Merle Coggins

When I did a manifold swap on my truck this summer there were 3 studs that came out with the nuts locked on. I was able to heat the nuts, to free the bond, and remove them from the studs. Then I put thread sealant on the stud threads and reinserted them into the block before putting the replacement manifolds back on. If you leave the nut on the stud, and reuse it that way, it won’t torque up properly.

I’m curious to see your air cleaner solution. I’m thinking an elbow/snorkel to a big @$$ K&N cone filter.

Jeff, Does the Grand Cherokee axle have a 5X5” bolt pattern, same as our 3/4 ton trucks? I believe I read that somewhere a while back. The regular Cherokee is 5X4-1/2”, like the 1/2 ton trucks.

What is the belt driven pump on the left side of the engine? Looks like a power steering pump, but it wouldn’t have that unless someone did a conversion. The side windows aren’t too bad to remove. There is a good description in the shop manuals. You may be able to download that section from the DEPTCA site. I would suggest finding a printed copy for future reference. You will use it a lot. You’ll probably need new windshield glass in the future too. It isn’t likely you’ll be able to clear up the frosted areas around the outside. It may be delaminating at the edges.

When they sit for a while the gas in the carburetor will evaporate away. So when you go to start it you will have to crank a while to get gas back in there. Best practice is to crank for short bursts, 10-15 seconds each, with a pause in between. This keeps the starter from over heating. After a couple of crank cycles there should be some gas in the carburetor, now give the gas pedal 1 or 2 pumps and crank again. If it doesn’t start that time try the same thing again on the next cycle. Option 2 is to add an electric fuel pump to help prime the carb after long rest periods.

Grandpa’s truck isn’t a 23” engine? It would have had a 23” 230 CID engine from the factory. If it has a 25”er then someone swapped it in a while back. Your Spitfire head engine would fit then. Go through it again and clean it up. It’ll probably be fine if it was stored inside.

Got it running?

That picture would seem correct to me. One on each side of the mount bracket so that it can flex wither way.

Yes, that clip is welded to the shaft

Try this decoder site for the older trucks. It’s hard to tell from that one picture, but I would guess it’s a 3/4 ton. 1/2 ton trucks were all pickups, unless someone converted it.

DCM Classics has new rubber bump stops for the door check arms. And I believe they have complete door check arms too. I recently replaced the rubber on my passenger side door. It was still in tact, but when opened fully it would bump my mirror and change the adjustment. So I went in and replaced the old hard rubber stop with 2 new ones. by doubling them up it will now stop before hitting the mirror.

I've been running Amsoil in my truck for years. Yes, it has a couple of small oil leaks, but I don't believe it's any worse than if I used conventional oil.

Trees are just starting to turn around here too. I would also agree that it seems a bit late this year. Some were starting to drop leaves a month ago due to the dry weather, but since then we've had a lot of rain and they perked back up. Edit: I looked back through some pictures from when I did a fall color run with my truck. That was Oct 1, 2011, according to the date stamp on the image file. As can be seen in this picture, some trees were full color, some were bare, and some are still green. I wouldn't expect any fall color down in the Carolina's until late October.

Well, don't leave us hanging... Did you ever get back to work on it, and get it running?

Maybe you need to adjust the points? With the rub block at the point of the cam lobes are the points still closed?

And if he connects his breathing hose up to the NOS bottle he'd probably be happier too. ?

The fact that the ammeter would show a discharge when power was consumed leads me to believe there is nothing wrong with the gauge or it's connections. So it must be an issue with the generator circuit not putting current back to the battery. You say that you though it may be the generator, which leads me to think it probably wasn't a generator issue. That leaves the regulator and associated wires. I'm guessing it was a simple fix once you investigated things. Possibly a loose connection at the generator or regulator. Or possibly a broken wire at one end. Either way the generator output wasn't reaching the ammeter.

What makes you believe you need to do “oil system mods” to run these engines at rated RPM? I just completed a 1900 mile trip running up around 3000 RPM for much of it.

A car door with a detachable window frame? I’ve never seen such a thing...

What am I looking at there? It looks like the top part of a car door, so where’s the rest of the door?

Kanter has vac advance units for Chrysler engines. Pricy, but good.

If it is indeed a ‘49 with column shift, look for an “X” at the end of the serial number. This indicates a B1 that started getting the B2 changes.

Is that a Met converted to a tree spade? ?

Interesting that they included valve cover gaskets and manifold gaskets in a “Head Gasket Set” for a flat head engine, but it probably doesn’t hurt to have them.

This is the engine that suddenly lost power and started running rough on your way to a show? A blown head gasket makes sense based on your previously reported symptoms and the compression test results. Head gaskets should be available almost anywhere. You just need to verify if you need one for internal or external coolant bypass. Or just get the newer one with internal bypass and it should work for either application. Also, when you get the head removed inspect it carefully for flatness. It may need to be milled to make it flat again. Wouldn’t hurt to check the block too. When reinstaling, be sure to use thread sealant on your head bolts to eliminate coolant leaks. Then retorque the head after the first few heat cycles. Merle