Jeff Balazs

Ain't nothing at all wrong with my Pertronix conversion. I have been running the 6V positive ground unit in my truck for going on 5 years. It is a daily driver that lives outdoors so it has been more than adequately proven. Extremely simple and reliable....... Jeff

This is almost certainly a sign that you have either got a blown head gasket or a crack.

What kind of oil pressure do you see typically ? At Idle and at speed? Kind of sounds like some sort of blockage or perhaps the oil pressure relief valve is sticking. Is the breather cap functioning? I am sure others will chime in. Jeff

Well I drive it every day........and it is my only ride......so it has been fairly easy. I generally put around 100 to 125 miles on it a week. It is funny but once you get used to driving one of these you don't really enjoy driving other stuff. Jeff

Brad it does get real close. Probably within a 1/4". My set up might be slightly different than yours as I have a fluid drive 4 speed and the bell housing is different. I think you could remove some metal from the underside of the brake pedal . As I have said mine has functioned quite well for over 20000 miles. Jeff

Hey Guy's; Here is a photo of the M/C in my 52 3/4 ton. It is a stock 2002 Grand Cherokee m/c. I made an adapter plate and added a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. I did have residual valves in the initial build but they were causing the fronts to drag. Also I needed to shorten the original adjustable rod a bit. Initially the linkage needed some fiddly little adjustments to prevent brake drag. Once I got that where it should be I was good to go. Btw my axle is a Dana 35 3.55 ratio with 12" discs. There is nothing wrong with these axles as long as the seals are replaced and the gear lash is set correctly. You certainly don't need a beefier axle with our L6 powerplant. These brakes and the higher ratio rear axle are without any doubt the best upgrade I could have done during my build. I drive this truck every day in relatively heavy and fast moving street traffic. The truck itself is no hot rod but when it is up to traffic speed I don't have any worry about it stopping quickly if needed. And believe me I have put them to the test. We have more than our fair share of crap drivers here in Southern California. Hope this helps. Jeff

I thought I would share this as I am pretty certain it is still the worst one anyone has ever seen. 😀 The opposite of the grass is always greener type of thing...... Jeff

Here is what mine looked like when I finally got it out!!!!!🥶

Karl; Here are a few photos of my 52 3/4 ton after I swapped in a Grand Cherokee rear axle. The shock mounts are in the same basic position as they were before the axle swap. My fabricator buddy removed the shock mounts from my original 4.11 rear axle and welded them to the GC axle. The upper shock mounts on the frame were not modified. I hope this helps. Jeff

Hi Karl; Yes it has definitely been "bodged". It is not even close to the way it should be. The shocks should run in line and in board of the main frame rails. Shock mounts should be on the underside of the axle and be pointed forward. I don't have any photos but I am sure someone else here will. On the plus side the body looks great! Cheers, Jeff

Yep that would probably do the trick. I will tell you that I rarely leave my heater/ defroster on for more than about 10 minutes because the cab gets too warm. I probably over did a bit it on cab insulation but that also makes a huge difference. Have fun with your panel truck. They are way cool. Jeff

Yes maybe to some........but at least I have not chopped up a couple of cabs and put them on one of those noisy smelly diesels.🤔 Besides all I did to my heater is stick on a couple of formed pieces of aluminum to cover cab side outlets. They can be popped off and the heater is as it was when it left the factory. It still heats the cab up in about 5 minutes. And it works better in the defroster mode than it did without the "modification". I do realize that this sort of tweak probably seems unnecessary to most owners.....but I seriously doubt they actually use one of these trucks as their primary transportation. I get to put mine to the test day in and day out. Puts things into a different perspective. Functional windshield wipers and a defroster are a must.......And a lot of the OEM type equipment can be made to work and be reliable. But sometimes it needs a little help.

Boody; I just noticed that your application is a panel truck. Heating the entire truck (no matter what heater you end up using) will take a while. You might want to concentrate your efforts on the defroster function. I actually modified my Model 65 heater by covering some of the fan outlets to help increase the airflow out through the defroster ports. This made quite a difference to the defroster function. Each heater configuration is a bit different so mods like this may or may not be necessary. Jeff

So I have a Model 65 heater that Mark rebuilt then sold to me. Thanks again Mark. I found all the parts to make it into a "fresh air" system. I also installed the accessory cables for a cable operated heater valve....defroster and fresh air valve. At the time I built my truck I wasn't sure how much I would use it here in sunny Southern California. It really doesn't get too cold here. But we do get fog and conditions that make the inside of the windows fog up quite frequently particularly in the evenings and early mornings. So I went ahead with it. Now I am in my 5th year of using the old 52 as a daily driver. I will tell you that I am glad I spent the time on this set up. In fact I used it early this morning. It works amazingly well. Takes a couple minutes to start generating some heat but other than that it gets the job done. These old heaters are great. They look cool and they are totally functional. IMO if you are going to actually use your truck it ought to have one...wherever you are located. Jeff

I installed the 50A unit. It easily handles things including a fairly powerful stereo....extra lighting...etc. I cant imagine needing more than that. Jeff