bkahler

That's quite the car hauler. I like it

This past weekend I had a few hours to play around with the truck and I didn't really make any progress with the panel alignment problems. I think I can better articulate the issues now so maybe that will help As a preface, all of the bolts that would allow panel movement are loose. In the attached pictures you can see the front nose is not centered on the frame (as mentioned previously), the drivers side door gap is too small and the passenger side is probably a little large but unfortunately it tapers from top to bottom, getting smaller at the bottom. Something not shown in the pictures are the tops of the front fenders where they align with the middle curve of the door. On both fenders, when the L bracket bolts to the side of the cab (accessed from inside the cab) then fenders are not flush with the door skins. The fenders are recessed an 1/8" to 3/16". It's as if the L brackets need spacers installed. This spot is one of the few where there is no real adjustment other than up/down and forward/back. No in/out movement is allowed for. I would think this means the doors need to be moved inward at the top hinge, but if I do this then the doors don't fit the door openings properly. It seems to me that the fit of the fenders where they meet the doors is the key to getting everything else to fall into place. I believe I understand how to align the fenders up/down and forward/backward but the in/out has me baffled. Tips anyone?!

I wonder how fast that rig was when it was fully loaded

I don't have the running boards installed yet but I'm sure using the trolley jack with some wood to spread the load it should work. Thanks, I'll give it a try

Yeah, PITA pretty much sums it up. Your comment about the radiator support got me thinking, so I went and took a couple of pictures that might explain a lot. The front end does not seem to be centered over the frame supports. I've been stuck on the idea that the radiator support is where it needs to be, but now I'm thinking that's not true. If it get the time, tomorrow I'll loosen the two nuts holding the frame in place and see if that gains me anything. Stay tuned....

Ok, I've finally got a few things that worth an update. The bed panels are done and the front fenders are mostly installed. I'll be the first to admit the bed panels aren't perfect, but they are good enough for me. The trick is once installed, drive fast enough that people don't get a good look at them The panels are still at the painters, which is good because I currently don't have any room to store them. I've had a lot going on and the shop was packed with stuff so it's been really difficult to work efficiently. I finally managed to make room and once the front sheet metal is all bolted into place then I'll be able to move things around to make an assembly area to build the bed. This morning we worked on fitting the front fenders. Started on the right side and fought it tooth and nail to get the gasket and bolts between the front of the fender and the front nose. The left side we were able to apply lessons learned and it went a lot faster. The bolts holding the fenders to the nose are now tight, but the bolts holding the nose to the radiator frame are still loose. We're having difficulty getting the door gaps to stay put. I can pull the nose on the left side and get a decent gap but after letting off on the pressure it moves back closer to the door. Tightening the bolts on the left side don't seem to help it stay in position, it still springs back somewhat. The passenger side gap is slight larger than it should be so I think the cab needs to rotate slightly. I'm currently struggling with finding a method to pivot the cab (the four bolts are loose). I believe the front left bolt is somewhat of a pivot point and what needs to happen is the passenger side needs to pivot slightly forward. What's the best way to do this? It's been around 28 years since I dismantled the truck and its kinda weird to see fenders on the truck!

We'll never know....

It does look like a pretty gentle plane crash

I don't know which is more interesting, the old Dodge or the plane in the roof....

That looks to much like real work to me...

Bed panel repairs are moving slowly but still moving These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago. He's working on getting the last section flat. I believe the panels are now ready have primer applied. The weather has been on the cold side so he's waiting for slightly warmer weather before doing so. After about 28 years of waiting I just might get to drive the truck on the street this spring!

More progress on the bed panels. First coat of primer on both and he's starting to add filler for all of the rust pits.

One step closer to getting the bed side panels painted. Last week we welded the stake pockets and bed rail to the passenger side panel. This weekend we welded the pieces to the drivers side panel. It's in surprisingly straight condition now. Both panels are now being prepped for paint. There are a couple of flat spots on the top tube of the panel and we were trying to use one of those harbor freight tubing expanders, unfortunately the smallest one they have is just a bit to large to be able to comfortably slide it down towards the middle of the tube without getting stuck. As an alternative he's considering JB Weld as a build up material and shaping it to match the curve. As long as I own the truck it's not going to be a work truck so that might be the easiest option. Its about time for me to start milling the lumber for the bed floor

Beg, borrow or steal one of these drills. They are great for getting into tight spaces.

What's the cardboard for....?

Sorry about the radio silence, I'm slowly figuring out this whole retirement thing I haven't really done much of anything to the truck but progress has been made by the guy doing the body work on the bed. In early October I took a trip back to my home town to visit family for a couple of days and then headed to Minneapolis to pick up a pair of bed side panels (thanks Mark!). I wouldn't call the newly obtained panels "new" but they are in considerably better condition than my originals. Mark had previously removed the rusty stake pockets from the panels but he had new replacements available so that's what you're looking at in these pictures. I will say the Bruce Horkey replacement stake pockets look to be identical to the originals, they are very well made reproductions. This panel is the passenger side, it was the better of the two so we figured to start with the good panel and hopefully learn along the way. The panel did require some straightening and shrinking but I'm happy to say it turned out pretty darn straight. The drivers side panel is pretty much straight along the top tube but the panel itself is somewhat of a banana shape, although we both feel it's workable. Maybe in a week or so I'll be able to post some pictures of the reworked panel. By the way, the reason for me not working on the truck is because my Cushman Truckster engine finally blew up so I'm in the process of replacing the engine. I really need the Cushman running as it's my workhorse for getting things done on my property. Brad

My one big experience with water in the gas is the engine would run a little rough at first, and then run rougher and rougher until the float bowls filled up with water at which point the engine stops running. I confirmed this was the case by pulling the fuel bowls (Triumph Spitfire twin carb engine) and dumping the water out. I'd reassemble everything and the engine would start, run rough until the float bowls filled up with water again, at which point the engine would stall out. We were able to get about 1-1/2 to 2 miles before I had to repeat the process. I was fifteen miles from home so I got the routine down pretty good

Super! I'm glad the driveshaft solved your problem. There were numerous times over the past year where I almost hauled it to the dump. I guess the old saying "One man's junk is another man's treasure" is true Have you driven the truck with the new drive shaft installed yet?

Interesting. My problem was just the opposite. My driveshaft is/was the Cleveland style u-joint and the trans was Spicer. I ended up replacing my diff with a later model so I had to find a driveshaft with a Spicer end.

Wow! Is that the complete driveshaft or just the slip joint section? Either way, good deal. When I was looking I checked with DCM, Vintage Power Wagons, Vic's and several other places and came up empty.

I think at this point finding a decent used driveshaft and/or components is going to be more of a crap shoot than anything else. The odds probably aren't very good. If you're doing a full blown restoration I understand your dilemma, if not then you might consider just having one made. I took that route, it was $534 for a complete shaft with u-joints. When I realized mine original shaft was no good I also spent time looking for used replacements and had zero luck. On my truck the diff had the Cleveland strap style but on the transmission end it used the Spicer style. Someone prior to me had done some swapping around.

I don't know that fuel will evaporate once it gets into the crankcase, at least that wasn't my experience recently with my Cushman Truckster that recently suffered this malady. I do know that if enough fuel gets into the crank case the bearings will eventually fail.

The covers the full face of the fender lip.

My 51 had a rubber gasket between the fenders and the front grille. I'm in the process right now of mounting the fenders. I made gaskets out of 3/32" rubber sheet. I traced a pattern by setting the front of the fender on top of a sheet of construction paper. I then cut out to rubber gaskets and punched the holes. Later today I'll snap a couple of pictures and post them. Brad

A few more pictures showed up in a different episode. Neat old truck.