Desotodav

I've seen a few steering column outer sleeves snap off down lower where the 'lever 19-47-14' attaches to the bracket on the outer case. The outer sleeve is made of thin gauge as you say, but there shouldn't be too much movement in the area that yours has cracked - only movement would come from the upper mount under the dash, or down lower where steering box bolts through the 'bracket 19-12-1' to the chassis. Check that lower bracket as mentioned for damage as I have also seen some of them broken. The steering column has a bearing pressed in (and a cone-shaped bush) at the top so can not be replicated easily. Good job John if you have managed to successfully repair yours.

What a great old clip. I sure feel sorry for that poor old Dodge that he has totaled though - didn't it take a pounding!

Great story Bob. Glad that it all worked out well for you in the end!

I picked up 6 or so door latch pieces from my shed yesterday to pull a couple of springs out for me to take to the spring maker's next week. Do these look something like you need Jeff? I have looked at previous posts and they appear similar to ones that people have posted pictures of before. It would appear that the Ford and Chev ones are slightly different. I'll also ask the fella about the door lock ones at the same time. My attached thumbnail/s should open up to almost exact size.

In answer to your question of how long you make them Mark, I measured a set of my spare cables and found that the choke cable was slightly longer than the throttle cable. Measurements taken are from the end of the housing where the cable case slides into (the bit that you were trying to solder/braze - see attached photo). The inner cable appears to be stainless wire and extends past the end of the cable case to connect at the carburetor. Measurements as follows: Choke cable: 26 inches of outer casing from the point indicated + 4 inches of inner cable extended past the end of the outer casing. Throttle cable: 23 inches of outer casing from the point indicated + 1 1/2 inches of inner cable extended past the end of the casing. I believe that these measurements should be the same for ours (Australia) and yours (USA) trucks. Hope this helps you out.

Yep, the truck is apart Jeff but nothing that can't be sorted out. I really didn't expect to have to play with engine bearings again with only 1500 miles on the new engine. I rang a couple of spring manufacturer's here in Oz today and it appears that one of them may be willing (and able) to make what we need with regard to door latch springs. I'll drop by their factory later next week to show him samples of door latch springs that I have. This is their website... http://www.natspring.com.au/index.html . Russell said that they may have left over stock and tooling from previous jobs that suits our requirements. They don't have minimum quantity run requirements, but there would be associated setup costs etc. I'll chat with him next week to see if the project is viable.

I was going to see if a fella here in Oz could make them, but I expect that he will need to make them in fair quantities and there seem to be many different shapes and sizes to suit the different models. My usual spring-making contact only works with round gauge (usually stainless) wire, and he has now moved some 20 hours south of my place. I'll do some research to see if I can locate the name of the guy that I was going to ask to make some and take him some samples from my spare door parts. I'll report back when I know more.

A really funny story that one - but reported to be a hoax... http://www.darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-04.html .

I'm playing with the rear main seal on my 52 truck engine at present. The one that I have fitted is the rubber version (see attached pic), which I bought in a kit. I did some research on the forum recently to find that earlier versions of the engine had the rope seal. I have also attached a page from Hank's manual (from a previous post) that shows the rope seal. I'm sure that Hank won't mind me using it. From what I understand, the felt attached to the pan plate is more or less just a dust seal. I initially stuck cork on mine but it isn't thick enough so I will be replacing it with felt whilst the engine and gearbox are out of the truck. I found that oil was being flung from the flywheel through the gap in that pan plate and onto the exhaust - hence the need to close that gap with some felt. My truck has a different gearbox to the one in your car, so the pan plate (pictured) may differ somewhat to the one that you mention. A word of warning though (from my recent experience), I have just found that the crankshaft rear main bearing clearance on my 218 motor is .005 rather than the specified .0015 to .003. I found the measurement for this gap by using a strip of 'PLASTIGAGE' and torquinq the rear main cap bolts up to the required 80-85 foot pounds - then checked the measurement that the strip of 'Plastigage' was squashed to between the crankshaft and the bearing cap. I am now taking steps towards undersized bearings and possibly a crank grind as I am told that no seal will stem the oil leak with such a bearing gap. I am no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination - but I learn quick from those that are qualified around me! I am only mentioning my experience in the hope that you will check your rear main cap clearance and find the gap better than mine was. It would be a shame to replace the seal and still find that the engine leaked oil. I hope it all goes well for you!!!

I love the look of that old ute, and thanks for sharing the story Dave. It's very similar to our utes here in Oz - we call the ones with the continuing body line 'style sides' and the others with the cab and bed 'cab-chassis'. I hope all works out well for you in your new quest Dave.

I learned the hard way too Barry as I lost plenty of photos a while back after my computer crashed. I have previously stored photos on CD's but they have been known to fail as well. I like the idea of saving to a memory card and might give that a go. I generally take photos of vehicles in as high a resolution as I can as I find the zoom qualities beneficial. I generally reduce all photos down to 720 x 480 resolution and attach them as thumbnails when posting here.

We used poly-coat black graphite grease in my wiper motor as it's a good lubricant that never goes hard. The wires should not be too hard to replace. I had the same feelings with the brushes as you so I gave the wiper motor to my mate to refurbish as he is more knowledgeable in that area. I think that our wiper mounting setup is slightly different to yours - the rubber mount under my wiper arm fitting was just a rubber washer. Glad to hear that your engine is progressing. Mine is out of the 52 truck at present, but should go back in within the week. Things we do hey!!!

You are talking electric rather than vacuum aren't you DD? I think that your motors over there are a bit different to ours in Oz. Have you tried opening it up to see if it's just the grease that has gone hard - that seems to be a common problem.

I have been discussing this point recently with my mate Dave. His normal running temp in his 61 Dodge (318) Phoenix is around 190-200°F. My 52 Desoto truck will run at around 160°F on a cooler day and possibly around 180-190°F on a warmer day. I have not been running a thermostat, but I do intend to run one soon as I am told that the thermostat will slow down the water flow rate a little and give the water time to cool in the radiator. I am also told that a 160° thermostat will work best in our Australian climate as we don't seem to get the high or low weather temps that other parts of the world experience. I recall a while back that I read that our flathead trucks should run around 180°F, but I don't recall whether I read it on this forum or in the Bunn bible. I have to admit though that I am much happier to see my tamp gauge needle positioned more to the left rather than the right.

Hi John and welcome to the forum. I'll reply to your PM shortly. I registered my blue truck 'Ernie' without a number stamped on the chassis. I found the QT people quite easy to deal with. My tags for Ernie were on the firewall, although I have seen trucks here in Oz with tags on the passenger side 'A' pillar. Not all of our trucks here had the VIN stamped on the chassis - I have only seen it stamped on 1 of the 7 trucks that I had up until recently. I have been chatting with Stuart (a member here - 'lloydiie') and he registered his truck in NSW recently. His Engineer wanted him to stamp the VIN # on the chassis. I was up at Caboolture (half way to your place) a couple of weeks ago for a car show. Will talk soon.

Here's a wire schematic link for you Tom... http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/wiring_harness/wiring.htm . There's a lot of great information in there.

Safe journey to all of those attending. I wish that I could be there with you all. Enjoy the day, and I expect plenty of stories and photos to follow!!!

There's still a large percentage of blue in there Paul !!! Is that cattle guard factory on the truck that Joe was looking at? It does look similar to the one that AMS had listed for ages at around $450.

Mine is gloss black. It's sitting on the floor in the shed (just behind the 'dog house') at present...

How cool is that!!! Now I want one for my shed!!!

The interior (and the truck) look great Barry. I like those wheels with the beauty rings - I have been trying to decide whether to go the beauty rings or the wheel striping for my blue truck. It looks like you've got the hang of the attachments now!

Maybe a thought caption opportunity? What's Tim gesturing?... "Now what happened to that door, I know it was on there when we started hauling" "I'm going to check Don's shed before I leave - I know that there were plenty more parts in here when I arrived". "They told me it ran when last parked" But seriously, nice project Tim. What's your plans?

I had to do the same with my 7" sealed beam headlights TrOjan, and the USA ones that I found to replace the non-functioning original ones were made to cater for a left hand drive vehicle. It was a little harder here in Oz to find 6V (as I am still running the 52 truck on that) sealed beam headlights. My 53 coupe truck has a 12V Lucas system so I intend going with the 12V halogen ones that Mark speaks of. My Auto Electrician friend told me yesterday that a company in USA is planning on releasing 6V led headlamps within the next 12 months. A set of them would certainly light up the road better for me in the 52 truck - not that I do any night driving in it though!!!

We'd love to see some photos Barry. Click on the 'More Reply Options' box at the bottom right of the reply screen - the attachment will come up to the bottom left of the screen that opens up after pressing that button.

That's wonderful news Bob. Maybe the big fella up there is just not ready for you. May he smile down on you for many more years to come!