Merle Coggins

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?

Just need a magic hat and you're in business...

Yes, pushing the starter switch button without using the foot linkage should activate the motor without engaging the starter gear. If you determine that there is an issue with the starter contact switch you may be able to remove it without removing the starter. It's possible that the contacts are corroded or pitted enough to not be able to pass current. If you do end up removing the starter from the vehicle you can bench test it with a battery and jumper cables. Connect the Pos. to the mounting flange for ground and the Neg to the starter switch lug. Then active the foot linkage to test.

When you get a chance to test it, have your volt meter handy. If the starter won't spin when the button is pressed down, recheck the voltage at the starter lug when pressing the button. If the 6 volts remains steady it's a good indication that the switch is the problem. If the voltage drops drastically this would indicate an issue with your cables and/or connections.

If you can depress the button on top of the starter by hand, or with a tool, the motor should spin if everything is good. If the starter motor won't spin you may have a faulty starter switch. However, don't overlook your battery cables. A bad cable can keep current from flowing to the starter motor. Also, a poor ground on your positive cable can cause the same issues. Do you have a volt meter? Simple tests with a volt meter will show you if you are getting proper voltage to the starter motor, and if you have a proper ground connection.

Are you absolutely sure that is the original engine? That truck should have a front sump pan. I suspect someone had swapped engines at some point in it's past.

They are probably using retro-reflective vinyl. It comes in all colors including black. I had a trailer that was lettered with black reflective vinyl. When the lights hit it at night the lettering would light up light lights shining back.

So it they are the Flatbed Coffee Company, why does the truck in their logo have a pickup bed?