wallytoo

been awhile. updating some info. the wilson starter that i purchased last summer failed this winter. so, i got about 4 months out of it. my recommendation - don't waste your money on a Wilson Starter; poor quality internals used, and i'm out the $265 that i spent on it. it has an internal "dead short" with a load on it. on the bench, i can get it to spin just fine attached to a battery and engaging the lever. in the truck (key no on, no power other than the battery cables), when the starter pedal is pushed, there is a brief partial rotation, and then nothing. an audible "szzt" occurs. pull the starter, put on bench, attach battery cables, starter operates. put back in truck, same thing. it cannot handle any load (like the load needed to turn the engine rotating mass/internals). i did reinstall it without any washer shims, and that fit just fine - no binding - but it doesn't won't rotate with a load.

right, it won't work on a stock set up. but, i added a stand pipe from the master fill threaded opening to the top of the firewall (basically just steel pipe and joints to bend around things), so, i gravity bleed my 1.5-ton, and have done so for over 10 years. it works excellent.

NH allows the use of them. probably has restrictions, although the restrictions would be the same as for running "normal" antique plates.

not a route-van to be seen.

the only NH tv station has a program, NH Chronicle, that did a piece on the ice day this year. the link is below - it's about 5 minutes long. fwiw, my truck makes a very brief - 2 seconds - appearance at the 4:21 mark. and, i'm in that same shot, as well as in the background of the interview just after that.. NH Chronicle ice harvest

nice truck, jeff! does the 2-speed work? you'll like the 251 with that truck and the 2-speed. wheels look great, too.

it was -20*F here for the one night. i haven't needed the wheels yet, but it is nice to have some ready to go. while some are rough, at least 4 are better than/equal to what i'm running now. any progress on your truck?

yeah, a few weeks ago, there was about 5" during a fishing derby. on sunday, it was about 14 or 15" thick. good enough to make ice blocks!

sunday was 2023's ice harvest day! warmest weather we've had for the event that i can recall - temps in the high 30s/low 40s (note the short-sleeves of some of the volunteers). overnight was about 18*, so that helped for starting things off solid. speaking of starting off, the truck started right up in the morning. after checking lights etc, headed out to the event. got about 3 miles from home, and near the top of a moderate hill climb (pushing about 2800 rpm), when there was a slight pop, and then loud expulsion of air noises (like from the exhaust or manifold). pulled a u-turn, and drove back home. popped the hood, and low and behold - #6 spark plug wasn't there (mostly). the metal base was still seated, but the ceramic portion and upper electrode were attached to the plug wire/boot, which was draped over the manifolds. thus, the noise was escaping compression sound, not exhaust. got the correct socket, and the remains of the plug easily backed out of the head (intact, other than the center/ceramic portion). installed a "spare" used plug, and back i went.

is the 25" family a mopar flathead? since it is, it is incorrect to state that mopar flatheads were not designed for full flow (some clearly were), and that they only used bypass filters (some clearly used full flow filters). my statement does not claim that all were designed for full flow or that none came with bypass, unlike the statement that i quoted.

yes, they were, and no they didn't.

if it is "involuntarily" shifting back into low range, there's probably still a leak in the system. mine will, very rarely, drop out of high range when cruising along, but it does not go into low range when it does that. a quick stab at the clutch and throttle and it moves right back into high range.

yeah, what bob says - a 6-volt at 5.6 volts is a dead battery, and depending on how long it was at that level, it might be unreliable going forward.

100%, that's what it is. dodge used that as a linkage, since the transmission was back under the seat (more or less) rather than under the center of the floor as on the standard cabs. Bunn's book shows this, too.

i will definitely be in contact next time i'm passing through binghamton. i'd love to see this thing - it is in fantastic condition, nevermind the rarity.

the moving truck is fantastic. not that i'm doubtful, but if it was parked in '69, that's 16 years of use, and to only have 11,000 miles, what kind of moving did the company do? across the street only? i travel through binghamton a few times per year. i would love to take a side trip to view this sometime, it is a treasure.

that's why it's hard to pick a favorite picture i use it a lot during the entire year, and take pictures!

Hard to pick a favorite…..

nice fall day for a cruise...

my friend Jeff's '54 truck, from a "cars & coffee" earlier this year. and my "truck" right nearby: ok. ok. look close at the front of the hood to see the mopar connection. and a pic of my dodge at the last "cars & coffee" for the season:

i did the floor last, becasue i find it easier to install the starter and a few other things while the toe-boards are still not installed.

i'm over near new london. have a few timber harvest projects to do in charlestown next year (actually, they'll take several years).

cool! i've never scraped the paint off of my data tag. i would have known much sooner than a year ago that i had a marion hoist if i'd bothered to do so. but, i saw an identical hoist on Bring-a-Trailer. it was completely restored and beautiful. and then i knew what i had! this is the BaT one - i WISH it were mine.

i didn't do it that way. as you know, there are many ways to make it work, though. fwiw, i pulled the transmission backward, but left it "strapped/suspened" in place. i then removed the flywheel, and could hoist the engine out. never touched the bellhousing, because i didn't want to deal with the pedals etc. having the transmission jack and engine hoist made reinstallation the easiest i've ever put an engine back into a vehicle. i did get lucky, but it was literally a line it up and give it a try - and it worked on the very first attempt. only pulled the hood assembly, radiator, and the nose cover, but not the grille or fenders.

i'd like more pics of the hoist. my '48 has a marion hoist in it, too.