Jeff Balazs

Really? Wouldn't a naturally aspirated Nordberg 7 or a Fairbanks-Morse be more age appropriate? The Nordbergs will run on anything that burns......... Jeff

I know Dorman makes a replacement hose for this application. I would think any decent parts guy could look it up. There are hose sets on ebay all the time....might get a number there. Jeff

Dear Fancy A@s; Ya mon I do like it. Dolly is too cool. Would be super easy now too...as I am down to bare metal. I have a good buddy that has a little metal working side business called "the Rust Farmer". He say's I could get that look quickly with a spray bottle of pool acid. Sure would be easier and a whole lot cheaper than a paint job........Hmmm?????? I could probably get by with a few coats of clear satin topcoat. Jeff

Very Nice! Love the tach. Jeff

Tim; I am shooting for it at this point. Who know's? maybe Hank and I will have a match race of sorts. If it is close....and it won't be.........my truck will not be Green. Also If there is any doubt as to who is who.............my truck will be the one which actually stops and doesn't plow through your house. Just so we are clear.......I promise I won't be the first one who brings up Gibby or the Dodger thing either................................................ Jeff

Paul; Have you tried calling a few of the re builders like Northwest Starter? It may be possible to send in your 12V in as core or partial exchange for a rebuilt 6V unit. I think that for most of us this is one of the items on our trucks that should be rebuilt by someone with the right equipment and knowledge for the job. Starting off with a unit that has been properly rebuilt and tested just makes good sense. Jeff

Great to hear you got it worked out. Jeff

Hi; My 52 B-3-C bed took 4 pcs 7 5/8" W x 90" L and 2 pcs 9 5/8" W x 90" L Thickness can be 7/8" or thereabouts. This is for the tall side wide 7 1/2' bed. Hope this helps, Jeff

It sure looks like that is it.....I don't have any of the old one I can measure as I am switching over to disc's and pitched the old corroded lines. Jeff

Flathead; The original system on my 52 3/4 ton did not have any banjo fittings. The rear brake lines went directly into the upper wheel cylinders. Hope this helps. Jeff

Tim; Very interesting thread. And so true about the early GM system.......pretty basic. So basic it could easily be overlooked. I wonder if a adjustable proportioning valve would have made any difference in the set up you had before you went to the smaller line size? I am about to plumb up a 4 wheel disc conversion on my 52 PH. After giving it a lot of thought I decided to go with a Grand Cherokee M/C (match to my new rear axle) and a Wilwood combi proportioning valve. I know a lot of folks have used the PV out of a Cherokee but I think it would make it hard to get these brakes properly dialed in. The fabricators I spoke with said they were always able to get the right balance using the Wilwood unit. And this was on a wide variety of cars and trucks. So hopefully I will be able to report on it's effectiveness. Jeff

Mark; Well then I won't say no......And of course if you happen across one of those passenger side visors....well that is on my list too.. Jeff

Absolutely. When you replace 4 bad shocks with new ones you should notice a big difference in the ride quality. If you don't feel an immediate improvement then you have some serious suspension, frame, steering and/or alignment issues to dig into. Based on the suspension design used on these trucks (1/2 to 1 ton) I would expect that generic quality shocks would only last 10 to 15 thousand miles. After that many cycles they will most likely be less than effective.That is assuming you actually use it as a truck. They are in my opinion a major wear item and should be treated as such. Jeff

Rich; Thank you for the links....neither had come up in the search's I was doing. Sorry for the incorrect terminology. So it looks like either of these items will work in place of the originals? I kind of like the idea of using new ones.....might actually hold the door open. For a while anyhow....... Jeff

Hi Guy's; I am missing the hold open arm (mechanism) for my driver's side door. If anyone has one they would be willing to part with please send me a PM Thanks, Jeff

Sam; A few things come to mind. How good are your battery cables? How good is the ground connection. Also Carb and or fuel filters may be dirty? Are you getting fuel to the carb? Have you checked the points ? and timing? Could be any of these ..... and possibly a combination of them. Hope this helps. Jeff

+1 Hank That is so cool. I know it had to be a special moment. Good on you Mark. Make it happen as often as you can. Jeff

I would like to know what is so bad about chebbies? Last one I had I got 560000 miles out of. I would be amazed if I got a fifth of that out of this 52 Dodge I am working on now. Jeff

Paul; I don't know what the spec's were on the original equipment shocks.....but perhaps somebody does? Whatever the length and amount of travel that these shocks were designed for .... then the replacements should match that. Let's say the travel was 8".....then the replacement should allow for 8" travel as a minimum. The Dodge engineers had this all figured out and unless you are up for doing radical mods to the suspension I would stick to whatever the original shock length / travel and weight specifications were. If you have the correct length and travel and assuming the shock was built for the weight of our trucks then you should be good to go. Hope this helps. Jeff

Marc; Yes that is the valve I am thinking of using as well. I have heard good things about these too. As with any modification there are so many ways you can go...or in this case stop. I am just trying to make certain I have considered all the possibilities.....and hopefully select the right combination of bits and pieces. I know there will be other challenges ahead ..... but it would be great to get this right. Jeff

Tim; The Wilwood unit I am looking at is a combination unit ...... it seems like a pretty nice setup with provisions for either a combo front line or split front line and a provision for the brake switch. They also have 2# residual valves which they recommend mounting as close to the valve as possible. I know a couple of fellows who build off road racers and they install these or similar units all the time......but they have had issues with residual valves sticking or malfunctioning and don't generally install them on the trucks and buggies they build. Not exactly sure what that is all about??? Wilwood also has a tandem remote M/C with a 1" bore that might be a good fit instead of the Grand Cherokee M/C. Jeff

Anybody have any experience with Wilwood adjustable proportioning valves? From what I have been able to gather they have a very good fine adjustment mechanism for the rear brakes. It seems to me that one of the most important tasks when doing a mod like this is to be able to dial in the Front to Rear braking ratio. Jeff

John; My take on this is that you should never fit a shock that is too short or has less travel than the original equipment. Doing so has to have some negative effect......it only stands to reason that if you restrict the travel distance something has to give. Probably shorter seal life at the very least.....and quite possibly a less than optimum ride or handling. If I were going to mess about with shock selection for one of these trucks..and I may once I get mine on the road.....I think I might consider fitting a slightly longer shock with adjustable pre-load as this type of substitution actually stands a good chance of improving the ride and handling characteristics. I see where a lot of fellows remove leafs to lower the truck or give it a softer ride...or both. While it might look better (to some) I think a mod like this often results in a ride that may be fine under some conditions and have a nasty surprise lurking under other road conditions. At the very least it has got to make shock selection far more critical. Jeff

I am in the process of fitting disc brakes at all 4 corners. The 2000 Grand Cherokee rear is in with it's 12" discs. I am in the process of fitting a Rusty Hope conversion in front. Next will be a new master cylinder and proportioning valve.....and of course all new brake lines. I think a Grand Cherokee M/C and proportioning valve makes the most sense.....but I would like to hear from others regarding this. It seems like I will not need any additional hardware (like residual valves) other than new 3/16" brake lines....... but again it would be great to know what has worked well for those of you who have done similar conversions. Thanks, Jeff