kencombs

I think the truck is a 58, as 59&60 had swinging pedals and 57 had a different grille. Also, I think 58 was the only year with that general grille design to have single headlights.

I forgot on my previous post. I have used a number of 6v starters on 12 systems and never had a problem. Yep, they really turn fast! But, never wore one out. My dad owned a salvage for 30 years and one of the yard winch trucks was an old Chevy 6 with a 12v battery and 6v starter. It probably got started up more in a month than the average car would in a year. Same starter for over 20 years. My message is, just find a bendix drive starter and don't worry about the voltage.

Is there a bendix that can be used on the original foot actuated starters that would work? Just adding a starter relay and switch along with changing the starter drive to a Bendix drive would be great is one exists!

Randy, a drill press does make it easier. But, just compressing is not the right technique, you need to pump it a few times to expell the air. You can tell when it's full of oil as it becomes really hard to pump, almost impossible. When they are full of oil, the piston becomes hydraulicly locked and can only be compressed as the oil leaks past the piston/body.

I've done several lifter installs on engines without adjustable valves. Most Mopar, Ford and GM (other than chev) don't have adj. But All make provide procedures on measuring for proper clearance after milling or valve work. Usually this involves collapsing the lifter and measuring the clearance. Then selecting a longer or shorter rod to work. All that I have worked on advise submerging the lifters in oil and pumping the plunger to fill them. Using a longer pushrod on a collapsed lifter could create problems if the lifter ever does fill with oil, it could hold the valve off its' seat and possibly damage the valve and piston. I would pull the lifter, and fill as mentioned above.

Try here: http://www.stovebolt.com/ Lots of good guys around and lots of knowledge Post a picture and I'm sure they can help

It will be a while before I get to this. I am rounding up the parts I need. since I am going into a 56 pickup behind a flathead my conversion will be a bit different. I also wanted to go to a dual master cylinder so decided to use the pedals from a 59-60 cab which are firewall mounted. That also provides a place for a hydraulic clutch master cylinder. That allows me to use the 58-60 clutch housing and mounts (found some NOS Mopar mounts) by also using it's crossmember. That clutch housing has a huge machined area to mount the transmission. Only one housing was used for all standards in those years and it provided for the big truck 4 speed so should be large enough to drill/tap for the 833. I think it is also the correct depth for the 833 main drive gear. I may have to machine the opening for the 5.125" front bearing retainer but this isn't a big deal. I also believe the clutch pilot may be the correct size. My parts are being shipped this week, some from MN some from NY. When they arrive I will start measuring to confirm what I think.

The selector shift arrangement is the major reason that I elected not to use a vintage OD in my truck, but am using an 833 OD instead. There used to be a few, very few, floor shift conversions made for them but no longer and old ones are impossible to find.

I agree, non-resister plugs with suppression core wires should be fine. I would check the antenna lead and grounding, generator condensor and grounds at the regulator and radio case.

Remove the upper bolt from the right front motor mount. The one used by 55-57 cars and trucks, not the side mount. Use a longer bolt threaded into that hole to hold the pushrod up. Worked on every one I've seen. That is just a through threaded hole and goes right into the pushrod passage.

Yep, there were two different shifters used in the stock vehicles. One made by Inland and the other by Hurst. Chrysler sourced the better Hurst and they were just trouble free. I had a few of them back in the 60's-70's in Darts, Valiants and a couple of big blocks. But, the Inland is another story, get a Hurst.

I don't have a P13 or D24, but do have a Mopar flathead 6 in my '56 pickup. Like a lot of folks, I feel a need to drive faster but run the engine slower. I am working on getting the clutch housing that uses a hydraulic slave cylinder to go with the hanging pedal setup that I plan on installing. These housings have a larger trans mounting area than the stock one so I have lots of room to drill new bolt holes. The overdrive I am currently planning to install is a New Process A833 from a late 70s Mopar. They were used in pickups, vans and cars. I want to use a floor shift so the stock overdrives are pretty much eliminated because of the shifter issue. Nobody makes a floor shift for the old selector shift mechanisms that Chryco used, along with Buick, Olds and a few others. So I considered other overdrives, Saginaw electric on a full sychro trans and a T5 among others. Has anyone tried the 833? any feedback? It looks to be a fairly easy install, other than the parking brake issue. Am I missing anything?

I vote for the 'rust', because it's closest to MY favorite color, RED. GM had a color in the 50's - 60's called Honduras maroon. Try that one and see if you like it.

Just to second the suggestion to look at the pedal free play adjustment. That has been the source of every one of these I've seen, probably 8 to 10.

Actually I want to put a modern overdrive auto behind a 230. There is only one adapter I can find to facilitate that, a $500 piece from Wilcap and it's for a GM trans. If I remember correctly, the powerflites used an adapter plate between the engine and trans case. What I was wondering is if this could be used as the starting point to make an adapter for a Mopar OD auto? Anyone tried this? Or do you have one of the plates for sale? I might give this a try if I can find a plate at a reasonable price.

Try using a high quality u-joint/socket combo like Snapon and others sell for impact use. They are shorter and much better overall. One of these will set you back about $35, Cheaper if you can find one on eBay, but are well worth it.

I guess I must be missing something important because of the cautions against using screw in studs. What is the risk in using a grade eight screw stud as compared to a press in stud? Thanks for the comments.

It's not a P15 or D24, but it is a Chrysler product with wheel bolts. I want to change my 56 1/2 ton to studs. Makes using later alloy wheels a lot easier. anyone have a easy way to do that? Like studs that are threaded LH to fit the hub and RH to take the 'normal' alloy nuts. This for the left side, rights are easy, just use the proper grade eight bolts to cut studs and use lots of threadlocker. I guess drilling out the hubs to take new press in studs is always an option, but I like easy better.