Scruffy49

Nothing I own is stock for very long. Example: bought this bike brand new in Feb 1998. Started modding it within a month. It's on its 4th full redo... I really need to finish the paint and change the starter relay (dual system, relay into solenoid). Truck will be the same cream as the side panels, orange as the headlight shell... I use parts from whatever is handy. I've already started fabbing the new mahogany panels for in the cab, found some 1"x8"x14' rough sawn cured oak for the bed floor (sawn in the 1920s by the kerf marks). Left over barn boards. Mahogany left over from projects at Jefferson Davis' home in Biloxi MS. If it requires tubbing the bed I'll skip the Ranger axle. I will not cut any of the 49s external body panels.

Ranger was my brother in law's, I'm driving his other Ranger (94) now. He died in January. 49 was my grandpa's. He died in Feb 84. I just want the thing running and drivable for now. I've got a complete 230 for it sitting next to my 69 D100. Would take me less than a day to swap engines AND run the new wiring harness. But I'm still stuck dealing with over geared/underpowered. Even if I have to move the spring hangers inboard (not as hard as it sounds) on the stock 49 frame I plan to run the 92 Ranger rear axle. Would also allow a wider rear tire. I know I can convert the stock front I-beam to disc brakes. That's easy. Can probably convert the truck to power steering without too many headaches. Kind of a necessity, I have a steel plated shoulder that locks up on me from time to time. I'm also fighting a degenerative joint/disc disease, so the easier I make the truck to drive the better. Truck will end up a "kustom", but without the usual gingerbread (visor, top chop, body drop, spotlights, fender skirts, etc ad nauseum). Think Spring Special mates with L'il Red Express... With a Chris Craft in the woodpile... Old #7??? Bleah... Hundred year old single malt.

The engine in it isn't stock either, bored over 218. Farmer's market will be its primary use. I live outside of Memphis, where 98% of the populace has absolutely no business being behind the wheel of anything. Makes Seattle drivers look halfway human. I spent the last 4 years out there piloting a Peterbilt. I've considered just swapping the rear end and maybe the trans. But the AC would sure be nice when it hits 100+ degrees and close to that humidity. Last time I drove the truck (spring 94), 0-60 was about, um, impossible. I live on a 35-45 mph road, but if you aren't going 60 or better, Bubba in his jacked up F350, Silverado or similiar is going to flatten you. Stock rear end in my truck is the 4.78 option. It MIGHT hit 50 mph, downhill with a tailwind. I was going to swap everything from my 69 D-100 into the Pilot House, but... not fond of slushomatics with something smaller than at least a 383 in front of them. So the 318/727 in front of 3.55s is out. Of course, I do have a 413/727 out back, that runs...

I know it is sacrilige but... My truck hasn't been licensed since 1974. Hasn't been run since 1994. Had not been moved until a month ago. Sheetmetal is great, stock chassis is great, powertrain is wasted. Cab is nearly gutted. Across my pasture is a 108" wheelbase, runs like a brand new truck 92 Ranger. Seriuos body damage, frame is straight. Swapping chassis would net me: 5 speed, factory disc brake IFS, modern rear drums (with parking brakes), fuel injected engine, AC/functional heat/ functional defrost, power steering, power brakes. Modern wheels and tires, common size available anywhere. Plus my stock 16" wheels or my replacement 15" wheels (either set) would fit it fine. Considerable weight savings, yet only cost me 50# on the GVWR. I've got a 230 I could swap into the stock frame and hook up to my stock tranny. But the newest stuff on the rest of the truck is anywhere from 17-45 years old... Oh, the Ranger is free. With a clean title. The Pilot House is getting customized anyway. What would you do?

Reminds me of a helicopter pilot friend... "If the fitting is dry, you're about to die". Apparently NOTHING leaks like Chinook helicopter hydraulics (except British motorcycles and my Dodges). I'd say my 49 has leaked oil since the day it left the factory, there is over a half inch of goo built up on the differential, axle tubes, front axle, steering box. My 69 leaks so much that I ended up grease packing the steering box. They are Mopars, they leak. Part of their charm. Glad I have gravel driveways.

Treat the rust. Self-etching primer. High build primer. Sand off the "dust" layer, a red scotch brite pad is perfect. Any dark spots are pits. Skim coat with glazing putty, sand smooth. Another layer of high build primer should now level everything out.

Shot a live mouse out of my motorcycle tailpipe after winter storage. Not sure which of us was more surprised... I remember the first time I fired off mine after it sat from 74-94. Heck of a nice feeling. Can't wait to swap engines and drive her under her own power again. Nice pic. Now I know for sure where the color breaks actually were. I didn't quite trust the book pics. My 49 is getting a reversed Spring Special paint job, cream, color, cream instead of color cream color. I always like to look at originals for reference. Looks like you got a good one to work with.

Nice shade of dark blue. Not sure of the dash redesign, a mite too Advance Design Chevy for me. Seat and console combo works fine, if I were going column shift automatic I'd be doing something similar. And will be with my 69 Dodge. Front tilt hood looks alright, tilt front end would have been cooler. Later bed with a B1 grill is different. On the whole a nice restomod/hotrod/kustom treatment. If the donor trucks weren't worth restoring I can't think of a better use for the parts. Mine is worth restoring and is still going to be modded.

CarQuest was always better than NAPA when I had a 58 one ton. Stuff NAPA said was impossible to get I usually had in my hand the next day. If you know somebody with a 60s model D300 or W300 see if they will let you test fit a shock from theirs. Should be pretty close. I also have good luck with Parts Plus retailers and SOME National Auto Parts franchises. Google Hagen's Auto Parts. They stock parts back to 1909. I used to shop there a lot, lived in the same town as their physical store. Pricey but...

Any competent machine shop should be able to blow out a stripped wheel stud. If a hydraulic press can't pop it out a torch will. They'll just cut off the head and the stem should fall out the other side. Most every bolt on my truck breaks when I try to take them out. Get them hot, smack them with a punch and a 5# hammer, retap the holes. You want to mess with kids at the tire shop, the rear axle shafts in mine were swapped side to side. Left front, right rear are reverse thread. Right front left rear are standard thread. If I keep the original brakes I'm going to have the truck converted to modern studs and lug nuts anyway.

I could see somebody thinking it was a jumbo sized Volvo, since the 60s model 2 door sedans were knock-offs of mid-late 40s USA cars. Just scaled down. But a VW? I've never seen a classic Plymouth ugly enough to be confused with a VW... I can say that, I have Super Beetle in the barn. I'm not sure anything on four wheels is as nausea inducing as my Kubota orange Bug.

My rigs live outside, rain or shine. Drilled some drainage holes. Not really necessary in my 69 Sweptline, those things have pasta strainers for floorboards anyway. Every place it CAN leak, it DOES leak. No biggie, the Dodge motored Ford armed wipers work great, the defroster works (eventually, sometimes), the door trim is factory fiberglass and the door bases are rotted out. Let it rain, I'll just stay out of the pasture (truck gets stuck on fresh grass clippings). My 49 Dodge? Driver's door gets secured by a bungee or a gate hook. Every place it could even remotely dream about leaking, leaks like crazy. And it doesn't even have wipers anymore. My stepson's 54 English Ford has vacuum wipers, pretty much less than worthless. When the 49 gets redone it won't be driven in the rain unless absolutely necessary. I have a VW Bug for lousy weather.

Depends on how attached to it you are. I had started to rebuild my 73 El Camino that got flood damaged in Long Beach MS back in 95. Deployed to Spain for 6 months with the Navy, came back and it was gone. Oh well, just a late model Chevy. Was madder that my new mountain bike got detroyed (area reflooded and both got wrapped around a tree). My uncle has been storing my 32 Ford Victoria at his place for years. In the pasture. No big deal if it has a tree fall on it or gets stolen, since both of us hate 32 Fords anyway. It was pasture art grade when we brought it home. I drilled drainage holes in the floorpans of both my trucks. They live outside. As much as I like them, if something major happens they are replacable. Dotto my motorcycles. So far so good. Damaged collector vehicles tend to end up in specialty yards. I used to work at a motorcycle salvage company, we were always getting e-mail alerts from insurance auctions. Specialized field.

Never would have thought of the towing exclusion. Haven't insured my 49 yet, but it will most likely be on my regular policy. Full coverage on my 69 D100 V8/auto only added $189 for 6 months, replacement value $7K. Not bad for a $1k work truck. The quote to add the 49 with the same coverage, $10k replacement value was only $89 for 6 months. And no usage restrictions except commercial (which would add a couple hundred bucks a year). None of the collector car insurers would cover my trucks or my stepson's 1954 Ford (of England) Squire (2 door estate car). No garage, just carports or barn.

What is that, a two ton? Makes my half-ton look like a happy little Chevron toy. Nice truck.

Stock 230 or was stock a 218? If it is the stock set-up that should be all the info they need. If it is a later engine and the carb came with, give them that info. Example, currently my 49 B1B-108 has a 48 P-15 218 engine block/guts but everything else is stock truck parts. So I'd order a kit for a 49 truck. The replacement 230 is out of a 56 Plymouth Savoy, stone stock, so I'd order a Savoy carb kit. Take the carb in with you so the parts guy is at fault if you get the wrong kit. Took me a couple tries to get the right one last time I had mine running (17 years ago).

Cab swap or number plate swap. A parts truck I looked at several years ago was titled as a 55, had a 48-50 front end on it, and the old style windshield. And cycle type fenders. And a 218/floor shift 3 spd. Number plate had been swapped at some point, pretty common.

Mine sat for 17 years, had to literally pry the drum/hub off the shoes. Only "adjuster" on my front drums is the wheel cylinder. Fixed lower pivots, shoe held on via horseshoe clip. Prying stuck drums off is a pain. Takes two prybars and even with the heavy backing plate compared to a modern drum, they can warp. Once the drum starts to move, get the prybars going around the inner surface as fast as you can, keep pushing the bars against the backing plate. When it decides to pop loose, guard your nuts. Outer bearing will fall out into your lap. Wear a dust mask, the prybars will chip the friction linings. Mine are asbestos type from the 60s. Doesn't taste very good (I have a beard so masks/respirators don't seal well).

Could or should be classified as anything other than junkyard rejects. In the case of my Sweptline, literally, I bought it from the used car lot at a junkyard. Yet it still draws lots of attention (could be the mild V8 rumble I guess). I had a 383/727/8.75 from a running 68 Newport for my Pilot House. So many people couldn't wait for it to get a "real" engine that I said to heck with it and kept it a flattie. It gets lots of compliments as well, can't understand why, it hasn't even been washed since sometime in the 70s when it was still being used as a potato storage bin in Grandpa's barn... I get a kick out of the scrappers who come by with profit glinting in their eyes... Fire up the truck, raise my shirt tail enough for them to see I'm ALWAYS packing... I live on a working former plantation, in the mid-south, that has a couple acre pond. Lots of snakes.

Bad solenoid/relay. I went through over a dozen on my 69 D100 before I got a good one. They were all brand new fresh stock. Boxes said India, China, Taiwan or Mexico. Inside wiring was too light, hit the key to crank it over, wire got hot and sagged, constant draw. Finally paid double the price and got a USA made one with the right internal wiring gauge. Having the exact same issue on my motorcycle with a factory epoxy sealed starter relay. Battery will last for 3 weeks and is so fragged it cannot be recharged.

My standard response to "what is it worth" is $10 a pound. Be it my long deceased 49 project truck, my 69 D-100 farm truck (rusting out heap but it's a hard worker) or my full custom 1998 motorcycle. I know what they are actually worth (not for sale, period), but if somebody is dumb enough to bite the $10 a pound hook... Blame the idiots who watch the high end auctions and see cars going for way more than they are actually worth. They see an older vehicle covered in dollar signs. Had a bike shop boss like that, he swapped a couple t-shirts for an early Yamaha XS650 that needed a fuel filter (total investment maybe $30) and sold it to the next wide eyed rube for $3500. Who proceeded to buy almost $8000 worth of dress up crap for it. We got it back a month later, I think we gave him $150 for it. I don't go to mainstream car/truck/bike shows anymore. Too many trailer queens posers and wannabes, not enough grease monkeys.

Crown Victoria or other shared platform spare. Fairmont 5 lug, Mustang 5 lug (Fox body). Check in Dodge vans and rwd cars from the 80s (think Diplomat or such).

Oh man... 1st hotrod was Uncle Gary's 35 Ford that I tried to knock off the jackstands when I was 3 or 4. 1st "old truck" was Grandpa's 60 Dodge Sweptline Power Giant with a poly 318 and a 3 on the tree. I learned how to change/set points standing on the bumper with Dad or Grandpa holding onto my belt so I wouldn't fall in. 1st "dead old truck" was Grandpa's 49 B1B-108. At my house now. "Borrowed", okay stole, the keys to Dad's 77 Corolla hatchback and taught myself to drive a 5 speed stick. Took my driving test in Dad's 73 F100 with 360FE/C6. Still miss it, good truck, 23 mpg highway. My other Grandpa taught me to drive a 3 on the tree in one of his Fords, in the cemetery. I ran over a tombstone... Drove great uncle Frank's 37 Dodge 3 ton into the biggest patch of poison ivy in Riverhead New York. I'm not allergic, he was... Dad and Gary are still around, out in Washington. Both grandpas and Frank are gone. Really want to get my truck done before Dad can't drive it, he and his brother Bob hauled many a steer or heifer in it over the years.

Just about swallowed my tongue when I saw $250 for a tube and dipstick. My running engine only cost me $150. With 12v everything AND a hot air automatic choke carb... I understand get as much as you can for everything you can (I've laughed my way through more than one TV auction too, and sold a $750 rattlecanned 1928 Indian Scout hillclimber for $11k at a charity auction) but sheesh... But if it is just for resale, gouge away...

Use stainless wherever possible. It isn't "correct" but... All the fasteners EXCEPT the square (acme) thread body bolts are standard items. Can't find acme thread bolts anywhere, and I've looked in five states. Your wife must be related to mine. Lisa had me drag my grandpa's 49 1/2 ton across the country last month when we moved. You best buy her something really nice for the rest of this year's holidays (if yours is like mine, her birthday is a holiday).