Jeff Balazs

Gepard; On the later B series trucks the universal joints were changed from the earlier trucks and mate up well to the Cherokee axle. No modifications were needed to fit the existing drive shaft to the Cherokee (Dana 35) axle on my truck. All that was needed was to remove the spring perch's from the old dodge axle and fit them up to the new axle. You will need to pay attention to your axle selection though......especially if you want to retain the original wheels. 1/2 ton models are easier than 3/4 ton on the B series trucks as they had different wheels and a different bolt pattern. Not sure what your C series has? The bottom line is that you should do some research on all the specifics before making a decision. Jeff

Welcome Gepard; Your truck must be a fairly rare item in Germany. Looks good and solid. I would think that the Cherokee swap (or something similar) is going to be the best option for you. You may want to consider getting one with a 3.78 or even a 3.55 final ratio for better cruising speeds and gas mileage. It should be a very easy swap. Enjoy it and keep us posted. Jeff

Hey Mike; I totally get where you are at with all this. Kind of reminds me of where I was when I discovered that my "great buy" had a bent frame. I think you will find joining and getting involved with this little community the best move you have made. The main thing is to have fun with it. It does take some some soul searching at times....but it is all good. It's funny ....I lost my Dad a few years back and I know he has been with me on this journey the whole time. I am just down the road from you if you ever need moral support or want to chat about your project. Jeff

No problem........but Mark I was thinking more like a carb.....a transmission.....and a steering box. Glad Y'all like it. Jeff

Chris; Yes but you are mixing different types of technologies and most importantly retaining quite a bit of the old kit. Now this is just opinion....but I think since you are keeping most of the original type suspension etc......it is all still going to want to behave like it was originally designed to. I don't know what your engine and transmission actually weigh......but it is hard to imagine it weighing all that much more than an L6 with a fluid drive and a 4 speed? It is may even be within a 100# or so. And these truck were designed to carry a load....so to me the weight itself should not be the determining factor. I think you are right about the difference in torque and certainly the diesel is going to vibrate quite a bit more than the original L6. I really think it is going to be hard to know just how far to take things when it comes to stiffening up the frame. I definitely agree with what you have done in general......but what I am trying to say is if the structure becomes too rigid and the road loading is trying to flex a certain way...... something is going to have to give. It might happen in the main frame structure or it could be transmitted into the suspension components or even the fasteners holding it all together. You are......and I know you are aware of this.....going to have to step back often and really evaluate all potential situations carefully. Believe me when I say I want you to be successful with this build. I think it is a very cool concept. And you are breaking new ground as you go. Doesn't get any cooler than that! Jeff

I finally got a chance to spray this box and get it mounted. It is probably not everyone's cup of tea but I have a feeling I will get a lot of use out of it. It is held in place with two bolts so it can be removed in less than 5 minutes. Jeff

Hi Chris; I am wondering if this arrangement is going to allow the frame rails to twist enough in this area? The way the original cross member works it allows for some controlled twist in the opposite frame rails. This can be observed when say the right front wheel and the left rear wheel are going over a bump at the same time. The composition and arrangement of the stock cross member makes it work sort of like a torsion spring to absorb and control the twisting action. I am not trying to be negative but I wonder if making this area too rigid might have some adverse effects on handling and longevity? Jeff

Jeez......I figured Hank was going to post some old Looney Tunes character saying "What a Maroon" Jeff

Thanks Guy's for not beating me up........even if I really deserve it. I still can't make any sense of how this happened? Makes me wonder what else I have goofed up. I am glad I have not put it on the road yet. Other than a few short test drives most of the time on the engine has been at idle or at very slow speeds. Hopefully I haven't done any serious damage. I will change the oil right away in case it has been diluted. Jeff

Well........they say when you get older it get's easier to admit your own shortcomings. So here goes. Ever since I got this old truck running I have thought that it ran a tad rich. I figured it was either worn or incorrect jets in the carb. I mean who knows what a PO had done with this thing? And it ran pretty darn good right? Wrong! What a maroon I have been. I just got a new kit for the carb and in preparation to install a new fuel pressure regulator I removed it to inspect and check. Ok so here goes....and Hank feel free to add appropriate pictures to your response. What I found really has me concerned that I must have had a stroke or something. The float level was way off.....I mean it must have been set above the top of the carb. What a maroon! I can't believe it ran this way without gas everywhere. I am not sure what I did......and I have no rational explanation. Either I had a stroke or maybe my misspent youth is starting to catch up with me. Either way shame on me. It is back on the truck and works so we will see what has changed. Wow! Jeff

You just put new hard lines in a while back right? Surely the hoses are not that old. Just a guess but if it is a not hydraulic problem.....then having the linings arc'd to fit the new drums is probably going to be the next step. Jeff

Hank; You could try this to determine if it still a hydraulic problem. Jack up one of the offending wheels. Open the bleeder and see if the binding free's up. If not then it is probably a problem with clearance between the shoes and the drum. Hope this helps; Jeff

Hank.......you and your pictures. Pulling that water distribution tube was my Mopar baptism by fire. Should have bailed then. Don; I do have the fan mounted flush......but no controller. As far as the hard starting situation ... I am betting with your non standard manifold you probably won't ever see it. I feel certain it happens most often on the stock arrangement with the mating point of the two manifolds directly below the carb. I am 95% certain the fuel in the float bowl gets percolated and floods the manifold. Not sure exactly how hot things need to get to have this happen. I would think that float bowl temps somewhere in the range of 160 to 190 degrees depending on fuel formulation could trigger this. Also excess inlet fuel pressure may be a contributing factor? It is just possible that the actual point for this event to happen may just be a few degrees hotter than what is normal operating temperature for these parts? Jeff Jeff

The fan is a 16" Speedway pusher type unit. No additional shroud was used. I removed the stock fan to achieve a quieter running truck. And it is quieter..... especially at speed. It may be that the electric fan is not moving the same amount of air that the stock unit did? Seems like it keeps up when moving in normal traffic. I suppose I could put the old fan back on and run some more tests. Easy enough to leave the electric fan off to get a test. The radiator was re-cored and is clean. I replaced the water distribution tube and cleaned the block. I flushed the system about a month ago to clear out rust that was suspended in the coolant. The water pump is new and I just put in a brand new 160 thermostat. The truck takes quite a while to get up to operating temp......at least 10 minutes and usually more like 12 to 15. Jeff

The engine actually runs fine. Autolite 306 plugs gapped to .035 New solid core wires. Points are fresh and set at .021. No manifold leaks. Timing set at TDC. When I replaced the timing chain last year I went through the entire timing process as outlined in the manual. The engine idles steady with a 21" reading on the vacuum gauge. Besides the insulation on the underside of the hood the firewall is heavily insulated. I should mention that it seems like absolutely no heat is making it's way into the cab via the firewall. I seriously doubt that this is the case with most of these trucks. Other changes and mods include the removal of the stock fan which has been replaced with a push type electrical unit. Removal of the stock fuel pump replaced with a Carter vane type electric and a new stainless steel exhaust system with a Magnaflow muffler. Also a new 6V alternator. There is no real way I can do a side by side validation. What I have done as a way to validate my findings is to run a series of heat tests with the hoods closed and with them open. With the hood closed in warm weather the temps keep rising slowly until at some point it seems certain that the engine would overheat. With the hood open this is not the case. Temps are fairly level and do not show the rise. All of this is done with the engine idling. I know that this does not make a good example of conditions seen on typical daily drives. It does however closely simulate conditions one might encounter during one of our famous stop and go summer traffic events. In order for me to feel like this truck is a honest to goodness daily driver here I feel it is necessary to make certain it can handle these sorts of extremes. Also I enjoy going to the desert where extremes are the norm. I really won't feel like this project is complete until this task is properly addressed. I can't really say if all of these trucks suffer from excess heat under the hood......but my guess is that put into more extreme conditions I have a feeling they would benefit from better under the hood ventilation of some sort. Either way I know my truck will. Jeff

If they were we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Jeff

The regulator I am getting is a Holley fitted with a pressure gauge. It will be better and safer to know that nothing is being over pressurized. Dave I like your suggestion about the inner fender. I had thought about it briefly and then moved on. It might just do the trick though.....and be fairly invisible. I am pretty certain that I need to do something about the under hood temps. Even if it is not causing the hot start problem. I feel like I am definitely going to have overheating issues this summer if I get stuck in stop and go traffic. What I have built works fine at normal driving speeds and conditions. But stuck in traffic on a hot day.....well I can see now that my modifications so far are not quite up to the job. It is just going to take a few more tweaks to get it to work right all the time. It seems like having the hard start episode a few weeks ago may have been a blessing in disguise. Up until this happened I thought that I had done all that was needed to have a reliable runner. Now I know that was not the case. I had seen the water temp gauge getting warmer than it should but the infrared gauge has made it clear just how hot things were actually getting. Jeff

I set the float level lower a while back. I ordered a regulator on Monday. When it arrives I will pull the carb and recheck all the settings. Jeff

Hank; Glad to be of help. Sometimes it is the simple little things we all look at ....but don't really see. It will take the blue paint off but good luck getting the silver to stick!!! Brake fluid is insidious stuff. On that other topic......with the hoods up and the engine idling it takes forever to warm up.......and pretty much everything except the exhaust manifold and the block stays much cooler. Cool down time is a one heck of a lot quicker too........so I figure venting the hood would have a similar effect. Just got to find the right vent scoops. If I am right about this it should make a huge difference. Jeff

So I was on the right track. Glad that got it fixed. Jeff

Mike; From what I can see I would be very concerned about other aspects of this truck. And you say you have not even run the engine? What if the rest of the build quality is similar to the rear frame? The seller may be honest....but that doesn't necessarily translate to him having very good mechanical judgement. I would think that based on what you have shown us you need to do a very comprehensive assessment of the rest of the truck before you even think about keeping it. I don't know what you paid for it but if you have to go through much of what has already been done it can really add up. Changing the frame ......isn't going to be just changing the frame. It can go on and on. At the very least I would say the seller owes you some money. Jeff

You are right about temperatures being what it is and where it is. And we know that it is the main culprit when it comes to most hard starting issues that occur after the engine is hot. I also have to agree with you about the manifold design and excess heat that may be present due to the heat riser. Certainly I have made the problem worse by insulating the hood assembly. I am certain that by adding insulation that I have in effect raised the under hood temperatures. Now if I were the only one that experienced the hard starts when hot problem I would really have egg all over my face. But I am not the only one. And I am very interested in solving this. If I stop and consider contributing factors and potential fixes .....one thing seems clear to me. If I am able to lower the under hood temps the chance of having this problem is reduced. And it would be great if the fix for this did not involve any additional electrical devices. Heat rises and if it has a good path to escape it will. With the hood design that we have to work with the only way for heat to escape is to radiate through the sheet metal. What I did practically eliminated that path. And if the problem exists with this at say 85 degree weather I can only imagine how severe it will get when it really gets hot. Now if I come up with an effective way to "vent the hood" does this either eliminate or dramatically reduce the hot starts problem ? I think so. Of course there really is only one way to find out. Jeff Jeff

Well it is not a prank. Perhaps a bad joke...caused by my quest to have the quietest Pilothouse....but definitely not a prank. I don't know if anyone else has thought about what improving the under the hood ventilation might achieve? I feel like it should be considered. It is a fairly obvious way to potentially eliminate or address a whole host of issues. My two days of "warm weather" (mid 80s) testing has shown me that it may be possible to lower the engine compartment temps by around 20 degrees. That kind of difference is probably enough to eliminate hard starts and overheating........ and it would probably have a positive effect on how well the engine runs and even what sort of mileage it could get. Would I fit a scoop? or vents? or whatever? to get these potential benefits? You bet. I really don't see it as any different than fitting radial tires or disc brakes. If I think it will make the truck a more reliable daily driver then I am all in. No one who has spent any time driving around LA in the summer can say that they have not been stuck in traffic. Or that they have never seen some poor smuck with his hood up....steam rising.... and getting screamed at by all who were stuck behind him. If I can do something to prevent this then I am not going to be that guy. It has always been my goal to make this truck into a decent daily driver. There is a lot more to this than one might think. In the end I don't care as much about what it looks like as how well it functions. To this end I have made a ton of modifications. Some small and others quite a bit of work and expense. I have never worried that it isn't a hot rod. It has enough power to keep up with traffic and it stops well now. The ride is decent and the interior is comfortable. I admit I went crazy with the sound and heat insulation.....but it is very quiet and cool so that was worth it. And I will probably keep tweaking it as I go. It is the last vehicle I will ever buy.....so we are stuck with each other. Jeff Hank......insulation stays.......heat goes bye-bye

Hi Davin; Nice truck! Something like that might work at speed......but I think it would be more effective for what I am concerned with to have it vent at the highest point. I am not sure anything on the sides of the hood would do that much when stuck in traffic on a hot day. I wonder what a couple of low profile finned aluminum hood scoops turned around to face the windshield would look like? If I could find a pair the right shape and small enough......that could be finished in black....... I think I would be inclined to go that direction. Not the great big Hillborn type item.......but maybe something kinda retro looking? I suppose even a boat type bilge vent scoop might be pressed into service. Jeff

Tod; At this point it seems like my first move should address the heat that collects just below the hood assembly. I can't help thinking that if I can get the excess heat to exhaust properly the rest of this issue may just go away. Or at the very least it will be much easier to solve. If I were not so far along I would consider adding louvers as I know they work and they are a trouble free solution. I really need to give the problem some more thought. Jeff