bkahler

Meant to post these earlier but got side tracked with some snow

Flat beds make great work benches! I have a small Cushman Truckster with a 6' bed that I use for a mobile work bench. Sadly there are times my shop is so full of junk the Cushman is the only available work space

The painter has found someone in Moorehead Ky that thinks they can match the paint. He's going to head over there mid week so maybe by the end of next week I'll have some paint. Thanks again!! Stay tuned..... Brad

They used to buy lots of NOS military surplus so I'm betting it is NOS.

I think the saying "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later" kind of applies here. The sad part is paying later usually means you pay more.

I don't know if this is the same one that I bought but it's listed as a High volume oil pump. The M-37 seems to be advertised as a stock flow / stock pressure pump. Maybe that means the VPW pump is not from Melling.

Pulling the pan is the smart thing to do. A small hidden stress crack on the cam would be a disaster waiting for the most inopportune time to present itself.

Wow Where did you get the oil pump? I've rebuilt probably a dozen engines over the years and never had anything like that happen. You might check with Vintage Power Wagons for replacement parts. I bought my pump and camshaft from them and if I remember right the pump was called a high volume pump. Bought probably 22 years ago. I sincerely hope that's all the damage you find.

Good idea about getting some of it in spray cans. Worth the extra money even if they sit on the shelf and never get used.

There are advantages to living in large population areas. I don't believe there are any automotive paint stores in Richmond. The closest one that I know of that actually mixes paint is about 35 miles away. The SW is about the same distance and they basically said can't do it. Knowing that it is possible just means we need to dig deeper Thanks for the offer. Nothing will happen this week/weekend as we're in the middle of a blizzard and I have a hunch things will be shutdown through the weekend. Thanks!

Jim, what you've just stated is what I assumed was possible and had heard was possible but couldn't find anyone to tell me they could do it! Thank you for information. I will pass this on to the painter and will likely end up going to the paint store(s) with him. One question, I assume any brand i.e. PPG, SW, etc. should be able to do this, correct? Thank you again! Brad

Interesting thought that I don't think we've considered. I'll pass this on to the painter. Thanks for the idea and number.

Yep, Midwest Military. All seven pieces came to $243 delivered in 2019. I'm sure prices are a lot higher now due to shipping costs.

Part of the problem is Sherwin Williams says they can't cross reference the paint code that was marked on their own can from 2000. They say it's not in their system anymore. It seems that without a paint code none of the stores know how to color match the paint. I think we just need to find the right person to talk to at a good paint store. Until that happens I'm in limbo. I have plenty of big panels they can use as a sample. Finding someone that can do it is the issue I'm dealing with. I suppose if I was in the heart of Los Angeles or Phoenix where there is a custom paint store on every corner it might be easier. I may end up taking a couple of days off and driving up to Cincinnati or down to Knoxville to see what I can find. I don't give up easily and this search isn't over yet

I came to the conclusion a few days ago that a complete respray of everything except the interior and engine compartment is the only workable approach. This approach will also allow me to fix a few things that 21 years ago weren't higher on the priority list, mainly the two angle strips that are fastened to the inside of the bed walls. The originals were somewhat chewed up but still serviceable if need be and at the time I had no idea where to source replacements or if they were even available. Now that I have all of the correct bed rails in hand I might as well install them properly which means painting them as well. My only real desire or requirement now is to at least get the exterior color to be a reasonably close match to the interior. The sample I have from PPG isn't even close. I don't expect to hear anything back from the painter for a few days or more on the search for matching paint. He's currently occupied with painting the bumpers and a few other misc. parts black. If I have any hope of making it to Clements I need to get the painting issue resolved soon!

I'd like to hear an audio of how that exhaust sounds! Why don't you record a short video of the engine running and put it on YouTube?

Sure sounds familiar I guess since mine was transported from Lincoln to Texas to Arkansas and finally to Kentucky it has been outside but, only long enough to make each trip at which point it was quickly shoved into a shop or garage! There is definitely a strong dependence on computers anymore to do any and everything. Computers were supposed to make our lives a lot easier.....NOT ? The one can of original paint that I have left was about 1/4 full but over the intervening 20+ years it is now more of a Jell-O mix

I guess I need to clarify the current condition of the paint. It looks brand new as far as sheen and color goes. The truck has never been outside and has no weathering or associated wear. I don't mind respraying the truck and as a matter of fact that's what I'm now expecting to do. What I want is to find someone that can take one of my existing small panels and create/mix a match to it so I can respray. Yes, I am willing to pay to have the painter travel with one of the panels to get it matched. We haven't given up finding something local just yet but so far it's been somewhat disappointing not being able to find something local. I believe the painter is making a trip today (60 miles or so?) to a shop to see what they can offer. It just seems odd in this day and age that it's this difficult to match a paint color. I guess maybe I was just expecting to much....

Hmm, I've worked with guys like that before ? There is one place that I would consider going to here locally but they are so back logged it's not worth the effort and I've noticed the last couple of times I had them work on my vehicles the work was rather sloppy with no attention to detail. I'm going to be generous and pass that off as they are just to busy to worry about the small stuff.... Based on the location of the two manifold dumps the front dump is about 3" closer to the frame rails than the rear dump. That means the front pipe can run to the rear beside the rear pipe with about a 1" gap between them. I found a Y pipe that that has 2" inlets with a 2-1/2" outlet. The inlet pipes are on about 3" centers which means there is about 1" between the two pipes. In theory that should match up with my two pipes fairly well. I'm still waiting on a call back from Steve at which time I'll see if he can provide the rest of the piping in 2-1/2" size instead of the standard 2". More to come....

I've reached a dilemma with the paint on my truck. 22 years ago I had it painted using Sherwin Williams 1952 Dodge Truck Green. After 22 years of having the parts transported all over the country they have ended up with various scratches and scraps along the way. Enough so that all of the body parts including the cab exterior need to be resprayed. I have zero plans to respray the interior of the truck or the engine compartment/firewall. A friend of mine is going to be doing the prep work and painting but first we need to find paint that matches the Sherwin Williams 1952 Dodge Truck Green paint. The issue that we've run into is finding a source for the paint. Sherwin Williams tells us that the paint code I have is no longer available in their system. Our next attempt where we actually had some paint mixed was with PPG. They indicated that they could cross over the 1952 Sherwin Williams paint code to their system and so I bought a pint of their paint to use as touch up, hoping that at that point a respray would not be needed. Well, the PPG paint isn't even close to the Sherwin Williams paint. Not living where there is a custom paint shop on every street corner we're struggling trying to find a place that can correctly match the paint that I have on the truck. I see places online that advertise the ability to color match from an existing sample but none of the shops around here seem to have that sort of capability. Looking for suggestions on how to proceed. Thanks! Brad

Kind of went off on a tangent this pass week or so. Last week I contacted an upholsterer about recovering my seat cushions and made arrangements to drop them off last Friday. While there we discussed the rebuild process and I mentioned that I wanted to paint the spring assemblies after he removed the covers. So I left his place (hour drive) and after I got home I gave him a call to ask a question about clips. He informed me that he had the cushions stripped down and so I made arrangements to pick up the spring assemblies Saturday morning. I now have the spring assemblies in my shop again and I spent Sunday drilling out the spot welds holding the bottom frame to the spring assembly. Between the bottom frame and the spring assembly there is some sort of cardboard sheet that needed to be replaced. The main reason for replacing is it smelled a lot like mouse urine which I guess shouldn't be all that surprising after 70 years of use and storage I'm planning on using 1/8" Masonite to replace the carboard sheet. I'm also planning on adding in the valve for the "Air-O-Ride" mechanism that I had salvaged from a seat at the junkyard years ago. I realized after dismantling the springs that I would not be able to weld the spring assembly to the bottom frame because of the Masonite so I ended up buying a spot welder which means I can assemble things properly. We'll see how that goes....! Pictures to follow later today....

The cross bar (wheel to wheel) is just a hollow tube so be very careful with that 100 ton press! You'd be better off using a large vice, a couple of 2x4s to straighten it.

Yep, dual inlet single outlet is one of the things I'm talking to Steve about. It might simplify things but until I have the details it's all a guessing game. Thanks!

Brian, I've thought about doing that but the few places that are reasonably close I wouldn't trust working on a go-kart let alone my truck. What's made things even worse is all of the shops are literally swamped and you have to take your vehicle in for them to evaluate, they give you an estimate as to how much and then give you a date when you can bring it back to get the work done. This is mostly due to them not being able to hire good help and get them to stay. Sound familiar? The more I look at the two exhaust manifold dumps and talk to Steve at DCM I'm pretty sure buying the kit that he sells with an extra custom sized down pipe will just about do the job. Only thing that should be needed is a Y pipe and some welding on my part. I'm waiting on a call back from Steve on a few other details, but that probably won't happen until Tuesday.

Yes, I have several different sizes.