Jeff Balazs

I don't know..... that might make a bit of a difference. Couldn't you make a split exhaust manifold out of an old one? The ones I have seen that George Asche makes look pretty simple. I doubt if the price difference between a real set of headers and something like this is justified on anything less than a racer. Maybe a 2bbl and a split exhaust would get you what you need? I thought you had a T5 in your truck? Isn't it a decent cruiser with the higher gearing? I plan on using mine full time. It is going to have to be functional. I will have to drive it a while to determine if I need to do more than the 3.55 rear end I put in. I think I can get 3.23 and maybe even 3.07 gearing to fit this axle. Jeff

Well yes you could probably get that sort of power without giving up too much.reliability. But I think it wouldn't make much sense to go too far with things. 10 to 20hp should be an adequate increase. I am sure you would notice it. Years ago I had a wicked little Triumph Spitfire. An honest to goodness giant killer. And the engine itself was fully built and yet very reliable. But it was hell on a lot of the other components like half shafts,clutches and water pump bearings. Not to mention tires and brakes. The problem was it was so much fun to drive I just couldn't keep my foot out of it. Thank god I got that out of my system without hurting anyone. Jeff. . .

I would be real happy with a 10 or 15 hp boost. Mine does not feel underpowered as it is but a wee bit more on tap would be nice. Don't need a hot rod....for the same reason I don't need a gun. If f you don't have it you can't use it. Jeff

It is a 3/4 ton. Stock 15" x 5.5" 5 lug wheels with Goodyear P 235/70 Wrangler radials. Lugs are upgraded to 5/8 diameter. And there are 1" thick spacers in front and 3/8" thick in back for caliper clearance. Jeff

Up from below. With a helper it is a fairly easy job. A couple of homemade alignment studs helps too. Jeff

Looking good my friend. Those Utes are just so cool. Jeff

Well no....and I just put a brand new B & B on mine. It would have to be a factory manifold to get me excited. If I came across one I would probably buy it. That with a nice new 2bbl and a pair of split headers ....that would be OK. Jeff

Fernando; I had no idea that Ebay sellers would not ship to Brasil. I have bought stuff rom all over the world on ebay and never had an issue. Let me know if you can't put your hands on the correct mount and I will find a way to get it to you. Jeff

In the case of my truck the brakes on the rear are larger and more powerful than the fronts. They are also from different generations of brake technology. I have the Rusty Hope kit (late 70's GM) on front and a disc brake equipped Grand Cherokee rear axle. Fortunately when I did the conversion I put in an adjustable proportioning valve otherwise you would never get the front to rear bias set up properly. That is what I was working on Saturday morning. The rears were still locking up ahead of the fronts. I think I have that corrected but will still have to do some testing at higher speeds. And yes Paul it slows and stops straight without pulling to either side. A sensation some of us older drivers still remember quite well. When I learned to drive it was at a time when we all "planned" our stops. These days people take good brakes for granted and treat braking as an afterthought. And a good many of them don't even know their way home and wait for the GPS to tell them to Turn Now. Without a signal! So that is why the old truck got this update. Call it a nod to self preservation. I use technology when it truly makes my life better but I don't allow it to use me. It is a tool and should be considered as such. I don't own or wear the electronic leash most folks do and I still prefer manual controls.......knobs and buttons.... on my stereo equipment. There is a 40 year old Kenwood stereo here in my shop that still rocks........I'd like to see any of this new electronic rubbish last that long. Jeff

Hmmm. Well mine fits perfect as can be seen in the photos. Perhaps Canadian trucks were or are different ? As to the value I would say it is worth every penny. And then some. So much more substantial than some cardboard or plastic. A full on show quality interior might be nicer but would cost several times what I spent on mine. Jeff

Fernando; You can find this item on Ebay. You should really have the correct item. Jeff

Fernando you have the wrong mounts. Way too tall. The correct type looks similar what you had to begin with. Jeff

Had an interesting morning yesterday. I decidied to spend some time adjusting and testing the disc brakes of my truck. I set them up a while ago but always felt I could get them closer to perfect. So I got into my shop real early and decided to give it a go. There was no one around so I set up a few measured test sections in the parking lot and started testing. I have discs all around with a grand Cherokee M/C and a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. The first adjustments I made were to the linkage at the M/C. Once I got this to a point where I could lock them up I then spent an hour or so making small adjustments to the adjustable valve. The results are pretty impressive. It almost feels like an ABS system. I have it set so you really have to stomp on the pedal to get them to lock up. While I was doing my tests a few of my buddies showed up to work. Pretty soon we had a small crowd and started doing comparison tests. Guess who had the shortest stopping distances? Two of my friends have fairly new Toyota Tundras and they were quite surprised at how quickly the old Pilothouse would come to a stop. Our tests were not super scientific and were done at a speed of around 35mph.......but hey I easily beat them. And it wasn't until a customer showed up with a Speedster that I had to admit defeat. I can live with that.....and as I told him.....let's see you haul a load. At some point I want to do a more controlled test. It was actually pretty fun to see tangible results of our work. Jeff

Fernando; I am not an expert on this but I wouldn't think that replacing an old compressed front motor mount with a new one would cause a problem with the drive shaft. Surely the basic design allows for some slight height difference here. When you jacked up the engine to replace this mount you may have damaged the flex connection between the hard line and the fuel pump. Maybe just enough to allow the fuel pump to draw in a bit of air. I would replace that flex line if it is old or shows signs of wear. This could be why you are seeing air bubbles where you have not seen them in the past. If you are drawing in some air here then that might explain the loss of power when accelerating. Might also create some rough running that feels like vibration. Jeff

I have one of Johns interiors in my truck and it never fails to get compliments. It has the true uphostered look I was after rather than grained cardboard or plastic. That said putting the headliner in correctly was a bit of a chore. It is a two man job and there was a fair amount of cussing. But I think that was as much my fault as anything as I have added quite a bit of insulation to my cab. And that definitely complicated the job. At any rate putting one of these interiors in is not a job to do if you are in any sort of a hurry. In the end it all fit as it should and I couldn't be happier. Mr Neal asked why some of us think this sort of interior is superior to others. Well for me it is because it has a handcrafted appearance to it and is very solidly constructed. When combined with all the work I have done insulating the cab it just has a very comfortable feel. I have ridden and looked at a ton of old trucks and they generally fall into one of two categories.....either rough and noisy ....or too modified from original to bear any resemblance. With John's components I feel I got a fairly original looking interior that is much more substantial than the other options. Jeff

Fernando; I don't think the slight difference in the engine mount height would cause the problem you are having. Sounds more like it could be a high speed missfire or maybe fuel starvation. You may have disturbed the flex fuel hose that is located between the front RH crossmember and the fuel pump. A fault in that line could cause the fuel pump to draw some air into the system. Hope this helps, Jeff

Or a small group would be a Flotilla.

I am pretty certain you will like the igniter. It has been a fit and forget mod. Very quick starts and stabil running. IMO one of the better upgrades out there. I thought about power steering as this is my only vehicle. But honestly this one isn't bad at all. Especially when backing out of spots. It actually turns tighter than my wifes' Honda. And I think I would rather have all the "surplus" power. I have tried to be very careful with the modifications to my truck. Disc brakes and good radials all around were a no brainer. Ditto on the 3.55 ratio rear end. The same is true with the alternator, full time electric fuel pump and upgraded lighting. These things make it nice and much safer without altering the vintage driving experience too much. I just feel that at some point in a full course of modifications the core of what it started off as can get lost. And at that point I might as well just buy something new.....which doesn't interest me at all. Jeff

Sure 10% is a lot to give up. You are almost certain to notice that in this sort of application. I am really glad mine steers well. Got lucky there I wonder if it is the points ? When I still had them in my truck I found that they started deteriorating fairly quickly. I tried several different sets and they all showed signs of metal transfer in just a few hours running time. Each time I would check and re gap them they would be 2-3 thousandths off from where I had set them. I've have never had an ongoing thing like this with points before this truck. In the end I ditched them and installed an ignitor which has been faultless. Jeff.

So did you change the timing to try and compensate for the power used by the power steering pump you added? I would think that you would have to have it set pretty far off the mark to cause a head gasket failure. I run a 180 thermostat and have a functioning PCV system. Temps stay pretty much on the money as read by the gauge and an IR gun. As I have said I did have some issues with debris collecting at the thermostat but the last series of flushes got the remainder of that out. I am not sure if it makes any difference but I have a later C series 230 with a straight inlet thermostat housing in my truck. If I ever have any future cooling issues this housing will be the first thing I open up and investigate. I was pretty shocked at the amount of debris I found in it after all the work I had done to get this system back up to snuff. Jeff

I think most of this type of engine will run at near normal gauge temps without a thermostat in place. That is if the mixture and timing are close to correct and the cooling system is in decent shape.....and you are not putting a heavy load on it. But that isn't really why a thermostat was employed in the design. It is there to insure that the block comes up to and maintains an even operating temperature. Without one in place there is absolutely no way to control this and there will certainly be cool zones and hot spots within the block. Sure a freshly rebuilt engine will tolerate a certain amount of this before it starts showing signs of problems. But why would you want to put this to the test? Thermostats are easy to test and are generally very trouble free. About the only problems you might see with one is either blockage by foreign material or corrosion in the case of an old component. It's your truck so do what you want. But it should be made clear to all that this practice is outside of the norm and that there are extra risks associated with it. Jeff

Well I had the head off the welch plugs out and pulled what was left of my WDT out. Then I spent quite a bit of time fishing stuff out of the jackets and scraping them. Then it got flushed at least 3 times with a pressure washer. I thought I had it pretty darn clean. What a laugh. After several more flush sessions.....I can tell you that there was a ton of stuff caked in the engine that only shifted after going through many ...many heat cycles. I would be willing to bet that lots of these engines are harboring similar stuff. Tanked or not tanked. I hope you finally put a thermostat back in that engine of yours. Uneven coolant temps in the block might explain the head gasket failure. Jeff

If it helps you any....a recore here in SoCal is at least $500. There have been alloy truck specific radiators listed on Ebay for under $400 that included a built in cooler for an automatic. If I had it to do all over again I would pop for an alloy one. If nothing else they just look so cool. Either way this topic has prompted me to design a stone guard to fit behind the grill. The ounce of prevention is surely better than doing nothing. It is interesting to look through all the postings on these cooling systems. Even though they are fairly simple it seems like people have had a lot of problems. Not sure how much of it is age related vs not taking the time to understand how it really works. The only real problem I have had has been getting all the rust and crap out of the water jackets. That took several treatments before it was all cleared out. These engines just have a lot of spots for the stuff to collect in. It's all good now though. But I really had to go at it diligently. I just wonder how many others are driving around thinking the water jackets are clear.....when in fact there is still a load of junk there? Jeff . . . ..

Another item that can cause issues like this is the mixture screw itself. If it is worn too much you will never get it correct. Some rebuild kits come with a new one.....and replacing that can that make a big difference! Jeff

Hurrah!!!! I thought I felt a positive surge in the force. It is truly a great thing to have Dolly back in the land of the living. Long live Dolly Dodge!!! Jeff