Merle Coggins

Bob, What do you want for the Sun tach? Let me know if you decide to unload it. I'll come down and get it from you. Got a photo of it? Merle

I remember that story. It happened about a year ago. They got a good run over it. They even ran a bunch of adds poking fun at themselves about it. "Doing a story about the dangers of thin ice, then running the news van through the ice... Priceless" Muskego is about 10 miles south of me. Merle

Has anyone successfully replaced the fiber board material on the bottom of the seat? Mine is somewhat in tact, but I'd like to remove it so that I can clean and paint around the bottom of the springs and frame. It's a bit crusty down there due to a mouse nest. I'd like to seal up that metal, with POR15 or the like, to reduce further rusting. It looks like it was set onto the lower frame before the spring assembly was attached to it. Is it worth trying to save it, or reproduce it?

Sorry guys, no pics. I had my camera along, but didn't use it much.

Byron, I got a 3.73 diff from Normspeed. As I recall, it came out of a 1950 Plymouth. It was a direct swap with the complete diff assembly. Even my splines matched. If those that you have are the same size diff, I don't see why it wouldn't be an easy swap. If they were mine, I'd probably go with the 3.54. I would think it would give you a good hyway cruise. The 3.36 may be a little too low. Merle

I just had a great week. It started out a bit iffy, but got better. I slid out of town early Sunday morning on a sheet of ice with freezing rain to begin my drive to Pennsylvania. But once I got down into Chicago it warmed up to just rain and wasn't bad after that. In Youngstown, OH I was able to meet Allen Parkhurst for lunch. AFter lunch I followed him to his house where I could check out his trucks. He's got a couple of nice B1B's. It was a great visit with Allen and more inspiration for me to get mine done. Allen also loaded me up with other valuable information that he had accumulated. Then it was on to Williamsport, PA for the week. On Monday evening I drove over to see Jim Roach. After supper I got to check out his B3B. Another beautiful truck. More inspiration. It was a great evening with Jim. I only wish his T-bird was home to look at too. (it was in the shop getting detailing) Tuesday evening was a change of pace. I meet with John (46mopar from over on the car side). He is a hot rodder and has a pretty cool 46 Dodge coupe with a strong 440 under the hood. His wife also has an interesting ride. It's a 50-something(I've forgotten the exact year) Ford with a big Cadillac motor. And he's collecting Model A parts to bild a old skool rod with a Mopar Flat head 6 for power. That was a great evening too, with John and his lovely wife. AFter my training was over on Thursday, I drove down to meet with Dave Erb (grey beard). It was another great evening talking trucks with Dave and seeing some of his ideas at work on his truck. More inspiration... I spent the night at Dave's house and headed back home Friday morning after breakfast. Even though it was snowing when I left New Holland, and I was in and out of snow, sleet, rain, and freezing rain until I got into Ohio, it was a very good visit with Dave. All in all a great week. Nice trucks and cars, great people, and a good time all around. Thanks guys, Merle

I guess you just have to use German torque and get 'em Guettentite Merle

Does your's look like this one? If so I think it's a Napa 1011

From what I can determine in my parts manual, the 1/2 - 1 ton trucks were all the same '48-'53, unless you have a "Flat Face Cowl" version. Merle

Here's one of them from your Photobucket, Ed

Not the best picture, but does this help?

Here's a picture of the fuel line cover that Byron sent it to me to add to the thread. I believe he said that he dipped the ends in high temp paint to prevent unraveling. It doesn't look too bad. It should help some.

Welcome Ole, That's an interesting user name. Care to elaborate? Where do you hail from? Merle

Last time I was down there, I really enjoyed the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum in Ocala (about 90 miles north of Kissimmee). If your into drag racing, it's a must stop. This was the first vehicle that I noticed when I walked in. There is also a nice section full of vintage, non-race, cars like President Eisenhower's Imperial.

Good one. I'm sure that would be rather convenient. Otherwise one would probably udder an OH $#!T. Merle

Hard to believe this Wisconsin truck made it to 1,000,000 miles without a complete rust-out. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_fe_st/odd_million_mile_truck;_ylt=AmZKL3xcwL8PWYnj7qNDi_wZ.3QA Gresham is just down the road from Todd B's location.

The bell housing is different, and maybe the front mount, but other than that it's pretty much the same engine. Go for it, Merle

Good News! Last night I did some digging through a box of stuff that came with my parts truck, and lo and behold, there were the missing parts. Now I believe that my wiping action will be electrified Merle

The groove should work even better than the little holes. The spirlal groove will help distribute the greese throughout the bushing. The holes only stored a little extra greese within the bushing, it didn't help with the distribution.

Brilliant, Byron. I'll have to file that in my mental notes.

Jim, was that just some standard bushing stock from a local bearing house? Any Brand name or part #'s? Merle

http://www.robertsmotorparts.com/index.html

Truck drivers were tough enough to squint.

Yes, brown seats with somewhat matching interior panels.

If the wheels are toed out slightly, or if the tie rods are loose, it'll wander like that. We used to have that problem with hay wagons. Merle