Merle Coggins

I was struggling to upload photos from my phone while at the show. Now that I’m home, I’ll try again. Here they are, side by side. Got several comments about having them together. We talked to one guy that say’s he’s had a Pilot House truck for many years. It was a daily driver for several years back in the 70’s or 80’s. I don’t recall all the details. He still uses it from time to time, but didn’t feel it was worthy to bring to a show like this. I talked with another fellow that had come across a ‘50 that he was considering buying. He asked a few questions about parts availability. He also noticed my dash plaque from pilot-house.com. I encouraged him to check us out for more information. At the end I think he was ready to pull the trigger on the purchase. The only other Pilot House trucks there today was the ‘51 “Little Red Express” truck that I saw last year. We also spoke with the owner for a bit. And the Cool Bus... (too bad it has a Chevy engine/trans in it) I also liked this Power Wagon bus... Snow days? We don’t need no stinkin’ snow days... We have Power Wagons. We’ll still pick up the kids... LOL!!

The heat wave finally broke here, after some nasty storms yesterday. Today is the Appleton Old Car Show and Kris Bolstad and I met up and parked together at the show. It’s a beautiful day today. Nice and sunny, but not too hot. I’ll get pics posted later...

I was 2, so I don’t remember it. But I certainly learned much about it in the years to follow.

Inside the driver's side door, on the A-pillar, there should be a ID tag with the model and Serial Number. (Not a VIN) But it appears to be a '51 or '52 B-3-B Panel truck. No records of who was renting the unit it was found in?

They’re probably assuming that you’ve already plumbed up air lines/hoses to the tank, so they suggest removing the drain so that it won’t build up any air pressure during the run-in period.

Plumb it as it’s labeled and be sure to use the proper filter element for it. Some feed in at the top, some feed into the bottom. It all depends on the filter design.

I recently listened to Bob Uecker talking about how they would deal with the heat back when he was playing baseball. They would have a tub full of cabbage, or lettuce, leaves in ice water. They'd take a leaf and put it up under their cap to keep cooler when on the field.

What are you saying? It's obviously a different car, just a similar exhaust setup.

Here's an example of one of the later year's Turkish DeSoto trucks.

We have some Plymouth truck owners here on the forum. Was '40 or '41 the last year for Plymouth trucks... until the '80's anyway? Remember the '80 era Plymouth trucks? The Dodge Ramcharger was marketed under the Plymouth banner as a Trail Duster. And there was the Horizon TC3, or Turismo, pickup version. ? And there may have even been a Plymouth version of the Dodge D50 pickup.

That's an interesting question. I've got the Speed Box app on my iPhone that I've used to check speeds compared to speedos. It's a simple speedometer app that uses GPS tracking, but I was unsure if it also used cell data. So I just performed a test. I took a walk outside and it tracked me at 2-3 MPH. I then put the phone in airplane mode and turned off the wi-fi, so there would be no way to connect to the internet and use data. It still tracked my walking at 2-3 MPH. So, it would seem that it doesn't need to use any data stream to function.

You are correct. I saw it wrong the first time. But it still goes against everything I’ve seen on pleated oil filters. Apparently in a bypass application it’s not as critical. Maybe that’s why your filter cartridge is encased in metal. This would help support the filter media with an inside-out oil flow. Maybe your plumbing is correct after all??

Much of that may be condensation and crap in the old exhaust pipes coming out when they get hot. If it runs good and has good oil pressure I'd run it for now and see what happens. Now may be a good time for a valve adjustment though. Sounds like you have a couple ticking...

The way it's plumbed, according to the picture you posted initially, the oil is flowing inside-out. The pressure line is going into the bottom center and the return line is at the upper side.

Interesting that this "Installation Instruction" shows two different types of filters, with reversed flow patterns, but only references the one filter element. Maybe they filter both ways well enough? That goes contrary to everything I've learned about filtration.

I thought the DeSoto badging was only for export trucks. I wasn't aware that they marketed the trucks under the DeSoto name here in North America. He hasn't said where this truck is sitting, but it appears to be left hand drive. Also, they started putting V8's into the trucks in late '54. And since this one is a '55 or '56 model the V8 most certainly would be a factory install.

Yes, you are correct on your pressure/return connections at the block. If you look at the upper one it is part of a full length ridge along the block that is the oil pressure gallery. I believe there are 4 plugs along this gallery. One of them is used to feed oil to your filter. The bottom connection point is just above the oil pressure control valve. The oil returning from the filter has to pass through this valve. (I believe Mr. Coatney has a good cut-away photo of this valve showing it's operation) When the engine is producing good oil pressure the valve will open to relieve the excess pressure and dump it back to the sump. At this time it also opens a path for the return oil from the filter to return to the sump. If the engine oil pressure drops below the working limit of the valve the valve will close to maintain all pump flow to the bearings. At this time it will also close off the return flow from the filter to ensure that all oil flow from the pump goes to engine lubrication. As for the filter connections, this depends on the manufacturer. You state that you have a Wix filter housing that calls for a PC10 filter element. And, as you have stated, this crosses to the modern Wix 51010 filter element. This is a cellulose (pleated paper) type filter element. Pleated cellulose filter elements are typically designed to filter from outside-in, which would require your feed like to connect to the outside of the canister so that oil will fill the canister and flow through the filter to the inner tube, where it can return to the engine. One of the photos you posted above is my engine with a filter from the Deluxe Filter Company, and it calls for a JC filter element. This JC element crosses to the Wix 51011, which is a sock type element. I prefer the Baldwin JC405 as I find they fit the canister better. In my Deluxe filter the canister is stamped at the ports, IN and OUT. The OUT is at the top side port. In this filter setup the oil enters through the center post, flows through the sock type element from the inside-out. These filters are a tight fit into the canister so the oil has to migrate up through the filter media to the top of the filter where it can then flow back to the sump. Under the cap is a perforated dome that holds the filter element below the return port and squeezes it tight into the canister. As Pete said, you may need to clean and inspect your filter canister to correctly determine which port is truly the Inlet and which is the outlet. If you haven't had the cover off in a while it may be time to do that, and replace the element. That will give you the opportunity to study the filter canister a bit more. Merle

It's a little over a month away now... We've got everything booked for the trip and looking forward to the "get-a-way". One night in Escanaba, MI so that we can give away some money at Island Resort & Casino Two nights in St. Ignace, MI with a trip over to Mackinac Island Four nights at the Marriott in Auburn Hills for the WPC meet. We'll depart Saturday afternoon after taking in the Cruise. One night in Ludington, MI One Ferry ride on the SS Badger back to Manitowoc, WI. Look forward to seeing all that come out.

The thermostat housing would probably give you the best representation of the coolant temp returning to the radiator. You could also check the temp at various spots along the head to be sure there aren't any hot spots. And if you check the head temp just above the temp gauge bulb that would give the best comparison to what your gauge is reading. Keep in mind that coolant temps can change quicker than the cast iron of the head, so your IR gun will only show you an average temp of what the coolant is doing. If you check at a core plug it could be more accurate, assuming there isn't a bunch of crud packed up behind the plug.

That all depends on the filter design. Some feed in from the bottom and return out the upper side. I know that mine is that way. I would ditch the rubber hoses and rig up some hard lines that would clear the starter.

My wife loves riding in the truck with me. A few years ago she was with me at Back to the 50’s and fell in love with the Nash/Hudson/AMC Metropolitans. Since then she’s kept her eyes out for one in her budget, and she found one last fall. It was needing a fair bit of body work but she wanted it, and told me repeatedly they she want’s to do much of the work on it. And she has. We haven’t had too many work days on it yet, but she’s there in the garage with me not afraid to dig in and learn as much as possible. She was a Millwright (maintenance mechanic) at a local paper mill when I met her, so I know she can handle tools. And she can probably weld better than me. Now we just need more time to work on the Met.

DCM has door checks for your truck. https://dcmclassics.com/home/615-i-137-55-door-checksstops.html

You can check the quality of your tank’s ground with a multimeter set on the ohm scale. With one lead on the sending unit body and the other one touching a nearby body panel, or bolt, it should show you close to 0 ohms. When I was putting my truck together I didn’t want to rely on the tank mounting points to provide the necessary ground for my sender. I added a machine screw into the body of the sending unit, where it wouldn’t interfere with anything, and added a ground wire from that screw/stud to the chassis.

What is the actual fuel level in the tank? Have you checked the resistance of the sending unit while sweeping the arm from ‘empty’ to ‘full’? Is the tank providing a good ground for the sending unit?

I agree with Ken. I don’t recommend any lube on the tapered shaft . It should be clean and dry. The torque transfer between the axle shaft and hub is dependent on that metal to metal contact. The key helps too, but shouldn’t be expected to take the full torque load.