knuckleharley

Probably have to pull the front clip to tune it up or change the belts. I would recommend welding the hood to the fenders and making them one unit,and rigging them up as a tilt-front clip with pins in the rear to hold it down during normal operations. The only other practical option I see would be to remove the inner fenders and reinforce them with a brace near the top and the bottom that are located so they aren't in the way of parts replacements. That would also give you the advantage of creating header clearances.

WOW! THAT would result in a deep breath,or 117 of them if it were me. Might even involve lawyers and deputies before the dust settled and the blood was mopped up. Good on you that you handled it better.

You figured it would be easier or better to do that,than just transplant the engine,trans,and rear to the 46 chassis and use a custom front suspension?

As DJ194950 noted,remember to take the voltage regulator with you and get it tested also. They are a married pair. If one has problems,so does the other one. New voltage regulators are not that expensive,and still easily found. I bought a brand new aftermarket voltage regulator for my 51 Ford within the last year from EBAY,and paid less than 25 bucks for it,and it was a major aftermarket brand from the 50's,still in the box.

And it's not even a Model A. It's a Model T.

Go ahead. Blame it on him anyhow. We won't tell. Honest!

You can use a piece of copper or steel tubing the right size as a punch. Use a file or grinder to sharpen one end and put a tight-fitting bolt in the other end that you hammer on. Cheap,and works good.

Listen to Dad. Trust me on this one.

The informed replies to this post over a steering wheel are one of the things that make this the best damn board on the web. Can't remember ever seeing even ONE snotty answer to a serious question here. Nothing but people trying to help a fellow restorer.

I have a Sun engine analyzer with a "rolladex" index you spin down or up to pick the car or truck you are working on,and it gives you all the specs. Even has an exhaust analyzer you still up the tail pipe to better adjust the carb and timig.Also have the matching distributor machine. I THINK I may have a Sun machine you check starters with too,but can't remember for sure. All that stuff just got covered up when I started getting sick and having other problems maybe 10 years ago. Knew it was obsolete when I bought it all,and didn't care. I figured it would be a lot of fun to play with. BTW,my Sun analyzer is a LOT older that yours. Has stuff like 46 Kaiser's on the rolodex.

The 6 Volt starter will work fine with 12 volts. Just don't crank it for long periods of time to get it hot. Your truck will start a lot quicker too,because a 6 volt starter getting hit with 12 volts spins very fast. Your starter will last for years with 12 volts. Don't worry about it.

By buying a 12 volt generator,voltage regulator,making or buying a wiring harness to connect the two,buying a 12 volt battery,and switching out all your bulbs to 12 volt. In addition you will have to buy reducers to cut your current down to 6 volt on some switches,like the heater blower switch. IF you plan on upgrading in the near or semi-near future to ac,halogen headlights,electric power steering,a stereo big enough to wake Africa,etc,etc,etc,go ahead and buy an alternator and be done with it. If not,there is no reason to put one of those ugly-ass things on a nice car or truck. If it were me,I would buy TWO voltage regulators at the same time to make sure I had a spare years down the road,and I would buy quality US made ones that are NOS from years ago. Maybe some extra brushes and bushings for the generator. That stuff is stupid cheap to buy,and it's better to have it and not need it,than the reverse. Just remember to drop a few drops of oil in the generator to keep the bushings lubed up at every oil change,and chances are you will never have to touch it again unless you are changing belts.

I like it,but lose the carpet in the wheel well. Water will eventually gather there,never dry,and rust it out. This is assuming "wheel well" means the same thing to you as me,the will in the trunk where the spare tire goes.

Well,this is not what you probably want to hear,but if highway driving is your goal,all you have to change is the rear end ratio. Get a rear out of something more modern that maybe has 3:50 gears or even 3.08 gears. No,the acceleration is not going to be something that scares you,but if you wanted something fast you would have bought a Hellcat.

Why are you sorry you asked? No insult was intended when I replied. We are all here to learn from each other.

"painted OEM rear bumper"? The only painted OEM bumpers I have ever seen were put on cars and trucks from 1941 to 1945. Chrome was a valuable war resource,so they painted the bumpers.

I was just trying to make a little joke,but I do understand there is not one single thing funny about a hip or knee beiNg out of alignment. Both of my shoulders and my left knee sometimes just "pop" out of the socket thanks to misadventures while parachute jumping in the army. I can obviously deal with the shoulders better than the knee,but neither are fun events. I don't even want to imagine the pain of a hip popping out of the socket.

Feet adjustment? You mean,"Toe in" and "Toe Out"? And if you do,in and out of WHAT? Enquiring minds,and all dat.

Yeah,I can hear that discussion now. "Cut him loose!" "No,YOU cut him loose!" "No,YOU cut him loose! I have seniority!" Etc,etc,etc.

I see what I think is a 40-41 Willys,a couple of Plymouths,a 37 Ford,and MAYBE the last two are late 30's GM.

I got medi-evaced from VN several months after that photo was taken. On my last recon mission into Laos my back started itching and burning like it was on fire,and I couldn't stay still or quiet,so they whole team got extracted the next morning. The medics in our dispensary sent me to Nha Trang to see a dermatologist there,and he took one quick look and told me he was sending me to see a USAF doc at Cam Rahn Bay "that specializes in tropical diseases".It was several years later that I made the connection between "USAF Dermatologist" and "Agent Orange". In my defense,I was too busy running missions to be reading many US newspapers. Anyhow,the USAF doc told me he was cutting orders to medi-evac me to the states "because your condition will never get better as long as you are here and running around in the jungle." I tried to protest since I was only 2 months into my first extension,and hadn't even taken my "free vacation" in England yet,but he said I didn't have any choice. I wasn't really all that worried about it. I had already been briefed on the upcoming mission,and there was no way they could replace me with someone that knew the mission,had combat experience,was used to working with my yard squad,and had their trust, Boy was I wrong! I was met at the airport in Kontum by my company commander,and he handed me the orders sending me back to Bragg. They put a new E6 in as squad leader to replace me who had never heard a shot fired,and I later found out he didn't last 15 minutes on the ground before being shot in the head. No experience,had no idea what was going on,so he stood up to look around. If he had been experienced,he wouldn't have had to do that. Anyhow,I was sent back to Bragg and couldn't stay in SF because I wasn't allowed to wear a parachute harness or be deployed on field exercises,so they promoted me and sent me to a conventional signal battalion there because my first MOS when I enlisted was "communication center specialist." Never mind the fact I hadn't even been near a com center in 6 years and that I couldn't be deployed on any field training or actual missions with that company either because of my profile. So they gave me a 45 ACP pistol and made me night motor pool guard. I spent my last 5 or 6 months in the army riding around the motor pool at night on my Harley,trying to catch anybody that was breaking in to steal stuff from the parked cars of guys that lived in the barracks and were deployed somewhere. They didn't know what else to do with me,so that was what I did. I think I mentioned earlier that I flat HATED the regular army. Almost as much as they hated me. Still,I was offered another promotion if I would re-enlist. I turned them down. Worse damn mistake I ever made in my life,but in my defense,I had no idea about Agent Orange at the time. If I had known anything back them about "Operation Ranch Hand" and all the USAF people that were involved in spraying it over the Ho Chi Minh Trail being eaten up with and dying from cancer,I would have surely re-enlisted so the army would pay for my medical problems. I didn't know though,so I took the discharge.

I have to admit,I hated the regular army with a passion beyond belief. I would have never re-enlisted if I hadn't found a home in Special Forces. I was never one to wear red and march in a straight line just because some fool told me to do so. Being in the regular army was like serving time in prison while being innocent of committing any crimes. I have no idea how or why anyone was willing to put up with it or the Navy. I could have made it ok in the Air Force,though. Was around those guys a LOT,and they all seemed like adults,not reform school children wearing NCO stripes.

Why did you wait so long? I grew a beard while on active duty in the army in VN. Here is the photo that proves it.

Well,we all have our priorities,and since we mostly have to stay home now,who the hell cars about how our hair looks? Presuming of course you are one of the people still afflicted with hair.