MBF

If that's worth $12, it means my amatuer restoration is worth $15K minimum. MIke

Look at the Bunn book. I think that gives a more historically correct listing of options by year. Mike

My dad worked for NY Telephone. I have fond memories of him taking me to work at night standing on the seat of his 53 PH telephone truck w the utility body on the back. Always had a love for this body style-bought mine about 8 yrs ago and have been working on it and taking it to shows, cruise-ins since '99. Still like the smell inside of the cab, and the compliments on get on my work in progress. Mike

You should have about 3/4" to 1" free play at the top of the pedal. This assures that the throwout bearing is not touching the clutch fingers or effectively "riding the clutch" which would cause premature wear. If memory serves me correct, the adjusment is accomplished by adjusting the 2 jam bolts on the bottom of the clutch pedal on the actuating shaft. I'll look at my manual over the weekend and see if I can come up with better factory specs. Mike

Ditto-after using the 8v to remedy the hard starting when hot problem w my '36 plymouth-I ended up converting it to 12v. The 8 v batts are not cheap and didn't last that long which I suspect was due to the limited use the vehicle gets. I'm happy w the 12v conversion that I did on this vehicle and the 52 1ton. 6volt bulbs are getting expensive anyway! Mike

Sometimes people get annoyed when you are working on something and don't contribute to a conversation, but I like to get to a point where I know I can leave off before I divert my attention-that has saved me more than once-especially when I had a beer in hand! Mike

You're probably going to have to fabricate some lower shock mount that is attached to the u-bolt plate underneath the axle. Not sure if there would be a crossmember on the chassis close enough to use for the top mounts. Isn't the front top shock mount a bolt on bracket-that goes on the outside of the chassis? Could these be modified to come up with the rear top shock mounts? I have shocks on the front of my 52 1 ton, but not on the rear-but the springs are so stiff that I don't think they'd move enough to allow a shock to travel and do its job with the truck unloaded. Good luck-Mike

Reg-I would make sure that your rear brakes are working. I've seen these where the cylinder seizes up and gives you a good firm pedal, but since the cylinders are not moving-no brakes on those wheel(s). It'll even bleed like everything is ok. I'd start there. If you have the rear wheel emergency brakes hooked up, you can experiment by partially applying the e brake and trying to stop with the shoes closer to the drum and see what type of difference that makes-if any. I think that with the single stage master cylinder putting larger cylinders on the back may actually make your problem worse if the original mast cyl can't output enough fluid to those wheel cyls in a single stroke of travel. Just my 2 cents. Please let us know what you find. Mike

I'm trying to remember what I did to the original bracket to install the GM internally regulated alternator on my '52 1 ton. 7/8" or 1" is kinda what I remember adding to the center of the bracket to move the front ear forward enough for get good pulley alignment. Looking back on this, I like the idea of the allthread a lot better-and it is adjustable for future upgrades! Mike

What I did was bought a set of reupholstered seat cushions ( I believe they were from an IH). The seller told me that the cushios were the same size as the Dodge PH cab. Since he only wanted $10 for both cushions with the new covers I took a chance. I ended up taking off the newly made covers and reupholtering my seat springs. I didn't use hog rings, I found some of those long c style clips to attach the covers to the frames. Came out pretty damn good-no wrinkles, and the new foam make the seat firm-even the air adjusment works. Mike

If you find that the adjustment on the jamb nut didn't take enough play out and are going to remove shims, start by taking only one of the thinnest shims out, reassemble it, and adjust it again. It doesn't take much shim wise to make a big difference in the bearing adjustment. Good luck. Mike

What I did was exactly what Tony shows in his phote (to lay a piece of angle iron on top of the planks at the rear). That way it was even with the top edge of bed frame on the sides. My truck is by no means perfect, but I liked the way it finished off the rear of the bed, and the angle iron that I used acts as a clamp to keep the rear part of the planks flat against the bed stringers. Mike

I have both styles (F&RD) and Mopar. The dodge rings have a wire hook tab on the top that slips into a slot in the top of the headlight bucket-I'm pretty sure those used on the F&RD are attached in a different manner or I would have used them on my '52 1 ton. I have however been known to be wrong before though! Mike

The lever style switch that is used in the same era Chevy passenger cars is a possibility. It had a (approx) 3" arm that is held back by the brake pedal. I've found that when using these old vehicles it is wise to flush the brake system out periodically to remove the water that has accumulated within the system even while stored indoors due to a lack of use. You should also bear in mind that the style of brake used on the PH trucks is different from other manufacturers in that it is not self energizing-the brake shoes are anchored on the bottom of each shoe. I think they're suited ok for 40-50 mph travel-but they were never really designed for more than that. Just my 2 cents. Mike

Yes-that should be possible. You'd have to remove the 2 major adjustment bolts(concentrics) at the bottoms of each show, and then the bolts that hold the backing plate to the spinle-make sure that you hang them from something so that the flexible hoses don't kink. mike

I think you've got to be careful with this if you're using the old type of ujoint with the cast slip collar at each end with the leather boots. I tried to do this for my '36 Plymouth. The driveshaft shop said that it would require the installation of a slip collar/yoke on one end of the driveshaft. Mounting flanges would have to be fabricated to match up the flanges on the back of the tranny and differential. If you just put in modern ujoints w/o the slip collar-the driveshaft won't have any longitudinal play in it as the rear suspension moves up and down. I think I'm going to replace the old boot type slipjoints-the originals lasted over 70 yrs, and that's longer than I'm going to be worried about replacing them again! Mike

What I did was to use a 1/4" piece of luan as the backing. I traced the old cardboard patterns, and glued on some black leatherette. My first attempt at upholstery! Didn't come out too bad. I initially tried using 1/4" foam like what is used on posters-the adhesive ate it and it didn't look too well. Mike

I'll measure mine this weekend, but I know from looking myself that the 17" drop center used in the later 1 tons with the 6 hole pattern will fit. I also belive the 6 hole 16" rims used on both Divcos, and the Ford F350 will fit. As far as something late model 16" drop center-I kinda think we're outa luck. Also when you're looking, there are two different offsets for these Budd rims. One is designed for duals (deeper offset) are the same type as those shown on the picture at the beginning of this post. I have pictures of the profiles of both if you need them as a reference. Mike

When I converted mine to 12V I replaced the harness 1 wire at a time and made a color coded schematic as I went sticking as close to the original color scheme as possible. If you go with the internally regulated alternator you can eliminate the mechanical one on the firewall. Don't forget to put the proper resistor in line for the fuel guage before you turn on the key! (mine was disconnected as I'm looking for another sending unit). Chrylser always ran everything through the amp meter-since I have a bunch of extra lights on my 52 stake body, I'm going to rewire around the amp gauge and install a voltmeter under the dash to make sure the alternator is doing its job. Mike

Here's what I did with mine. I used 1 x 6 clear trim for the sideboards, and some oak of the same dimensions for the front (poor man's headache rack) The black metal panels were originally in the center of the stakesides, but I like this look better. Mike

When you said you had no power to the coil with the switch off are you sure you were checking the right side of the coil? It's got to be getting some type of feed if it won't shut off. I'd also suspect alternator feedback, but since you're using the original voltage regulator I'd remove the cover and see if the points in the regulator to make sure they're not stuck.

Dutch-you can see how mine is setup and compare it to yours at our show in Rhinebeck. Mike

I think the columns on the 48-50 are tiltled a little more forward than those in the '51's and later. My 52 (actuall a '49)has the wheel is much closer to being horizontal than the later model trucks. To change the angle of the steering shart I think you're going to have to redrill the steering box mounting holes in the frame since the u shaped bracket only supports the outer tube of the steering shaft which supports the steering wheel bearing. That was the reason I didn't replace my steering box-I liked the angle that it is at, and the parts box from the 52 I have is not just a bolt in swap. Mike

Yup-the black bumper looks like its "spoda" be there. Nice truck. MBF

Ditto on the sun to soften it up. I had mine installed by the guy that cut the glass so if there were any problems they were his. Cost me $50 for both the 2 pcs of glass and to have it installed. I think the original or the better gaskets have a wider outside lip, but the one from Roberts is ok. MBF