Merle Coggins

There was a thread on the forum not too long ago (may have been on the car side) regarding a clutch issue after replacing the clutch disc. It seems that the new disc had a larger center spring hub that interfered with the pressure plate. I don't recall all of the details. But then again, as you eluded to, you may just be hearing 'normal' clutch engagement that you wouldn't normally hear with all of the panels in place.

I can be in Cottage Grove in under 2 hours if you need me to rough 'em up a bit... ? Just kidding, I'm not that kind of guy. But we got your back. We want to see that truck back on the road too.

Doesn't your wife have a connection to Superior, WI? It's nice up there too.

@Brent B3B, you don't like my 'sparse' interior? The heater wasn't working, but the A/C worked awesome that day. ?

It sounds like they got you over a barrel. I would ask them for a hard quote on what the body, paint, and interior work will entail, and cost. From that you can negotiate what work you need done now and what could wait until later. If you have a written quote as to what is going to be done, and what the price will be you can then hold their feet to the fire (so to speak). That would be much better than an open ended agreement to "keep it within my budget", but then "you should add this, or that", which blows out the budget.

That would be difficult when the shop is so far away. Where in Wisconsin is it? (I'm in WI too) Have they given you a cost breakdown of the work done so far so that you know what you've paid for?

Has anything been done yet on the body and/or paint? Any good paint job in going to cost you another $5-10k. The paint looks pretty decent from your pictures. I'd just roll with it as it is. And the interior looks pretty decent too, although in that last picture it appears to all be stripped out.

TV Star? More like uncredited extra... ? I saw the camera people doing interviews. They were probably interviewing the guy with the green Corvette. The camera would have been pointing my way.

I was out with the newbies today too. It was a quickly thrown together show for a gentleman in hospice care. He is a classic car guy and wanted to go to one last car show. I saw a post about it on Facebook. It was a rainy morning, but several cars showed up. I parked next to a nice looking 57 Ford. Several late model Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers. But the 2 older Corvettes were pretty nice.

I have a 6v to 12v converter in my truck to give me 12 volts for my modern radio. It also allowed me to put in a couple of 12v power outlets for my GPS and etc. According to the instructions for wiring it up it is designed to share the chassis for grounding. 6v pos ground in, 12v negative ground out sharing the same ground plane through the cab. It seems to work OK.

Tank heaters like that are fairly common. I've seen several on tractors and construction equipment. I can't say I've ever seen one on a car or truck though. They circulate heated coolant by convection. The lower connection feeds cold coolant into the heating tank and the warmer coolant rises out the top to return to the engine. Probably not the most efficient, but they do work.

The wipers are mounted out wider and park inboard. This was one of the changes to the cab design for the B3 series in 1951. I didn't catch it earlier either, but it appears to have a B1 or B2 nose on a B3 body. The doors, dash, and wiper placement are all '51-'52 B3 series and the grill and hood are '48-'50 B1/B2 series. Interesting that the right front fender is blue, matching the hood, but the left front fender is green, matching the body color on the right side, although the left side is blue????? Maybe it's just the way the color comes out in the photos, but it certainly looks like a mutt. However, it looks pretty solid. If an in person doesn't reveal any serious issues it seems like a good find.

As stated earlier, the trucks use the "stomp" starter, which probably won't work with your car. But your car starter should bolt right up, as you'd have to use your original bell housing anyway. As for the fuel pump, my truck has a sediment bowl. Apparently there were several different pump designs out there. Some have them and some don't. Again, use which ever fuel pump you'd normally use in your car. It doesn't matter. The basic engine should be the same as your Plymouth's, but many of the periphery parts may be slightly different. The distributor may also be different than what would be in a car, but would still be functional.

They appear to already be there with the bell housing.

Looks good. It appears to be a 1 ton, so it would be the same as a Dodge B2D.

Fluid Drive was first offered in the trucks in 1950, with the introduction of the B2 series. (Not sure what the Canadian equivalent model designation is) They were offered with the column shift 3 speed or the floor shift 4 speed. I have the 4 speed version in my truck. The early 4 speeds are the spur gear design, with no synchronizer. Some time in 1951 they switched to the newer synchronized 4 speed with helical cut gears. When the B4 series was introduced in 1953 they also offered it with the M6 trans and called it Truck-O-Matic. The transmissions behind FD have longer input shafts and aren’t directly interchangeable with a standard clutch transmission. I’d be concerned about the condition of that Fluid Drive unit and transmission based on how it is stored. That’s a lot of weight to be hanging on the input shaft over time. And that could have also damaged the seal in the FD unit being stored that way. It looks like you have all of the pedal linkages with that bell housing, so that’s a plus. Also, if you do decide to upgrade your truck with this FD and trans you will need a longer park brake cable and shift linkage. Also, you need to have a crankshaft with the beefier 8 hole drive flange. Most of the 218’s only have a 4 hole flange when designed for flywheel and clutch.

I once had new tires mounted for a truck and they messed up the balancing. When driving the truck the vibration would come and go. I could even feel it change and move front to rear, left to right, or go away all together. I noticed that it would change or move around any time there was even a slight curve in the road. I went back to the tire shop and got them all rebalanced. They actually sent me to a different shop to get them balanced. Apparently their balance machine couldn’t center up my wheels properly. The vibration went away. All 4 tires were out of balance and would come in and out of phase with each other any time there was a curve or corner. I was happy to get that one resolved.

I believe I’ve been to 39 states so far, and 4 Canadian Provence’s. My only other trip out of the country was to South Korea.

I drove around for a couple years without a spare. I kept a can of "Fix-a-flat" under the seat 'just in case'. Luckily never needed it. Then Mark (ggdad1951) worked with DCM to develop the hardware I needed to reinstall my under hung spare tire bracket. I think I finally got rid of that can a couple years ago. Just carry a jack and lug wrench now. And now that I'm thinking about it, I suppose I should crawl under there and check the air pressure on my spare tire. I probably haven't done that since I put it up there.

And Tim is in California... the land of warm winters. ? Here where I live the seasonal changes take a toll on our roads. Also, around here there is often a significant incline on the approach between the street and the driveway or parking lot. When turning in, and approaching it at an angle, the suspension will need to flex quite a bit, and possibly the frame as well. Just sayin'... ?

I recall going to my local hardware store to find springs of similar size. There should be a spacer sleeve inside that tightens the bolts against the frame bracket, yet allows the springs to compress some when the frame flexes. Although Tim's theory that our roads are better today, hence reducing frame flex, is plausible I'm sure you will still get a fair amount of frame flex at some driveway approaches and such.

This is the first I’ve noticed the tail light ‘brackets’. Interesting…

I’ve been known to binge a few episodes from time to time. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched it.

I agree on ‘53 due to the square rear fenders. And from what I can see of the front wheel it appears to be a 1 ton wheel, which is apparently what Brian sees too.

Shannon, You have a B-1-D, not a B100. Anyway… direct swap axles for the 1 ton trucks isn’t as easy as it is for the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. You can likely find a more modern axle that will give you the gear ratio you want, and retain the dual wheel configuration, but it certainly won’t have the same lug pattern. I don’t have the lug pattern handy but I recall that it is pretty unique to Dodge. And different differential gears for those trucks are almost non-existent. I think you’re going to have to compromise a bit to get the gear ratio you desire. Merle