49Bseries

Well as for myself: My truck did not have a rearview mirror at all and I found a correct Truck mirror. I could have just drilled a hole, but the idea of a proper mounting point appealed to me.

Just got mine back. All I can say is Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! Awesome job ggdad1951. This is what makes this forum so invaluable.

"PS. My drivers side sun visor has that exact same upholstery on it and it's in very good condition. " Keven My visors are also that material: kind of a light brown cardboard with a crinkled leather look embossed pattern. It would be great if we could figure out how to get some new pattern that is close.

This is awesome! I had considered welding in a section from a car center divider, but this is a much better idea! Looks very original. Great job.

How about a nice two sided tee, like number 1 on the front over the left chest area and say number 4 on the back, or...number 7 on the front as pictured and number 4 on the back? I would definitely be interested.

I just wanted to make sure that I did not need to upgrade also.

BTW - I now have 8 extra 15" Dodge 3/4 ton wheels (5X5) if anyone may be interested. I need two good 16" wheels. Since the Olddaddy kit utilized the 1/2 ton wheel pattern as does the Cherokee rear end, I decided to go with the 16" wheel all around (even though the truck is a 3/4 ton). I hope I am not overlooking some complication. Do I have to stick with tubes for the 16" wheel?

I am getting prepared to do a very similar swap. I have a question: why did you have to upgrade to larger wheel lugs? I am planning on using the stock wheels and when I test fit them on the Cherokee axle, the studs appear fine. I am a newby at this kind of work and I am just trying to wrap my mind around every angle. BTW thanks for posting this. Jim

Well, after I purchased SSDodge's complete front end disc setup (he used the (Olddaddy Rustyhope.com kit), I knew, that I would want to put disc brakes on the rear of my PH. I also wanted the rear bolt pattern to match the front 5X4.5. So I did a bunch of research on this forum and found out some great information. Many thanks to all who have posted all of this great information! I found a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee on Craigslist being parted out, and purchased the entire rear axle. When I picked it up, I was pleased to find it was a limited slip Dana 44. The gearing was 3.73. It has the disc brakes and the 5X4.5 bolt pattern. It came out of a V8 Grand Cherokee. So if anyone is searching for a rear axle with disc brakes and 5X4.5 pattern, then the mid 90s Grand Cherokee is a good place to start. I also lucked out in that, the man who pulled it, agreed to go ahead and cut off the brackets - so that saved me some work. The information about pinion angle on this forum has been invaluable and will help me with welding on new spring perches. I am planning on using the Jeep parking brakes instead of the PH one. I was going to put in an early 1950s Mopar 3.90 chunk and keep the original axle, but after reading all of the other projects on here, I began to believe that I could have discs on the rear as well. Now I have an extra 3.90 rear chunk to get rid of. I hope I can find someone trustworthy around here to weld my perches on. Here are some pics (for anyone interested) showing the 16 inch Dodge wheel on the Dana rear end.

I searched but did not see this posted anywhere. Perhaps someone can use this information. This is the instruction sheet from the Motorola kit CR8TK, which as I understand it is specifically for the Pilot House trucks that utilize the model 802. There is a good illustration of the bracket and how it attaches to the firewall.

This is very inspiring for those of us who are still in the planning and dreaming stage. You have done a great job.

This is the filter found in the full flow canister on the 265: a 4 inch tall FleetGuard FF134 (tractor fuel filter?). I am thinking that Don Coatney recommends a NAPA 1062 so that is what I will use. I am just going to see if the engine will crank or run for now, so I am going to change the oil and filter and spark plugs and rig up the Radiator on a wood frame. I will have to figure out how to wire up everything to power the engine (I will look at the schematics page on DPETCA). Some preliminary checks looked good: Plenty of oil in the pan and filter canister, the rusty spark plugs backed out easily and (while a bit sooty) appeared in pretty good shape, engine turns by hand, and green antifreeze runs out of the petcock drain and the distributor points appear good.

Nice photos. Truck is looking good. I love Fall season.

I considered just using the chassis and moving my body to it, but my truck has the steel bed while the other one was a flatbed. I would have to add some supports for the running boards and cut off the large steel homemade bumper welded to the frame, as well as add a radiator support pad. If I switch the engine to my chassis I would have to do some slight work as well, so since I am disassembling the truck anyway, I am going to look at both frames and use the best one. This board is fantastic because a bunch of information on using the larger engine has already been posted here. I have been searching the older posts and appreciate the photos other members (like Dodgebe4ya) have posted. Thanks for that! My next step is to rig up a temporary frame for the radiator, change the oil and plugs, hook up a battery and see if the ol spitfire will run.

Thanks for all the ideas. This has gotten me really interested in this engine and I have discovered quite a bit of information on this very forum. As far as the T5 swap: I know a lot of people prefer this option and will shake their heads at my choice, but it is what I desire for this truck. I cannot explain it. I guess I lucked out on the engine, because I really made the trip just for the Fluid Drive stuff. I have been looking at how the other truck was modified for the Chrysler engine and it is pretty straight forward. The pan is already set up. The only hang up I can see is the radiator, but I see that some of you have done it so I will have to research more. DodgeB4Ya: I am attempting to imagine what entails reversing the core support. Is it just flipping the U shaped radiator support around? Thanks

That is a great looking truck! I am digging the name on the door thing.

HMMMMM...Starting to lean toward using the "Spitfire". Hope the internals are in good shape. I did notice a post atop the head that is maybe used for a dual carb linkage?

Good point. I will either have to use this engine or find an eight hole Dodge crankshaft. Am I correct in thinking that the crankshaft will not swap to the Dodge engine?

Here are some pics of the engine. It was said to be running some years ago and turns over freely but was really a bonus. I have not decided if it is worth the bother to change the engine. I am leaning towards staying as original as possible.

Thanks for the advice Merle. I will definitely do that. The carb is a Carter but has an automatic choke on it. I will be double clutching it according to the position of the filler plug. Merle you would not happen to have a template or measurements for the emblem holes would you? Some other goodies: a nice set of helper springs which I am now considering using on mine and a flashlight holder still on the steering column:D. The engine appears to have the serial C53-62 stamped on the pad. I don't know much about the 25 inch long engines but it is evident where they modified the mounting area and there is no place to mount the radiator. Should I consider using this engine? Thanks everyone.

Thanks to Dadsdream (Eric) I now have a great start to the fluid drive upgrade. The wife and I drove up to Indiana a couple of days ago and met Eric (a poster on this site) who just happened to have a complete 1950 chassis equipped with a fluid drive transmission. Seems he only needed the body and I needed everything else (or at least that is what I got). I ended up with the 4 speed fluid drive transmission, driveshaft, pedals, transmission cover, shift lever, etc - as well as a 25" spitfire engine equipped with what appears to be a 12 volt generator (green tag?) and a full flow filter assembly (the engine was obviously a replacement). The bonus was a pair of original fluid drive script for the 1950 (anyone have a template for drilling the holes in the hoods for these emblems?). I am not sure what I will be doing with the frame and engine but it came with a front bumper, radiator, spare tire carrier and two original wheels. The only questionable piece was the carb. I am not sure if the carb is for a fluid drive set up (does not look like yours Merle). Anyway, Eric was very helpful and it was great to meet him. His wife is happy some junk was removed from their yard and my wife is non too happy about the new "junk" in my yard. That deal never would have happened without this forum. I recently picked up some bumper guards, so I guess I am on a quest to fully option my truck. Now just to find the dual horn setup...

Yes you are correct. I guess I was thinking about the difficulty of locating all of the components.

Wow. Quite a bit of work...

I searched the forum and couldn't find any threads like this so here goes. How feasibile is it to change from a 4 speed floor mounted transmission to a fluid drive of the same? What would I need to convert? Just the bell housing and fluid drive unit? A different crank? Shifter? Floor cover? Carburator? Clutch pedals???? I am intrigued with adding fluid drive to my 1950, especially after seeing Merle's transmission. Is it too much trouble?

I have a 1950 with the cable t-handle pull under the dash and it does not have the fat spring either and I recall seeing an illustration matching my set up in on of the manuals.