Los_Control

Klien are good tools, I would not turn one down. I "had" one that came from harbor freight. On the left ... I like the clamp style and maybe good for Household electrics. To test smaller units like a 12 volt battery for a rechargeable battery powered drill ... You need to buy a extra add on piece for $30 ... I just throw it in the junk box. What is available to me is from Ace hardware, and is Gardner Bender ... It seems to do everything I need. May be the most expensive Ace offers, but still not to pricey.

Sorry to trip you up there with my photo @B1B KevenBut you are 100% correct with your post. 52 speedo with a 50 E-brake # shifter. For @wagoneerThe issue is in 1949 and earlier, you had a 3 spd on the floor and a E-brake handle on the floor next to the shifter. Then there is only one keyed lock on the passenger door. So when you went to town & parallel parked, you would slide across the seat and exit on passenger side and use the sidewalk. So moving the shifter to the column & E-brake under the dash is considered to be a great improvement and 1950 was the first year for this. Then in 1951 they slightly changed the body style. The grill was different, body lines along the doors & fenders slightly different, on 1950 the rear fenders are old school & round. 1951 they are the fat fenders that were used up into the 1960's I believe. Just saying, 49-50 was a change in the interior, but 50-51 there was a change in the body. Just something to be aware of when searching for parts.

I am a total noob at these old trucks. I am really happy I was smart enough to run a compression test before starting. Had a couple cylinders that were low. After getting it running I can monitor the progress as the rings start to seat and valves free up. I had one cylinder @ 60 pounds before I fired it up, think it is between 80-90 now ... While it is still unacceptable, I can see it making progress and hoping to actually drive it and see if it improves. Just having the information helps make future decisions on what work will be doing in the future to the motor. Nothing wrong with rebuilding the starter, you crossed one more item off your to do list. One common problem with a 6 volt system is to find 12 volt battery cables installed ... 6 volt you need 00 or 01 welding cables to carry the current. All the wires are twice the size on a six volt vrs 12 volt .... and wrong cables will cause slow turn over issues, grounds are critical and cause slow turn over. If you decide to convert to 12 volt in the future, your 6 volt starter will hold up just fine. Also the valves on flatheads are notorious for sticking open, the rings get stuck to the pistons. Do not spin in the ring landings or expanded and rubbing on the cylinders .... 50/50 mix of atf + acetone probably the cheapest. just fill the cylinders and let the rings soak and will lube up the valves at same time. Let it soak a few days or a week, run a compression check, if needed soak it again. Change the engine oil before you try to start it. When you do start it, it will remove every mosquito in your neighborhood. All the oil will be gathered in your muffler, may have to drive it for 3 hours to burn it all out ... you will have a happy oiled engine.

Drivers door jamb is where the tag would have been attached & here is a photo of a 48-50 dash ... I honestly could not tell by the photos what dash you have. Original model # would be on the tag, the frame, the engine. Not really even a serial # ..... many states back then did not even bother to title these trucks, but when they did they used these #'s. .... But if you trashed your motor and swapped another in, the #'s no longer match. Others say that it is a 48-50, I would take their word for it. Would be interesting to see what the title says if there is one. My Uncle sold Grandpa's 46 chevy 2 ton truck. The new owner researched and found it was a 1942 Navy truck originally. The Navy never titled it til 1946 when they sold it. For body parts go 48-50, for title go by your state dmv.

Except when talking about the stylish Mopar line-up. Mine is a 1949 b1b with a model # that ends with a X, so it was a end of the year 1949 with all the upgrades of 1950, including column shift and E-brake under dash.

You make a very good point there. This was the mother in-laws car, Father gave it to daughter when mother passed away. It does not have a cel when you start it, when you drive on the freeway about 20 miles the cel comes on. Stop for gas and light goes out, need to drive aprox 20 miles for it to come on ... or just drive around town and does not come on. Father claims it is the 02 sensors need to be replaced. I think he is right. I cant think of any good excuse for why I have not replaced them yet. Not sure if it has 1 or 2. While it has only been a few days, so far the shift sensor is working good .... crosses fingers.

Guardian of the ranch

I am a hour west of Abilene. It really does not get that cold here, but it will drop below freezing a few times a year .... why we were effected so badly by the recent cold snap. Nobody is prepared for it here. When they got power back on and water running, there was so many burst water lines the pump stations could not keep up with it. Took several days of off & on again to locate the leaks and settle things down This is why I am thinking I will use the rv anti freeze. It is cheap and believe it is environmentally friendly .... just poor it in the drains and toilette's to keep them from freezing, then wash it down the drain in spring.

I would think so, just like a sprinkler system, blow it out for the winter ... Would it really get it out of the pump? not positive. Could also use some rv antifreeze just fill it with that to prevent freezing. Yeah storage will be a issue for me also. Why I really wanted to find a used one. For now will sit in the back yard with a tarp over it. Thats fine, it will encourage me to get my storage shed built, I bought the metal a few years ago and been slouching on the framing.

Lot of different times back then ... I actually worked for a Texaco station for some months. I then moved to a Union 76 station .... Looking back today the Texaco was a better shop. Just better people and ones you would want to surround yourself with. Yes I checked the tire pressure, washed the windows & checked the oil. While filling the gas.

Just crazy times ... at the same time I think the "woke crowd" is being exposed and will be cancelled, by the "awake crowd" that is tired of the BS the woke crowd is trying. Just incredible to think a plastic potato head dolls gender is a issue today. Or that history is trying to be erased and replaced ... funny times indeed.

Currently 86 degrees at 4:00 pm ... not always like this. Tomorrow is cooler weather rolling in and only mid 60's. Then back up into the 70's 4 days later. Just saying at 80's I feel comfortable, 70's I need to wear a long sleeve shirt .... Yeah I have not turned on the AC yet this year

You're kidding yourself, they are hanging out around the corner getting ready to flock back in. Time to get started on the garden again and attempt to bird proof it. Stihl is good quality. I bought a electric stihl weed eater at a estate sale for $5. That thing has all the power I would need out of a gas powered weed eater. To be honest, I never heard of a stihl pressure washer .... and anything "new stihl" is probably out of my price range. Obvious issue with a electric weed eater is dragging around 150' of cord .... a pressure washer would not be so bad.

Here is a old post. Shows you how tight my wallet is I have been searching high & low for a decent used pressure washer. I do not think a decent "used" one exist. Then after the big freeze here in Texas, they all probably junk by now. I ordered this one here, and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Looking forward to it ... then as others suggest the real work begins. House is filthy and looks like it needs paint, where a good cleaning will go a long way. I cant wait to use it on the b1b to help with paint prep. Removing 70 year old grease.

Just thought would share progress. Put it on jack stands yesterday, was all prepared to open the wiring harness .... "You cant get there from here" comes to mind. I will have to access the harness from the top, remove the battery, possibly the battery tray if I can & then some other items I do not know what they are. Just not going to be a simple task. I changed the motor oil and the shift sensor and called it a day. I test drove it and worked fine. Of course it was warmed up and checking the oil level etc .... This morning started it up let it run 30 seconds and took off. Shifted ok. A guy can tell the difference in the way it shifts. @JerseyHarold suggested it may be the transmission re-learning to program itself .... could be whats going on right now. I admit I did not disco the battery. What I mean is, the last sensor was real smooth and could barely tell when it shifted ... except when it stopped shifting. This one is real active. it shifts when it should, you slow down and can feel it down shifting. Not a rough shift ... just seems to be doing what it should be doing. I really am starting to suspect poor quality over seas parts. #1 was shifting bad out of the box til it failed. #2 lasted 4 years and many miles. #3 kinda works sometimes but not always. #4 I am hoping gives me 4 more years Too early to tell.

I think you are correct. I have seen similar tools used for tie downs. Here is what I think is a tool for electronics. No clue what it was used for. I just thought it was cool so my Uncle gave it to me and sits on a shelf in the garage. Has 2 wires in the back, a button on one side and a rotating knob on the other. there is 2 clips on the sides where maybe it held some probes connected to the wires? Case is made out of bakelite.

I think for peace of mind, I will open up that harness today while working on the car. In my internet search for a solution, I have heard of a few others have a issue with broken wire in that harness. The harness is dry, clean original and not messed with. But if it is a factory retainer causing the issue, then that could also be my problem. Would be nice to open it up and see a damaged wire, so you know you found the problem.

Some very interesting comments, I cant say I have disconnected the battery for some time. Well worth a try. Tomorrow it is like a spa day, it is getting a oil change, new speed sensor, vacuum of the carpets and interior wipe down. Would not hurt to disco the battery while doing this. I really appreciate the ideas, this one has me puzzled. Either works perfect, or not at all.

Taste the oil .... kinda reminds me of the drawings I seen of a old pilothouse driving circles in a vacant lot, with the mechanic bent over the fender adjusting the valves with engine under load.

I was thinking this myself. The original harness looks fine and shows no damage. unplugging - plugging it back in does not help. Next step would be to loosen the harness and pull the cover off and check the 2 wires. Yesterday I started it up, let it run for 30 seconds then drove off ... was 65 degrees outside. It was stuck in limp mode (35 mph) I drove 6 blocks to the store and when I came back out and started it, it drove perfect again. Other day I took off in limp mode again, drove to my neighbors house and let it run while got his shopping list ... drove it 35 miles one way on the freeway to walmart and back with no problems. There is a transmission control module that rockauto sells for $175 + $50 core charge ... Just not convinced this would fix it ... there is no other electrical parts sold for it. I agree ... I have rubber trans lines on it the fatherinlaw installed when he had transmission rebuilt, 1 line loosened up and dripped a little oil, 1 quart in 6-8 months before I found leak and fixed it. I really thought it was a axle seal and putting it off. That's how I found out when it gets to the add line it goes into limp mode, and to be fair it went in limp mode 2-3 times over the months. The 4th time it never came out of limp mode. So I added another splash of fluid thinking it wont hurt but may be too much. Did not help. I changed the shift sensor, it road tested fine. Next morning taking wife to DR and 10 miles from town at 75 mph it went into limp mode. We drove home and let it sit, I tried a few hours later and it worked fine. Drove it around town some and was fine, then one day drove it enough times to get trans up to hot working temp and went out again ... let it cool off and fine. So I went ahead and drained some fluid, got the level just perfect. Now you can drive it long distance without going into limp mode. Just strange when you start it that sometimes it is limp mode till you run it a few min and sometimes not. Thinking out loud here, sorry for long post but going over it gives me a new idea. I want to compare the sensor to a electrical safety switch like a breaker in your home. If you overload it too many times, it will trip but eventually will burn out and wont reset and need replaced. Because of the fluid leak and last sensor went into limp mode a few times then failed ... could be my fault. The new sensor has already went into limp mode 2 times because of over filled .... I know debatable but lowering fluid did help. Now sensor acts odd or 'laggy' While the sensor still works kinda sorta, going to replace it, keep it for a spare in the glove box. They cost $12 at rockauto or $20 local. Takes 2 min and pliers to change. Then I am going to do a lot of driving this week & hope it is fixed. Just to test it.

Lot of old time mopar lovers here, wonder if any have a clue about my current issue. Or junked the car because of it The van has about 185k miles on it, Transmission was sent to a shop and rebuilt at 150K miles. The speed sensor was bad from the start and gave a hard shift (sometimes) into 2nd gear. Finally went out and was stuck in limp mode. We took it to a shop 4 years ago, put it on a obd1 scanner and told us what they thought ... they did not want to touch it. I replaced the sensor and it worked perfect for 4 years and then it went out again. I replaced it and worked fine, first drive out of town and 3rd sensor quit working. I find that the fluid level affects this. When it reaches the add line, it goes into limp mode. I added a slight bit to much fluid. (1" from a quart bottle) It was in the hot level when only warm, then when it did get hot from driving it showed overfull and back into limp mode. I spent 2 days fixing my leak and get fluid level exactly right. Now, if I start it up and start driving right away it is stuck in limp mode. If I let it warm up for a few min, transmission 4spd overdrive works perfect. Hard to trust it and drive it out of town. Going to order a 4th sensor and try it, keep a spare in the glove box .... is this just a symptom of cheap overseas junk? Anyone else run into something like this?

Seems in my thinking, original wires did not have boots on the plugs. Something that came along in later years. My wires needed to be replaced before I could do first start on it. Went to local parts store to buy some .... guy at the counter could not figure out how to find a set that would fit. I brought the old ones with me to match up. I would have been happy with a set for a V8 and just use the ones I needed. I left there very disappointed. I figured out the best way may be to just order and make your own after the experience. I went home and ordered 6 wires from rockauto the same length just to get the engine started. They made it 3 hours away from my house and sat there for 6 days before they moved again I never thought about tractor supply ... thanks for the tip @greg g I plan to build my own wires, like the cloth covered wires to make it look original ... no boots. If you are questioning the condition of your wires, may be time to replace for peace of mind.

Does it go into 1rst? Chance that if your linkage needed adjustment you would go into 2nd & 3rd but not 1rst & reverse ... what happened to me before. Just moving the 2 shifting linkage arms into neutral and shift lever started working again.

IMHO, depends what you want to do with the car .... will it be a concourse restoration and a trailer queen, then by all means go with original drums. Are you going to jump in it and drive it for .... everything? Then I would consider updating the brakes and possibly rear axle so maintenance & parts are easily achieved. You might try making a WTB add here in the classifieds, see if anyone has some decent drums for sale? Many convert to front disk brakes and have the old drums on a shelf.

Not only nice, it just looks professional. Is literally better then when it was new. Can you imagine the way they were delivered to the shop and setup .... vrs your version? Just saying.