Jeff Balazs

Back on topic for a moment. Sort of. Shellac is made using a resin secreted by the Lacq beetle. The resin in it's raw form is dissolved in alcohol to make shellac. As you might imagine it will not last long in a tank of modern fuel which contains a percentage of it's primary solvent. Jeff

Figure of speech. Most of the lizards here eat bugs....or other lizards ....so not a lot of speculation is really necessary. I was pretty certain I wouldn't offend anyone here as it is a well known fact that most wine drinkers here drive Toyotas, Nissans. or Beemers Jeff

Hank Hey I resemble that remark. Actually I never touch wine......the stuff tastes like lizard spit to me. Yuck! Cork is basically tree bark......and it ain't as good as it used to be either. Jeff

Hank; Is that pressed cork ? or is it solid ? Would be a real bummer if it were to disintegrate in the tank. Like a lot of stuff these days ........cork ain't what it used to be. Not sure what you would use to seal it with.....but I agree with Mark it should probably be treated with something. When I was restoring my 49 AJS years back the fuel taps on the tank used sealing washers made with cork. The modern replacements were made using a composite pressed cork which had a very short service life. Seems like the material substituted really did not like being in fuel. I wonder if you called Gray Roberts he would sell you one of the floats that come on the senders he sell? Maybe he has something laying around? Jeff

Welcome......Nice looking truck. If you have not already ........ buy stock in a penetrating oil supplier like PB Blaster. You will understand as you get farther into your project. A lot of us have done rear axle swaps. There are lots of reasons......cost, better ratios for modern driving, disc brakes etc. If you think you are going to go that route read up on the threads here. I believe there are driveshaft and U-joint issues on the earlier trucks which can complicate the swap. Best to be certain of all the ramifications before making any decision. Have fun with your new truck. Jeff

I think there are probably several ways around the speedo issue. I had a sports car that I drove for years with a broken speedo. I knew exactly how fast I was going just using the tach. And I never got pulled over using it. The speedo in my pilothouse isn't anywhere near accurate .........I have changed the rear axle from a 4.10 to a 3.55. It is easy enough to run some measured miles and calculate actual speed at a given rpm or speedo reading and then just add a couple of reference marks. Or there are probably cheap Gps units out there that could be used? Just a couple of ideas.....I am sure there are other ways as well. Jeff

Paul; I am sure you will appreciate this........but it would just be a blur...... Jeff

Hank; I do agree and really wish I had done this. If I can't get where I like it by other less labor intensive methods I will probably take it to Deavers and let them have at it. They charge about $125 a spring set. In the meantime I have started by doing liberal applications of penetrating oil and getting a few friends to help me get it to work in by standing on the bumper and making like a trampoline. I am sure it looks funnier than hell but there is a fair amount of rust particles streaming out of the springs. Wipe it down and do it again.....once in the morning and once in the evening before we go home. It actually seems to be working and we are all getting a laugh out of it. One thing about doing this in a shop type environment is there is almost always helpers at hand for this sort of stuff and several of the guys are genuinely excited to get this old truck back on the road. Jeff

Or......John Nida of Pilothouse Interiors does a really nice handcrafted interior. Here is a few photos of the interior he did for me. With all the work I put into this truck I just couldn't see putting a cardboard or plastic interior into it. And I like the feel of real upholstery. Jeff

That does seem odd. I wonder if it was much easier to get one side back on .....and that is why it may have gotten left like that? Probably never know. Jeff

I got pretty extreme with mine. After the cab was painted I applied 3 coats of brush on bed liner to both sides of the floor and floor boards. Then a layer of Hushmat Ultra on top. The underside of the cab got a double layer of foil bubble wrap insulation. The top side got a lift out fitted mats of double layered foil insulation and then a fitted rubber floor mat. Works really well at quieting things down.....and should be much cooler in summer than a bare metal floor and floor mat.. I used all new fasteners and the floor boards can be removed or refitted in about 10 to 15 minutes. Jeff

Hi Paul; I really should have taken the springs apart like you did. Just got side tracked by other items. And because it was a SoCal truck there was hardly even any surface rust. To top it off a PO had used military grade primer on most of the under carriage which prevented things from getting too funky during it's long sleep. I am not adverse to making some minor mods if necessary. Certainly air shocks are a possibility. I would rather not remove leafs or do anything to change the height or stance. I like it right where it is at........just not a fan of lowering vehicles at all. It is really not too bad the way it is. No problem at all for short commutes. I suppose I am just thinking it could be made a bit more comfortable for long trips. There is a good spring shop in Santa Ana called Deavers. If I find I can't live with it for some reason my first choice would be to take it to them and let them do their magic. I have heard from several sources that they do really fine work. Jeff

Tod & Todd First time I have seen back to back comments from the two of you. I don't know if lubricating these springs falls into the realm of a modification? They are 60 years old and probably have never been apart since the truck was built. I would think at best it could possibly restore some of the original range of movement between the leafs? I really can't imagine it having a radical effect on the ride. I will let you know if it does. I think for now I am just going to add some weight, use spray type penetrating oil on the springs and see what happens? Jeff

Welcome and what a starting point! Very nice indeed. Jeff

Hmmm......not exactly sure how to take that one? I guess or depending on where you were coming from. Ok so my new armrest's showed up. They look a lot like the ones Davin got. The hole spacing on these green ones labeled 53 Plymouth is at 5 3/4" C-C At least they are metal. Since they are not the stock item I think I am going to use Allen bolts to mount them in place. Jeff

Hank; Roger that ....... I think. Perfect is not possible if the thread form has been changed or damaged. And it sure sounds that way to me. Finding a replacement throttle body that hasn't been buggered up may be a better long term fix? Jeff

Hey Davin; I found a similar looking pair on Ebay that I am waiting for now. Hopefully they can be made to work. Jeff

Hank; I think what you are describing is the type of common PO mismatch I was alluding to. I suppose if it holds and does not leak it could work OK. If not perhaps you could find a replacement throttle body with the threads intact. Test it with the engine running and some starting fluid or WD40. If it doesn't leak you should be good to go. Jeff

Thank you Hank; So true. I fear it is going to be a long while before he is up to moving around. Hopefully he heals well this time. Jeff

You could probably use a 2000 - 2004 Grand Cherokee M/C like I did. The wilwood or similar valve will allow you to fine tune it. Then you can fit it to the existing pedal arrangement. No need for a booster......works great just like that. You get better pedal feedback that way in my opinion. Jeff

Yes. And I think it should be an adjustable proportioning valve on any retrofit or upgrade. If you stop (no pun intended) and think about it.....it is really the only way you are going to get the correct amount of front to rear braking adjusted properly on your particular vehicle. There are M/C's out there that have proportioning valves built in to them but they are really built for specific applications. They offer little or no provision to make any fine adjustments. Wilwood makes a nice adjustable valve with a brake light switch......and I am sure there are others. If you use this with a M/C that was made for the same model vehicle as your rear discs came from you should have a pretty easy system to balance. Run all new lines and use new or freshly rebuilt components and the braking system should be about as good as it is ever going to get. I am really happy with the 4 wheel disc brakes on my Pilothouse......best money I have spent on it. Hope this helps, Jeff

I do have brand new radials on it already. Joe I really think you might be right. I can easily throw some weight in it and give the springs the penetrating oil treatment. Nothing to lose there at all. Thanks, Jeff

Hey Guys; I will use this truck for small pick ups and deliveries. Stuff like a run to the lumber yard for 10 or 12 sheets of plywood or delivering some doors or cabinets to a local customer. Nothing really heavy though......600# -800# most likely. It is my only vehicle so most of the time it will just take me back and forth to work and run errands. And it would be nice if it was comfortable on the freeways. Trips out of town and such. I may build a cross the bed box for it but I won't be leaving tools in it other than a jack and maybe some spares. I was going to tackle the springs earlier on but got side tracked by the whole frame straightening process. By the time I got that sorted out other priorities took over. It could be that they would benefit from some attention. The shackles seem to be working as I would expect and have been liberally greased. It is a little hard to say how well the rear shocks are working. The fronts seem OK but then they are mounted quite differently than the rears. One idea I have had is to perhaps pull a leaf or maybe two from the rear sets and maybe find some air shocks to use to give me some adjustment capability. I have had this arrangement of more modern trucks and found it worked well. Jeff

I thought I would share this. Perhaps some of you may appreciate this. Last night about 9pm I got a phone call. A voice I did not recognize sort of croaked my name. I am racking my brain trying to figure out who this is on the other end of the line. Finally there is a response.....another croak asking me if I got my truck done yet. Ok.... that narrows it down a bit but I still don't recognize the voice. So I ask "Who is this ?" to which the voice croaks a wise _ss answer that could have only come from an old buddy of mine named Chris. I've known Chris for about 15 years. He had a woodworking shop down the row from me that he had to close about 3 years back due to serious health problems. He has had a number of spinal and back surgeries that have not gone well. Probably partially due to being a severe diabetic. Worn a pump ever since I have known him. And he is only about 50 years old. The last 3 years have been especially bad for him. He is in so much pain that he spends about 90% of his time in bed....and that is with huge daily doses of pain killers. A lot of the time when I have visited with him he is so doped up all he does is repeat himself. Late this summer his Dad brought him by my shop for a visit. That day I gave him a short ride in the truck which he really enjoyed.....I guess more so than I ever realized at the time. So last night when I asked him how he was doing ..... out comes this story. Wednesday he had a truly major and invasive surgery. He had mentioned the possibility of this last time we talked but it did not sound too likely. Well he had it and it was so invasive that the team that worked on him put him into a an induced coma. He woke up about 2/1/2 days later. Last night was the first time he felt halfway decent so after his family left for the evening he calls me. Funny thing was all he really wanted to do was to talk about the truck. I had to drag the story of the surgery out of him. Took me 45 minutes to piece together what had happened to him. He kept asking about specifics like what I had done about the brakes and how did the interior turn out. By the time we were about done talking he started sounding like his old self. I finally asked him why would you care about what was going on with the truck right now ? His answer was classic...." I been thinking about it because it keeps my mind off this other stuff.......and I want you to take me on a trip with it." I had a hard time sleeping after that. Been thinking about that call ever since. It's funny how the human mind works. Here is this guy...laying in a hospital.....just out of a coma. And all he can think of is my truck? It blew me away. I sure hope we get a chance to take that trip. Jeff

Hank; The vacuum port is just to the left of the idle mixture screw. You will want to be very careful that these threads do not get damaged. I would guess that a lot of these have been subjected to over tightening and could have distorted or even modified threads. I know mine had been clearly overtightened. I was able to clean my existing fittings up and get the threads to seal. I reused the old fittings after a careful clean up / inspection and a tiny dab of Permatex thread sealant. This stuff works really well on fuel, vacuum or oil tubing fittings if used sparingly. It should not be used on brake lines. Hope this helps, Jeff