Merle Coggins

It looks like you have the signal switch mounted pretty low. You may find it more convenient up closer to the steering wheel. You may want to sit in the seat and see how it feels to use the signals in relation to your hands on the wheel. Here’s a pic of my truck. This works well for me, up under the wheel similar to a modern vehicle. Since it’s not self canceling you will need to be able to reach it easily after a turn so that you can cancel it.

Yup... my doors work the same way. I tried to cheat and lock the drivers door, then close it to walk around and lock the passenger door with the key. But as soon as I close the door the door unlocks. I now use 2 methods to lock the doors. If my wife is with me I get out first and let her reach over to lock the drivers door. Then I walk around and lock the other door with my key after she's out. When alone I have to get out, walk around to the passenger side, climb across to lock the drivers door, then close and lock the passenger door with the key. The only other "cheater" way is to leave the vent window open, close the door, reach through the open window to lift the handle, then push the window closed. Of course this isn't as secure as the window can be pushed open again, as it isn't latched, to reach in and unlock the door.

Yes, getting the floor boards out is the key. Your ‘40 Plymouth is a little different than the later B-series shown above, but that’s still the key. Hopefully one of the earlier truck guys can chime in here to help you.

? Chrome V-8 valve covers too...

I think the shaft you refer to is the clutch shaft. You should be separating the transmission from the bellhousing so there is no need to do anything with the brake and clutch pedals. There should be 4 bolts that attach the trans to the bell housing. Once they are removed, along with the drive shaft and such, the trans should slide right out. If you are attempting to remove the bell housing with the trans you will fail. The bell housing wraps in behind the flywheel and won't come off without removing the flywheel first, which involved removing the trans and clutch.

The fenders and grill would be the same as Dodge and Fargo trucks of the same vintage, so should be able to find some. Or maybe they're in the back? It appears to be a '48-'49, but it has a '51-'53 hood.

@RecklessBattleBornHow did you connect the output of your alternator? It sounds like it may be connected directly to the battery without going through your ammeter. This would explain why you measure good output of the alternator with a volt meter, but nothing registers on the ammeter.

I used furniture dollies with 12x12 wood blocks to support my cab and move it around the shop. The cab rested on the sills. When I needed to work on the bottom side I could tip it over and place one of the block/dollies under the rain gutter above the door. I couldn't seem to find a pic of it on it's side, but that worked well for cleaning and painting the bottom side. Plus it was great for painting the inside, especially for getting up under the dash.

Ahh, yes... I didn't realize that you didn't have the proper adapter to go with the gauge. I thought you were saying that the gauge fitting was 3/8" NPT, but apparently you don't have that essential piece. As was mentioned by others, that fitting actually has a seat inside for the bulb flange to seal against. The swivel nut (gland nut) will then squeeze that flange against the seat to seal. If you use a regular reducer bushing there is no seal and coolant will flow right past the bulb and you'll have a major leak.

A 1/2 X 3/8 pipe reducer will work fine and would be much easier.

“I think so Brain, but where are we going to find a duck and a hose at this hour?” +1 on the Drill Dr. I have the smaller model, but it works well. I don’t use it often, and have to re-teach myself how to use it each time, but I like it.

I agree with Dave. With that type of knurling pattern I don’t believe that knob was ever intended to be removed

Looks like someone plumbed in a bypass loop to your heater hoses for some reason. That’s an odd setup.

I used to have a couple of spare axle shafts floating around here. I’d have to do some looking. Send me a PM if it gets to the point where you need one. I may be coerced into looking for them.

I’ve been running the Rusty Hope kit on my truck for several years now. I cross referenced all of the part numbers given in the kit. Most of them covered many years and makes, but I narrowed it down to a common year, 1985. ‘85 Buick LaSaber calipers, ‘85 Dodge Diplomat Rotors, Ford F-150 bearings, etc... You can send him your spindles, or you can drill and tap them for ourself if capable. Again, the drill and tap specs are in the instructions. I don’t recall the specifications anymore. I did them myself, but I also had the tooling available where I work. If you don’t, I’m sure you could find a local machine shop that could do the work cheaper than shipping them back and forth to Charlie. I pulled mine off when I drilled and tapped them, but I also wanted to replace the king pins at the same time. Otherwise, with a good drill, and a steady hand, you could do it in place without removing them. I am still using the stock master cylinder and it is working fine. I realize that I am not gaining the added safety of a dual chamber M/C, but I’m OK with that for now. It stops straight and true without any issues.

How are you going to claim these repairs with the insurance company if you do them yourself? I would think you'd need an official estimate from a repair shop for the insurance. Then once they pay out you can do the repairs as needed.

A 3 speed from a ‘49 or earlier should bolt right in. Just have to modify the floor pan for the shift lever. The only question would be the park brake linkage. The linkage mounts may be different for the pull cable setup vs. the floor lever type on the earlier transmissions.

I remember working on some Link Belt excavators 'back in the day' that had a 12/24 volt system All of the electrical system was 12 volt, with a 12 volt alternator, but the starter was 24 volt. It had 2 - 12 volt batteries with a fancy series-parallel relay/switch in between them. It would connect the batteries in parallel under normal conditions for 12 volts, but when you pressed the start switch it would switch to series connection to give 24 volt to the starter motor. It worked well, but it was weird to work on.

And a red head too... Shop looks nice and clean. Could have closed the bathroom door though... ?

Cool!! I was just over your way last week. I had to visit a customer in Cobb. I considered stopping in Mt. Horeb on my way home to do a little shopping at Duluth Trading, but I saved my money and kept going.

Vintage Power Wagons https://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/

With that kind of damage to your truck I’m surprised that they were able to drive away. It had to cave in the front of their vehicle quite a bit to get the center of your bumper and the fender, unless that was 2 strikes.

Key words there are "up to"... May only add 0.0001 HP, but could potentially be 'up to' 50 in the perfect mythical application.

They allow the frame to flex without twisting up the tank.

Couldn’t you use the pan and pickup tube from your original engine?