Jeff Balazs

3 to 4 guys should be able to handle the job if you have the steering column and the shifter out of the way. Jeff

A new neighbor of mine at the shop brings this one to work sometimes. I am not really a car guy......but I thought some of you might like this one. Jeff

Thanks for posting this. Way...Way Cool! Truly legendary machines. Jeff

Yes you should use the same type of mounting hardware as original. There is a fair amount of flex designed into these old frames and a lot of it occurs in the mid section right where the tank is. Hope this helps, Jeff

I believe my tire and wheel combination works out to about 29" or 29.5" OD. My truck has a '54 230 truck engine which was rebuilt at some time in the past and runs pretty well. It is a 4 speed fluid drive and has a 3.55 rear axle from a Grand Cherokee. It seems to keep up with traffic flow just fine on relatively flat roads. I don't bother much with 1st gear as it still feels like a granny gear even after the rear axle swap. One thing I wonder about though is the timing......and how accurate the mark is that I am using. If I set it for a high vacuum reading it seems to run stronger than when I set it with the timing light to stay within the prescribed limits. With other engines I have owned I always felt like they ran best with the vacuum reading optimized. And I never had any issues running a bit outside the recommended timing. I just don't know if that is a good idea with one of these engines? Jeff

Based on what I know so far I think OD with a 3.55 rear axle would be pushing it for my 230. The other day I got stuck behind a gravel truck on a short grade.......forget about accelerating in 4th gear. Dropped down to 3rd to get enough grunt. I think we have to be very cautious when we play around with gearing and these old flatties. They definitely need to be able to rev some. I wonder if anyone has tried a T5 with a 3.73 rear? It seems to me that a combo like this might offer the most flexibility. Jeff

I just had my 3/4 ton weighed this week .... 4040# state certified. That weight is for a fully loaded fluid drive truck with a spare, HD jack and full toolkit, cross bed wood box and around 60# of spares. Based on that I would think the lowest sort of number you would see for a 1/2 ton would be around 3600# to 3700# and probably something like 4100# to 4250# on a complete 1 ton. No doubt you are feeling the drain of that PS pump. Maybe that will be minimized when you get your distributor fixed? I would sure go after that before I spent much on other upgrades. Just out of curiosity what ratio rear end do you have in your truck? Maybe there is something that could be done there to help optimize? I will be road testing mine over the next few months. You can bet I will be taking a hard look at all this. This is my only vehicle and needs to be at least adequate for everything I throw at it. Based on what I have seen with it so far I think it will be just that....adequate. It may need a bit of tweaking but certainly no full hot rod treatment. As long as it is safe, reliable and relatively comfortable I will be a very happy camper. Jeff

Doesn't mean it is not a 53 model. If you post a photo of the dash we should be able to tell. Jeff

I think your truck is probably a 53 in which case the bed would be correct.......one way to tell is a photo of the dash. Jeff

I am very easy going when it comes to the ways of PP.....but even I dont want any of whatever he is on at the moment. Do what you think best protects your project. I did a ton of hand prep work on mine and it came out very nice, Jeff

A lot of the trucks equipped with fluid drives came with a B & B model DTG1. A dash pot carb that looks very similar (but not identical) to the D6P1 pictured above. Jeff

This is probably pretty obvious but I will just mention it. If you go with 2 different sizes? Will you carry two different spares? This sort of "arrangement" has too many potential drawbacks to be a practical solution. And then you still have another potential issue with clearances on the 15" wheel if you finally do install the disc brake kit you have. If I were you I would wait until I knew exactly what will work best in the long run. I doubt you will be making any long trips until you swap the 3.73 rear end gears in anyway. So you understand where I am coming from with this I will tell you that it cost me dearly to retain the stock wheels on my truck. One of the first things I did when I got my truck was to pull the wheels to replace the rotted rubber on them. While they were off I had them sandblasted and powder coated then all new premium rubber. In retrospect I should have waited....and not let my initial investment drive things. Things would have been much cheaper and simpler for me if I had not jumped the gun. I made it all work in the end.......but it would have been nicer to have left myself some options along the way. Jeff

For anyone else this is probably way more than enough space.......but I predict you will have it full in a year. Jeff

I see. Perhaps this existing condition was further aggravated by the change in the front mount height. Jeff

Love the name. I still use that name as a term to describe "certain people" I come into regular contact with. When I do use it my wife can look around and know in an instant exactly who I am referring to. Now we just need someone to name their truck Eddie Haskell. Hey have fun with your project. Fwiw The longer wheel base of the 3/4 ton model rides pretty darn nice without a bunch of suspension work. Jeff

Fernando; At what point do you suppose this actually happened? Was it OK before you changed the front mount? Jeff

Roberts Motor parts.....He has an advert on this site. Call and talk to him as I am pretty certain it is not on his web site. Hth; Jeff

That dashpot looks identical to the one in my DTG1 carb.......and Gary Roberts has those in stock. Jeff

Mike.....there is not much you can do about that aspect of the road these days. Blows my mind when I see these idiots pull out into oncoming traffic ..... while texting.They don't have a clue.... and they are distracted. Not a good combination. Thanks Dav. I felt like a real maroon on the first attempt when the brakes started dragging. Oh well nobody and nothing got hurt....except my pride. I will tell you what though it is going to be just fine. And boy does it have character. I am very pleased with the way it felt I've left all the leaves in and I was afraid it might be a bit too jouncy......but really it is not bad at all. Kinda confirmed what I have known all along that the longer wheelbase just gives a more comfortable ride. I still have a few things to address ( like a rattle in the heater I got from GGDad ) but for the most part it is all good. Oh ya.....my zeal with the soundproofing has created another little project. I can't hear the blinker module anymore so I am going to have to add a indicator up on the dash. Jeff Jeff

Hank; There may or may not be a clearance issue. On my 3/4 ton with the factory 15" x 5.5" wheels I had to use 1" thick spacer plates on the front. I don't know what happens on a 1/2 ton when you fit a 15" wheel. I brought it up so you you can do some research on it and perhaps avoid any potential disapointments. Jeff

Ok..so you can all have a good laugh at my expense. I made some linkage adjustments this weekend when I was testing my brakes mainly to firm up the pedal. This adjustment is really fussy and responds to very minute changes. I knew this but it was all working fine during my slow speed testing. There were no signs of dragging brakes at all. So fast forward (not really an appropriate term as it turned out) to today and a 4 mile trip to the certified scales to finish off the DMV paperwork. The first quarter mile or so seemed ok until I turned on to one of our very busy 6 lane roads. Got the truck up to about 40 and then it just wouldn't do any more. Got a mile or so up the road and it was down to about 35 and straining. I finally got to a spot were I could pull into a residential area and as I began to slow to a stop I could feel the brakes dragging. No real choice but to abort and head back to the shop.....at a snails pace. Turns out I should have just left well enough alone this weekend. After it and I had a chance to cool down I readjusted the linkage and made the trip without a hitch. The pedal was no where near as firm but these brakes are pretty darn good. Weight of my fully loaded B-3-C with fluid drive was 4040#. That includes a full tool and spares set and a HD HumVee jack and spare tire. The good news is all my efforts at insulating and soundproofing this truck are very apparent. I was pleasantly surprised with the ride quality and comfort and the steering effort required. Not much to do there. On the down side I could feel a very slight shimmy in the front as it got up over 50 mph....but I still have not had the alignment checked so I kind of expected this. Also I need to set the accelerator pump linkage on the new carb from the center setting to the warm weather setting and recheck the timing. Everything else worked as it should. Yeah! Jeff

Ya that is what happens when you break new ground. You are bound to have some teething problems. Fwiw I have read somewhere that the ignitor kit is not overly sensitive to a bit of slop in the distributor. At least not like points would be. To get the full effect you will need a matched coil. Good luck. Jeff

Fernando respond to Young Ed via a private message (PM). He can help you with this. Jeff

My feelings about this is to try and keep my truck as simple.and straightforward as possible. If after road testing I feel OK with what I have built so far then I will leave it alone. If it feels like it needs a small increase of power then I will probably go to a single new tunable 2bbl and some Langdon cast iron headers. I think that is as far as I would be willing to go to retain the flathead. That or another gearing swap should be enough. I don't really want to mess with speed parts and all the machine work that goes along with all that. . Shane if I may make a suggestion.....I think rebuilding your distributor and perhaps adding the Ignitor and coil might just give you some ponies back. With the ratios you have available and the larger engine you really ought to be able to cruise comfortably at 70. It may just be that a worn distributor is holding you back? Jeff

Hank; Were you still thinking of putting the Rusty Hope kit on your truck? If so you may wish to wait on tires and wheels until you have any clearance issues sorted out. Jeff