Tony WestOZ

If that is the original paint (or a copy of the original paint) it makes it a rare Spring Special truck.

Never though about it before but that is another variation to our Australian trucks. Our running boards are not as wide and don`t have the cut out area at the front. Strange considering our early trucks were imported from Canada.

It can be done. It usually involves hanging by your ankles and suffering a lot of pain. Well maybe its not that bad but I find it extremely frustrating and time consuming. If you can take the front wheel off, remove the inner guard, then go in through the side. You guy`s over there are so lucky you don`t have a steering column getting in your way.

The cab on this truck is basicly a 1950 cab fitted with a one piece windscreen. This change took place in 1955 and carried through to 61. The intrument panel was changed for the 60-61 model. They were moved out of the dash panel and mounted in a black plastic cover mounted on the dash over the steering column. The pic below shows the intruments with out the cover fitted. With the doors, they never changed shape from 48 to 62. The only modification was to the door latch and the outside door handles which changed to a push button style in 60. Bob, nothings happend on my truck since I did the final fitting 16 months ago. I am now(hopefully) over my health problems so if I am not forced to sell my house I might be able to do some work on it in a couple of months. I should take a more up to date pic. I have lost the long hair and most of the beard and a bit of weight.

Here are some pics of an Australian Pilothouse truck that has had a resto. This is a 1960-61. Last year of the Pilothouse series in Australia. Its a 1075. 175" wheel base. 25000 lbs GVM. Came with a 361 big block engine. This one is fitted with a tipper rear.

Welcome TRAINDRIVA, at this rate us Aussies will be taking over this site. (well maybe note) Anyway, 9650587 is a Canadian number. If had stayed in Canada it would have ended up a 47 Plymouth 6 (Special) Deluxe. It would have come to Australia as a rolling chassis and front cowl. Does it have a Richards tag on it. Engine should be a Canadian long block (25") 218.06 cu". There should be C stamped at the end of the engine number.

approx 3500 lbs with the bed on the back. approx 3120 lbs without the bed. I think some of the modern trucks are just as heavy because of all the extras they come with.

Unfortunatly is up to 173 lives lost, with 1000+ houses gone, and more to come. Sad days indeed.

the CD website?

As most of the Australian cars( and trucks) came from Canada, some models are a bit different to the USA models. I would be keeping an eye on ebay for Canadian parts manuals.

It is certainly a sad state of affairs in Australia at the moment. Southern parts (Victoria) are having some the worst fires ever, northern parts (Queensland) are under water with record floods. Mother Nature can certainly be a hard task master at times.

I agree.

I would like to get hold of any info that is out there. I dout I will ever get to the salt flats but I would like to build a flat 6 with some more HP. Cam profiles is something I would really like to get hold of. bts53@bigpond.net.au Thanks Tony.

Thanks for the info. Yes it would be hard to run against a OHV GM. That XO class seems to be 150+ mph, Thats pretty darn quick. What sort of speed is Earl Edgerton doing with his flat 6?.

What a effort, to get that sort of performance out of a 4 banger. I hope you get to take the record again next time round and keep it a bit longer. If the record for a 4 is 110 what is it for a 6? Is there some records I can look up to find out?

Good clean nozzles and diffusers can make a lot of difference to the weld. Is the gas coming out the end of the gun. I had a problem with mine a while ago when a clip inside the hand piece came loose and though it sounded like the gas was coming out the end it was actually coming out through the hand piece. Nothing like having a trolley so you can move you gear around the workshop. This started out as a shopping trolley. The wheels are the only original bits left. There is usually an invertor tig sitting in there to. Must get that back off my mate before he thinks he owns it..

Wander what they would do to bank and Wall street executives that cause a nations economy to collapse.

Mmmm modern DR trailly. Wish I had one. I use to have one of the first DR models they bought out in 1980. Not a lot of power but it just kept going and going and going.

Hi mungungo good to see another aussie on the site. The truck would not really be known as a C sereis. More as just a 108. 108 C`s and 108 D`s were made between August 1955 and July 58. I have never been able to find out the difference between them. 109 on the body tag indicates it is the 109th of what you have. Is it a standard ute , Deluxe ute van or tray top. F indicates it is a Fargo and not a D for Dodge or S for Desoto. I don`t know of anyone in Australia that do the rubders but then I have never really looked as when it becomes time to do mine I will be going to Steeles (they do send to Australia). More expensive, but their quality seems to be better than the others. For some more info follow the link to the DPETCA site that has a page on Australian trucks http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/garage/garage.htm Where are you located? Any chance of some pics being posted? On the firewall there should be two other tags. One will be the BALM paint code tag. The other 55##-#### is a body tag. Is it possible to get these along with the engine number so I can put them in my files.

Left. Its called counter steering.

Nice bike there Don. Always liked British bikes but never owned one, just rode my mates.. Always a bit sad to sell something you have owned for so long, but times move on. Well thats what I told myself a couple of years ago when I sold off a couple of bikes (Ducati`s) I`d had for 25 years. I did keep one bike, my trusty steed of 28 years and so many miles. It has not turned a wheel in nearly 4 years now but I will finish the resto one day and ride it again. Even if that ride is only around the block.

Was not going to throw the bloke straight into fluid dynamics but a good description. Though I don`t think its quite a power valve in the old B&B. More just a check valve.

Basically as air is drawn through the carbie it creates a low pressure atmosphere. Because of this low pressure, fuel in the fuel bowl which is at normal pressure is drawn into the flowing air by either the idle circuit or the main jet depending on the engine rpm. When you put your foot on the pedal and the butterfly opens the air flow in the carb increases (resulting in lower air pressure) it starts to draw more fuel through the main jet. This however can take a little time to happen so the pump is there to add extra fuel for initial increase in rpm.

Its a bit of a mixed bag for 34 years of work. Starting to look for work now after 3 years off with health problems. For 10 years before that I was self employed repairing earthmoving equipment. Great job wish I had the money to start it up again. Before that I spent 5 years working for a company that used the methane gas extracted from landfill sites to produce electricity. Employed for several years as a Metallurgist in the gold mining industry. Was in the Iron and steel production industry for 6 years were I did my training as a Metallurgist. To this you can add other short term jobs like 6 months as a decky on a lobster fishing boat . Bowling ally mechanic. Working in a wrecking yard. National Park and Wildlife driving around fixing boundary fences. Fruit picker. Farm hand. Actually had a job picking up rocks in sugar cain fields. I only lasted for 3 days but I gave me enough money to get to the next town when I was travelling around Australia. Cannot wait to get back to full time work so I can spend some money on my Dodge.

Does anyone have the valve opening and closing figures for the Edgy cams?