MBF

35-40 in my 1 ton (all new tires and tubes) , 40-45 in the 2.5 ton on the front (near new) and 35 in the rears.

I think that the T-5 conversion involves drilling and tapping the bell housing for the mounting bolts, machining the opening to accommodate the front of the transmission, a different clutch disk, and finding a rear with parking brakes as you lose the rear mounted brake found on the original transmission. I think the O/d may make the process worthwhile as far as roadability.

The rims in your photo look like split rims that someone has cobbled together. I wouldn't use them, and I'd be careful on 9" wide tires on a 6.75 locking ring rim.

Taking the tree to my local volunteer FD for our Christmas party

Vet Doc-if you're talking about the pump jet at the top of the carb behind the steel plug, I had the same issue on one of mine. Mine was plugged solid and gave up trying to remove it while it was still salvageable. I ended up using a piece of guitar string to clean out the opening which is still working well. I'd also suggest soaking the pump plunger in oil overnight, and then gengly prying the bottom edge away from the plunger body. If these have been sitting on the shelf for an extended time, they don't open up properly. Good luck!

Take the rubber cups to a local NAPA dealer and they will match them up for you-they also have the kits. The only parts unavailable for the rebuild are the aluminum pistons.

I did what the others did-drill, cut out, weld in repair panel and use turned down carriage bolt. I then seam sealed the plate behind the fender, and around the bolt heads. It'll last longer than the original setup and keeps the original look.

I have 2 49 trucks. The old firetruck had them parked next to the divider strip, and the other had them parked on the lower edge of the windshield. If you've had the wiper wiper transmission arms disconnected from the rocking arm on the motor, they will fit on either the top or bottom positions. The position that you mount the actuatiing arms determines where your wipers will park. Both of my trucks now have the wipers parked in the center. If you remove the speaker cover it a lot easier on your body to see what you are doing behind the dash.

I had the same problem w an accel pump I just did, and I used the same method to "convince" the plunger it was time to get into shape.. After getting the plunger to actually push fuel, I found that the jet at the top of the carb was badly plugged. In order to access it you need to remover the round steel plug at the top of the carb opening. A fine banjo string was needed to get it opened. Never saw one plugged as badly as this one was.

Both the original 3 & 4 speeds have a 1:1 ratio in the highest gear. You can't just swap in a 4 speed w/o swapping the bell housing-the bolt patterns are different.

A friend of mine used the rear axle from a Jeep Cherokee. If you're working on a half ton, the Cherokee's rims will bolt up to your hubs and vice versa.

You may want to dress up the contacts of the points, and check to see if that flexible wire that goes from the points to the dist housing (and then eventually up to trigger the coild ) isn't shorting out.

I've cranked many tractors successfully, but I am one who can personally speak about breaking a wrist cranking an engine. Do not wrap your thumb around the crank handle. Lift up on the crank handle on a ccompression stroke only, and do not chase it if it tries to start (keep cranking in a full circle). If it doesn't start on the first couple of tries-walk away from it or hit the starter. I've been through a bunch of really tough gut surgeries, but this wrist injury was the most painful thing I have experienced. I did this over 30 yrs ago, and I can now tell you when it is going to rain with more accuracy than the weatherman. That's my 2 cents.

Given today's engineering advancement in fuel injection, variable valve timing, ECM, tighter tolerances, etc. It seems to make sense to try and build a shorter stroke I-6 as an alternative to V-8's.

Dave72DT I was just thinking the same thing.

I wouldn't remove the rearmost cross member. It's behind the rear shackles for support, and it does offer some protection to the tank.

Hi Al. Not sure if this will be of any help, but maybe they've got an old guy there that can get you steered in the right direction. Good luck. http://www.nationaldrivetrain.com/partinfo.php?partid=NDT:MEASUREKIT&choice=

Gotta get on the soap box. Went to one car show w my 1 ton got parked in the back in the weeds-haven't been back since. I go to a fair amount of cruises, and am always accepted. Don't do car shows anymore. I don't care about trophies or awards-that's not why I'm in this. Truck shows are a whole lot more inviting. These things worked for a living and bear battle scars. Some are restored to nicer than new-mine will never be. I don't look as good as I did 40 yrs ago either. It's all about fun, camaraderie, and shooting the breeze. They can take the trophies and stick 'em. I've been to shows where there were more trophies than vehicles, and everyone got one (hmmm why does that seem familiar today)? Another pet peeve is charging the exhibitors upwards of $30 for the exhibitors, and spectators get in free???? How about no trophies, reasonable registration fees, and charging the folks that are coming to enjoy the show? Off soapbox now.

I made the interiors for both my 49 1ton and 49 2.5 ton. The seat covers were in decent usable shape in both. For the 1 ton I made my own door, overhead and rear panels using 1/4" luan as a backing board covered with black leatherette that my wife purchased for me in a fabric store. For the 2.5 ton, I used the existing door panels (it was an ex firetruck) but used the patterns I made for the 1 ton for the headliner, and rear & side panels. Is it perfect? Hell no, but both truck have held up extremely well over the several years since I did them. I learned something during the process too. Mike

Yea, I'd lap them, but prior to doing that check for the stem to guide fit too.

Great way to look at it Jocko! Good luck with the continuing process.

That's not a drop center front axle. If you were able to have mounts fabbed up that fit your front spring centers, the front end would be 8-10" higher than it is now. The six lug Ford rims that you reference were 17.5" if I remember correctly. Not much luck finding tires to fit them. There is nothing wrong with locking ring rims providing they're in good shape, clean, and mounted by someone that knows how to handle them.

Let me check my shop tomorrow. I think I have the templates that I used when I replaced my door panels.

Got the clutch for my 2.5 ton from Carolina Clutch. Very pleased

If you added a washer between the cup and piston, you may be preventing the piston from returning to its full rest position. I'd also check lube the pedal where the shaft goes through it, and make sure the return spring is present and hooked up properly.