Los_Control

I wish you luck with that. I tore down a old Ford flathead engine, the disk was sealed to the flywheel so well that I ended up using a thin drywall knife and a small hammer to tap the knife between the disk and flywheel. I had the engine/transmission on the ground and was preparing to put the engine on a stand to tear it apart .... so I had access to everything. I had the pressure plate unbolted and tapped on it with a hammer to knock it loose .... nothing worked. I had to use the thin knife to drive in and separate the individual parts. On a side note, they were new when installed and look perfectly fine to put back into service .... no harm came to them ..... Boy. they were really stuck though. San Angelo .... where all the beach bums live I'm a hour North in Colorado city .... no beaches for me

If you remove the cap and find nothing wrong .... WD40 is worth a try. Spray it inside the distributor liberally also the inside of the cap. WD40 I believe was first invented by the military as a wing deicer for airplanes. It's job is to displace water. So if you do have moisture in the cap preventing it from firing, is possible WD40 will help. When I was a kid and would take my car to the car wash and clean the engine, I would always bring a can of WD40 with me just in case I got water in the distributor. I would definitely reset and clean the points while in there .... I always use a business card afterwards,rotate distributor to close the points then drag the card through to wipe off any oils or grease and would also remove moisture. Just a simple thing that is worth a try.

Having a great day here and wish all a great day. I woke up at 7:00 am and went in to get a cup of coffee ... Momma just pulled a loaf of banana bread from the oven .... how awesome is that

Go grab a beer and relax .... is normal. You have a stomp starter and the stomper (solenoid) likes to rust up if not used. By adding water to the equation the stomper has rusted or corroded over faster. I use to take the solenoid on top of the starter apart and manually clean it to remove corrosion and get it to start working again .... probably a good idea to do it one time to see how it all works. Then I got lazy and just started pushing the starter pedal about 50-75 times and it would self clean and start working again without taking it apart. My truck is still not on the road, I do start it up and move it around the yard from time to time .... when I let it sit for long periods, the starter pedal does nothing and makes no connection. Hit it with water and will speed up the process ..... I use to take it apart and manually clean it .... now just stomp on it a bunch of times and it self cleans.

Says you .... I was able to force 3, 16D nails in mine as a replacement. Makes a nice and tight fit. I admit I'm terribly Biased on the tapered axle rear end. There are many old stories over the years where the key failed and left someone sitting at a stop light .... even if it did not happen to you. A modern rear end is cheaper, offers several benefits .... mostly better performance with less effort and time. Once I retired, I just do not seem to have time in my life for a tapered axle rear end. I just seem to value my time differently. I'm going to pick on @keithb7 because he gets it and does it correctly. This is how you lovingly maintain a original car. He is showing the front brakes on this video, rear brakes should get the same care every year .... I'm just saying, Keith is a hardworking young man and goes to work everyday. And he has a hobby and can spend the time on the brakes. I appreciate how he keeps a beautiful car in perfect condition. If his wife car needs a engine rebuilt, it is going to the shop .... his house needs a new HVAC system, he is calling a professional ..... The man is busy and has no time to take care of all needs while still working a full time job. I was the same way when working .... now that I'm retired .... My time is too valuable to spend it working on a tapered axle rear end. I can replace it with a few hours worth of work and cut down on normal maintenance required for a original rear end, it will work better and have more safety with better brakes .... and nobody but me will know I did the upgrade. I am just too busy and it is hard to justify my time to work on a 75 year old technology that is inadequate. I had to do some kitchen plumbing last week that included a new kitchen sink. After I got my rear patio pressure washed today and everything put away .... I need to go in and repair my refrigerator by replacing the defrost heater. I need to do some wiring and make some mounts. The wife car needs a new pcm installed ... My daily driver truck needs some basic work, after I get the 49 Dodge on the road .... The garden needs work, the little barn needs attention ...... My time is more valuable once I retired .... I got no time for a tapered axle rear end.

Not sure if electric wipers was a option on our trucks, or what year they were offered. Many over the years have added electric wipers to these trucks. The chrome switch on top of the dash is for the vacuum operated wipers that was stock for my truck. I believe I see the same switch on your photo. I think you need to look at your wiper motor, decide if it is vacuum or if it has been changed out for a electric motor.

One thing is, on a truck the heater was a option, They were never factory installed. They did have Mopar heaters that were installed at the dealer. I have seen some with a extra set of controls mounted under the dash. They certainly looked factory .... but were dealer installed. Here is a period correct heater switch that came with my truck ..... just mounts by a clamp under the dash. You could make a simple L shaped bracket and mount it under the dash, then install the heater switch to it .... would be a normal installation for the era.

3:73 is better for highway, 4:11 is better for truck things and slower speeds. I read a post from a guy a few years ago, he had experience with 3:73 and 3:55 with a T-5. He loved the 3:73 and could cruise effortlessly down the freeway .... they worked good. The 3:55 gears, in 5th gear cruising down the highway was good, but if came to a slight or moderate incline ... he was always downshifting into 4th because he did not have enough torque in 5th to pull the incline ..... so with the 3:55 it kept him busy to drive it, enjoyed the 3:73 better. Same time many have ran the 3:55 gears with no problem, they have fresh engines .... some have headers and dual carbs .... they run ok with 3:55. You have a average motor with moderate miles on it, the 3:73 seem to be the sweet spot. Personally I think I want to stay with 3:73 to limit high speed. With a straight axle front end and factory springs/suspension. I imagine 70mph would feel like 100 mph and plenty fast enough.

For a 49-50 chebby truck .... bolt it to the floor board .... soon as you move the pedal the lights come on. If adjusted correctly. $15 on RockAuto. No it is not original, will not work for you if you want a 100 point restoration. I consider it a safety upgrade. If your brakes/switch are working perfectly, probably 10% of the time your brake lights will not come on. If in a traffic jam and you are riding the clutch and just slowly moving along ... put in the clutch and barely use the brakes to come to a stop ... there will not be enough pressure to activate the brake lights. ..... You would have to press on the brakes and do a nose dive to activate the lights. Now if someone following you are not paying close attention and they rear end you .... it could be your fault for no brake lights. So many cars today have dash cams that would show in court your lights did not come on. Sitting at a stop sign and just holding the car motionless with light pressure on the brakes .... no lights again ..... sometimes I might be cruising down the highway and something is going on ahead .... I might tap my brakes a couple times just to warn the guy behind me we are slowing down. Pressure switches work, electrical switches are far superior IMHO. A electric switch will not fix bad brakes ... thats a different story .... I have a choice as to what switch to use .... no question which one I'm using.

IMHO if your brakes are working, you could just split the brake line and install a T and run your switch from there. It just needs pressure. If your brakes work ok .... sounds like you have drove it and not worried about the pedal on them. You bought the MC new in 2016 and has very few miles on it while you work on the truck .... is possible it sat dry or low for a time and got some scaly rust in it that flaked off and is now lying in the bottom of the MC blocking the hole. Possible you can remove the switch, then blow air into the MC to clear the blockage .... then the switch will work until the crud settles back into the same space again. This new of a MC I would not bother with new seals, just clean it out. @Sniper I would have to look at my old one, as I remember it the switch bolts directly to the MC while a single 5/16" line comes out of the MC and goes back 12" or so to a T. Then 5/16" line to the front brakes and a 1/4" line goes to the rear. The switch and the lines are separate. Why I think is possible the brakes work fine, just the switch passage is clogged.

Might be a good time to rebuild the MC ..... or take it apart and put new seals in it. that does not sound right at all ... sounds like some dirt or scale blocking the passage. That also explains why the switch is not working ... not enough pressure to operate it. I just looked at https://www.dcmclassics.com/ I do not see the MC kit. I bought a kit from them a couple years ago and was pretty cheap ... maybe $25 or less. They also just redone their website .... maybe give them a call or email them to see whats up with the kit. Great bunch of guys there and very helpful. Possible you can just disassemble yours and clean it, then put it back together as is and will be fine. For the effort, I would prefer to replace the seals while in there myself. When I got mine put back together and bled them, it felt fine. Then I imitated a panic stop and slammed the brake pedal as hard as hard as I could as if I was trying to avoid a accident. .... Pedal went strait to the floor. Just been honed one too many times and the new seals would not hold. ..... Old worn seals can do the same thing. Thats when I went to the Toyota MC swap and also am going with a electric switch ..... whenever I get the truck wired 🙄

How are your brakes? If you have a good firm pedal and brakes work fine, there would be enough pressure in the MC to activate the switch. One complaint about a pressure switch, if you are just crawling along in traffic and barely using the brakes, the brake lights may not come on because you are not applying enough pressure to activate the switch. One of the reasons I am going with a electric switch ... when the pedal moves the lights come on .... does not require pressure to activate. If you have power going to the switch, you have enough pressure to operate the brakes .... the switch should activate and send power back to the lights if all is correct.

The older jeep cherokee or Ford explorer work fine for the swap. I mean older in order to get drum brakes .... or newer if you want rear disk. They do have the same wheel bolt pattern so you can use your stock wheels Seems the modifications would be to remove existing spring perches and weld on new ones .... and install new U-bolts. The rear yoke will be different and will need to get a drive line modified to fit the modern u-joints. If you do not need to stay original, I'm a firm believer in a rear end upgrade. The gears will be quieter. The original brakes are a nightmare to adjust and maintain .... the quality of replacement parts is crap ... brake drum availability is questionable. You need a special puller and a free afternoon just to remove the rear drums from the tapered axle. They have a woodruff key to hold the axles in place .... you could borrow one from your 3.5 HP Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine if needed. Any real power from a engine will shear the keys off and leave you stranded. The ball and trunion u-joints are a nightmare to maintain or find for replacement. Your original E-brake is almost worthless and attached to the end of the transmission .... A modern rear end has it on the rear axle where it actually works. All I'm saying, for the cost or effort of doing the rear end swap .... You avoid sooo many headaches and expensive repairs. Pay one time and get self adjusting brakes easily bought at local outlets, A strong rear end that will hold up to some real HP. Get rid of the goofy ball & trunion u-joints. I'm only sad because my rear end is in perfect condition and needs no work done to it .... if it does in the future, I will replace quicker then a New York minute.

The front sheet metal, commonly called the dog house is designed to be unbolted and removed. The headlight wiring has a junction block so you can unbolt the wiring. Seriously, is not that many bolts and will take 2 guys to lift it off and set to the side .... you will then have access to everything. Lets be honest, doing a engine swap your going to appreciate having all the access to do what you want .... I would not attempt it any other way myself. I took mine off in individual pieces because I wanted to paint it before putting it back together. I then put it back together in individual pieces .... you can take it off in one piece though. I'm a fan of the slant 6, they are great engines. .... so are the flathead sixes your truck came with. Would not be my first choice for a swap though. Like @Plymouthy Adamssuggest, when going through all the trouble .... why not choose something more user friendly and readily available. A straight 6 from a Jeep Cherokee is a great engine, easy to work on and readily available .... just one example. The way I see it though, If you already own the good running slant 6/transmission.drive line ..... all deals are off .... stuff it in there.

What I did, removed brackets from original and mounted to the radiator .... My concern was I needed to raise the radiator up to clear the bottom radiator hose and this puts the fan cooling the lower 1/2 of the radiator, not the middle .... it works fine.

When you buy radiator hoses, the store always lets me go in the back and select a random hose that is correct size and has the correct bends to make it work .... just cut out the piece you need. .... 2nd one may be easier, 1rst one is no problem either.

Wonder why you would need mounting bracket mods? My aftermarket radiator had slotted mounting holes in the middle of the radiator .... I removed brackets from the original and bolted to the aftermarket .... works fine. My used $50 radiator is 3" thick all the way from top to bottom .... I believe it is a larger 3 core radiator. The one you show is a bargain price, is advertised to fit your application .... I have never heard a bad word against Champion. I would think it would fit? Because of West Texas and multiple months of +100F weather .... I might check the pricing on a thicker radiator just for more capacity. I would bet the one you show will work fine. I painted mine black, looks like it might be original ... unless you know it should be honeycomb. On a side note, My old one is in the scrap pile, it does have a good tank if you want to spend $1k to get yours re-cored.

OOOH Lawdy! I luv's me some flatty. I have a 1951 8BA lying around that will be a easy build. It was a fresh rebuild before it was parked .... really just needs cleaned and reassemble it. I had a 51 Ford truck in High school. I just love the way a Flathead V8 sounds. I had some wild idea about installing it into my 1949 Dodge truck .... some nostalgia. The Dodge 6 is a much better motor in stock form ..... does not sound as good as the Ford though. Then I came across a nice 1970 318 with 114K miles and ran good when pulled, needs freshened up and was replaced with a modern hemi. The 318 makes more sense, Still on the fence on what to do with the 8BA ..... Boy the 218 6 sure runs good though. I love the motor/trans/wheels on that Hot Rod .... install a truck body and I would be in heaven.

I'm the same way, will try to save something and feel good about recycling. I did the same thing saving some bed rails to use on my truck bed. Turns out bed rails are hardened steel and very difficult to drill holes through ..... All I did is create a future headache for myself. I would play with a few patch pieces to see how the metal welds and if you can drill through it if needed. Seems like old washers had some sort of ceramic coating on them for paint .... I wonder what that does for welding? Cheap and free is not always best.

Just wondering if a strict ban is really the best solution? .... I agree with it and stick to it myself. ..... For this forum, I respect this forum and it's rules. Over in the Chevrolet Silverado forum we have a daily chat thread where we all check in and chat off and on all day long and often politics are discussed. There are people on both sides and we disagree often, but we are all adults and get along fine. No moderation is needed to referee. Last night there was a thread in off topic of people watching results as the night went on, still going on today .... I went to bed at my usual time and in the middle of the night I went to the bathroom and checked results. Over on the Dodge forum, there is also discussion there .... I've never seen any moderation needed there. Allpar is a funny place, I'm banned from there because of politics. A particular moderator could not control their feelings on politics .... in a thread about EV cars I made no political thoughts on it, just answered the question asked and gave my opinion on why EV cars were not ready .... The moderator who also was in Canada gave me his own political opinion on the subject. I gave my opinion and backed it up with facts and links to news reports backing them up ... He banned me because he could not dispute the facts. Today in the chebby forum on the political thread was a gentleman from the middle East in Qatar .... terrorist country .... He hates the 47 potus .... the conversation was totally fine .... All I'm saying, if people act as adults .... political conversation is fine and is informative as long as all have a open mind. Maybe @RobertKB would feel better today if he had somewhere he could go to discuss this subject ..... thats why we have a off topic channel for some to choose if they want to participate or not.

Sorry for your loss .... maybe it is a good day to shut off all digital devices and go get some fresh air, enjoy life and not get worked up about things you have no control over. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Seems like the spitfire has a 25" long block, your car probably came with a 23" engine. The 2" difference means moving the radiator forward. Same time, all Canadian cars came with 25" engines .... no idea why. In USA the larger trucks came with the 25" engine, still had the same engine space as a smaller 23" engine truck. So it was done from the factory ... if you look at your original radiator brackets and the radiator core support, it is somehow possible to just move the radiator to the front instead of mounting it in the rear near the engine. While I have never done it myself .... I have heard there is no real advantage in HP between the 23" - 25" engines, maybe more lower end torque .... just not enough improvement to make the swap worthwhile. If the price is right, it may be worth it. I see mounting the radiator differently, exhaust probably needs modified to match the manifold, probably gas pedal linkage is different. Motor mounts might be the same??? It will work, just lots of little things to work through.

I just wonder if it is feasible to just swap the shafts over?

Also while engines vary in size and shape ..... the stock flat 6 is not terribly smaller then the rest .... The oil pan sits a good 5" above the straight axle on a 1949. The oil pan really should not matter if it is front or rear sump .... really does not come into play if installed above like original is. What little research I have done about installing a 318, you want to offset it 1" to the passenger side just to get clearance from the steering box. Again a non issue. What bothers me on installing a newer 3.9 or even the jeep 4.0 is a great engine and plentiful in the bone yards is wiring them up. I'm clueless on wiring. A manual T-5 would be simple, a electronic controlled 4spd automatic is actually pretty simple if you have the components and the wiring harness .... but there are 2 or 3 small 22gage wires that go in the cab and have no idea what you do with those. Same with the pcm, use the factory engine harness and pcm dead simple .... those silly little stupid wires show up to pee in your cheerios.

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