Jeff Balazs

Thanks Merle......again! That is what I was hoping to hear. I plan on putting a fair amount of effort into the interior of my truck......and it's likely going to be done in phases but I would like to have the glass in place. Jeff

Keven; Good luck.....hopefully it will fit. I have a related question. If I install these windows before the interior is in.....is the rubber pliable enough to pull in around the trim panels? I am planning on using new Steele rubber for these. Thanks, Jeff

Tim; Amen. I am really partial to the I tunes format. I have about 1400 of my favorite tunes loaded on the one in my shop and usually just hit shuffle. It is really easy to create playlists ....... which can be great for long drives and other activities. Jeff

Mark; Could be? I am not going to bother with a radio. I am super fussy about what I listen too......and it is just not on what passes for radio these days. Jeff

My 52 has a factory cut out that looks like it was made to accept an 819/820. I never found any evidence that a radio had ever been installed but the cut out was clearly made by the factory and not added later. Jeff

hmmm.; These locks and latch's are a real pita. Jeff

Keven; Thank you. Ordered and will update when they arrive. Jeff

Hi Rich; It is a 52 Dodge B-3-C truck and I do not have any keys. I have seen stuff on Ebay but was not certain if they were the correct blanks. Thanks, Jeff

Hi Guy's; I need to find a source for key blanks for my ignition switch and door lock. My locksmith can't seem to find anything that fits these cylinders???? Thanks, Jeff

Keven; Ah yes.....also known in these parts as the Green Death! When I was a lad.....I found out that stuff........will hurt you real bad!!!! Jeff

Mark; I hear tell he has a stash of Olympia.......for special occasions!!! Jeff

Jerry; Well it did sort of feel that way..... I pulled it and cleaned up the mounting boss, etc... so we will see if that helps. I am trying to get a make it easier to read the timing marks. The way it was .... just wasn't working for my old eyes. Now the pulley is flat black and tomorrow it will get a fresh white mark. If that doesn't help I am not sure what to do. Jeff

Hank I liked him as Iggy much better. Iggy & Louie ...... Now that was some funny stuff! I will pull the distributor and take a closer look at that grounding point Jerry. I did paint the block. At this point it almost has to be something simple like that. Jeff

There are a few things about this truck I really don't care for. The location of timing marks and pointer is right up at the top of my list. If you tried it would be difficult to pick less user friendly location. Even after I painted the pulley black and filed a line at TDC it is very hard to get a decent angle. If I wasn't sold on putting an electric fan on before......... I am now. Timing was about 6 - 8 degrees off and adjusting it helped some. I got the shocked repeatedly when touching the base of the distributor while doing this. I can understand getting shocked when touching the cap, etc.....but I think the base near the anchor bolt should be shock free ???? I need to look into this further. This can't be right. I can't recall ever running into this condition before. Jeff

I had a few areas where the metal ring was visible in the cracks. A couple of applications of JB weld ....some sanding and a few coats of Krylon patio furniture paint and you would never know, Cost was under $20. I will probably finish up by putting a leather cover on it as I like a bit more texture than what is on a wheel like this in the first place. Jeff

Paul; Didn't you know that for the vast majority of people.......all their taste is in their mouth! They generally don't know what they actually like.....and if you press them on why they like one thing versus another they usually can't answer. Now if it was me......I wouldn't bother saying anything to the organizer.......but I would consider showing up next year with a group of friends with similar vehicles and snub the crap out of him. But that is just me Jeff

Damn Mark, That looks nice. You da Man! Jeff

Well......I attempted to check my timing and had trouble seeing the marks. Not sure if it off a cog or it is just that the mark is hard to read. I wouldn't think it would run that well if it was off by a lot? My hernia was bothering me so I decided that it could wait a little longer. Hank thanks for that info. I do have modern resistor wires on it right now. I have run into what you mention on plug wires for old magneto ignition engines.....but never on conventional ignition systems. Not really certain what to make of that?.........but will delve into it as I get this sorted. I have found that problems like this are good teachers... ......once you have located the culprit you won't make that mistake again any time soon. Jeff

Thanks Guys; When I got my truck somebody, I suppose the PO, had the doors and front clip fitted up pretty nicely. So well that it totally hid the the major frame damage that it had at the drivers door area. The cab had also sustained damage in the front drivers quarter but it had been repaired and a replacement door hung on it. When I disassembled things I discovered that some of the mountings had been modified and or tweaked. This included elongated slots in some mounting surfaces and a handmade dovetail block for the door. Now that I am ready to put things back together....... and have repaired some of this...... I do have concerns about how well it is all going to fit back together. I am not super fussy about it all being perfectly stock.....I just want it to look relatively correct and of course work together properly. What I may do is hang the doors temporarily to see how well they fit and then remove them and work on the front clip. It is probably not the most efficient method but I have found that I work better when I know that everything is going to actually fit. Jeff

Thanks guys for your responses. With so much going back together it is easy to get a little off base. As always it is great to have this group as a sounding board John; Thanks I will go through all those items. I did install all new components from Napa including the coil. When I checked the rotor the other day it had quite a bit of play but I was able to get that out as you described. It is possible that the timing may be off some. Now that I think back I may have pulled the distributor out after I had timed it and ran it months ago. I plan on checking that first....and then progressing from there. Mark and Davin; Thank you. I have to ask .......were you able to optimize the way the door fits within the cab opening doing it this way? or did you have to compromise a uniform gap in this area to get it to work in a more general sense ? Hey at least I know I have done some of this fairly well.......'cause there ain't any leaks. That is huge. Thank you Mr. Permatex!!! Jeff

Tim; I had some time and did a little reading on the Vacuum readings I got yesterday. I had noticed a very slight regular flutter of less than 1# at idle. At the time I put it off to unfamiliar engine characteristics. My first flathead???? After doing some reading it sure sounds like the timing and/or the points etc need another checking. I have read other posts concerning the quality and fit of available ignition replacement parts...... caps...rotors....points. I am wondering if anyone has recommendations regarding which brands seem to work best. I ran into a similar situation years ago......once I found the correct brand of replacement I never had another problem with the ignition system on that truck. Btw; Thanks for the link to that Carb write up. Very good. Jeff

Mark; I will have to give that some thought. It seemed to me that it would be best if the doors were fit up properly to the opening in the cab .......and then adjust the rear part of the fenders to match up to the leading edge of the doors and the cowl. The entire front clip appears to have a fair amount of adjustment range built into it of fit up. But then again that is just my way of looking at it........and I have been known to do things the hard way. And then find out afterwards there was an easier way. I do have a few things I want to do before the front clip is put back on. I need to get the miss or whatever sorted and I think I am going to opt to put in an electric fan. Jeff

Here are a few shots I took yesterday afternoon after putting it back in the "barn". I will do a compression check next week. The miss is about all that really needs to be sorted out so far. Brakes and clutch are good to go. I think I will concentrate on fitting the doors next. It's really great to see this coming together. I have had several guy's stop to say how much they like the color. Jeff

I adjusted the idle mixture and dashpot and that seemed to help some. Had 18" of vacuum. There is still an issue though ..... seems like it has an intermittent miss. I haven't been able to pin it down to one cylinder. I am wondering if the ignition parts I put in are not up to snuff? The rotor had a fair amount of play which I was able to get out by springing the metal tab that holds it to the flat spot. Is there a particular brand of cap and rotor that is better than some of the others? Any suggestions? On the plus side there are no leaks......oil pressure is 45# at idle and temp is steady at 180. And Keven ......... the instruments look amazing. I am very happy.......the few little problems I have had are nothing compared to the way I feel about this truck! :D Jeff

One of my buddies actually visited their old shop before they moved. He said that the old coke machines, gas pumps and vending machines looked nice and I think that is the kind of stuff they are fairly good at. They did an late 50's Matchless scrambles bike for a customer a while back that really made me cringe. I am an old AJS/Matchless guy.....and the engines built by their Competition shop are true works of art to me. The metal work looked ok....but that Matchless compy engine is a very tricky beast that requires true old school skills and attention to very obscure technical data that I seriously doubt they had access too. Not to mention the special factory tools required to do it right. Setting up the bottom end on one of those engines is something only a handful of guy's on the whole planet know how to do correctly. That said I enjoy seeing all the unusual stuff they get in the shop. I just wish they would stick to things they really know well. No one shop has the knowledge to do it all the stuff that comes through the doors correctly. Jeff