Merle Coggins

Interesting... but this guy impresses me even more. He made an entire Farrari 312 PB scale model that runs.

I was thinking the same thing as Greg. But, how much room do you need behind the mount stud? This might limit how far back behind the bumper bolts you could go. Also, they seem like over kill for turn signals. It would seem they would draw a considerable amount of amperage for a flasher. Maybe a pair of these from the motorcycle industry would make better front turn signals mounted to your bumper.

Does it look anything like these 2?

Napa 1011 Sock type filter. Yes, they can be a tight fit. Napa 1080 metal cartridge filter They are NOT interchangable.

Whatchya talkin' ''bout... I once welded up my... Oh wait, that's not me!!!

Is there any information on the filter canister it's self? Mine is clearly marked as a "Deluxe Filter Company" filter using a "JC" filter cartridge. That crosses to a Napa 1011. It is the sock type filter. I looked through my Wix filter catalog (we used to have a Napa one here, but it's gone missing) and can't find any Micra- anything filters. There is a Micro-Filters, Micro-Gaurd, Micron, and Microtest, but none had the P79 number. If I had more accruate information on your existing filter I may be able to cross it for you. Since Napa filters come from Wix, if I can cross it in the Wix catalog I can easily convert it to the Napa number. Merle

Mine is also from Roberts, and I agree with you on the fit. I also installed mine before mounting the fenders, attaching it with pop rivets. I found it helped to use rivet washers against the rubber for a better hold. Merle

They'll go if you hold your tongue just right between your teeth and cuss a lot. Seriously, it'll be a tight fit and they have to be at just the perfect angle, but they'll go in. Maybe just unbolt the rear of the fenders from the cab and loosen up the front so that things will move around slightly to give you more room. But you shouldn't have to pull everything off again. Merle

Are you sure it's bent? As I recall one of the supports (front one maybe?) angles differently from the rest. I remember it angling forward instead of straight out sidways. I tried to find a picture of it but I don't have one that shows it well. Merle

I think that would conflict with his other nick-name "Grampa Dodge"

Hey! that guy looks familure. Here's a closer shot of the battery area. The Neg. cable runs along the frame to the starter. The Pos. cable goes to one of the cover bolts on the trans. And just to clarify, those were the cables that came with my truck. They are the original Neg. cable and an aftermarket light 12V Pos. cable. I since replaced both with heavy 00 gauge cables. And here's a shot of my parts truck, showing where the harness comes through the firewall. If I can be of any other help, Bill, let me know. Maybe I need to schedule another road trip with my truck so you can see a finished product (well, almost finished). Merle

Should have used Ironwood.

I don't remember exactly what I'm running in the 235 75R15's on my truck, but I recall it's around 2.75 bar.

Actually it's an HMV Freeway. I found a better picture of it on the web. Also, a link to some history on it. http://clubs.hemmings.com/frameset.cfm?club=hmvfreeway

Finally go the pics off my phone. Here's the little Whatzit that was there. Any guesses what it is? I know it's not the best photo. It was getting dark, and the phone camera isn't high quality.

Brakes; As I was coming into town I "tested" my brakes a couple of times as I was approaching stop signs. I wanted to know what they would do if needed. Then my turn came up quicker that I had anticipated, so they got "tested" again. Hence the brake fade. On the way home they were fine. Wheel Color; My rims are painted with Nason Ful-Thane 2K Urethane with a Spectramaster color code of YS410IB Merle

Not long ago there was a thread (may have been over on the car side) regarding carburators, and one of the posts had a picture of a carb with an aditional adjustment screw in the top. Several asked what it was for, but nobody seemed to know. My carb also had that screw, and since I needed to get into it to fix an accelerator pump problem I figured I'd look into what that extra screw does. Here's a pic of my carb, showing the screw in question. I remembered when I went through the carb the first time that there were 2 accelerator pump type of plungers, but I didn't really follow through what they did. In the next 2 pics you can see the 2 plungers and their associated linkage. Apparently this other plunger is a dash pot to slow down the return to idle. (remember, I have Fluid Drive) The linkage will push it up when the throttle opens and must force it back down into the chamber to return to full idle. The screw adjustment on the top limits how high the plunger lifts, which inturn adjusts how much delay there is in the return to idle. One thing I haven't figured out yet, and I think it's causing me a new problem now that I've played with it, is how it's supposed to damp the movement. I searched and searched for a port to push the cas out of the plunger chamber but found nothing. There is a slot part way down the side that will allow gas from the float bowl to enter the plunger chamber. On the up stroke it will allow gas to be drawn down past the plunger lip to fill the bottom of the chamber. But on the down stroke it seems to take a great deal of pressure to compress the plunger and force the gas back out. It seems that there should be some type of orifice that would let the gas out slowly so that it could act as a damper. After reassembly I now have a problem with it returning to idle. I haven't had a chance to dig into it further. It may just be binding linkage, but I suspect the dash pot damper plunger won't return because the linkage return spring isn't strong enough to push it down into the gas with nowhere to excape. Has anyone else had experience with this type of carb? Should there be an orifice somewhere to allow the dash pot plunger to work? This is a Ball & Ball DT G1 carb. Merle

Last Thursday I decided that the ol' Dodge needed to stretch it's legs a bit. So after work I jumped in and drove it up to Hartford, about 30 miles north of me, to a little drive-in called Mickey's. They have a Cruise Night every Thursday throughout the summer. I experienced a bit of brake fade by the time I got there. Apparently I worked the brakes a little too hard a couple of times. Maybe one of Charlie's disc brake kits will go in the wish list for future upgrades. But otherwise it was a nice ride. The engine runs much smoother now that I went through the carb again and got the accelerator pump working. When I got there a younger guy came over right away and asked, "You got any extra parts?" It seems that he has a '48 that's an ongoing minor project that he inherited. I may be able to help him with a couple of items that he needs so I gave him my phone #. Maybe I'll be hearing from him again soon. I also chatted with a couple other guys and was asked if I would park my truck in front of the Custard stand for some pictures. They were getting several pictures for next year's flyers and etc. Of course I had forgotten my camera, but the guy that seemed to be in charge of things said that he'd gladly send me some of the pics. Here's one. I have a few others from that evening, that I took with my phone camera, but I can't seem to get them transfered off of my phone. There was a very nice Chrysler 300 E and a mid 50's Imperial ('55 or '56 I think) also representing Mopar. And several other trucks. There was a '40's Chevy with a flat bed which looked like it had a later model chassis, a '50's Chevy that was tubed out and looked like it would be at home on the drag strip, and a couple of older Ford trucks as well. There were your normal sprinkling of Mustangs and Cameros, along with other '60's & '70's muscle cars, and one other interesting little thing that I'd show if I could get the pics off of my phone. Anyway, it was a fun night. Good people, nice vehicles, and good food (with a free ice cream (custard) cone for participants. I even got to test out my head lights for the ride home. I think they need a little adjustment, but otherwise they lit up the road well. Merle

First thought I had was that the M/C fill cap breather may be plugged. If it can't breath the heat will cause a raise in the internal pressure, which can't escape. Also as mentioned, check that the piston returns fully and that the port in the bottom of the reservoir is not plugged. Merle

I'll jump in the truck and head up there with my BFH and a couple rolls of 300 MPH tape. We'll have 'er back on the track in no time. Seriously though, I'm glad your OK. Cars are easier to fix than people. Gonna be drivin' the '46 Dodge now til you get the 'Kota runnin'?

The oval valve stem hole is interesting. I have 15" rims on my truck. They are 5 1/2" wide and have a regular round valve stem hole. I did sand blast and paint my rims, then picked up some standard rubber push in valves and mounted 235 75R 15s. Apparently the 16 inch rims are considerably different. Merle

Are they strong? As I understand it, they are a detuned version of the Viper engine. I thought I saw a pic not long ago of a Viper engine in an older Dodge or Chrysler. Looked pretty cool

You're confussing me here. Do you have two different profiles on this forum? Are you chucky07 and socialkevin07?

Put the engine at the TDC mark with the distributor rotor pointing at the #1 plug wire. (I'm assuming that your distributor isn't 180 degrees off since it'll run momentarily on ether) If the points are fully closed at this position, loosen the distributor clamp bolt and rotate the distributor body opposite of the direction of rotation (rotor rotation) until you see the points just begin to open. This should be the position where spark should occur. If you are using the test light as mentioned above, the lamp should light as soon as the points open. Now tighten the dist clamp bolt and try it again. This time leave the choke fully open and give it slight throttle. I rarely static time an engine before starting. Often times I'll hook up a timing light and adjust it while cranking. I can usually dial it in close enough for it to fire up with minimal cranking. It may help to have a helper step on the starter pedal while you're under the hood checking the timing, or runing the carb linkage by hand. Good luck, Merle

I think you may have something backwards, Greg. If you connect a test light between the distributor points terminal and ground, the light will only light if the points are open. At that point the test light is providing the path to ground for the coil and the lamp will light, but may be dim since it is in series to the coil. When the points are closed the light will not be on since the points are providing the ground for the coil and no current will pass through the test light. However, I agree with you on the other idea. If it runs for a few seconds on starting fluid, it would also run if it was getting fuel. If the carburator hasn't been gone through it may have gummed up jets or jet circuits. And even if there is gas in the float bowl it may not be getting drawn into the venturi. I'd try using a squirt bottle with gas. Squirt the gas into the carb throat while cranking. If it'll run while squirting the gas in, than it's time for a carb overhaul. I've also found that it sometimes helps to hold the throttle slightly open. If the idle circuit is the one that is plugged up, it won't be getting gas unless you open the throttle plate enough to start pulling from the main jet. Mine was like that at first. It would run with slight throttle but wouldn't idle. A quick carb cleaning and adjustment corrected that. However, if the main jet circuit is also plugged too, that won't even help. Merle