Scruffy49

Pretty sure I've seen the red phaeton before... And some of those pics look a lot like where I used to live outside Mt Rainier N.P. Hiding in the garage from the sun... oh, wait, that's why my VW is in the barn... The sun down here in west TN lately has been bright/hot enough to strip the paint from the tractors.

Doing the Trace on a 1970s motorcycle? Count us in, Lisa has a 1971 Honda CL100 with CB pipe and a flyscreen, I'm rebuilding a 1963 Honda CL72 (248cc Scrambler turned TT racer that has a bunch of vintage track mods) for the street. That would be a rather nice trip. I completely spaced Father's Day. Didn't hear from my stepson, forgot to call my Dad, and we didn't cross the driveway to see Lisa's Dad (who at 87 years old wants me to fix the CL100 for him to ride). Don, we've got family buried in your area that rode with Forrest's cavalry.

I sliced out the rot with a Dremel and zapped new pieces in with a cheapo 110v flux core welder. Messy but effective. If my pans had been totally gone, I'd have cut new pieces from marine grade plywood and called it good. Or hammered a road sign to shape over a chunk of 4x4 or landscape timber. Where are you located? Maybe there is a forum member kind of close to you with a parts junker and an extra set.

Noteworthy? Sat in the barn from 74-94, had it running 2 weeks after towing it out. Then it sat from 94-2002 w/o being touched, and snapped a bunch of rings when I tried to start it. Pretty much the highlights, other than being in the same family since it was new. Maybe getting a running 230 for $125 is notable, maybe not, since it died on me too... But it's fixable, just nuts and bolts after all, nothing too mysterious in there.

What, all it takes is a 1/4" drive ratchet and a slight amount of pressure... the bolts should shear right off. My 49 was in a barn from 74-94, outside from 94-current. Look at the bars funny and a mounting tab bolt will pop. Debating on straighten and weld in new bolts or toss them aside and run it plain. Guaranteed every single bolt and about 1/2 the spot welds on mine are going to fail.

Anything other than silver, and preferably with a lot of finned accessories is my preference. Mine right now is old Ford Dark Engine Blue (1948 218) with black accessories. The later model 230 is going Chrysler Industrial Red with Chrysler Matte Black and finned aluminum dress up parts. The stock look is fine (and correct) for a resto, any real mods and the stock color scheme is kind of a let down. Seems to detract from the care and attention to detail given to the rest of the vehicle. As long as I'm not seeing a small block Chevy in the engine bay, I'm happy with whatever scheme was used on the engine.

48-50 if the bars fall off it looks like a Studebaker... kind of. 51 up if the bars fall off it looks like an in construction 53-56 F series... kind of. My preference is for the 48-50 front pan and the round top fenders (or swap the cycle type for 39-47 fenders, makes the truck look more proportional, kind of, the stock fenders are too small visually), and if the grill bars fall off, no harm no foul, the radiator is still protected.

Order a couple spring liner rolls from Speedway Motors, disassemble your spring packs, install the liner. Takes all the binding out of the springs. Most of the "boing" goes away. You can add a front anti-roll bar. Ford Ranger is close enough, you'll have to make some new lower plates for your spring packs in order to attach the end links. You can also adapt an Aerostar or similar rwd anti-roll bar to the back end, again, you'll need to custom make lower plates for the end links to attach. I'm pulling the bottom two leaves from each corner, they aren't in the factory wrapped sping packs anyway. Should take it back down to 1/2 ton status while lowering the truck a good bit. Mine has a hitch that will handle a 2 head horse trailer with ease, so the mower trailer can handle any real loads instead of the bed. Don't want to tear up the bed floor too badly, mine's more toy than working truck. At least, that's the plan anyway.

Save yourself a lot of headaches, driver grade should get stainless or bronze fasteners. I'm saving all the acme thread bolts from my 49 just to have them available for the restoration types, saving the clips for them too. All the other factory non-stressed hardware is going stainless. Chassis hardware will get either grade 5 or grade 8 equivalent hardened stainless. I only want to fight the truck one time, any further tear downs should be much easier. Now if there was just a way to deep six the goofy single sided spring shackles in favor of a more modern greaseless design... the cost for new factory style shackles is ridiculous, my truck, even with its sentimental value, isn't worth that much money... Any factory stuff that comes off clean and is not going back on should be offered to the forum at large in the classified section. That includes the tire spoon, jack, etc if you think your daughter won't use them. Since I'm switching from a 48 engine to a 56 or 57 engine, I'll even be disposing of the hand crank assembly (found a center section in the garage).

It is pretty overdone, especially in the rat rod and lowrider bomber scenes. But, that's what the average show goer expects/wants to see, so that is what gets built. 32 Fords? Bleah... I left mine in WA when I moved back to TN. Good riddance, and it was an actual factory production car instead of a Brookeville or fiberglass repop. Never wanted it (uncle foisted it off on me because he got stuck with it to get a couple 35s he wanted), never did anything with it but bounce it around the pasture a couple times and park it out of sight to rot in peace. Not worth fixing, the body has enough bullet holes to look like a collander...

My last 4x4 got left in Montana on a hunting trip. I decided that all it was good for was to get me twice as stuck in half the time... Street legal monster trucks are still quite the rage around here. Not sure why, who can afford to drive one? I'm 40, been job hunting for almost a year for something off farm. Even gassing up the 4 banger Ranger is a stretch right now. There are almost no jobs for a 40 year old with a bad back and bad shoulder...

Disdain? I love being back here, no more throwing triple railer tractor trailer tire chains at -11 degrees in a couple feet of snow. Just wish the city dwellers would stop moving out here with zero regard for our very narrow, twisty, rough country lanes that generally have cows or tractors on them. I pulled a set of tire chains out of my Pilot House when we got back here, and my father in law said they'd been illegal here since the 1950s. Works for me! It almost never gets cold/snowy enough to need a 4x here. The roads that go underwater with any regularity get closed and barricaded by the sherrif or the highway patrol. Run the barricade at your own risk, neither department will send someone after you into the floodwaters. They'll recover the body afterwords if the transient/seasonal alligator population has left anything recognizable... Hmm, go back to WA where I had to choose my hunting method and was allowed one scrawny deer, or hunt all 3 seasons, no tags/license required if I'm on my farm land, and the bag limit is 3 a day... And my 49 state not street legal motorcycle IS legal here... Fishing is better here too, no salmon or Dungeness crabs getting in the way of something edible taking my bait... Moved back here because my brother in law died in 2011 and my wife decided that their then 85 year old father needed us to come home. SHE is actually the one who hates it here.

Reworked into custom flush mounts I like, sitting outside the wheel well lip, not so much. And it depends on what your intention is for the overall build... period kustom needs flush mounts and a visor/spotlights... bomber style lowrider needs a set of well fit stock type skirts or bubble skirts and preferably visor/spotlights/foglights/swamp cooler air conditioning... stock with a set of period correct over the wheel well lip skirts is a take 'em or leave 'em, love 'em or hate 'em deal. They look just fine on the red coupe and the vert, but I still prefer flush mounted. Now, on the truck side, a 48-50 PH with a 39-47 rear fender swap and a set of bubble skirts looks great. The stock 48-52 round top fenders are tolerable skirted, the 53-85 fenders look like crap with skirts, regardless of the type.

Just your typical "ragged out old farm beater". All the whiskey hauling parts are long gone, I've had the truck for 9 years. I'm too old to be messing with the revenuers... There are a couple pics of it in the O.T. section's Work Car thread. One as purchased, one as it sits now. Taken at a Boy Scout camp in western WA. The tank is hanging down below the filler door. Primary saddle tank went into a 55 Dodge, secondary saddle tank went into a pie plate (65.5-67) D100.

They are in tune... an anemic 262 cubic inch V6 with a Quadra-junk 4bbl running through a 3 speed slushbox into a 2.?? rear gear set makes for great mileage and lousy acceleration. 0-40 mph is great, but getting it past 45 takes a lot of time. The Swept has your standard 2bbl Carter on a cast iron intake, can't find a 273 spec 4bbl intake for it. Modern 318-340-360 intake runners are too big for the early LA head ports. I've never gotten past 65mph indicated the way it is set up, even with the cam, new dizzy, new timing set, new carb, etc... It is set up to tow or haul a camper, not for top end. The rear end is all fresh as well, didn't help matters much, 3.55 is a towing gear by modern standards, even though it was an economy gear when the truck was new. You can only push a vehicle with a frame as stiff as half cooked pasta so hard, especially one with 4 corner leaf springs, manual steering and manual drum brakes. It never sees the paved road anymore, so... moot point. Hasn't been on highway legal since before I towed a horse trailer from WA to TN with it in March 2011. It was licensed and insured, but with no turn signals, brake lights or hazard flashers... typical Sweptline, the wiring harness is rather toasty where it hadn't been replaced with generic 4 wire flat boat trailer harness...

What salt? I'm 20 miles east of the Mississippi River, our place is the highest point in Shelby County, a whopping 420 feet above sea level. 1/64" of snow and the county shuts down... I'd rather the roads go back to being gravel, might take some of the morons off the road. In front of my house is a 30mph zone, the average speed is 50+, lots of cars have gotten wrapped around the white oak in the neighbor's yard... or hit cows, horses, etc. 4wd are the new BMW for the snobby set. I'll never comprehend putting a bloated station wagon/van cross on a 1 ton work truck chassis and calling it a "luxury" vehicle... Kind of like doctors and lawyers riding Harley Davidson motorcycles and pretending they enjoy the experience... leave the rough around the edges vehicles for us "ring around the collar" types.

Just ask the parts store for a 1970 D100 alternator and voltage regulator. 1969 was the last year for the single field round case. Which is nicer looking (and fits better) on some engines than the 70 up square back does. I couldn't fit a 70 up on the stock 318 in my 69, different brackets (just slightly). Easy to wire in, but the 70 up voltage regulator is less than half the size of your stock unit. Plan to plug a couple holes and drill a couple new ones...

NAPA part number is I believe a 213-4011. Internally regulated, 12v, 63A, negative ground. S,L or S1 series Delco replacement. Max output 71A, at 2000 rpm is 45A, 2400 rpm is 54A, 3500 rpm (just shy of L6 goes pop) is 65A. Have one on my late 50s or early 60s John Deere 1020 UL 3 cyl gas burner farm tractor, same basic unit on the 4.3L V6 equipped 85 C10.

Don't like Chevy for the same reason I can't stand that my 69 D100 is equipped with a small block... that goofy rear mount distributor (and a tendency to break down in the middle of nowhere anytime it rains). The 85 C10 short wide my father in law uses around here has a 4.3L V6/TH350 drivetrain. Takes it a couple hours 0-freeway speeds, even with everything working right... That raggedy old Dodge is 0-top speed as soon as I mash the loud pedal (true dual exhaust and an rv/towing shift kit/cam combo) through (not to, it's a 60s Dodge with standard issue rotten floorboards) the floor... Tops out about 55 or 60, but with 4 wheel manual drums and armstrong steering...

Don was being generous, around here, a V6 longbed with economy gears is a parts donor. Period. Can't give away a fullsize with a V6 unless it is an 85-87 C10 shorty, preferably a stepside, even though wide beds make cleaner lowriders. Stepsides get a V8 conversion and a 4wd conversion if they came 2wd stock. The market for used Dodge trucks is kind of funky. People want to see a big block. Or a poly 318. Or a 360. If it has an LA or Magnum 318 or a straight 6, be it a flattie or a slant, it is a sheet metal/interior donor. At least if it is newer than roughly 1960. You literally cannot give away a 72-92 where I live. Even the junkyards say no thanks. 93 up is mildly better, but only if it is 4wd, 2wd trucks have no resale value in west TN. Even 2wd mini trucks are a dime a dozen, my 94 Ranger 2wd cost my brother in law less than $2K in Memphis, where vehicles are priced stupid high.

Saw mainly broken down Chevrolets. And the ones parked with the hoods up, broken down or just being displayed, all had a small block Chev coupled to a slush-o-matic. Regardless of the marque. Boring. If my options were crush my Mopars/Fords or stab in a General Mistake Corporation engine/trans, they'd be on their way to China as scrap metal. Saw zero vehicles I felt like taking a pic of, even the 70-72 Chargers/Challengers (can't tell which is which, don't care, they are both hideous designs) were crappy.

My main work truck from 9/04-4/11... As bought Labor Day Weekend 2004, less than 24 hours ownership and it is heading for a Boy Scout Jamboree. That big box in the back was a US Army field cooler that could keep stuff frozen for a week and a half on 10# of dry ice... As she sits now, waiting for her rewire, the racks to be painted white, and the summer to be spent as a farm stand. Making a shelf to angle off the cattle racks for the produce bins. Can't license/insure it right now, so it will earn its keep another way until I can find an off farm job or the farm starts to earn money (for a change), 400 pecan trees, lots of produce, and it usually rots in the field/orchards since my father-in-law is ancient... And doing what she always did best, hauling a broken motorcycle... One of these days it will be back in service. Until then, I'm stuck with "Barney", a 1994 standard cab 4 cylinder 5 speed 2wd Ranger. No pics, it's a bit too generic to bother.

49 truck still has stock 7 front 8 rear leaf spring packs, going to be 5 front 6 rear with the 2 smallest pulled out. If I can stand a beer can up under the running boards, bed unloaded, it's too high off the ground. Plus, it is a whole lot easier to load the vintage motor or pedal cycles with it closer to the ground. 69 truck is a former shine hauler. Springs are beyond worn out. The cattle racks on it now turned it into a near tail dragger, probably lowered the rear 4 inches or so. And I started out with 3/4 ton spec springs stock, it's a 1/2 ton camper special. The shine was hauled in saddle tanks with a fake fuel transfer switch and dummy lines. The switch operated the tank drains. Truck was well known to the ATF, got me stopped not long after I bought it, they thought I'd taken over the runs. They never did figure out how the stuff was hauled (pop the cap and it smelled like gasoline, little dummy tank off the filler neck fillable via syringe).

They had to order them in special? Strange, I just walk in and get them from O'Reilly's, Pep Boys, Autozone, Advanced, D.A.P., NAPA, Carquest, Federated, National... even Tractor Supply. Must not be all that many gasoline tractors where you live, that plug is common as dirt for older machinery.

48/49 at least have a couple hooks that connect the back cushion to slotted brackets on the bottom cushion. The 1954 base cushion I scrounged does not have the slotted tabs and I forgot to transfer them from the scrap 49 base. Moot point, since the 54 cushion turned out to be only suitable as a parts donor (anybody need some springs). Now have to decide if I'll use the car rear seat base cushion or just go for bucket seats (have Taurus SHO and Ranger buckets available to me, free). Even working right, the seat base can squirm around a bit. But, as long as you have relaxed onto it enough force is kept in the frame to not let it pop out.