Merle Coggins

The 2 times I was at Barber was for a conference in Birmingham, with Volvo Construction Equipment. They took us to Barber for a banquet on the last day. They set up a dining room up on the 3rd floor and served a wonderful banquet. We had a couple hours to roam the museum before dinner. Otherwise it would be quite a trip down there for me. Sounds like that vintage bike event would be fun though. Davenport (I’m assuming Iowa) would be much closer. May need to check that one out... As for Wheels Through Time, When Volvo CE had their North America Headquarters in Asheville, NC I would have to go there a couple times a year for training. Whenever possible I would ride my motorcycle down there and hopefully find a little extra time to do a little extra riding in the area. However, I never seemed to find that extra day in the trip to swing into Maggie Valley to see the museum,even through I’d pretty much be driving right past it. Now Volvo CE has moved their headquarters to Shippensburg, PA. So I don’t get down there like I used to. I may need to make it a point to take a vacation trip back down there with that place specifically in mind.

Or a broken axle shaft.

Yea, you all have it rough down there... ?

I was going through some pictures in my computer and found this one. Not the best to show overall fit. I think I took this to show CCC why it needed mirror pockets. You can sort of see in the picture how it fits the cab rather well. I used this in the summer months because it would sit in my driveway, so I could get my motorcycle in and out of the garage easier. Now that I have moved, and have a larger garage, it gets to stay inside now. I cut up a couple tennis balls and screwed them to pieces of dowel that I would slide into the top bed roll to soften the corners at the back. And that held well, but after about 3 summers of use the hood ornament started to poke through. This is why I wanted to reinforce that area.

It's a pretty impressive place... 3 floors of motorcycles, and they still have to stack them up... They had just opened a new wing addition when I was there last spring. I'm sure that's all full now. There wasn't much in it yet last March, but they say that they have at least as many bikes in storage as what's shown in the museum. And they claim that they all run and could be taken out for a ride.

Here's another Crocker from Barber...

I've been wanting to visit that museum for many years, but haven't had a chance yet. I used to get down to Asheville often, but I don't get down there much anymore. It's still on my Bucket LIst though. I have been to the Barber Motorsports Museum a couple of times. There are so many cool vintage bikes there it's hard to take it all in, but I did get a pic of this '35 Crocker Speedway on one visit.

I had one from California Car Covers that fit pretty good. I only wished that it had mirror pockets. After a few years of use it got a couple of rips in it. One from the hood ornament poking through the front. I ordered a replacement and asked for extra material to reinforce that spot. I also asked for extra material to make mirror pockets. They gladly accommodated me, and even offered that they would sew in mirror pockets if I marked it out and sent it back to them. I never got around to doing that, and now it has an indoor living space, so I don’t use it anymore. I would highly recommend California Car Covers.

Yes, the fuel like runs up the left side frame rail, follows the lower rear flange of the front cross member over to the right side, then up to the fuel pump.

That tool doesn’t look broken to me... ?

I'm with Jan on this... You have the engine out where it's easy to work on, and you have all new studs. Now's the time... I believe most of the studs end up into the coolant. Just play it safe and put a good quality thread sealant on all of them. I have used a PTFE pipe thread sealant and it has worked fine. I know there are some high temp versions out there, Permetex makes one, that may be more conducive to exhaust studs. But I've had success with the normal stuff. I also like the Permetex #9 Tack and Seal for stuff like that.

Ahh.. Red tractors... Good man... I grew up with IH Farmalls too.

Kind of partial to green? LOL! Hard to tell what the tractor is hiding behind the RV, but I'm guessing it may be green too. ?

Sodium filled valves were used in the truck engines of that size.

If you cut it off you'll need to make a block off plate to keep the hot exhaust gasses from heating the bottom of the intake. You'd be better off locking it in the horizontal position. If you apply heat where the arrow points, on both sides, it will likely free up. Then you could tack weld it in the position that mine was in when I took this picture. Or replace the spring, if needed, and have a working heat riser.

Gener-nator will put an alternator into your Autolite generator housing. Not cheap though. https://www.gener-nator.com/

My manifolds were separated when I got my truck, and the heat riser flap was also seized in the horizontal position. In hind side I should have left it like it was, but I applied a bit of heat to the edges, over the pin, and it freed right up. I then put a spring kit from Bernbaum on it and it never worked right.

Catalogs that list things by model year make things quite muddy. They should be listed by model number designation instead. The 'model year' gets a bit fuzzy due to how the DMV's registered vehicles back then. Often times the "year" on the title showed the year it sold rather than when it was made. Also, in recent times we are used to the manufacturers releasing the 'new' model years in September or October of the previous year. This also wasn't the case back then.

It’s a weep hole to allow coolant to escape if the seal leaks. That one looks a bit different than the normal version, but that whole pump looks a bit different.

I don’t believe that is the correct carburetor for your truck. I believe the 1 ton trucks used a Stromberg. But it should work for you. That extra spring was probably added to assist the return spring if the throttle was sticky. It certainly isn’t supposed to be there.

Another thought... Don't the cars have a rubber isolation on the steering box mount to the frame? On my truck it's mounted solid, but I recall some discussion about an isolation mount for the cars. Could this have failed suddenly allowing the whole steering box to move side to side. That could act similar to having a lot of play within the box. You said that the pitman arm doesn't move when taking up the play in the steering wheel, but was the steering gear box moving?

At the factory they had a brand new block with a freshly machined surface to seat the plug into. You don't have that luxury... A little sealant upon assembly will help account for the rougher surfaces. Edit: I just came across this video from Permetex, explaining the different types of sealants, and where/when to use each type.

Mine will do that sometimes too. Once as I was pulling in, and parking, at a cruise night in Hartford. I bumped the horn button with my forearm as I was cranking on the steering wheel to back it into a spot. The horn went off and stayed going until I could get parked. Then I could free up a hand to tap on the button to get it popped back up. I sure know how to get a crowd's attention when I arrive.?

Did the pitman arm move during that 3" of steering wheel play? "Only the joints rolled slightly with no play." That statement leads me to think you have loose tie rod ends, or drag link ends.

I missed the part about the gasket. If it’s leaking between the diff housing and the axle housing then you will need to pull out the diff. Are there gaskets available for that? I usually use RTV or Permetex Anerobic Gasket Maker, which seals and hardens well for that type of mating surfaces. For that you will need to pull the brake drums, disconnect the brake lines, and remove the brake assemblies. Pay attention to the shims behind the brake backing plates. Then you can pull out the axle shafts. You will need pullers for the brake drums and the axle shafts. Once the axle shafts are out you can then remove the diff assembly. The axle breather is incorporated into the bolt that holds the brake line splitter Tee to the top of the axle tube to the left of the diff.