buds54dodge

I had a similar problem, the pin was coming out that held the spider gears and would hit the pinion and lock up. then you could back up a bit and it would lock up.

I think I would look for a miss or crossfire in the engine,maybe a compression test. You changed the converter, but really if it or the flywheel were bad you would have had the problem immediately. Fan blade, waterpump bearing in my experiences have caused odd vibration problems, pop the belt off and start it to eliminate these. When the converter is attached to the pump and full of fluid it puts a load on the engine which could explain no vibration when disconnected because there's no power demand. I certainly don't know everything but hope this helps in the diagnosis,Bud

Wow, That looks good, I bet you can't wait to get it together. Thanks for the pics, and again ,you do nice quality work, Bud

Thats a good looking truck. I'm in the beginnig stage of a 54 with the narrow front frame and leaning towards the same front suspension. I'm curious as to the ride height compared to original. If you wouldn't mind, could you take some more pics of your engine mounts and steering setup.You do nice work. There's not many good pics out there of these old dodges with similar mods. Thanks, Bud

Some progress Got the cab off, its not that heavy when stripped out, I used my engine hoist and a chain bolted to the two front seat bolt holes. Should be alot easier to repair the floor. Now the cleaning begins. Already filled my trashcan once with dirt,crap,debris, Bud

The disassembly continues, Gutted the cab today, it had carpet and a black foam pad glued to the floor. The floor is going to need a bit of work. Took the 273 apart and its already been bored .040 and has light rust pitting in the cylinders, tried honing for a while but its still there. Undecided what to do with it at this point, Maybe search out a block Here's some floor pics

Your off to a good start, please keep the progress photos coming,Bud

The disassembly continues. I have a 57 ford rear that just about sits right on the center bolts.

The steering box is a hybrid of a somewhat newer dodge truck worm gear, I'm sorry he told me but I don't remember. The fellow was telling me about the mods and where the truck had been,but it was in the 90's and I was come-alonging it on the trailer and don't remember some of what he told me. Motor mounts are cool aren't they? He put about 60,000 mile on it

Thanks, I'm pretty sure the 273 will meet my needs ,just building a reliable cruiser It has a Mallory dual point in it The previous owner quit driving it after a trip home from Ca. and the clutch started slipping bad. There is a lot of innovations and I'm sure it was pretty nice in the 70's Despite my desire to here it run,I'm going to pull it and check the engine over,I'm sure there will be more questions to follow. I'm leaning towards IFS for the front(fatman),did a frame swap on a 56 chev tk a few years ago,it was ok but I wasn't real happy with it Thanks again, Bud

Also new to Mopars I recently purchased a real solid 54 dodge that was rodded in the early 70's and has been off the road since 81. My original plan was to chev 350/350 turbo it, but the more I look at it, my plans are evolving. It has a 65 273 and a 4speed out of a Barracuda that amazingly isn't stuck and if I had a set of points I think it would have ran yesterday, a 69 truck rear. I think I would like to use this drivetrain. How reliable is the ball and trunnion joint on the rear of the trans? If the 273 is junk upon disassembly,how new of a 318 can I use with the 273 stick flywheel. Thats it for starters,More questions to come