pflaming

I am about 120 miles south of you and would like first dibs.

Rebuild, resurface, and count the teeth! This is why I like the forum for from it you get REAL answers and things to avoid! Thank you, will get them "RE'D" and will review my math.

Clean that red and it will shine again, very little expense just some good elbo grease. Look at what came out of my surface. Yours will be even better. The truck was light blue when I hauled it home, 17 years of oxidation. Amazing what is under that oxidation. Look at pictures in threads entitled "Patina" and Patina #2 to see more before and after pictures. Good luck, you are in for a lot of good surprises.

I have a pair of clutches and flywheels. One pair I know is very old, quite possibly original, the other possibly newer. Is there a way to determine if either is usable? Does the non-metal parts on a clutch plate dry out or are then made of a metal composite? I just revealed my ignorance concerning such. I have an engine on order for Easter pickup and installation and the clutch/tranny happens about the same time/sequence. Just read through the search posts on clutches so got a good start there.

I'd love to have your '50 fast back but can't this year. Post a picture, my first car was a '50 fastback. Can't tell all that happened in that car! Drove it to CA in '58. Had a couple cans of beer to open when we crossed the CA border. Salt Lake City is a dry town, driving through some high school boys were driving along side, so we threw a can to them. When they opened it it all turned to foam and most of the contents went to the ceiling. Never forget how we all laughed.

Got my magazine today, you had yours 10 days ago!!! Neat '50. I liked the front and grill in one color. OT (The mag's articles tend a bit too much to the advertiser's products and to 'trick' restoring. I guess that is how they can have a magazine at all. The subscribed price is low enough to renew so I do.)

Count me in. Hope you have some of that sausage that is made in your area, and I hope I have my truck drivable by then.

Was looking at your back fenders, was wondering what that would look like on my truck, I kindof like the look. Have also wondered what the truck would look like if the front fender moldings were also painted black. Was also looking at your paint. I think if you would thorougly clean that paint (lacquer thinner) then very lightly wet/sand it with 600 or higher grit paper you might find a very bright red hiding undereneigth all that oxidation. I used 200 and 400 grit, not knowing higher numbers existed and I took off a lot more paint than I should have.

Brian, Brian, you must be under the age of 45 or you would know that forgiveness is easier to get then permisssion. That car was interesting would like to know the story on it.

I started by cleaning everything I could. If you can get to a steam cleaner, give that body a 200% steam job. I would then wash it down with soap and water then lacquer cleaner, inside and out. Then you will be working with clean parts. I then removed the front fenders, what a difference that makes, easy to do. Finally, but a large bag of medium size zip lock bags and small pieces of paper. Every time you remove an item place ALL bolts, washers, spacers, etc in a bag and put a clean, clearly written note in that bag. Number the bags in progression you removed the part / assembly. I am on a tight budget so I have gone after the things that cost the least, things that take sweat equity, that kept me very busy, kept the project progressing and little money spent. Now all my effort and money is targeted to get it running. Do not be afraid to ask a question, but you can save a lot of time by going to the search choice and start reading. That was a big help for me and remains so. I have a file on "'52 Dodge". If I am working on the firing system, I open a document and I copy and paste as I read. Save the document, edit it for the main points, save it again, then print it out and take it to the shop. Will save your enormous amouts of time. Good luck, you just started your day the correct way, with Pilot-house people. The two attachments show before and after, many other progress pictures are in my profile. PF

To my taste, I would not shorten the bumper. I think it looks better as a match to the front bumper which is also wrapped around. You might want to paint what you would cut off with a water based paint that would wash off. If you painted the ends black, you might get an idea of how it would look. If you do that, then paint the ends of the front bumpers also to see how they would look if shorter. From a practical point, the longer bumper also protects your fender. There are a lot of short posts in parking lots. Good looking truck!

Yound Ed: Vintage Power Wagon Catalogue has this controll for $65. Their comment is: ". . . for those who want a vintage look." I conclude from that and from the surface on mine that this controller has been around for some time.

Great car. There is something about a two door sedan, in the '40 series that makes it look longer. Wecome to the forum. If the answer isn't here, then there isn't an answer!

My wife brought out the sandwich and pie for lunch. Can't figure out if (1) she was encourageing me to keep working on the truck or (2) found a way to keep me out of her house. Either way, the pie was incredible.

After getting my turn signal controller to work I am now going to see how far I can go with the radio. Next project. I will clean first, then check tubes, etc as I would a light bulb and connections. I am going to gamble that 80 % of radio repair is cleaning. Over a period of 50 years, dust and humidity make 'mud'!! I am guessing that that 'mud' slowly grounds out the elements until one does NOT work and the radio quits. . A new tube here and there and . . . who knows. Will report back in a week or so

Merle: Red wire to right front, green wire to left front, black wire to right rear, gray wire to left rear. Tail lights are tied to each other. Gray wire with a black line on it goes to the brake switch. Yellow to L (load) and blue to (pilot) on the canister. The third pole on the canister (X) is the incoming power source which needs a fuse. ALL bulbs MUST be grounded. I vice-gripped the front bulbs to the tail light brackets and ran a single wire to the neg pole of the battery. Could do the same with a battery charger. So much easier on the workbench. The attachments show what I am doing on my workbench. You must check the system WITHOUT the flasher canister. My controller did NOT work, since I am trying to 'restore' everything I can, I took the controller apart and painstakingly have cleaned it with electrical control fluid, brake fluid worked also, but the electrical fluid dried faster. The little printed circuit board electrical points can be crossed over to test the lights. It is really a system that will last forever. With the 900 series there aren't enough wires to run the park lights as turn lights. The Control Stat 900 is much simpler than the other controller I have, a much better system. Instead of points, the CS 900 has a printed circuit board. It is interesting that printed circuit boards were around in the '50's, maybe earlier. Any one know how soon then showed up? Spent Saturday cleaning and playing with this controller, kind of neat to get it come to life. It was so full of 'dust/crud' that things shorted out and the few things that move couldn't. Got my schematic from the net.

Does that collection belong to one person? It is more than impressive. Liked the black and white pickup.

Checked the site, interesting. Looked at your truck, interesting adapted grill and lights. Working on my turn signals and thinking having park lights and signal lights. Looks like that is how you have it. Looks great!

We get blossoms! Drove through the country on Thursday, peach trees are starting to bloom, nice pink color. Will wait a few weeks and send some pictures of our spring color.

Have two controllers, a Signal Stat 900, no brand name on the other, opened both, both dirty. Cleaned both, still no signal out. Any suggestions? They do not seem to be broken or even capable of being broken. HMMMMM

Picked up a flash canister for $7.00 at a local parts store. Opened up the controller, seems over the years the grease melted and has covered some of the contact points. One side worked, will clean the other side. Any suggestions on what cleans best? Previous notes were incredibly helpful. PF

With that spindle switch, can one then use a newer axle and add power steering? When did Dodge make PS available? Even if the answer is Yes, does the flat six have enough power to handle PS?

Want to get the turn signal 'handle' working on the workbench before hooking into the harness. Question #1: How do I ground it? I have a battery on the bench and I'm connecting direct to it. Any problems doing that? I do have a fuse between the battery and the flasher can. (2) How does a flasher can work? Is it like the coil in that it collects energy then repeatedly releases it?, (3) Set up this way, can I make it work on the bench by adding bulbs to each wire? (4) What am I overlooking? I went to Signal Stat 900 (google) and got a diagram so I have the road map.

Debugging my new harness. Bulb holders must be made out of some form of pot metal tin. They come out hard but will not snap back in. On one park light holder I tried to bend the 'lip' that holds it in an it broke off like a piece of cookie. Seems I need to buy new bulb sockets. There are not that many so that's not the issue, just a bit frustrating when the light burns but the apparently good socket will not hold, especially when one has been on his back for a time. Also learned that the taillights ground through the body. That means ALL things related must be clean for the current to pass through. Is it a practical thing to run a ground wire to the frame to assure a good ground? How about the cab, if it is one good rubber mountings, should it then have a ground wire?

Currently I have a standard three speed, no fluid drive, complete bolted to the engine, and a four speed w/o a housing. I have spoken for a Chrysler engine, 25" block without a tranny. I get that in April, so I have to find a tranny for it. I do not know if my housings will fit the larger engine. It had a four speed but does not at this time. On a four speed, I always referred to them as super low, 1,2,3, so we are thinking the same, just using different terms. (". . . drain plug point straight back or down at an angle?) Will have to check the drain plug and the gears but seems it won't make any difference, since I am going to use a three speed, it seems none of the four speed will work exchange with a three speed anyway. Appreciate the information.