Jeff Balazs

Well I am 22 months into this recycling / resurrection project of mine. It has been a long haul to get it to this stage. I have tried to get something done on it every day since I have had it.......and I have only missed doing so on a handful of days. For those of you who are new to the forum or have not followed the build it will be my daily driver here in SoCal. It is not bone stock but I have tried not to deviate too far either. The mods I have made are what I believe are necessary to make it a safe and reliable daily driver in the conditions I will face. The major mods I have made include a Grand Cherokee rear axle with 3.55 ratio and 12" discs, a front disc kit and a grand cherokke M/C. I also added a 6V alternator, a 6V electric cooling fan and fuel pump and running lights. 3 point seatbelts and an extensive amount of insulation. I was fortunate enough to gather all the stock items to add the fresh air option to a Mopar truckmaster heater with defroster option. And finally a drivers door lock from the land of OZ. It still needs a bit of sorting out but it is really close now. I have attached a few before and after photos. Hope you like it. Jeff

Frank; Yes I am glad it is not the fluid drive........Boy am I glad! I think I can live with this for a while. Heck maybe I can even come up with a little remote pump type oiler like they had on total loss machinery back in the day.......a drop of oil about every 15 minutes should keep it quiet. I know I have a couple of extra control cables..........now all I need is a knob that say's "squeal" Jeff

Bob; First let me say I really appreciate your insight here. This has been my first experience with one of these engines or a Mopar product for that matter. And some of this..... while not rocket science has been a challenge. I guess that is true of any old car or truck we try to bring back to life after it has set for god knows how long. I have to say how great it has been to be able to draw upon the wealth of knowledge and experience here. The sound itself goes away when the clutch is pushed ....even slightly......or if I put a few drops of oil behind the pulley towards the timing cover. I am thinking it may just be the sealing suface on the pulley hub rubbing against the seal funny? It seems to me the timing chain cover was in real decent shape and I used the hub itself to center the cover. What is the worst that could happen if this seal starts to fail? Small oil leak? I could live with that while I saved some money for a real rebuild. I just don't want to do any serious damage. Jeff

You know I don't recall it has been about a year or so since I did that work. I will have to look through my photos to see if I took any of this. Probably not but worth a look. Jeff Now that you posted the photo I think that this is what I have. I am guessing that it is the rubber to metal of the hub that I am hearing. The hub was not absolutely perfect I probably should have sleeved it instead of cleaning and polishing it. Don't you think if it was that lip hitting the sprocket it would get worse when the clutch was applied? Jeff

I managed to track down the source of the noise I was hearing. Turns out it is coming from just behind the engine pulley. I think it must be caused by the combination of a new seal on the timing case and a bit of wear on the pulley hub. A shot of oil and it goes away for a while. Press in the clutch and it goes away. It is not too obnoxious and it does not sound like metal on metal. I am not sure if this is really anything serious or if it will be OK to run like this for a while. This seal does not appear to be leaking nor do I have any leaks any where else. I am wondering if I can nurse this by occaisionaly giving it some lube and buy some time to save money for a complete rebuild? What do you guy's think? At this point there is no question in my mind that the crank is moving forward slightly when the clutch is applied. Looks to be on the order of a 1/32" to 1/16" or maybe even less but I have not had the opportunity to get a real measurement. Other than this the engine runs fine. It has always been my intention to do a full rebuild but I have pretty much used all my funds now to get the truck to this stage. Hopefully I will be able to drive it for a while withoutdoing any serious damage and then get it rebuilt properly. Jeff

You and your truck are true classics! Jeff

Hi Ed; I may take you up on this. Kind of depends on what I can find out about these jets. I suspect that there was different jets and tuning data available at one time.....but wether any of it still exists remains to be seen. Trying to get a retrofit system like this working properly without knowing that you have all the right stuff is probably just asking for problems. To me there is no doubt that a properly working PCV system would be of great benefit in keeping the oil clean and uncontaminated. But it has to work correctly and so far I don't have enough info to make me feel like this is going to be successful. I will probably drive it the way it is for a while so that I can assess how close the carburation is set up to what it should be in the first place. It is possible that this carb has the correct jets in it for a PCV system as there was one of sorts cobbled in when I got it.....then again it was all wrong so who know's? Jeff

Thanks Brian; I saw in the links you posted where GB drilled out the main jet. I will have to see about getting a spare jet before attempting this. I wonder how hard these will be to find? Or if you can even get these in various sizes? I suppose one of the Carb specialist outfits must have spec's and sizing info. My truck is a fluid drive with a DTG1 Carter and has a later 230 in it so I need to make certain it is jetted correctly anyway. God only know's if this was ever properly addressed by the PO. Mike, That's funny.........does it sound like a coyote whistle now? I have electric wipers so nothing but vacuum advance on the system at the moment. Thanks, Jeff

Hi Guy's; I had put together a PCV system for my truck based on parts available from VPW. In getting the truck running properly I had to abandon the system in order to get some idling issues sorted out. I believe this problem was caused by the use of a used PCV valve which does not operate correctly. I would really like to refit this system as I have no doubt as to the benefits of a system like this over a road draft tube when it is operating correctly. Most of my driving will be short trips of 10 to 15 minutes in duration in stop and go conditions and this is where a PCV systems really shows it's stuff. Since this is going to be my daily driver I am particularly interested in preventitive measures like this. Has anyone out there come across a modern properly sized PCV valve for this application? If so what have you used? The valves which VPW offer are used threaded metal housing units which fit well with the piping but did not seem to function properly. Not certain if the problem is wear related or if it is a sizing issue but with it in place it caused enough of a vacuum issue to effect the idle. Thanks, Jeff

Hi Davin; I can't see how a small high point vent would hurt anything. Many rear axles have a vent for the very same purpose. And quite a lot of the older motorcycles with separate transmissions actually benefit from the addition of a high point vent for exactly the same reason. Some of the old Burman and others gearboxes used well into the 50's had very crude leather and metal seals. They probably don't seal all that well when they are new and as they wear they become real leakers. The addition of a high point vent was a common fix back in the day.....and something that was actually adopted in later models by the manufacturers. It could be more of an issue on trucks with the 3 on the tree transmissions than the top shifters. I expect that my 4 speed probably vents some through the shifter boot. Try adding a vent provision.......a 1/4" hole should be adequate.........you may have stumbled across a fix for a lot of folks. Jeff

Graham; I believe all the 1/2 ton trucks were equipped with 16" wheels. Some one will correct me if I am wrong. 3/4 ton trucks take a 15" wheel but use a different lug pattern........ 5 x 5"....... and those wheels are unique to that size truck. The 1 ton models are yet another size. I suppose you can fit other sizes depending on clearance and the lug pattern of the wheel. Jeff

Richard; I don't know if I would call it a bible........ but it certainly is a decent overview of a the Pilothouse trucks. I am no expert but the best source of the info and help you are going to need is right here. That is a fact. One thing about this site that is very cool is the depth of information available. And as you go through the process of bringing your route van back to life every thread you start will be available to the next guy who steps into this process. Sweet huh? To think that as we all use this site to share info we are creating massive database on all things Pilothouse to share with others who have the same interest. To me this is the best thing about the time we live in. 20 or 30 years ago a lot of this info would have simply gotten lost.......now it is so easy to share the experience. So post plenty of photos and go ahead and share your experience as the project unfolds. You will be amazed at how much easier your project will be and how many friends you will make. Jeff Jeff

Hi Barry; I remember reading that.... ....but the only Grandson I have is an ornery little Chihuahua named Cooper....aka the coopercahbra. And the viciuos little swine has come close to being made into a hood ornament by Grandpa more than once. Good thing for him he is cute. Also I have made several mods that require "creative" wiring and routing. Almost done though........ just cleaning it up now. Hopefully I have done a good enough job so that I won't have to revisit it any time soon. You are I believe doing things the smart way and not deviating much from original. Extending the harness a bit on the dash side is probably a very savvy move. Not sure if it will completey eliminate the need to crawl under there ...... but it should help. Hang in there .....that day will come. Jeff

At 58, 6'-1' and 225# I find working under the dash most challenging. Got to be able to ignore the pain. What is needed is a midget contortionist that is good at wiring! You might want to look hard at a Cherokee or Grand Cherokee rear axle swap. Would almost have to be easier and cheaper than trying to save the original brakes and axle. There are several threads here on the subject and quite a few of us who have done them. Jeff

I kept waiting ......and waiting......and waiting for her to toss a match on it. Jeff

Wow Todd.......it is a rare thing when someone totally agrees with me. I was just trying to make the point that there is a reason why a SBC and in particular the 4 bolt variants are a very popular engine. That is not to say that putting a Mopar engine in one of these trucks is not most likely a better long term move for preserving the resale value. It certainly is. A small Hemi like a Red Ram would be very cool and I am sure would do little to hurt the overall value. Of course we all know the situation when it comes to the difference in parts availibilty and cost. Jeff

Graham; Orange or LA county........although the inland empire list often has more. If I recall correctly there was someone around Huntington or Seal Beach that had some wheels about 4 months ago....but I have not seen that listing for quite a while. I am a few miles south of you at the El Toro Y right across from the Irvine Auto Center. I am about 95% complete on a 2 year long reclaimation project of a 52 B-3-C. It had sat for about 20-30 years prior to me starting on it. Jeff

Scruffy; Jeez......I had well over 500k miles on my 76 Jimmy with a 4 bolt 350 in it. Replaced the module once in all that time Cost $22. Other than that if you use Delco caps and rotors they run and run and run. When I sold it it still ran fine with the original bottom end and pistons. I kinda wish I had gone that route with this truck........would have been a lot simpler and infinitely cheaper. Jeff

Graham; You shouldn't have too much trouble finding those wheels. The 1/2 ton wheels seem to be much easier to find than the ones for a 3/4 ton. There was a set on the local Craigslist a few months back. How long have you had this truck? It sure looks nice. Jeff

Thanks Hank; I will keep that in mind. I need to drive it a fair bit before making any further decisions. I am probably going to have to do something about the crankshaft before too long.......so maybe when I deal with that? At this point I just want to get a feel for how this truck is on the road. It is pretty close now......maybe another month. Jeff

Hi Graham; Welcome to the group neighbor. I am not exactly sure when it changed but I think around 50 or 51. Your truck looks real sharp. Is it relatively stock or has it had an engine swap? Jeff

Mo' betta. I am not exactly sure what I did that made the difference but now it is as it should be. Yeah! I really think that the problem I had was due to way the top had to be jockeyed around the rear section of the cab floor because of the fluid drive. I know Dodge built many of these FD trucks. It is hard to believe that they did not see fit to provide a removable floor section to allow for easier removal and install. I have corrected this on my truck by cutting out about a 2" wide piece of the rear of the floor opening and made it so it can be removed and refitted in a couple of minutes. If any of you are building a Fluid Drive truck I would advise you to make a similar alteration prior to putting your truck back on the road. Jeff

Hi Guy's; You know........ there probably is some wear in these components. Trouble is how do you go about determining how much wear they have? Without engineering drawings or a pile of NOS parts it would be difficult to know how much "corrective" action to take. And there really isn't anything in the shop manual about any of this. I think a proper repair of something like this can be quite a challenge. Without specific dimensional info........ trying to add material to a worn lever end could get pretty tricky. At the very least it would most likely result in several false assemblies before any positive results could be determined. The same situation probably would repeat itself for a repair to the hole in the lever. And trying to effect a repair to more than one aspect of this at a time would seem to me to be really asking for problems. Hopefully what I have done has is going to work well enough. I don't expect it will be a speedy shifter but it would be nice if it has a fairly positive selection from 2nd into 3rd. With the 3.55 rear end this shift point seems to be right at the sweet spot for acceleration on this truck. Jeff

Well I may have found the problem. I got to thinking about anything I did that was different from the way it was before. The only thing I could think of was instead of a paper gasket I used RTV on the top. So I cleaned everything up and made a paper gasket. You wouldn't think something like that would make a huge difference....... but perhaps it does? And I opened up the access hole in the cab floor so it could just drop straight in. I will need to do a little sheetmetal work to make this auxillary cutout fit back in......but now access is as it should have been all along. The floor is covered with Hushmat so it won't be noticeable. Just one more difference you get with a fluid drive. Would have been nice if the factory had thought to address this. It feels lik it is going through the gears better now but I won't be able to test it running for a day or two. Jeff

I just measured my 3/4 ton tailgate and it is 54 1/2" wide. When they called it the "Big Box" they were not joking around. Jeff