Jeff Balazs

I used 3M window weld butyl ribbon. Works well and is very pliable. Jeff

Alleged? Tod you must be an attorney..... or a cat lover? A decent dog would have at the very least woke the whole neighborhood when that fire got started. When did a cat ever run to it's master and try and tell him that "Timmie fell down the well" ? Never......'cause they just don't care. A good dog could go a long way to keeping Paul out of trouble......

Don; I don't know if it needs to go that direction. The item I was thinking about adding had a spring loaded detent adjuster knob. It allows for small adjustments to be made without the use of a wrench. It is kind of a nice feature. Some Lucas distributors came with them fitted from the factory. My old Healy had one. You could zero it out with a wrench and a timing light and then just use the knob to set the final timing. As I recall it had a adjustment range of about 12 or so degrees. Jeff

Congrats on a job well done. I'd bet you are one happy camper now. It is good to know that DD is back on the road.......things just didn't feel right until now. Jeff

I am not trying to sell anyone on this conversion. I did it because to me it eliminates a few bits that I just wasn't too keen on. With the stock set up and available replacement points I kept seeing build up on the points after fairly short use. I decided that I did not want to continue fussing with the points gap so I went this direction. At least with this mod I was able to retain the stock distributor. Fit and forget with no adjustments. Certainly there are other options. I would just say that any electronics are subject to failure. For that reason I have a spare module and matched coil in the truck. Should this one ever fail it is a easy 15 minute roadside fix at most. About the only other thing I would like to do with the ignition system is to add a graduated scale with a click type adjuster to the distributor mount. I have had a mount like this on a few engines I have owned and it just makes setting or adjusting the timing that much easier. Jeff

I found that all replacement parts are not created equal either. In particular some of the point sets out there are quite inferior. One thing I have noticed after switching over to a Pertronix set up is that the cap and rotor stay nice and clean now. No sign of arcing at all. Jeff

There should be a small pipe type plug in the top of the intake manifold towards the rear of the engine.

Geekay; I know it is a lot of work but I feel certain you are doing the right thing for the long run. I kinda doubt that the red pistons are originals. We sort of take coatings like this for granted these days but it wasn't that long ago that they became common place. I think back in the mid 70's anodized finishes started to be used in some high end aftermarket parts but I can't remember seeing anodized red finishes until some time in the mid to late 80's. I am just guessing but I would think those pistons are probably something that was fabbed as replacements by a local supplier in Oz. Maybe as late as the early 90's? If your truck sat for a long while even something that late could deteriorate badly in a brake system. Once moisture get's into the system that is not in regular use corrosion is right around the corner. To be really frank I would not even consider reusing any of the old metal lines.....clear or not. There could be quite a bit of scale etc......lurking in them and it just isn't worth the potential for contamination of your new system. Jeff

Tim; Just givin' him a hard time for cuttin' em up. As persnictey as he is I am sure it will be very nice when it is all done. Jeff

It will be interesting to hear what results you get once this has been put back together. Jeff

I guess I should have asked you about the timing. I just assumed you had checked it and it was within spec. I would typically start off with the timing right in the middle of the range and make small adjustments to the timing until I got the highest vacuum reading within the specified timing range. Once I had checked and verified this I would move on to the idle adjustments. Jeff

No I missed that. Sometimes I think the go to the last unread comment feature here "sticks" a bit. Ok so that is helpful. Explains why 18" is the best you can get right now. I believe my initial compression readings averaged around 105 /110 or so with #5 being the lowest and 10# low. It has come up some as it has run in and I have continued to flush and change the oil. All are within about 5# of each other now.

I really don't think your climate is a major factor in getting this engine to run smoothly. The real indicator is the type of reading you were getting with the vacuum gauge. The needle should not fluctuate the way it does at steady idle. Period. That fluctuation indicates something is amiss in at least one cylinder. The only other thing that I know of that would give that sort of reading would be if you had a faulty PCV valve. Apparently you do not. Based on what all you have said it sounds likely that you either have a sticky valve or a burnt one. Since sticking valves are a fairly common item with these engines especially when they are not fresh....this would be my initial focus. You should do a compression check to help pinpoint the problem and make certain you have no vacuum leaks. My suggestion about running a lighter oil was made as a possible way to help free up a sticking valve. Back in the day it was a fairly common practice to dilute motor oil with a quart or so of kerosene and run it for a short period to flush out sludge and particulate matter. The idea is that lighter lubricating oil tends to help carry away or flush this matter out of tight areas. You may or may not get the desired results by doing something like this. But if your engine runs as good as you have said I think there is a decent chance for this to work. As I mentioned before I revived rather than rebuilt my engine in this manner. I did remove the head and oil pan before I ran it. It had been rebuilt at some point and the cylinders were in very good shape. There was however quite a bit of sludge in the oil pan. I cleaned all this out as well as cleaning the valve inspection areas and replaced the timing chain too. I also cleaned and flushed the oil pressure relief valve and filter housing. When I first started running the engine the vacuum and compression readings I got were lower than they are now. I also had a funky PCV valve which I eliminated. At that point I had a minor fluctuation in vacuum at idle which went away slowly and is now as steady as a rock. I found a better PCV and have it working now with no detrimental effect on the vacuum readings. I am also running a 180 degree thermostat and a better breather. This was all done to help reduce or eliminate the formation of sludge in the system. Hey and guess what ? It all works........the engine runs very smoothly and the oil stays nice and clean now. I honestly hope some of this helps you. Jeff

You should expect a lower vacuum reading when the engine is cold and as the block gets up to it's true operating temperature it should give slightly higher readings. I think that is pretty typical......and I would expect to see a difference of 1/2" to 1 1/2" from cold to warm on an engine that is well worn in. I certainly see this with my truck every time it is run as I have a full time vacuum gauge in the cab. It isn't really a weather issue as much as it is changes in clearances as the engine warms up. I only brought up your climate as I believe it may have a big impact on oil selection. My suggestion to run a lighter oil was made because I think you probably still have a lot of sludge deposits in places that may effect how well it runs. Again I am basing this on my own discoveries as I revived rather than rebuilt my engine. I have been more than a bit surprised by the amount of crud that has "washed" out of this engine as I continue with it. At first it was the cooling system that seemed to hide an extraordinary amount of stuff.......but now I know this is also true of the lubrication system as well. Of course none of this is of much help if it turns out you have a burnt valve. Jeff

If it were mine I think I would be inclined to try running some 5w 20 oil in it....at least for a short period of time .....to see if the lighter oil helped get the valves freed up etc... I feel like the oil you are running is better suited to a newer engine in much warmer climate. Jeff

Well I wouldn't throw in the towel quite yet. It is possible that you may be able to get it to smooth out some more. A compression check is definitely in order. What weight oil do you have in it? It would seem that at this time of year in your climate you would want something pretty light......10W30 or perhaps even a 5W? Just an idea that might have some effect on the way it runs. Jeff

Just out of curiosity is the engine well warmed up when you took these readings?. Do you get slightly lower readings when it is still cold? I would expect it to be 1/2 to 1 or so inches lower when cold than when fully warmed up. Just gauging from your weather it might take a half hour or so to truly warm up. It certainly isn't a horrible reading for an original engine. Jeff

Tsk...tsk....tsk. only a problem when you start screwing around changing things. You realize you'll have to stop calling it a Pilothouse when it ain't anymore.

Imagine how those poor cabs felt...... Here they are having a nice long slumber and someone wakes them up doing a sex change operation on them.

Waddaya mean ? There has been a disturbance in the Force ever since he started cutting

Hardly brilliant......just relating a detail that was fitted on mine when I got it. Do check the cab mounts though before driving it much. Also if it has been setting a long time you should plan on a major go through of the fuel and brake system. 95% of the time the lines will all need replacing and items like the fuel pump and M/c and wheels cylinders will all be shot. Plan on dropping the tank too and having it flushed. Otherwise you stand a good chance of having these all bite you a little ways down the road. Jeff

Yah Mike as an old (60 today) dirt biker who was riding at that time it is a real blast from the past. There is a great scene in it where they overheat and pull off on a dirt road. Robert Redford then grabs the seat cushion and throws it on the ground behind the truck and gets his whiskey bottle. And then it starts to rain...... This movie and The Rounders feature these trucks prominently........all the others are just incidental. Jeff

Hello and welcome. Chances are your tuck was fitted with 2 speed electric wipers. I believe most deluxe cabs were. The starter pedal alignment is related to the cab mounts.......so if they are rotted or the cab has shifted over the years you may have some work to do. One work around I have seen is if the pedal is offset a bit to one side of the starter arm you can drill the arm and put a bolt in place which will help correct the alignment. Another possibility is that the starter has been swapped with another and it doesn't have the correct arm for a truck starter. Sorry I don't have any photos but someone else may. Jeff

I think that is a reasonable assumption for one of these engines......but it would be useful to have the results of the other tests. If it is just a valve hanging up then it may wear in and correct itself like mine did. I know this is a touchy subject but I do believe that some motor oils work better than others. I think there is enough of a difference in certain formulations that selection does make a difference. I like Castrol GTX for this application. And I don't think it hurts to add a bottle of high mileage STP.. Has worked well for me so I will stick with this. Jeff

My screen resolution here is crap......but that looks to me like you probably have at least one valve that is either not seating or is hanging up. The only other thing that looks about the same is a bad PCV valve. If you do a compression check you should be able to narrow it done to a specific cylinder. You might also get a clue just by looking at the plugs. When I started on my engine #5 cylinder was a bit low.....and the corresponding valve or valves were a little noisy. It has since cleared up and compression on all 6 cylinders is within about 5# of each other. When all is well there should not be any noticeable fluctuation in the vacuum reading. In other words the needle should remain extremely steady. Jeff