austinsailor

Great picture, congratulations. Question to anyone - what is that on the drivers windshield on the first picture? Some sort of defroster? New to me!

Most inside are ready to drive. He starts them all once a month or so. Didn't notice the dust you mention, but I do agree it's way overkill. He also has dozens of motors in the back. Flathead fords, big blocks of various sorts. Does make one envious, even if it's not just the way we'd do it. Genes

Similar problem - I once went to Long Island Sound to sail a boat back to Texas. In getting it ready I found the oil sender of the jap diesel was bad. Got a new one, it appeard to be the same thread. After an hour or two of trying unsuccessfully to get it started in the hole I came to the conclusion that it was the same tapered thread, just not tapped as deep. Bought a tap, 1/8" pipe as I recall and a handle, ran the tap in a couple more turns and everything fit just right. Like mentioned, chinese threads and american threads, not always the same. Same thread, just a bit different as to how far they went in. I have replaced a number of old zerts on mopars of that era and have never run ito that, though. I'm guessing it's the cheap chinese zerts that are different.

Sometimes the gears hit. Putting it in 2nd or 3rd will move the gears a tiny bit. Then, when you try reverse again it'll not hit the gears directly and slip in. May or may not be what you are dealing with. Too see, while trying to push it into reverse, let the clutch out just enough to move the gears. If you feel the gear teeth bumping or it slips in, you've found out. If nothing happens, forget this and wait until you get a better answer. Mine does this occasionally, but I don't think there is anything wrong. I'll be curious to hear what you find. Gene Gruender

He has done a lot himself. Local machine shop does the machine work on motors, he assembles. He's done the body work on some, painted a couple. Said he used to just hole up for 3 or 4 months, work 10-12 hours days seven days a week and finish one. (My wife would put an end to that!). The last few he's found professionals to do a lot of the work. A number of them were bought finished. He has 53-57 Chevys, both 2 dr and convertible, and random others years and brands. Says he's never gone after anything specific, just buys it if he likes it. Truck is a mid 40's Ford. He keeps all inside in running shape, good batteries, good gas and starts all once a month or so whether he's going to drive them or not. Batteries and corroded points are his biggest problems, occasionally bad gas. Says he never used stabil, I suggested AV gas but had to explain what I was talking about. Really nice guy, enjoys showing them. Gene

Heard about another car guy in a nearby town who has 60 or so cars. Makes me envious. Mostly because he's found the time to get them together.

The good news is, the housing is probably ok. :^) Gene

Is it reasonable to use a remote booster, like the ones on some big trucks, located under the cab? It just goes in the line in a remote location, then on to the wheels. It would leave only a simple master cylinder under the hood. I'll have to admit all of them I've seen are single systems, though, so that might kill the idea unless there are newer ones that are duals.

Most any town will have a place that can make one on the spot. If there is no spring shop around, find a truck repair shop. They can or will know where to get one made. My local Inland Truck makes them. Seems like it was under $10. Gene Gruender

There are tons of Miller tools on EBay, the problem is the sellers seldom know what they are used for. There are probably some of use on our old stuff at any given time, but unless you know them and what they are used for it does little good. I've bought a few after someone gave a heads up that they were there, such as the recent steering wheel puller for our trucks that was mentioned here. Feel free to post links when you see one and know what it is, one of us may jump on it! Gene Gruender

Any thoughts of how to prevent leaks?

Got the windshield in - once the glass was in the rubber with the string, it was a 10 minute job. Still contemplating the corner windows.

My brother in law was in Viet Nam when Robert Mitchem came through in a Tour. The generals tried to steer him to the officers section of the club to rub shoulders with the brass. My brother in law was there, and heard him say "You guys go on with the big wigs, I'm drinking with the enlisted men. They're the ones who do the work". He walked off and left them, and then spent the rest of the night with the enlisted guys, telling tales and drinking them under the table.

We just thrashed about everything known to man on this subject! Take a look here: http://p15-d24.com/topic/41108-marvel-mystery-oil/?hl=zinc#entry437086

Are you trying to make one? Watch swap meets, etc. there were gobs of them back in the day. JC Whitney and many other places sold them. I had one, it fit the overdrive version. Sold it to another forum member. Gene

I paid out $300 maybe 5 years ago at Austin Drive Line, Austin, Tx. It's now Inland trucks. But my friend Richard Lorche, in Columbia Mo. does all of them in that area. He quoted me "about $200" for one recently. He's been making them for many years - probably 40 or so. 573-874-1111 shop, 573-489-6060 cell. Will he ship? Don't know ask him what he'll do. One man shop and he knows his stuff.

I didn't realize starters were such a problem. Glad I didn't know when I was getting my rusty B1B on the road. I don't recall what was wrong with the starter - probably rusted up like my clutch/pressure plate/flywheel - but I just took one off a parts car, 40 Dodge, I think. Bolted it on and the arm that the foot pedal hits didn't line up. Took a big wrench, bent it till it hit and it's worked fine for 4 or 5 years.

When I had mine made for my 40 Dodge sedan I took them the old driveshaft and a measurement flange to flange. Two days later I had a driveshaft that fit perfectly. A good shop shouldn't need anything else. Gene

It's not clear to me if the subject 265 is out of th car and disassembled yet, but if you are considering putting it into an acid bath in a garbage bag I assume it's going to be. I rebuilt a 251 a couple years ago. He hot tanked it as he normally would, then put it in the back of my truck and took it to the car was. I laid it in the bay and went through about $4 in quarters, getting in each opening from every angle. Lots of crap came out. Soon as I was done I wiped it off with a towel, then sprayed it all with WD 40 to stop any rust. Later inspection could not find any crud in the block.

I'm still fighting my truck windows, but I've taken quite a few things apart. You might try cutting away the old brittle rubber with a sharp wood chisel or use a hand grinder to chew away most of it. Then remove the trim, then continue to cut the rubber, or just pry the remaining lip up and over until the window will push inside. I'm pretty sure it comes out to the inside and goes back from the inside.(Someone jump in here if that is wrong). But the main point is, parts you're not re-using can be sacrificed to get the parts out you do need. And some time spent whittling away at the old rubber is probably better spent than a lot of elegant attempts to just remove everything. Besides, what little experience I have on removing old trim like that tells me you'll never pry it out of that hard rubber without damaging it beyond use.

I did find a few hints in the archives on the truck side, nobody mentioned grinding the edges smooth. That makes sense, thanks, I hadn't thought of that.

I got the rubber on the glass, as you probably saw in the picture, but when I went to put it in a bit ago, there is no way unless the rubber and glass are one. Guess I'll have to get that rubber/glass glue and set them up with that first. It's going to take some pretty rough pushing and forcing to get them inn from behind. Lots of rubber on the inside to work into place. Has anyone here put in those corner windows? Any hints? Gene

I've gotten 4 calls like that in the last month. Filled out an FBI report, they never called. IRS will not call you. You would have known it was coming from many letters you'd have already gotten.

I'd most certainly change the oil and filter. Even if it looks good on the dipstick, it's been settling for years. There may be water at the bottom of the pan and you'd never know. Condensation could have left a lot in the bottom and it won't show on the stick.

Biggest problem I've had so far was getting the rubber to stay on the glass as I worked it on. I couldn't keep it on as I worked my way around. I'll get this licked yet - might be some cussing involved, though.