MBF

GB will hopefully chime in here, but in the meantime I'll add my 2 cents. What kind of oil pressure does it have, and how bad does it knock? If it knocks while idling, you can try pulling plug wires one at a time to see if you can eliminate the noise. If the noise goes away when one specific wire is pulled you most likely have found the culprit. There used to be a 2 way pump that you'd screw into the plug hole that with the valves closed in the cylinder you can push and pull on the pump handle to make the rod or wristpin knock w/o running the engine. The next question is once you identify it you'll have to drop the pan, and pull the guilty bearings and look at the journal to see if it is scored or dinged, and look to see the same on the bearing. If the journal is good, and you had decent oil pressure when hot you may be able to get buy with replacing the bearing, but I'd plastiguage it to make sure that you're within tolerances. I'm sure other folks here will provide some guidance. I'm doing a motor job on my 78 Dodge w a /6, and I'm trying to avoid unnecessary machine shop work too. Mike

Right on Dutch. I called them about gears for the rear of my '52. Their attitude of take it or leave it left me only one option- C YA! Bought a good used 3rd member in a junkyard for 20% of the price that they wanted just for a bearing set. Since the flatties were in use up to 59 or 60 I bet NAPA could help with the pump. I've started making my own gaskets whenever I can. I find that its less aggravating than waiting for the parts guy to try to figger out what I'm looking for because it isn't in their computer. Just put a $300 waterpump on my Dad's Ford diesel tractor. When I ordered it I told them I wanted to order a gasket-they told me not to worry-it came with the pump. Got the pump UPS'd, and guess what-another opportunity to practice my gasket making skills! Little off topic-go back to the conversation we had at Macungie-I bought me a banjo! Old trucks, acoustic music-life doesn't get better than that. Mike

At this point it would probably be wise to remove the spring and take it to a press and have the broken section pressed out. The threaded bushing isn't really threaded into the spring eye-just what is supposed to be a snug fit. Mike

Hey-he's billing is as the "nicest truck on the planet". I think I'll pass, and keep my own stuff-pretty sure my wife would agree with my decision!

I've got the same problem with the whl cyls on my 36 Plymouth that I got from BB. I'm going to have the originals sleeved this winter and be done with it. If you're not running the truck I've had luck throwing wet shoes in a drum of speedi dri for a few days, and then hitting them with brakeclean if they're not to badly saturated. Just be careful working around the brakes if they're the original shoes (asbestos) and wear a respirator, not a dust mask. Mike

Wow-that's gotta be a record for a 1 owner truck-owned since I was 6 or 7! I thought the '53 Chev my Dad bought new (which I got when I was 12) was a record. Looks like Reg beat me.

Should all be the same up to a ton. They change for the ton & a half on up. Mike

Hmmmmm GB. Sometimes if ya want stuff done right ya just gotta do it yourself. Glad you found the solution. Bet your system looks a lot like mine now! Mike

Do a search on sending units. There was a thread on this a while ago that specified the resistance range, and even offered a p/n for a unit that JCWhitney or someone was selling that fell within the appropriate range. Mike

Randy-try disconnecting your linkage, and then remove the wiper arms from the pivots. Hook up your linkage (make sure its in the "parked" position) and then reinstall your wiper arms on the outside of the travel. The arms may be in the wrong positions on the pivots. Also-not sure what year you're working with, but some of the later trucks may have had the park position towards the center of the windsheld???Just something to try. Let us know how you make out. Mike

Not sure GB. I haven't pulled my plugs to check since I went to the smaller diameter valve, but I'm coming up on 1000 miles on this oil change and the oil is still amazingly clean looking so I gotta believe it's doing the job. If you find a jet kit for this carb let me know! I didn't know there were different sizes available.

GB-the opening size on the valve is geared towards specific engine displacement. Since I was building my system from scratch I used an old one from a slant 6 which was too big and caused a lean running situation. I switched to one for a 4 cyl Ford Escort. Works a lot better at idle. I wonder of the military vehicles equipped with these had different carburator jetting to compensate for the new vacuum "leak". Mike

Rem-you may want to check the fluid in your rear (no pun intended) and look at replacing the pinion seal based on your photo-also make sure that the vent isn't plugged.

Rem-not sure what type of ujoint arrangement you have, but make sure that you clean up the pilot shaft end that fits into the pilot bushing and put some lube on it. Also clean up the spline, and the collar that the throwout bearing rides on-that should also have a light coating of a heavy grease. Make sure that no one depresses the clutch while you have the tranny out of the truck or you'll need to realign the disk by looseing the pressure plate bolts and using an alignment tool (although I have gotten lucky a time or two and done it by eye. If you need an alignment tool and don't have one-use the input shaft from the old transmission. Good luck. Mike

GB-what do your plugs look like? Is she running lean or rich? Is the float level adjusted properly? Has the carb ever been rebuilt? Fuel pump getting air someplace? Slow valves? Mine coughs at idle sometimes and seems to be vaporlocking after getting a good dose of heat sink from sitting after a long run. Its always somethin' aint it-but that's what makes these old trucks fun. Mike

$50 whole dollars wow-wanna double your money?? Seriously nice find and glad you're having fun with it. Bringing these back to life is therapy to most of us. Keep posting pictures. Mike

Bradley-depending on what is wrong-you may be able to put a c clamp on the top hinge and gently try opening the door to finesse the top hinge (i.e. bending) to take out some of the sag. I'm sure other members here may also have other ideas. I'd check the top hinge pin to make sure it isn't excessively worn to. Mike

Nat-I think there is a radiator for sale on ebay right now. Mike

Cliff-the doors are differnt, but will fit. The nose piece and grill are different, and the dashes are different and wiper tractor placement is different. It'd still be a good source for parts. My '52 is actually a 49 that someone long ago installed a '52 nose on-and I like it just the way it is. Mike

You're almost definitely need the puller. You'll need the type that grabs the wheel from the bottom most portion as the steering column is hollow to allow passage of the horn wire. Perhaps a member of the forum has one that they'll lend you. Mike

I was at a truck show a couple of weeks ago and talked to the owner of a 1 ton IH pickup with radial tires mounted on his 16" Budd locking ring rims. He said that he used radial tubes and was very pleased with how much better the truck steered and the reduced tendancy to wander. I asked a local tire shop if this could be done when I bought my bias ply tires a few years ago. Since it was an old tire shop I thought he knew what he was talking about-when he refused to put radials on my rims. He said they'd walk right off, but lots of big trucks are using radials on 20 and 22.5" locking ring rims. I'm going to try a set the next time around. Mike

Steamer-nice truck. I made my own alignment tool to set toe in using a piece of bedrail, and a couple of adjustable pointers. I jack up the front end, scribe a pencil line near the center of each tire (around the full circumfrence) and set it back down on the ground. I set the pointers so that they're each on the center line in the rear of the tires, clamp it down, and then move the unit to the front of the tires and adjust so that there is about 1/8" toe in (difference) between the front and rear measurements. I've even used it on independant front suspensions to get them close to be able to drive to the alignment shop. Both times the toe was right on and didn't need to be readjusted at the shop! Mike

That "1 coat of white covers everything" is hiding a lot of tinworm damage! Be interesting to see what it goes for. Mike

Cowdodge-congratulations. I have a syncro 4 speed I'd probably sell. PM me when you get closer to needing it. Mike

I'd like to propose a toast......Just say NO to no alcohol here here.. clink gulp.