bkahler

Well whaddya know......there really are three flat blade terminals! 😄

Ok, got it! These old eyes don't see things so well anymore! My focus just zeroed in on those round tips and that's all I saw Thanks!

I could be wrong here but I seem to remember the three connections on my 51 were all flat blade connectors as were all the other bulbs of I've seen in American vehicles of the 40s through the 80s. This bulb seems to have one flat and two round studs. Am I missing something?

Well......I need to learn to get my facts straight before I open my mouth. I went to the Motive Gear website to get their contact info and took a closer look at their listings. It turns out they don't show the c-clip or studs. So I went and checked out all of the other sites I had been checking out when I was looking for axles and they ALL show c-clips and studs with their axles. So I'm the guilty party for not paying attention to the listings. The good news is even after buying new wheel studs and c-clips their price was still considerably cheaper than everyone else. So I really have nothing to complain about other than my own failings! Brad

Based on the pictures of the axles when ordered the wheel studs and c-clips were included in the order. Based on the fact that I have received the axles and there are NO wheel studs or c-clips I'd have to say their picture is in error Wheel studs are now on order as are replacement c-clips although one c-clip is back ordered. Some days you just can't win.

I've finally got all of the bits and pieces together or arriving shortly to assemble the Cherokee axle. Since it's somewhat of an odd ball aluminum housing Dana 44 I've had to send a few pieces back. The axles arrive tomorrow and I'm really hoping they are the right ones. Their listed dimensions match my original axles so maybe I'll get lucky! So now it's down to painting the axle housing. I spent this afternoon moving the original axle off my Truckster and it's now sitting on a trailer. I'm not really sure what to do with it. I suppose I can list it in the classifieds, maybe someone can use it. While shuffling things around I made a quick and dirty A-frame stand to suspend the axle housing in the air so I can paint it. It's not the prettiest thing I've thrown together but it was 25 degrees out while I was building it so I don't feel to bad With luck I'll have the housing at least primered this weekend with final coat to follow later in the week. Brad

I got lucky. About the time I was ready to take my Plymouth engine to the machine shop I found a T306 block in the junk yard. $50 later the T306 block was on it's way to the builder

Based on the pictures I wouldn't have any hesitation in buying that engine block. I would be surprised if it has been bored oversize. I would venture to say someone has definitely been in the engine and done a few things but I don't see anything that would scare me away. The only information you don't have is condition of crank and there's no way to see that without pulling the pan.

Here is a listing on ebay for a 46-48 Desoto radiator that is the same as mine. It has a puncture hole in the top tank but that should be repairable. I didn't realize mine was not original to the truck until Brian posted the information he linked to above.

My 51 B3B 1/2 ton has a radiator in it from a Desoto and I didn't realize it was from a Desoto until just recently. There are aluminum Desoto replacement radiators available on ebay if you care to go that route. Brad

Well.....never a dull moment 😮 I finally took a closer look at the axles and realized they are not what I would call perfect specimens. In fact I think they are marginal enough that they should probably be replaced. Not exactly what I had hoped for when I bought the axle assembly but it's a little late to turn back now If I was using the original bearings and seals I might have considered running these axles for a while but with new bearings and seals going in I don't think I have a whole lot of choice in the matter. I can buy a new pair of axles from a company called Motive Gear for around $200 delivered. At the moment this is probably the route I'm going to take. Brad

I think the one I ended up ordering was called a Redi-Sleeve, cost was about $28. I've not heard of Sturdi brand before. I'm still considering whether to put sleeves on the axles themselves so if I do I'll look into the Sturdi brand. To install on the axles I'm going to need the right size tube long enough to reach. That will likely be the deciding factor on whether to try and replace them. Thanks! Brad

Between doctor visits and various other activities I didn't get a lot of time today to work on the truck as much as I would have liked but I'll take what I can get. Other than reworking the pedal pushrod for the brake MC that project is pretty much done. Now I can start running the various brake lines. I still need to figure out where I want to mount the proportioning valve. It's probably going to end up somewhere back where the original Tee was located on the frame rail. For the past week or so I've been trying to get the rear axle bearings removed from the housing which turned into more of a chore than it should have. I didn't realize the axle seals had a flange on them so when I was trying to use a pry bar style seal puller it was just fighting itself. After watching a few youtube videos I finally realized how to remove the seals and I had them both out in about 3 minutes! The bearings were a different story. The first video I ran across showed a guy using a 3-jaw puller with a slide hammer. That method didn't work, all it did was pull the rollers out of the shell. So, back to youtube and found a video showing a different style of bearing puller. Ordered a Harbor Freight puller set from Amazon cheaper than I could buy it from the local Harbor Freight. Go figure..... The puller arrived today and I tried it on the busted bearing first with no success so I switched to the other bearing and it pulled right how. After thinking about the situation for a little bit I tried a slightly different approach with the busted bearing and it pulled right out as well. Now it's time to get bearings and seals on order. I also removed the pinion nut and pinion yoke so I can replace the pinion seal. Unfortunately the pinion yoke has a nice groove in it from the seal so I'm going to have to find a Speedi-Sleeve for it. In the mean time I dropped the yoke and nut into a tub of Evapo-rust to hopefully turn them into rust free pieces of metal Brad

Finished fabricating the adapter plate today. I opted to use a countersunk bolt on the bottom so I wouldn't have to grind on the master cylinder. The plate is made from 1/2" 6061 aluminum plate. It takes a little finagling but I was able to bolt the plate in place first and then I was able to wiggle the MC into place as well. I still need to weld a section onto the end of the push rod to make up about 5/16" difference in the first MC that I tried. I measured my original MC and it had 1-1/2" of piston stroke. This Wrangler MC seems to have about 1-5/8" stroke. I think that's close enough for government work Brad

I purchased a bunch of stuff from DCM last fall and was overall very pleased with the product received. The one item I was disappointed in they immediately refunded. Brad