thrashingcows

Sorry to hear of the diagnosis....but glad they caught it early. Best wishes on a full recovery.

I have no gas tank in the car, so I ran a piece of rubber fuel line from the fuel line at the back of the car, up into a can of gas secured in the trunk. I had some issues with fuel leaking, and not getting to the fuel pump. But after a couple hours working on that I finally had fuel making it to the carb. Motor was cranking fine and much to my surprise it fired right up!! I figured I would have a battle on my hands...especially since I built that hybrid distributor. But guess Ol' Fernando was eager to get back to life after 20+ years of abandonment and neglect. Only problem I had was the wide 5/8 pulley I had on the alternator popped off almost immediately after the initial fire. So I had to remove it...grind a slot on each side of the shaft for the set screws to sit in....lock tight everything, and re-install. I then popped the floor back into the car and took it around the block...a few times. What a great feeling to actually drive the car. Now I have to finish getting the front end back together so I can put the car into storage for the summer, and get the wagon home.

Now came the fun part...electronic ignition, starter relay, starter solenoid, and voltage regulator...and wiring. Used the holes that already existed on the inner fender to mount everything. Then I made a run out to the pick-a-part for some needed wiring. 84 dodge ram pick-up donated most of the wiring.....$25...Thank you very much! Couple hours later I had a crude, dirty and ugly wiring system good enough to get the engine to fire.

I had a bunch of old radiator hose from ??? and managed to make a couple work. Here it is all bolted in and ready to go. Had one issue though. The water pump and pulley set-up was too long. Was dangerously close the rad. So I pulled it and installed the original water pump and lower pulley from the 251. Gave me a bit more clearance. Here you can see the difference. Not a lot but enough to cause me grief.

I then had to re-assemble some of the front end. Hammer and dollied out a whack load of dents in the pass. side fender, from old previous damage. Looks much better now. Then it was radiator time. I had purchased an all aluminum unit for a 49-52 Passenger car from Champion radiators in Cali...CC52PLY. Not the direct replacement unit I could have ordered, but will work better for later upgrades I have planned. Discovered I needed to remove the cross bar from the rad support so I could slip the rad in from the front. Had to grind off the factory rivets and pound it out. Once that was out of the way I could slip the rad down and in. Needed to trim the top mounting flange on the rad to clear the cross bar. Then bolted the cross bar back in.

Now I was trying to make the dual outlet manifold that was on my new motor work with this new bigger single exhaust...but it was turning into a night mare and I was loosing patience really fast. So I ditched the dual outlet manifold for a stock single exhaust manifold I had as a spare. Things progressed much quicker then. Managed to re-use the original? head pipe...quite thin but still sound enough. Made up a homemade adapter from pieces of scrap pipe to go from the small 1.75" to 2.75". Ran out of wire before I finished it though...good enough for now. And exhaust is in and done. Not bad for about $50.

Now the fun began. I started with the tailpipe. Got it up and in position as best I could...but that spare tire well made it hard to get it up too high though. Once in place I had to find a way to mount it. Found that it was really close to the rear bumper bracket bolts...so I made up a nut and stud to thread onto the exposed threads of one of the bumper bracket bolts. Then I could use a universal mount to run from the stud down to the pipe.

Well been busy working on the car the last couple weeks...but haven't taken the time to update regularly. So I was working on the exhaust after my last update. I originally was going to try and run a true dual exhaust system. I had an old system from an 87 Dodge ram V8 truck. But after getting parts and pieces in under the car I decided it was not going to work. The stock panhard bar was going to mess up the drivers side pipe. I then decided that I would go with a bigger single exhaust...so I bought an exhaust system from a 90's? Chevy diesel truck for $40. A little over kill at 2.75" but hey the price was right. Compared to the original 1.75" pipe.

Very Cool.... And a good price I think. And with minimal effort that thing would polish up into a gem I think.

After install of the 8 3/4 you will need a LONGER chain to reach the new e brake cables! Now that's pretty funny....

Were those the seats you stitched up yourself? Looking great regardless!!

The E-brake system off the fluid drive mounts farther back on the transmission, then on the standard 3 speed. So on a fluid drive it mounts farther back along the drive line, the 3 speed mounts, as you said..."closer to the firewall". The cable itself is made to work with a short distance between the transmission mounting point, and the E-brake mounting pointon the fluid drive. As well since I had to "adapt" the fluid drive E-brake system to the 3 speed transmission....a combination I don't think was ever offered along the assembly line...I had to combine the fluid drive, and 3 speed, mounting brackets to make things work. I too had hoped things would have worked out a little better...but it's all working now so I will just go with it. Besides this is only temporary until I get my 8 3/4 shortened and installed in the next couple years....then I will have a rear drum e-brake system.

And as of right now I'm working on the exhaust system. I will post up pics and info when that is done....hope you won't be too shocked and appalled by what I end up doing....

Well I had been trying to come up with a solution to the E-brake cable problem. Since I made the fluid drive E-brake system work on the regular 3 speed transmission, the mounting points for the E-brake cable was in a totally different location from either of the factory set-ups. So here I was with a fluid drive E-brake cable, mounted in a standard 3 speed mounting location, having to make up about 8" from the end of the cable to the e-brake assembly itself. I tried all kinds of neat and fancy things...even built a few brackets and coupler, but could not get the cable to pull nice and straight. I eventually decided I had to go more cave man. I finally came up with a piece of chain run from the E-brake cable end to the e-brake assembly. Seems to work great now.

SO been working on things a bit more in the last week or two. I've finally got all the shifter and clutch linkage cleaned, lubed and installed. Here is what the linkage looked like after removal and dis-assembly.... And since I was going from the old fluid drive, to a standard 3 speed I needed a shorter shifter linkage and adjustable clutch rod. Thankfully I had those piece from that 48 Dodge parts car I picked up a year or two ago. Now everything cleaned and installed...and mostly adjusted. And with the clutch pedal and MC assembly installed.

Exactly!!

That back window shot from the side looks a lot like a stude'.

I have a complete fluid drive set-up for sale cheap...where are you located. I'm in the Vancouver BC area. Cool looking truck. Can we see some more pics?

And the speedo adapter is on the drivers side..not the pass. side? And yeah that shifter linkage is very weird.

Yes you can change it in car. Remove drive shaft. Remove all your E-brake set-up. Remove big nut...1 1/4 I think.. Then use a either a big 2/3 arm puller to pop off the e-brake drum. I had the tranny out and used a block of wood and a regular carpenters hammer to slowly beat around the drum unit it popped off. Now use a good seal puller...which may or may not get that old seal out. They can get stubborn after all these years. I had to chisel mine out with a couple screw drivers and a metal bar. Then measure the OD of your output shaft, and the inside diameter of the case. Then search around here on the board for appropriate seal number. I measured mine and found that it used a SKF 15620. Then use a small hammer, or big socket and hammer, to carefully tap in the new seal. Here's what mine looked like...

I'll be running 1/0 gauge battery cables....Thanks for the heads up. And Captden29...Thank you for the example in longevity.

Looking good so far. And I'm sure your helper will make things a little easier too....sure he's been bugging you to get to work on the old beast.

Thank you again for the added responses. I was digging around with the "search" function and came across the info you so graciously provided for me. I'd rather not have to source out another starter...time frame wise I need to get the motor running in the next month or so. And budget wise I'd like to utilize what I have on hand.

Thank you for the replies. I was kind of leaning that way myself. Grab a starter solenoid from a 70's/80's Ford and wire it up. Plus the starter that is on the 218 is know to work...as opposed to the one of unknown condition from the old blown 251.

Just wondering which starter would be best for the 12V conversion I'm planning. I have two different starters right now, both 6V units. One is the original unit off the grenaded 251 in the Desoto...it has the solenoid on top of the starter itself. The other came on the rebuilt 218...it is just a starter with no solenoid, just a post on the top. Wondering which one would work best for a 12V negative ground system, as opposed to the 6V positive ground system.