Scruffy49

Have it checked for flatness, they can warp a bit when the head bolts are taken out. If it is flat, a deglazing pass will suffice.

The last 54 acres of a 2500 acre plantation. Pecan and organic produce farm now. Trucks through 1971 (unless you have a Warlock or L'il Red Express). Cars through 72. No dirt bikes or modern sport bikes. Kids welcome, we have a miniature quarter horse that loves kids.

If you are trying to match the height of your 6.00-16 bias ply with a modern radial, the conversion is LT215/85R16. And you can get them with a period looking tread, 2wd dually tires. My 49 truck is currently wearing 7.00-15 bias ply on 1978 Ramcharger wheels. One at a time the stock blackwall 6.00-16s are being replaced with www 6.00-16s. 15s for daily use, 16s for her "going out on the town" mode.

Looks like I will be hosting a Motorcycles and Mopars event at my place September 16-21. I'll have the final dates set in concrete by Friday evening. Open to 4 forums, 2 motorcycle, 2 Mopar. Bring your fishing pole (2 acre stocked pond). Horseshoe pit is in, dock will be repaired later this spring. Have a canoe, a johnboat and a pirogue, no life jackets (well, I do, but they are old). There is a primitive shooting range on site, so, if you shoot, bring your favorite noise maker... This will be during late archery and/or early muzzleloader deer season. Last year the daily bag limit was 3 doe. Small game will also be open. There is a 15-18 acre chunk of native woodland/pecan orchard that usually has deer in it... I will be updating this with more info between now and the event. We're roughly an hour northeast of downtown Memphis TN. Pretty sure one of the motorcycle groups will be planning side trips to the Shiloh and Fort Pillow battlefields, Graceland, Beale Street... Closest accomodations are in Millington and Atoka TN. On site camping is very primitive...

Hmm, my 218 came out of a 48 P15... guess that explains the brass.

Bruce Horkey. There is another company that uses the name Bed Wood and Parts or something really similar to Horkey's shop name as well. Both do absolutely stunning wood work. Look in an issue od Classic Trucks or Custom Classic Trucks magazine. Chev's of the 40s/Street Rod Headquarters also has a bed wood division, and offers roughly 40 species of domestic and tropical hardwoods. Stock bed floors were either oak or pine, both painted flat black with black steel skid/rub strips. If you are going to paint the floor up as stock, use pine, Douglas fir or hemlock. Not going to carry anything? Redwood or western red cedar are both very rot resistant. Going for the fancy furniture grade finish? Sky is the limit. I have on hand far too many choices of material: TN/VA cedar (the stuff wood mothballs are made out of), elm, pin oak, water oak, red oak, white oak, black locust, honey locust, black walnut, english walnut, hickory, pecan, sycamore, persimmon, pine, Osage orange, sweet gum, sassafrass, paw paw; plum burl, oak burl, walnut burl, sweet gum burl, hickory burl... Most as standing timber. I plan to make my bed boards from what is on hand... I do have already milled heart poplar from the 1800s, but, it's probably worth more than my truck.

Knowing my grandpa, he switched stuff around to whatever worked best or was cheap...

So the brass manifold nuts on my 218 are not factory then? Most of them came right off, and the studs are still in fair condition... The 230 on the other hand... already broke a breaker bar trying to get them loose. AND the exhaust manifold has several cracked ears. The grill bars are stainless steel, I guess using that same material for critical engine component assemblies would have been "too much like right"...? IF I can get the 230 studs loose, they'll be replaced wih marine grade hardened stainless steel or high tensile silicon bronze. I really only want to fight with any given fastener once at the most.

If there are 2 wires going into the backing plate, is has electric brakes. If it has a fruit jar master cylinder and pivoting tongue, it has juice brakes that are independent of the tow rig, my horse trailer has that set up and it works fine, dual axle 2 horse straight load from the 60s. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, you'll never have stopping issues with it. Converting from surge brakes or no brakes to electric is not cheap (and the tow rig MUST be 12v negative ground or it will fry the controller). Plan to pop the windows out and caulk under them. They may look alright, but if it has been sitting as long as it appears to have been sitting, the seam sealer will crack once you move it. Same around any roof vents. Vintage wiring is notorious for rodent damage. Apparently the insulation has a sweet aspect that draws them like flies. And plan to at minimum soapy water test all your gas line fittings and junctions. They may snug up, they may need to be replaced. Jets in the stove, fridge, furnace, water heater, etc are likely to be plugged up, old carbon and atmospheric moisture turn into cement on copper and brass fittings... Are you going to do the paint and upholstery to match the truck?

Only reason to not use 6v is if you were to add modern accessories.

I've got enough steel to make a stock clone. It will take a few days, have to fit it into the farm schedule.

If you can make the money work for you, go for it. True period correct speed parts aren't that easy to find. And some of the modern replicas aren't as well made. Generic 3 on the tree to 3 on the floor shifter conversions are still common (and cheap). And work fine once dialed in. Most big box store auto parts chains still stock them. Thousands of old 3 speed trucks are still in service... long after the column shift mechanism and linkages failed.

I'd guess primarily because rtv silicones are so hard to get out of the metal's pores before a paint job, be it full or touch up. Nasty stuff to try and degunk. If your windshield frame is so pitted that the rubber seal weeps, go with the urethane. Doesn't leave as much slippery gunk to interfere with future repairs.

I'm getting ready to clean and straighten the original front license plate bracket on my 49. I plan to make a couple copies of it already, mainly as spares for myself... Would there be enough interest to pop a few out? And if so, steel like the original unit or aluminum for weight/corrosion issues? I don't live in a state that requires a front plate, but the ability to add a novelty front plate (or two) makes it worth the time for me. Bracket is designed to work with your o.e.m. front bumper bolts at the frame rail to bumper junction. Plate holder slots allow mild left/right offset or centered on the bracket. Rather industrial, function before form type part...

I did not check the prices, but, these guys have 17.5" tires... locally they run $300-500 PER tire... that's why I said they are obsolete, not every tire dealer is going to 1) have them or 2) have a decent selection or 3) have them at a livable price. http://www.ricksontruckwheels.com/tires-175-truck.php

The Reese hitch kit in a box that fits Ford Rangers and Chevy S10s (among dozens of others). I test fit the one for my 94 Ranger against my 49 B1B truck. Local welding shop can build one fairly easily. Get them to make bolt in end plates though, the weld in one on my 69 truck is not only welded to the frame but to the needs to be replaced rear bumper as well... That's going to take a good handfull of cut off wheels to accomplish now... The bumper needs to be left alone and not become part of the hitch assembly. And the "cheesy" old wrap around type work fine. You just don't want to tow anything heavy with them. I have one for my Super Beetle, looks like crap, works fine to tow the canoe or a small skiff.

6.00-16 blackwall bias ply from the late 60s. 6.00-16 wide whites from the early 60s. 7.00-15 mudder bias ply from the 70s. LT235/75R15 on 1978 L'il Red express rims. P225/70R14 on Ranger alloys. P225/60R15 on Ranger alloys. Depends on my mood. Mine has had all of those on it at some point for test fitting or rolling it around the yard. Your 17.5" set up is beyond obsolete. What is your wheel bolt pattern? 5 on 5? Big 6? Generic 8 lug? You may want to consider stepping down to a 16" rim if for no other reason than finding tires. I may have some 17.5 here, but, they may be 19.5, can't remember what size the D600 based RV takes. Do recall they are around $300 per tire, and it takes 6 of them...

Early 49 had a very user friendly floor shift 3 speed, later in the year has a column shift. I'm one of the "oddballs" that truly despsises column shift manual transmissions... so if the driver is a 3 on the tree and a parts truck is top loader, I'd be swapping transmissions and steering columns. Modern rear end, the stock brakes are lousy, better than a 60s dodge truck, but lousy. Disc conversion on the front, the factory brakes are a joke. My 49 with a 3 speed, 4.78:1 rear gears and 218 toppped out at 55 on the rare occasions I could get it to run (sat for 20 years and had a half assed ressurection in 94). Is getting a rear axle from a 4 banger Ranger, keeping the 3 speed, will have modern parking brakes off the trans mounted handle instead of the works only if everything is perfect factory version on the output shaft yoke. Disc brake conversion up front. 12v conversion. No seat belts as I don't like them and think they junk up vintage interiors. They've been deleted from my 69 truck as well. Fuel economy? 12 and up. Had a friend in eastern Washington who's 50 consistently gets mid 20s mpg with a 4 speed and 3.55 rear gears.

Lers Schwab house label. Still takes and holds a charge. Too bad my 218 is junk, I'd be driving the truck around the farm on its 1960s black wall bias ply tires, they aren't road safe but they've been working okay as implement tires.

Yet another reason I'm going to modern bear claw latch assemblies... getting ready to cut the latches and strikers out of a junk 90s mini truck in the next week or so, tired of fighting the driver side door, hasn't closed properly in 30 years. If it works I'll make the factory latch units available for whoever wants them.

Old Dodge trucks are a labor of love, the resale value is literally 1/2 or less of a same condition 48 up Ford F series or 47 up Chevy 1/2 ton. If mine had not been my grandpa's truck, and given to me by him when I was a little kid. it most likely would have been gone years ago. I'm glad it stuck around, it will be going to another generation of the family once I've had my fun with it. When you go to buy battery cables, make sure the parts store understands the truck is 6v. 4 gauge 12v cables are less than useless on a 6v system, they are dangerous. You want 00 cables for the best starter performance. I have 2g on mine, and they are too light. I do have a set of 0000, but, they are way too thick to fit. Les schwab should still have your battery, that's where the current one in my truck came from in 1994.

Pretty much guaranteed that the brake system is a complete write off. Even if it looks good. I overhauled my trucks brakes in spring 1994, by spring 2011 from sitting up again they were junk. Wheel cylinders had become full of "green sand", the gunk you get when DOT 3 eats aluminum, steel and rubber. Before you even think about turning over the engine by the starter (really fun process to learn, not being sarcastic here) take out each spark plug and add at least 1/4 cup of 50/50 ATF and acetone. Let it sit for a couple days, add the same amount and wait another day or so. These engines have cast iron blocks, iron rings, and aluminum pistons, there will be at least one stuck ring you need to soak free. Find a socket that will fit the crankshaft nut. Get the longest breaker bar you can find and try to turn the engine over by hand. My crank socket for 40's engines is huge, 1 and 13/16 inch, 3/4" or 1" drive, but has 4 holes to use rod stock as breaker bars. Sockets that large are not cheap, you want a vintage USA made one, not modern thin wall chi-com pot metal. Keep adding the atf/acetone blend and soaking until you can turn the crank by hand with a breaker bar. Once the rings are unstuck, the gurus will talk you through the next steps of bringing her back to life. I learned the hard way how fragile the rings in these things are after sitting up...

If you get jammed up I'm an hour outside of Jackson, and I have a tow dolly. Assuming you are driving the Plymouth? PM me before you leave if you want my phone number just in case.

It sounds like a former US NMCB (SeaBees) truck. We were notorious for oddball frankenvehicles... and keeping stuff around forever. if you are ever jointly deployed with Atlantic Fleet SeaBees (Battallions 1, 7, 74 and 133), ask them about the equipment warehouses in Gulfport MS (home base). Filled with brand new, ready to roll, Korean War and Vietnam War heavy equipment. I rode out a small hurricane in the bed of a late 1950s dump truck when I was stationed there with NMCB 133... PRE KATRINA, have no idea if the warehouses survived the storm. Floating Power is a stock L6 front engine mount. The one on my 1948 P15 218 and the one on my 1956/7 Savoy 230 (both for my 49 truck) are identical. And need to be replaced, the 230 rubber sheared cleanly, the 218 rubber looks like it got hot and crystallized. Handle with care, they aren't cheap to replace. My cast in 1955 230 starts out as DZ, with the rest blank.

Started on the frame cleaning and repainting this afternoon. Flat black brush on Rustoleum, found an ancient can in the garage, was able to be mixed, why not use it. I'll try and get a couple progress pics later, if I have time. Have the afternoon free to mess with the trucks since it is too wet to till and plant today. Sometimes, getting 3+ inches of rain in under 24 hours isn't a bad thing.