Jeff Balazs

Oh that is interesting. Wonder how they routed the exhaust if the extra tank is a mirror of the standard item? Have fun with it. Jeff

Merle; That is really great. It is good to have someone special to share your life with. Jeff

I disagree. I believe you need to have the carb inverted to properly set the float level. No way to do that with it in place. You might get close using this other method.......but I am pretty certain it is not the best way. Jeff

Hank; I don't have a vacuum leak. I have checked the advance unit and it seems to be working just fine. I have the PCV system removed and may have gotten some of the improvement by doing so? Not absolutely certain that was the problem as I also made a timing adjustment. It is possible that what is left of the hesitation problem may be coming from the carb. When I got this beauty I did not replace all the gaskets with new ones. Could be the gaskets in the lower section of the carb may need replacement. I believe it is just possible I have a bit of an air or vacuum leak in that area. I will pull it and put in replacements this weekend. At any rate it is a whole lot more pleasent to drive now. The distributor problem you bring up can't happen with my Pertronix set up. The trigger is an isolated component .....It does not ground to anything so no grounding provisions are needed within the distributor. One lead in from ignition switch.......one lead out to coil. It wouldn't make any difference at all if the distributor was grounded or not. All the "magic" happens inside the trigger module which is isolated. When someone puts one of these systems into their car or truck they are actually reducing the amount of potential problems they can experience. There are no points to wear or go out of adjustment........no fiddly ground wiring.....and no condensor to act up. Three problems you see here on the forum all the time. With this module installed.....it either works or it doesn't. And with the matched 40,000V coil boy does it work. Flawlessly. I will take my chances with this set up any day over the stock arrangement. Y'all can have your points. Jeff

My recollection is that it is a uniform spline all the way around. I kinda remember guessing at what was going to be straight when I put the wheel back on. Jeff

Well I feel like I have made some real progress this week. The cooling issues I was having seem to been eliminated. The real test will come this weekend as we are supposed to have another heat wave. I removed the PCV system I had and readjusted the timing and carb and that seems to have really improved the driving experience. The hesitation I was getting is much less now and I don't have to leave the choke on as much. I can pretty much keep up with traffic now. There is still some room for improvement through fine tuning but it is much better. One of the next things I need to tackle is a minor steering adjustment. Up till now I have left it as I found it. There is a tiny bit more play in the wheel than I would like so I will have to read up on the adjustment process. Also when I put the steering wheel back on I have it mounted a couple of degrees f center.....probably 1 or 2 spline teeth. Hopefully I can get the wheel off without going through the ordeal I had when I first removed it. I think I remember putting some never seize on the splines..... There are several things I feel very good about on my build of this truck. The electrical system I put together has been flawless. I added several items that are not present in a stock system and made my own harness. It all works great and the 6V alternator keeps up with no problem at all. I give a big thumbs up on the full time electric fuel pump and the Pertronix ignition system. Also the overstuffed seat and shoulder belts have been quite comfortable I was concerned about the belts as sometimes the comfort of a retrofit like this can be less than optimum. So that all turned out good. I am also quite happy with the mirrors I fitted. They are not at all stock but they work really well. Visibility out of these corner window cabs is excellent . Not always the case with some old trucks........ Jeff

Merle; Bummer. Let us know what it turns out to be. As a side note I had a Napa industrial battery as a spare that went bad just sitting on the shelf. I had been putting a charge on it about once a month and it just quit. Hardly any use on it since new.......only 3 years old. I don't think this type of battery does well sitting. I have an Optima 6 volt in the truck which I like. Jeff

Running much cooler now although it isn't quite as hot as last week. Should get a real good test later this week as it is supposed to be very hot by the weekend. Just got through removing the PCV system. Will test with this off for a few days to see if this has anything to do with the hesitation I have been getting just off idle. While I was at it I checked all the plugs and they were clean with no soot or oil. When I started it I checked the mixture and it responded well to a half turn down. Picked up around a 1/2" or so on the vacuum gauge which is now reading just over 20" at idle when warm. Jeff

Merle; The more I think about it...... this may be a case of "should have left well enough alone". It is easy enough to put the road draft tube back on and see if that makes a difference. When I had the carb apart yesterday it was spotless......no dirt or deposits anywhere. It truly is just like new. The only reference to re jetting for a PCV system I ever came across involved drilling out a jet. I don't really want to take a chance with that operation at this stage. It did seem to have a bit less hesitation this morning than yesterday.....which may be as a result of putting a freshly oiled accelerator pump plunger in? But I still had a little choke on when I got to the shop and the engine was not quite fully warmed up. Yesterday after reading Dave's and Mark's comments about the cooling system it dawned on me what might have been causing the problem I was having. When I was assembling the hood section I had a issue with clearances on the center section. It was just tweaked enough that it would pinch the overflow tube. My fix for this was a block of wood that bridged the area and held the center section of the hood up just enough to eliminate the pinching. This block spanned the area in front of the top tank of the radiator. Duh......I reshaped it and put some large holes through it and guess what? It ran much cooler. The funny thing is I had it all marked out to reshape but just forgot and never got around to it. Oh dopey me. Jeff

I put a new accelerator pump in my DTG1 carb tonight. We will see if it makes a difference in how the truck runs. Hopefully it will solve the hesitation that I have had. So maybe one of you B & B gurus can answer a question I have. I have to have a bit of choke on for quite a while with this truck or it isn't really driveable. We are talking 5 to 10 minutes. Is this really normal? Seems to me it shouldn't be so sensitive to this......but it is. Is this an indicator of some other problem? I don't think I have ever had a car or truck that was this cold blooded. I wonder if this has anything to do with the PCV system I have? Jeff

I guess these are a regional item. Usually they have a larger more efficient core than a stock radiator. Some models even have higher capacity tanks. The ones I put in a couple of GM trucks I used to have had both. They make quite a difference. Every decent tow vehicle here has to have one. It used to be that many stock vehicles struggled with our weather and traffic. My Dad bought a brand new 1966 Mustang 289 automatic with A/C that really had serious overheating problems.....from the factory. Ford never fixed it properly and he got rid of it in less than 2 years. No doubt one of this type of radiator would have solved the problem......but Ford chose to lose a customer for life instead. Jeff

Dave you could be right about the insulation on the hood. It is really hard to say. I don't have a way to truly evaluate how well the radiator is working other than the way I am trying. And you would need to test several in the same conditions in order to say for certain that one works better than another. I do know that in the past I have fitted different vehicles I have owned with desert cooler type radiators and they all ran at very stable temps year around and no matter what sort of load I put on them. Jeff

Dave; I am not sure what the filler panels are you make reference to? There are no panels between the engine and the frame on my truck. I do have the firewall and floor boards insulated. As far as I am concerned it needs to be that way........the interior of the cab should not be part of the cooling system. I have thought about venting the inner fender panels to the wheel well. No doubt the insulated hood isn't helping anything but I am not sure it is a cause. The funny thing about all this is that it can sit and idle with the hood closed for a real long time without heating up. It only seems to act up when it is under a load and the air temps outside are hot. This is one of the primary reasons why I think a more efficient radiator might be a good solution. In the morning commute the engine barely gets up to operating temp when I arrive at the shop. But then it is cooler and all down hill. Jeff

OK then daily commuter. I didn't go anywhere yesterday either. The point of this thread is to highlight some of the details and mods that may require attention if you want to use one of these trucks as daily transportation in a congested area like mine. Much of what I need to consider may not apply if you live and travel in a rural area. I would say that a well built stock truck is probably going to be just fine on a lightly used two lane country road. That is definitely not the case here in my opinion. Here stalling in traffic and even holding it up much is just asking for problems........and your brakes? well they had better be in tip top shape. Ain't no one going to cut you much slack in this area. They are all in too much of a hurry. Jeff

What can I say Tim? Daily to me means daily......not occaisionally or when one feels like it. Or when it happens to be running. I don't have another car or truck so this is what I have to work with. It has to be good enough to go every day. Jeff

Yes you need the entire latch/ lock mechanism which is a direct bolt up. You have to drill 3 holes as well. One in the door skin for the cylinder, one in the door edge for the cylinder set screw and one on the inside to guide the cylinder tag into place. You will also have to attach a sleeve on the inside of the door sking to hold the cylinder in place. Jeff

I raided a fabricators scrap pile.......with his permission. You might find something similar at a good hardware store. Jeff

Ed; I made my spacers from heavy wall steel tubing that I matched up to the originals. Jeff

It is only a daily driver if you drive it every day.

Well......I might still have the only Pilothouse with "factory" door locks on both sides but it can be done. All you need is a passenger side lock mechanism from Oz. Works well. Used it yesterday when out shopping. There might be one or two more of these floating around? It is pretty darn slick. Thanks again to Davin in Oz for his assistance with this. Jeff

Hey DJ; It will definitely be during the winter months. No need to push the envelope right now. I used to have to do field work out in the desert all the time. Spent a very hot August doing construction recon for a fiber optics line from Yuma past the Salton Sea to Redlands back in the 80's. 114 degrees by 9am most days. I well remember driving into Brawley for a new water pump one day. 117 and no shade to change it in. Dangerous times......no cell phones and working out of a motorhome parked by the UPRR near Glamis. Mojave greens and sidewinders were everywhere when the sun went down. Jeff

Wow! Looks like you fellows have some real nice examples there. And it is fun to see some of the styling differences. Jeff

This is a good point. From your photos it looks like the center to center difference is only about a 1/4". Not certain if that is enough of a difference to cause an issue but it does bear watching. Jeff

Hi Davin; Yes I would never run without one. Does way more harm than good. I am giving the 160 thermostat a try for a week or so to see if it helps. I just wish it was only getting up to 82 here.......I am pretty sure it could handle that. A week or so back it was about that warm when the day was starting. I have a tendancy to want to overbuild stuff like this. When it comes to cooling systems I don't think that is all bad. Much rather go with something I know is going to handle whatever I throw at it instead of something that is marginal. I have always been able to get other trucks to be trouble free in this regard and I don't see why this one should be any different. Besides having to constantly watch a temp gauge is not my idea of a great driving experience. One of the things I would like to do with this truck is to visit Death Valley and do some camping with my youngest daughter. It needs to be pretty much bulletproof before I take that on. Jeff

Ok so 160 thermostat is back in it for a week of testing, We will see if it really makes much of a difference. Another little item that needs some attention is a breif hesitation off idle. It isn't real bad but it would be better to drive if I can get it to go away, The carb I have on it now was like new when I got it. I had the top off to soak the accelerator pump leather and set the float level. Otherwise it is as I got it. Maybe a speck of dirt? Not sure what else to look for, Any ideas would be appreciated, Jeff