Jeff Balazs

With new rubber it is generally pliable enough to fit the interior panels in easily afterwards. At least I found that to be true with the Steele rubber products I used for the rear windows in my truck. Getting the glass in especially the corner windows is a job in itself. And if you use any sort of sealant or bedding product it would probably get all over your new interior. Again this is just based on my experience. Jeff

Brad; Just my opinion but I think it is better to put all the glass in before the interior goes in. Jeff

Brad; Yep the horse blanket is comfortable in all conditions. And it has a fair amount of texture so you I don't slid around. It gets really hot here and in my mind is the only thing that makes sense for a seating surface. The real thing here is you being comfortable. I am in my truck every day and I will tell you that when you spend much time in one of these trucks you want whatever creature comforts you can get. I spent quite a bit of time "fine tuning" the various aspects of the cab. It makes a huge difference if you plan on using your truck very much. Stuff like good cushioning, seat positioning, sound proofing and insulation can make a huge difference. And most of this can be achieved without dramatically altering the appearance of the truck. Hth, Jeff

Well Brad it all depends on who you ask ? There are some who will go straight into convulsions over something like this........and then others of us who are totally OK with something that differs from how the truck left the factory. My answer is that it is your truck and you should do with it what you like. I have a very nice tan interior......but I have a horse blanket cover I made for my seat and I really like the way it feels. Jeff

I contacted Octane lighting directly and they say their LED bulbs will not work with positive ground. Not certain what my next move is. Jeff

Thanks for the quick response. I will check it out. Jeff

Was wondering if anyone here had tried LED headlight conversion on a 6 Volt Pilothouse? I am looking to improve the headlights on my truck. This is my daily driver and I have tried 6 volt Wagner halogens and an aftermarket kit with separate housings and I believe H4 halogen bulbs. I believe the later kit was marketed for early Porsche speedsters. Neither are very good by todays standards and I really want to come up with something better. This time of year I tend to be on the road a fair amount after dark and this includes some areas that are not lit up at all. I am hoping that someone here may have already gone down this path and can offer some solutions that perform better. Thanks, Jeff

Oh man I like the way that looks. Definitely a bit of a challenge but very cool. I fitted my oil bath housing with a K & N covered with a foam UNI filter. It is amazing how much dirt this set up stops from entering the engine. I don't see why the same kind of set up wouldn't work on a siamesed housing. Jeff

I think it is a perimeter leak. My truck sat with water in it for a long time before I got it. Everything was in pretty fair shape other than the cooling system. It was about as bad as it gets. The WDT was totally rotten and getting it out was one of the worst jobs I ever had. The block was full of junk. I flushed many times before and after I put it back into service. I even put a brand new Desert cooler radiator in it about 1 1/2 years ago. And of course fresh coolant. There could and probably is some scale and crud behind the lower plugs. There is another than shows signs it is beginning to weep. I have new plugs coming and will replace once they arrive. The reason I started the thread was to see what others had found for long term replacements. I know that there are aftermarket 2 0r 3 piece plugs that were developed for the old Hemis.......was thinking these might be a better solution but I don't know much about them or even if they are the correct size. Was hoping someone here knew or maybe had another quality type fix. Jeff

You are so right Merle.......but then I see the crap that almost all of the automakers are doing today and it just blows my mind. As an example there are many transverse V6 installations that require a few hours disassembly just to change the rear sparkplugs. Literally almost nothing is being built these days with service requirements in mind. It is just crap engineering.....but it seems as if this sort of stuff has become an accepted norm. In the old days if someone actually designed this into a production auto or truck they would have got a foot up the arse...... Jeff

Besides the obvious stuff like increased wind noise & vibration there is another potential negative with these. Reduced visibility at stoplights. Might be OK if you are vertically challenged. But as much as I do like the look of some of these they would definitely get in the way a lot of the time. This was the deal breaker for me on these visors. I already have to lean forward at some lights to see it go green. Jeff

Hey Gang; I have a weeping freeze plug after close to 5 years of daily use. When I put these in during my build all I could find were the steel type. It seems to me I saw afterwards some brass ones and maybe even some expandable alternatives. Since I have to deal with this I thought I would ask what others have done and get some sort of discussion going on the topic. A buddy of mine that is really familiar with early Hemis thinks they used the same type of freeze plug and the L6 engines. If that is the case and if by chance they are the same size there are a couple of different types of aftermarket freeze plugs that have been developed over the years for the Hemis. I am wondering if anyone has knowledge of these and knows if they are a good fix for our flatties? Thanks, Jeff

I have had one of these in daily service for a number of years. No return circuit and No real world problems with this set up. I did find though that it put out more pressure in my truck set up than is recommended for the B &B Carters. So I run a Holley regulator ahead of the carb. I keep seeing "speculation" about the use of starter fluid. Personally I think it is more of a theoretical thing rather than something that can be backed up with fact. For many years I had a boat with a large outboard that would not start without a liberal shot of starting fluid. Nothing anybody tried would get it to start without the stuff. I was warned that it would shorten the engine life dramatically. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I ended up getting 3 1/2 times the running hours out of that engine than the factory used as an engine life number. Jeff

Sam; Well I would make the case for installing a large full time rotary style pump and ditching the mechanical altogether. When I was building my truck I happened to read another members experience with a split fuel pump diaphragm and the resulting failure of his newly rebuilt engine. That and numerous "hard start when warm stories" was enough for me to invest in a nice Carter rotary style electric pump. This combined with really good filtration and a Holley regulator is in my mind the best fix. It can get really hot here so the heat soak thing could easily be a problem. But I have never once had a "failure to launch". And I don't have to worry much about fuel making its way into the crankcase and diluting the oil. Jeff

I recently experienced some starting issues with my truck. It is a daily driver and my only ride so I take all this pretty seriously. I pulled the carb and serviced it pretty carefully. It was pretty clean after 20,000 miles but the needle valve and accelerator pump looked like they should be replaced. I put fresh components in and it starts and runs like it should again. I believe these modern fuels we are forced to use are harder on things like this than the old stuff was. At any rate the truck runs better than it has for awhile so I will service these items more frequently. As far as pumping the pedal more than once or twice goes I have found this practice to cause starting issues rather than solve them. But I run an electric fuel pump rather than the stock arrangement.......and it has no problem filling the carb bowl instantly. Jeff

Have you checked the position of the rod on the accelerator pump linkage? Might be in the center (standard) position....and starting may benefit from a change to the longer stroke winter position. I think it is worth a try. Jeff

As Merle has said plugs do not have any effect on compression ratio. ? Unless of course they are loose... But running the wrong plugs can effect an engine in many adverse ways. As an example running a plug of too high a heat range can cause the engine itself to run too hot...and even cause detonation. Heat from combustion is actually transferred through the plug into the head and then on into the cooling system. The heat range of the plug actually regulates this process. Jeff

Fernando; It is possible that your engine is running too rich a fuel mixture....and that is why the plugs are black. There may be other causes as well. NGK has a good catalog that shows exactly how to read your plugs. Running the correct heat range of plug is important. Running too hot of a plug can cause your engine to run too high a temperature and can cause other damage. Running too cold a plug generally results in a poor running engine and foule plugs. I tried several different plugs in mine. The BR6S run at a nice even light tan color without too much fuel deposits on the electrode. That is what I wanted to see. Hope this helps, Jeff

I run BR6S plugs in mine. They are the correct heat range for these motors. I definitely would not run anything hotter based on my plug readings. Jeff

I agree that pictures can be deceiving........but this looks like a very close check is warranted. I am sure Fernando would rather not find out the hard way. Jeff

Hey DJ; No I stuck with 6V Pos ground. The vintage unit I bought is supposed to work on any set up....regardless of voltage and polarity....just wired differently for each. It will read at idle speed but as I said drops off once above about 1000 rpm. I disconnected it because I didn't want any issues with the module. Jeff

I have a vintage Westach tach that I have never been able to get to read correctly. I am using the Pertronix module as well. I was able to get it to read at idle speeds but it would drop off as I raised Rpms. I went ahead and disconnected it because I wasn't sure if it would do any harm to the module. That was four years ago. Would love to hear of a way to correct this......but it ain't the end of the world. ? Jeff

Fernando; I know you don't want to hear this but it sure seems like you probably have a blown head gasket. I can't imagine having that amount of condensation develop in one of these engines........ Jeff

That much water in your oil is not likely to have been caused by condensation. Before you did the oil change was the dip stick milky white? Usually when you see that amount of water in the oil it is an indicator that the head gasket has failed. Have you checked the water level in the radiator? Have you had to top it up? Hope this helps, Jeff

I had similar problems with my headlight switch this last year. I ended up taking it apart and cleaning all the contacts. Worked fine after that treatment. Fairly easy job on the original type switch. Hth, Jeff