Los_Control

I find it hard to believe but I was a total ass the other day. I'm going on a road trip to the wrecking yard to pickup a engine. ..... Wife wants to go along for the ride. ..... Can we stop at walmart? ..... I want a hamburger ..... I was leaving walmart and pulling into whataburger and it was just about 12:15 lunch time place was packed .... I was just lost in oblivion as I slowly turned into the parking lot wondering how to proceed ..... totally forgetting about the lane I was blocking ..... Yes sirs ... I got the horn honk and the finger I totally deserved.

So another year went by ..... I guess when I get pissed off at a car I get pissed So I did get the work done on the 49 dodge, I can now put Lady Belle back in the work area. And I actually want to work on it again .... simply could not find a 30 year old used engine locally with less then 180K miles on it. I was looking at buying a short block for $950 .... But the build time was simply a minimum of 3 months out. Then I looked again over the weekend and a engine with 135k showed up locally and I grabbed it. I paid full price this time, it actually has a 90 day warranty .... so I better get it installed. I bought the engine on Monday, this is Wednesday and it still is not unloaded No sense in getting in a rush about these things. ..... There is old Hound dog sitting on the side pushed out of the line up. Sometimes staying married is important .... Happy wife happy life.

I will only add that as years have gone by the oils have improved as cars have improved/turned to junk. GL5 oil got a bad name for awhile because it no longer had additives in it for the softer metals such as brass. ..... Modern cars do not have softer metals in them. So it is important to read the labels and see that it does protect these metals. GL1 oil was just fine for these old cars and worked for years .... just getting hard to find because nobody really wants it .... GL5 is better quality in most peoples mind. Is available and cheaper ..... just read the label to be sure it protects soft metals.

Rich, have you drained or changed any of that oil lately? I have been buying the walmart gallon jugs it is 85-145 gl5 ..... I ran it in my chebby truck and changed it about 6 months ago .... then again I changed it about 2 weeks ago .... while searching for a problem that did not exist 😜 The 6 month old oil was full of air bubbles. Let it sit in the pan for 4 hours and they never went away. Now I'm hesitant to recommend the walmart supertech oil. .... I do have it in my truck now and it has about 600 miles on it. I think it is possible I over filled the rear end and that is causing the aeration. .... My truck the fill level is 5/8" below the fill plug. I always out of habit fill it up til it runs out, then a couple more quick squeezes and cap it off. So technically I'm about 3/4" overfilled. Really grasping at straws thinking that is the problem. My plan is to run it for a few weeks, maybe today drain some out to get it down to proper level. If it is full of bubbles again I'm going to change brand of oil, no more walmart oil for me. I sure would like to hear a good report from someone on it ..... currently until I check it again, I'm not that person.

IMHO, Runtz is just a known name and respected everywhere .... I just did not like the shipping prices. So I'm going with a unknown product for a cheaper price. It is a really simple operation they do ..... maybe it will be fine. I have heard of others buying a few resistors and soldering them inline to do the same thing .... beyond my knowledge though.

I will probably regret it. Yesterday I went to order the runtz from speedway. I actually need 2 of them. They wanted over $22 for shipping, would be $40 for 1 item. So I searched Amazon for the same item and found these. ..... A 2 pack for $12.99 total was $21 with shipping. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MZVXHP5?psc=1&smid=A1JX4L5CBS4J9K&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

I should not be sarcastic, broken sewer lines can be a real problem. I bought my house cheap not knowing what kind of sewer issue I had. ..... The tree stump should have been a clue. That stump is right on top of the original sewer line ..... House built in 1948, materials were hard to get back then ... they used some sort of asphalt tar type pipe with many joints in it that leaked. This tree grew big !!!! and totally ruined the sewer line. Honestly I look at it today and just feel sad .... This type of tree is just a weed, the original home owners got great shade from it on the back porch in the hot summer afternoons and loved it. Same time it caused great troubles with sewer issues ..... A wise man would have never let the weed take root there and keep growing in the first place. .... That tree grew for decades. I could see all the different patch repairs they did over the years to keep the sewer working ... I know this house was plagued with sewer issues .... Nobody took care of the real problem to solve it. I had to cut out the concrete on the porch, I spent a few days removing dirt from under the house, I then replaced everything with 4" pipe all the way to the alley. As soon as I cleared the house foundation I turned it to the right of the tree and used my heat gun on 4, 10' lengths of pipe and bent them to the curvature of the ditch I dug. The whole time I kept the elevation of the ditch exactly as original ..... 6 years later we have zero issues with the sewer ..... it just should have been fixed decades ago. It did take about a month for me to dig it all by hand and get a working sewer line again. Meantime wife & I had a 5 gallon bucket in the bathroom to use .... or we would hop in the car and go to the local gas station and use their can. ..... I got it fixed with a couple hundred $$ in material ..... to hire a crew would have been thousands $$ We have soft sand with no rocks here, the actual sewer line in the alley is 4' deep ..... so it was doable by hand, just took time. Clogged sewer lines are not fun. ..... Using a 5 gallon bucket for a month earns certain privileges for sarcasm

To me it sounds like you are mix matching wiring ..... I mean you have original and trying to add different? On my truck all the original cloth wiring was bad so I just removed it and am starting fresh. I'm a outcast and I'm running a 10DN GM alternator with a external voltage regulator .... I have a ballast resistor like @sniper mounted on the firewall energized from the key. Then it goes to the + side of 12 volt coil, the - side goes to distributor to feed the points. ..... That is all you need to get fire to the points to make the engine run. You do need to then get the starter to turn over. .... I have a stomp starter .... stomp on the mechanical button on the floor and starter activates .... I do not have a solenoid like yours. As long as you have fire going to the points, you could pull out your hand crank and start the engine .... just saying the solenoid needs to be converted to 12 volts, not stopping the engine from running though. The fuel pump running backwards is a real issue though. Many motors do not care if + or - ground, they work fine either way but they do need a voltage reducer .... your wiper motor will work really really fast, until it burns out. Same with the heater motor .... they need reduced. ...... Starter motor does not care, it will turn the engine over faster on 12V, just do not crank it for prolonged periods it will overheat eventually. The bulbs will all need switched to 12V. The fuel gauge needs to be reduced. A original factory radio designed for 6V + ground will never work with 12V - ground, without major internal surgery ..... I'm sure someone figured out a workaround .... usually they are just internally converted to modern insides while looking original externally. Going 12V - ground would be the obvious choice if converting to 12V .... As far as getting power to your points to run ..... Something in your wiring is the issue. Why all mine was removed with no hesitation 5 years ago, start fresh with a clean slate.

So why fix it? .... Bet the garden would have done great this year

I have a kit up in the garage attic I purchased but not used yet. I can dig them out and give some dimensions on what others have done. Naturally that means I need to put on some shoes and go out to the shop .... I suppose 3:00 Saturday afternoon is good time as any to get dressed OK here is a complete Rusty Hope kit, just brackets, a few spacers and fasteners ..... then instructions and part numbers to complete it. Rumor has it they went out of business like many others The brackets are 3/8" steel. A common issue with the kit was when you assemble it, when you installed the the nut to adjust the bearings and hold it all together ... the final assembly was so thick you could not get the cotter key in to hold the nut in place and was a few work around. Something to think about when doing mock up. Some pretty basic angles for milling, I imagine a plasma cutter or oxy/act could do the curves with some hand grinding to finish it of?

I understand your hesitance to social media, especially pay pal ..... I dropped them 2 years ago like a hot potato after their new political guide lines. ebay I kind of look at like a necessary evil ..... like a cell phone. The link the viking posted is a nos spring for $10 + shipping. ..... You can beat yourself over the head looking for a different spring or just buy it. If you feel that strongly about it, pm me and maybe I could purchase it and send it to you.

Thats pretty cool, love the story on it and looks pretty complete. Looking forward to a build thread on it .... love to follow the progress. The non paint looks like my truck when I got mine. .... just no paint left. Was a lot of work to get paint on it.

If it were me, I would only cut them as a last resort ..... not because it is a good idea and how it was always done. To replace the drums is very expensive, I only know one supplier charging $400 each ..... To me I feel better off doing a rear end swap with better gears, brakes, E-brake, u-joints for a cheaper price. Depends what you want though .....If going for total restore you want original. I can share a 1960 Dodge 1/2 ton truck can be used right up til they cant. Mine wore so thin that the drum actually split in 1/2 .... The one drum came off in two rings ..... still had brakes to drive it home & replace it. As others have said, at this day and age there was many things that nobody cared about and was not documented. I would just be more concerned with how much meat was left on the drum and how safe it would be to use ..... I bet many modern replacement drums come to a certain spec, not even able to turn them once .... just throw away and replace.

I did/do belong to a couple groups there. Do not think I'm going back though. About 2 weeks ago my account was locked for suspicious activity. Seems like it was hacked. I know of several accounts that get hacked and taken over .... couple months ago my daughter in-law was contacting me at 3:00AM trying to sell me something. I know it was not her and was hacked. To unlock my account, they want me to send a photo of myself and my Drivers license or ID to them. I just thought that was total BS. Obvious they have no control over their system now ..... you now want me to give you personal information? So me & FB will part ways .... only thing I miss would be marketplace, I can use my wife account to browse that if I want.

Careful what you ask .... ??? Pretty sure I could fill a book on stupid episodes .... starting with last week and why I'm charging the battery on my truck now to test drive it ?

Seems like this is common, for example the engine was rebuilt then the project changed hands. The next guy installed the engine but never ran it and it changed hands again. Then the next guy who gets it assumes all the proper procedures were done in the past .... Fact is nobody did nothing. They just thought the other guy was smart enough to do it.

I will not say this is the only way, just how mine is done. I have the glass filter and metal line all the way from the fuel pump to the glass filter. Simply because the area is on top of the exhaust manifold ..... the heat will quickly deteriorate the plastic filter and rubber fuel lines. What you have is a good simple get me by to test things ..... Nothing you would want to run on a permanent basis. Seems like some previous owner was thinking when they got the glass fuel filter ..... A simple modern metal filter could work also ..... I have one installed right near the tank. Where the rubber lines to connect it wont be affected from heat from the exhaust. ..... My line is old and needs replaced .... I would not consider replacing it with anything but metal. The head bolt torque specs are listed .... just look them up I am too lazy to pull the book down to look it up ........ just remember if it is 75 pounds, first torque them to 25, then 45 then 75 .... do it in steps ..... that is for a new gasket ..... just torque it down to final stage on your current gasket.

I wonder how many miles on the engine? .... It looks fairly clean. I will agree the head gasket is leaking, no doubt about it. When you do torque a head down you need to run it a little bit the retorque again .... I think 3 times is suggested. I figure it is like wiping your butt, wipe 3 times to realize 2 times was enough. Keep re-torquing the head until you find everything is settled and no longer moving. I just wonder if that is whats going on with yours, it needed re-torqued and did not get it. I would imagine if you see it leaking like it is, the gasket has been damaged and needs replaced ...... Might be worth a try to torque the head down now and see what kind of movement you get from the bolts. If it cures the problem you should go out and buy a lottery ticket because it is your lucky day. Just remember when you replace it to re-torque a few times afterwards.

I had a issue the other day when installing my toe boards and trans cover, gas pedal. The rod wanted to go almost straight up in the air and had very little travel. I had to remove the toe board again, If I pulled the rod straight out and rotated the swivel part on the end of the rod to the top .... then the rod came out horizontally like it should and have full travel again. Not sure if this helps, is just what happened to me last week and had to figure it out. Not sure how much travel I have, bet it is almost 3" any ways .... Ok I just looked, it is over 2"-2.5"

The only way I can see oil getting there, is if the spark plug gasket is leaking? Many years ago they used to sell the washer/gaskets over the counter ..... Today seems they are all machined fit and no more washers. I can imagine if there was some blow by in that cylinder, it might be possible a small teeny tiny amount of oil is getting past the plug .... along with compression. Then as you drive it, will add up to enough oil to dab up with a rag. I certainly would suggest doing a compression check on the engine. See if that cylinder is lower then the rest and suggesting blow by. I wonder if there is some place on the internet that can order those gaskets? May not be the issue at all .... I wonder if you can clean it out then add a little water and run the engine. See if you can see little air bubbles coming out from escaping compression?

Thanks sniper that is a good video ..... I see foam is created ..... after 3 hours sitting in the drain pan it never went away .... I needed the pan as using a brush and gasoline to clean off the offending front wheel bearing. .... So it is gone now .... but 3 hours later it still had the bubbles and looked exactly the same. Just unsure what to think about it. You can relax @Sniper I do not need a rear end transported .... I just need to replace a failed front wheel bearing ..... I swear I thought it was bearing in the rear end. So I ordered a complete set of bearings & seals for this rear end ..... over $300 worth and it turned out to be a $35 front wheel bearing. Sucks to be stupid .... I did get a bearing splitter and a new clicker torque wrench out of the deal .... I have complete set of bearings/seals for the rear end on the shelf if ever needed. ..... I figure as long as I have them, will probably never need them .... good cheap insurance. @sniper will be heading down your way sometime next week to pick up some ashes.

Seems I have no choice today, I have the exact same product to put back in it. I just need to decide if I want to replace it or if it is a non issue. 3 hours later and it is exactly the same .... foam. It is not going away. I actually need to clean the pan, install new oil .... but just curious what others think about it. Is this really just poopy poopy oil? Or it is just a non consequential issue? Mark me at scratching my head. .... Makes me wonder how it really performs under load.

While we are talking about transmission/differential oils ..... I claim I use super tech gl5 from walmart because it is cheap and available ... claims it works with soft metals. What about foaming? I'm a little concerned with the amount of foam. I drained this oil 1 hour ago .... just full of bubbles on top. For some reason I feel this is not normal ... maybe I need to change my oil brand? I put this oil in the rear end of my daily driver chebby about 6 months ago .... It seems fine, I ran a magnet through the oil searching for metal .... found none. Is it normal to have all the foam?

I Remember towing a 12'x60' mobile home 35 miles to a new destination with a 1960 Dodge 1 ton ...... The trailer had so much tongue weight that I could not go over 35 mph. The front tires were barely touching the ground. The low powered slant 6 engine & 4spd trans worked fine ..... just could not steer over 35mph. At least the truck seemed to have enough brakes to go down the steep hill ..... You just needed a lot of common sense to survive back then ..... Sometimes I wonder if we do not have a helping Angel flying with us. What size of trailer you can haul will be decided with your experience pulling trailers with the truck. Start small and work up.

Search for the movie "the big trailer" starred by Lucile Ball & Desi Arnez ..... Was a good comedy as they towed a travel trailer in some sort of 50's car. The 53 Dodge is very small in size & weight compared to a modern vehicle. They have brake shoes 2" wide & 10" in diameter ..... barely enough to stop their own weight. They have a engine with 100 HP ..... barely enough to haul themselves around. The suspension was simply meant for farm use. The bias ply tires were interesting for traction. I imagine the 4spd manual helped a lot towing trailers in the day, to get them moving and is obvious they had trailers around the farm to tow. It was simply a different time back then, they were still figuring out highways and safer roads ..... there was no DOT or regulations. People tried what they thought they could do ..... Then rules & regulations were invented. These trucks never from the factory had brakes to haul a heavy trailer downhill. I'm sure they can handle a small trailer, each individual truck will have a different capacity due to power, brakes, tires, suspension.