knuckleharley

The Only thing I can think of is either your brake shoes are locking to the drums for some reason,or the piston in your master cylinder is jamming for some reason. Your brakes would MAYBE start working again after the first time because the heat of being used and driving would maybe expand enough to have the clearance needed to release. Please let us know what you find out and how you solve the problem.

If you have room for the 300,do it. You will end up with plenty of torque and lousy gas mileage,but you will be driving. Which beats the hell out of not driving. You can always change it later if you want,and can justify the expense then.

Here is a photo of my only Dodge truck. It is a 1937 1 ton,and I have been led to believe that Dodge sold a TON of these things to the military in the 30's. Many had 4 wheel drive. The 1 tons (and I am assuming the 3/4 tons) looked like this from 1937 to 1939. Air-conditioning was provided by the crank-out windshield. Dodge also sold a lot of these things in the larger versions to farmers. No real market for a 20 year old + flat bed farm truck,so there are still a lot of them sitting in remote fields on remote farms,even today. Can't sell them for scrap to make enough money to justify the trip to the scrap yard and back,so there they sit. I have another of these trucks with the 2 ton chassis under it that I bought for parts. Sold the engine and trans to a guy in Texas that was restoring a old farm truck that was missing it's engine. He scored big on that buy because when I pulled the engine I noticed it was a factory replacement engine with no serial number stamped in the boss. He can stamp it with the numbers on his title,and have a matching number restored truck! Haven't heard from him since he got the engine and trans,so I am assuming he is happy with it. I always thought the cab and chasis would make a cool hot rod truck by "z-ing" the chassis front and rear,put a 6 foot flat bed stake body on the back,a 1 ton straight axle up front,and a turbo Cummings in the engine bay. Run it with no hood or fenders and the headlights bolted to the sides of the grille shell,and have chrome exhaust stacks running up the back of the cab. How freaking cool would THAT be? I'll never do it,though. I'll just put it up for sale when I'm done getting the bronze one redone.

You seem to have done a 1st class restoration on that truck and trailer,but unless you have arms and legs like the Hulk,those things are NOT a lot of fun to drive. Takes two men and a small boy to turn the steering wheel at slow speed,and both feet to stop it.

There were a lot of guys back in the 50's and 60's that would take a pu cab and channel it over a 30's Ford chassis,and make sorta a "T-bucket with a top" hot rod out of them. I have a FE/390 Ford in my 37 Dodge 1 ton now,although mine is not channeled and has the hood and sides on it. Not much room for stuff like power steering,air compressor,pb booster,etc,etc,etc,though.

l Yeah,removing the hood side panels is a big help. You still have steering box issues,though. I have never done it myself,but I have been told the rack and pinion steering boxes are the way to go now.

Well,back when I was still able to ride,sometimes this odd thing called a "warrants check",whatever that is,that needed to be considered. They couldn't tell who you were by just looking at you while doing a "drive by",but your tag would give you up. Not that that sort of thing ever concerned ME,you understand.

You are not going to race it,so why not consider a basically stock 318? They aren't expensive,make acceptable power even stock,and last forever while getting good gas mileage and keeping your Mopar,Mopar? Probably save a ton of money by doing that,too.

Or even a slant 6?

Make sure you hug your father when you see him.

Purple is always a GREAT color to paint your car. Until the second week it's purple. By the 4th week,you will find yourself leaving it hidden in the garage and riding the bus to work to avoid looking at it.

Couldn't agree more. Now,if he were to top the chop,but a chrome SBC in it, and paint it purple............... To Will,are you telling us you found this car in a barn in France??? Some guys got all the luck!

Could you throw in a photo or two of it in it's "as found" condition for those of us late to this party? Not much I had rather look at than barn finds.

Not to mention the added expense of having all the cutting and welded fab work done unless you have done this sort of thing in the past,and have the tools and experience to do it right. And when you get through,you have spent all that time and money to install an engine that makes less power than a 318 or 360,and nobody can even see it unless your hood is raised. Maybe the best advise I received when I was a kid interested in learning how to build hot rods,and was told "don't fight gravity".

No. Sell it and go with a small block. You will be glad you did. Yeah,it can be done,but it's not the type of swap for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with engine swaps wants to tackle. Great swap for a 20's or 30's fenderless car,but just not worth the trouble otherwise.

Please do! If I know when you are coming,I will make sure I am here. If you don't mind a Ford following you along,I might fire up my 51 Victoria and follow yall to the beach.

Here is a photo of the 31 Ply coupe. All original,and staying that way as long as I own it. The 37 Dodge is a 1 ton factory 4x4 that was originally sold neIw to the city of Newport News,Va as a fire truck,and it has a 9-1/2 foot bed on the back. It is now sitting on a 72 Ford F-250 4X4 chassis,and has a modified 390 in it and the truck 4 speed. Both are being replaced,as well as the chassis,with a 79 Dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 chassis with everything already rebuilt,and a new factory crate 318 in it with a auto trans. It is going to be painted the bright Lime Green you see on the new Jeeps. May finish my 32 Ford coupe hot rod after the two Mopars above are sold. It is unchopped,but channeled the height of the chassis,and has an extended chassis (122 inches) with a suicide original "Dago" dropped front axle. 350 Chevy engine w/Dart 2 heads,10 to 1 Keith Black flattop pistons,gapless rings,roller rockers,dual quad intake,7 gand comp cam,and the block was put together by a Nascar Speed Shop,thanks to a friend that works there, Car should be pretty fast. Going to have it painted baby blue,and probably have red and white flames added.

Thank you! I am wishing you all the best,too. Life is for living,so enjoy it.

Thanks! The surgeon says I probably have 2 or 3 good years left. I'm pretty excited about that. I never expected to live to be 25 (was a career SF NCO),and this is the first time anyone has ever given me a warranty!

Uhhhhhh.......

There is another season of Fargo? When,and where? BTW,just did a search on ROKU,and Season 3 is free on Hulu.

It is exciting. To people like us. If it wasn't,we would be like all the other drones and only drive modern,soulless cars. Hell,I was excited for you from reading about it.

Thank you for both the offer and the good thoughts.

Thanks! It's good to be posting again.

AMEN,AMEN,AMEN! I hope to never wake up to discover I have nothing to do. I can't think of anything scarier. If I happen to finish the 42 coupe,I will drive and enjoy it,and buy another project.