First2Fargo

That is an amazing truck. Never seen an UTE, but i now lust to own one. Good luck!!

sorry for the late responses guys. I went away to work for the summer at a fishing lodge WAY the hell out of civilization. im back now with renewed vigour(and money) I dont know the condition of the rings and pistons as i havent pulled them out. Truth be told i probably won't. I suspect im going to look for another 251/265 and build it up while still driving this one. when it runs it drives great. If retorqing consistently doesnt solve my problem, i suspect i will have to remove the engine anyway to get at the problem. if im going to take the engine out, im going to do a bunch more refitting at the same time. time for new brakes, shocks and possible and overdrive or new gears in the dif. I want to keep the colum shift as i like the uniqueness of it. just like to bring the RPM down on the highway. ANy suggestions there? And yes i will searching the threads a lot. Thanks again

you guys rock. Im installing another head gasket and definitely re tourqing after the first heat cycle. SHE WILL RUN

would they not have springs?

hey guys, I cant be sure if the gasket went before it overheated or the other way round. im pretty sure it overheated then blew the gasket. i dont believe my head had been machined before i did it, so i dont think it s over compressed. i will check the compression next chance i get. I cleaned out the water distribution tube the first time i change the head. I replaced the water pump. i had the rad dipped and flushed. pretty much a hoses and belts replaced. new thermostat. Ive seen 160 and 180 degree thermos. do these engine require 160's? i didnt drill the hole, but i will next time i flush out the system I did not replace the rad cap. I degreased and cleaned the one that came with it as best i could. it looks stock. I use felpro gaskets. Strangley enough they are readily available at my local lordco. although the gasket sets( i have one) are hard to get. seriously you run NO thermostat? That is interesting. what are the pros and cons of that? never thought of it. Thanks for insight guys

definitely bypass oil filter. I get coolant in the oil when the gasket goes for sure. I suspected it was going again because the temp went up and there was yellow gunk on the bottom of my oil cap and at the top part of my dipstick. i know moisture can sometimes get in, but i wasnt taking any chances.

yes where the petcock is. between the distributor and the generator. beside the oil filler pipe sorry not sure which oil filter i have. its mounted on the head above the starter. ill try to post some picts. having a little trouble figuring that out too

sorry I misspoke, i did use thread sealant not thread locker. my gasket failure is definitely causing loss of coolant, big time. mostly it seems into the intake and valves. I have my fargo parked right now, when i get back, im going to test the compression of each cylinder. If its low in 1 and 2, at least ill know thats a reoccurring problem. I did not re-torque the nuts. I checked them, but my cousin has the expensive torque wrench at his place. if this turns out to be my problem im going to kick myself. so you would recommend no kind of compound on the nuts? I did not remove the frost plug, but i did remove the lower square plug by the oil filler, and blew out the system dry with air after the second gasket( tons of brown sludge) then with water a few times to try to get all the crud out. Each time i flushed more grit came out, til it was mostly clear. since the frost plug was higher i thought it would suffice. You recommend doing the frost plug? The normal operating temp was(after the first gasket) 175-185, after the second gasket it was 165 -170. It would stay there all day long. Once I saw the gauge go over 190, I knew it was trouble. What is the maximum you can have the head planed? This next go round i was thinking about having the head panned again if its bowed. i will use the spray on gasket compound this time and retighten the studs with permatex

hey, it looked like the gasket failed the first time between the 1st & 2nd cylinder. The second time it poured out the carb side of the block almost by a 3 or 4 inch wide space in the middle, but the place between the cylinders also looked fragged. Quite a lot of the gasket got torn up taking it off the second time. I didnt use any sealant on the gasket itself. i used thread locker on the studs going into the block, and anti seize on the nuts The engine deck looked good. I did run a straight edge across it and couldnt tell that there was any low spots or imperfections. I did follow the correct torquing sequence and i tightened the stud nuts to between 52 -57 foot pounds from the notations on vintagepowerwagon.com I cant say how much i had removed when planned. I know the guy at the machine shop said it was fairly bowed. Maybe 1 thousands, but don't quote me on that number. i could be totally off

Hello, first off let me say a pre thank you to anyone who takes an interest or provides me with any kind of insight. I have for years been cruising automotive forums whenever my vehicles have started acting up. i have found a wealth of information and helpfulness to pretty much diagnose, if not fix almost every problem. So far, so good...sort of. Anyway i have never signed up for any forum before and was content to just scout as a guest. Well. Last November I fulfilled a boyhood fantasy and bought a vintage pick up. I have since, been learning( almost daily it seems) about the joys of owning such a piece of history. I thought it was time to sign up, while looking through this forum the first picture i happen across was a 49 Fargo 1/2 ton...just like mine. i have since speculated mine to be a 50/51 as looking at pictures mine has the later grill, although the registration is 49. though the engine does have a tag that say " remanufactured by the chrysler method" and is dated 1956. Ok, so i have had a pretty lovely intoduction to vintage vehicles thus far. 3 weeks after purchase my head gasket went( the first time). Sad fargo sat for a month while i discovered how much fun it was to find parts for a 25 inch canadian made chrysler 251 flathead 6. Thank you vintagepowerwagons.com. After pulling the head off and discovering the cooling systems was for lack of a better word, Hooped. i set about gathering a new water pump, hoses, gasket set, APR head studs, rotor, cap, plugs, coil, leads,oil, etc. I had the rad flushed, had the head planed and magnafluxed, cleaned the water distribution tube, wire wheeled the top of the block and pistons. blew out all the water out of the intake. got all the crud out ( at least i thought). cleaned up the carb as best i could( so not a carb guy), rebuilt the distributor( ok my dad did) So, old motor, no idea how long it had been like that. Head gasket replacement, to be expected right. ya. ive heard these flatties will blow a gasket from time to time. no worries, i installed studs so a head replacement is no biggie... ok im getting to the point. so my head gasket has gone twice now, and im suspecting its going again. just before the second time, it started making this weird flapping noise, which kinda matches the rpms and then it just gets kinda slower. at first there is no loss of power, then it definitely does. I shut it off before anything came gushing out the tail pipe, as i don't want the rods to hydraulic. First, does anyone know what this noise is? and is there something i can do to help eliminate the possibility of blowing another gasket. Could it be the timing. As it is hard to set by gun, I've been told to "listen" for it. Second, as its like 3 head gaskets in like realistically 3 months, am i fighting a losing battle here. granted there are lots of determining factors , but I've combed through a lot of reading and have tried a lot of things to get it fixed. Don't get me wrong, it runs great when it runs.