original insulation falls off making the wiring harness unsafe. The original 6V system uses larger wiring gauge than 12V, and the original battery cables, which may look okie dokie, probably have internal corrosion that'll boost the starting circuit's resistance sky high, crippling the starter. The generator, starter & alternator will need to be inspected/partially disassembled to verify mechanical functionality and to clean any crud that has built up over the years. 4. Fuel storage/delivery: prepare to replace all the fuel lines as they'll probably be so fouled to be useless; get the carb & fuel pumps cleaned/rebuilt (kits are available for both); get the tank cleaned out & check for leaks (Gas Tank Renu may be in your future as the perimeter seam weld is prone to rust pinholes). 5. Consider some engine upgrades: 180F thermostat to boil out condensation in the crankcase for sludge reduction, PCV system for sludge reduction/cleaner engine, compression ratio increase to 8.0:1 (machining required) for about 20-30 hp increase 6. With a functional engine, prepare to replace seals in the transmission & rear axle as they'll be toast. Check bearings/races for galling/corrosion; be prepared to replace most of them 7. With a functional drivetrain, prepare to replace the entire braking system. The hydraulic lines will probably have corrosion and be prone to leaks. Master cylinder/ wheel cylinders will probably have pitting in the bores that will require sleeving or replacement. There are some brake upgrades out there, but getting the motor running is top priority...what's the point of having the 'whoa' if'n ya ain't got any 'go'?

VINTAGEPIC: saw these B-series trucks while winning a bet with a co-worker that Stuckey's does exist

I have since lost the jpg, but there was a NOS mint-in-the-box hood ornament on eBay several years ago that showed red paint not only in the ram's horns, but also red in the recessed area around the eyes (not the eyes themselves) and in the recessed area around the nostrils. I have one ram that doesn't have the red paint, but in the areas I've described there is a dark discoloration. But from 10 feet away, who's gonna notice?