1TonDirtyMopar

Not much to update. Finally got the clutch, pressure pllate, and e-brake lining packaged up and getting it sent out to Tennesse clutch. Spoke with Randall out there and he's a really cool cat. Was told turn around would be about a week so hopefully next weekend i'll be able to put the motor and transmission together and work on getting the truck running. Also decided to tear my Model 51 heater apart. Took the 6v motor out and currently looking for a 12v motor. Does anyone know how to remove the fan shroud from the rest of the box? Anyone have blast cabinet to clean these parts up? I'll put some pictures up in a few.

Big shout out to Jeff for hooking me up with some parts and extra goodies. His truck looks waaaay better in person than the pictures show. Definitely a great looking truck Jeff.

Got it. I'll give them a shout this week. Ouch. Okay maybe I won't go there. Just wanted to keep it looking as original as possible under the hood.

Awesome Jeff. I'll message you Thursday to get the address. Has anyone ever dealt with Vintage Auto Parts for their clutch and pressure plate needs? I see that they have what I would need to get the truck up and running and for a decent price as well. $95 plus $10 core for an 11" pressure plate and probably about $85 for a clutch disk with a core. They're out of Denver, CO. I bet shipping is going to be a pain. I'd love to deal locally instead of having to ship but I'll do it if need be. Also found a cool place up north that will convert a generator into a 12v alternator using the original generator case. Gener-nator.com is the site. Seems pretty cool but couldn't find any pricing on the site. Maybe i'm just blind.

Hey Martin thanks for that. That's going to make it super easy now. ha! Awesome Jeff. I'll definitely have to take you up on that. Maybe this Friday?

Oh and does anyone know if the e-brake handle can be broken down? I'd like to pull the rod out and get the spring for the release swapped out. It sticks a bit when you press on it. That'll also give me the opportunity to clean off all the rust and get it painted or powder coated.

Well it's been a while since the last update. Haven't really done much to the truck. I did start to clean up the trans from the 48 so that's going well. I think it was Jeff that said it but yes all the dirt and grime from the desert definitely kept the case in pretty good shape. Took to it with some wire brushes and a pick to get the majority of the dried gunk. I hope within the next few weeks i'll have ordered up new mounts for the engine and have gotten the ball rolling on the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel situation. Also started looking at some electrical options as far as connectors and either creating my own harness or buying one from painless and converting the truck to 12v. Anywho on with some pics. Yes all the crap on the floor came off of this trans...

She's looking great! One stop closer to getting on the road again! Btw DD Where'd you pick up your clutch and pressure plate from? I'm on the hunt for one for my truck.

So that's why people started to use "fritz." "The television is on the fritz again..." "The washing machine is on the fritz again..."

To hell with Jerry! LOL

Beats me. I've always said it "jerry rigged." I may be wrong.

Well didn't get much done over the weekend. I finally pulled the transmission from the 48' out of my little storage area and will get to cleaning that up this week/weekend. Also started looking for clutches/pressure plates. Anyone ever use Vintage Auto Parts, Inc. for theirs? Or know of a good place to get one? Also anyone know where to get replacement bolts for the crank to flywheel? The ones with the D-shaped head? The 48' only had 6 of the 8 bolts and a few of those are stripped (Ooops). Oh and I pulled out the air horns I was talking about. Also pulled out the Mopar 802 radio and it seems to be too long. I'm not sure if the bracket at the back of it is making it stick too far out or what. I'll have to search a bit for some pictures and what not.

It's definitely a labor of love. Wrenching on cars/trucks is something I love doing. It's great experience, it teaches you patience and gives you a lot to think about and gets your brain going on problem solving. I learned how to do a lot by just jumping in and getting things done. My very first car that I bought was already under the knife the 2nd day of ownership. It's easier for the modern cars since the aftermarket is there for a lot of them. Part of the fun is the hunt for the right parts. Speaking of which I need to get a hold of Keven.

Anybody want some chocolate milk? Found it in the air cleaner. Also, here are the rear mount brackets that were jerry rigged.

LOL...I did purchase some air horns for the 48. I don't think I will be using them on the 50 though. I did try one at about 40 psi and my ears were ringing for quite some time after the quick burst. Well Jeff, I've actually been parts hunting for my 48 since I got it back in 2010. I have definitely been patient on buying parts from ebay. But I have to admit I do tend to buy things I've been looking for rather quickly since they do pop up and disappear as fast as you can blink. I'm definitely in it for the long haul. These trucks don't have as big of an aftermarket as the Fords and Chevys so it's definitely a mission finding parts. Slowly but surely I have been collecting parts for the 48 and now that the 50 is in better shape and more complete a good chunk of those parts will get installed on the 50. I have to agree with you guys. I do have a vision of what I want for both of my trucks. I try to keep the truck as a whole in my mind especially when buying parts. You just never know when a good chunk of these parts will pop up again. This 50 will stay relatively "original." with only a few modern twists like a 12v upgrade.

Also made this interesting discovery... An air tank! I highly doubt this was factory and was added on by someone else.

I've seen the same items for the longest time. Just seem to be so expensive for what they are. One day... Did some more work today cleaned up some brackets with a little elbow grease a wire brush and some foam degreaser. Before After

Oh wow. Thanks for that picture! That particular one is on ebay for 125 and the mount8ng bracket is another 35 or 45 plus shipping for both. I guess ill keep an eye out.

Here's the test fit of the shorter bellhousing. It is in the process of being cleaned up so it's not going to go on the truck this way. Also I was trying to figure out how to get the pedals off. I noticed that the shaft on the outer end has a key type deal on it but no way to remove it. Any suggestions? I also noticed that the rear mounting brackets that are attached here were modified to fit. It looks like a torch was used to burn some bigger holes to be able to line up the bolt holes on the top. Anyone have some rear brackets for sale? Here's the clutch and pressure plate from that came out of the 48. Should be good to rock and roll....Yea Right...

So today I got some more work done on the engine prep. Got the FD stuff off finally and also test fitted the shorter bellhousing. Here's a few pics. I ended up having to loosen up the TQ converter bolts to be able to get the bell off. The dowel pins were getting in the way of me being able to pull the housing off. I have to admit i was pretty surprised to see such a big and heavy unit. The one on my buddy's Charger was a lot smaller and lighter. As you can see the clutch and pressure plate look to be in really good shape. Almost like this was just installed not long ago. There's still plenty of meat on the clutch as well.

hmmm is it this? or is there some other kind? And where does that get mounted? oh no the flapper is complete. I just took a picture with it open. It does have the felt all the way around it as well. i think it'll just make my life a lot easier and i could do some updated goodies with it as well. Well if you wanted to keep it all original i can totally see it being worth the hastle. Yes WD-40 is my friend with a lot of these nuts and bolts. Regular WD-40 is working but i see there's a WD-40 rust penetrant that i'd like to try out. So that one is next.

Awesome! Thanks!! This was one of my blind purchases over the phone through ebay. I bought a complete seat from a company off ebay. I think i just saw a listing and decided to call them up to see if they had the heater and the entire seat assembly. Didn't get any pictures just took the guys word for it and had them ship it out to me. I'm really happy that i did and i really came up on this one. The flapper functions i set the flapper to be open on the crease to show it open. What does this fresh air intake shroud look like? Is it the rectangular looking piece i see on ebay? Well i was planning on upgrading the electrical system to 12v. I was reading some articles where guys found a replacement 12v that is "plug and play." I will order up the part once i get this thing cleaned up. I also started cleaning up the bellhousing from the 3spd trans. It has a lot of dirt and grime on it. I'm trying to scrape off as much of the big stuff before i get in there with some wire brushes and wire wheels/cups. I hope I can get at least the motor set into the truck by next weekend.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone had a blast spending time with their family and friends. I started to pull some parts i had bought and stashed for the 48. I pulled out this bad boy and these parts. Is this the right model/style for this truck? Either way it's going to get cleaned up, restored and installed. This weekend I'll be pulling the rest of the transmission stuff from the 48 to get it onto this motor. I'm certain i will need to purchase a new clutch and have the pressure plate checked out or replaced.

Looking GREAT!

That's going to look pretty awesome when it's all said and done. I forgot where i saw it but there's a build where the guy made a crew cab on a modern chassis using two truck cabs as well. Looking forward to seeing it all