Los_Control

Just curious if you have measured yours? Mine measure 1-5/8 od .... Rock auto sells it .... probably many local parts stores also. Seems like 1-1/2" is standard size ..... no idea if it will stretch over my 1-5/8" vents. https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/hoses/lines+&+clamps,defroster+hose,defroster+hose,308

I would think the dog that came with it is the heater? Great looking car I love it ..... cant help you with the heater, I have a truck with a different system ..... for us it was a option you had to order. I would think the cars came with a heater, but had options of which heater you would order. Some came with a fresh air option ..... some came with a extra heater under the drivers seat or in the rear of the vehicle. ..... Lots of options when you ordered a car back in this time period. Pictures of the area and what you have already will help to figure out what you are missing & need.

Howdy, a jeep cherokee or a Ford explorer is the correct width and have the 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern to use the stock wheels. Readily available in wrecking yards. They come in a variety of gear choices ...... 3:73 seems to be the sweet spot for a stock engine/transmission. While others claim a 3:55 works great ..... they usually have some high performance mods or maybe a T-5 transmission swap also .... 3:73 is a very safe choice if you have some hills in your normal driving. .... Or of course a 4.10 gear like the original will work fine. You will need to cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones to match your factory springs. Not to bad of a job if you have a welder .... you do want to set the pinion angle also while at it. Also you may need to modify the u-joints on your drive line .... original would have had Cleveland u-joints .... your photo is a standard u-joint .... I assume your drive line already has been modified. Over all it is not a difficult swap and done a million times. Check the years on the donor vehicles, older ones will have drum brakes while newer have gone to disk brake rear end. .... Choose what you want. Also a good idea if you can grab all the E-brake cables & brackets you can from the donor vehicle, can modify and connect to your e-brake handle .... If you do a transmission swap down the road, you will need these parts to get a working e-brake ..... thinking ahead can save future headaches.

Not a great picture.... You can get the general idea. Basically just a flat plate .... maybe 16 gauge? Has the ends folded over to ad rigidity. And welded to the floor pan. I figure you can get the measurements of where to put it from your truck ...... If you need measurements let me know.

Not sure if you have seen this thread ..... A lot of good info here. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-ultimate-t-5-article.171291/

I'm just learning this .... I keep telling myself I want to build one truck then I'm done. .... I want to play carpenter for awhile after my truck is on the road. A wise man once said, never build a classic vehicle in a hurry .... buy one to drive, while you build yours. ..... You will make too many short cuts in the process. I agree with them as I know when I take short cuts .... I also know I keep collecting parts for a future build when the parts come available .... Hoping I do better on the next build .... even though I say I do not want to build another. Tim this is obviously not your first build, you have been through this a few times ...... Currently I'm stuck with what turn signals to use on my truck. I know the average person just adds a dual element in the front parking lights and calls it a day. For me it just is not what I want. Others have used cowl lights for turn signals ..... looks great .... for them. I'm thinking for my build I want something on top of the fender .... I want something vintage .... Not too big, not too small .... maybe some vintage cab lights to match the cab lights I'm using. I keep searching but just not found what I want yet. ........ I know you did the same with your mirrors, it is a tough choice to find something that really works for what you are doing. I'm just learning this as I go through my first build .... and poking some fun at the true master while at it

Glad you got it ..... seems like there is always a little tinkering that needs to be done with these old cars. I noticed with my old truck that is not driving on the road yet ..... after working on it for a few years preparing it for the road. I noticed that when I first start it up the other day, it is not running on all 6 cylinders ... Seems after it warms up it is running on all 6. It could be a bad plug or a wire .... Not worried about it. I just know it wants some attention. And it is telling me it wants some love & care. They have ways of talking to you.

To be Honest I love the older Fords, I've driven all of them from 1969 to 1987 during my working career .... I never had a complaint with their mirrors. Someone like myself just notices it ...... while most never will ... I do not care what you use as long as you are happy .... They are good looking functional mirrors. I had to think about it Toyota trucks also used a very similar mirror .... I have owned 4 of those ? Wonder how many other vehicles used the same? You may always wonder though if you should have went with the Chevrolet mirrors with red wheels

Just for you I went out and snapped a photo ...... My first thought here is the mirror head is large enough to give you a decent view. Excuse the bug splatters .... truly were freshly painted last summer While the mounting covering fits this truck ...... I thought ...... Without all the chebby plastic on them ..... they do have a very small foot print. A wise man like yourself could possibly fabricate mounts & a cover that would fit your vans profile. The only complaint I have with these mirrors on my truck .... is you can see there is 2 small screws that pinch the mirror solid in place. When I pass a on coming semi truck on a 2 lane road at 75 mph, the wind draft will move the mirror adjustment on the drivers side. ..... Not often, just when circumstances are right. So I roll down the window and push it back out .... I did tighten the screws and it helped a lot ...... basically I just need to add a little shim in the adjustment to make it fit tighter. This truck does have 435K miles on it ..... I assume original mirrors.

? ..... KK I'm wondering ..... what mirrors did you go with? I saw one picture where you tested Ford mirrors on it .... better then original ..... I thought about posting a pic of my chebby mirrors .... They look a little more sporty then the Ford ..... I know how much you appreciate chebbies ....... I do not see what mirrors you ended up using in final pics?

I thought about this myself .... I really was unsure to share my view point. I actually had a 1972 CJ5 jeep that had a mild build headers, 4 bbl, cam, 2" lift .... It was fun when you are 25 years old. It simply had too much power and I always broke things with it. ... I loved the way the V8 sounded when I opened it up .... When I should have been crawling on the trail, I would whap the throttle and end up sliding off the trail and bent the rockers on the body. I loved to do wheelies over beer cans in the parking lot on Friday night .... On my honeymoon we were pulled over at a machine shop replacing the bearings in my rear end in the parking lot .... while on our way to a cabin on the beach we reserved. The stories go on & on about my jeep .... I just loved the way the engine sounded and liked to hear it. In my 30's I bought a 1979 Toyota 4X4 pickup, a little 4 cylinder and I had so much fun with that truck ... I drove it for several years, I never broke anything or had to be towed home. It simply never had enough horse power to break things. ..... It was not exciting if I stepped on the throttle to hear it roar. So I'm not a big fan of nice sounding V8's in a 4X4 .... I'm older now but not sure I could trust myself. .... I love the way my sbc sounds when rowing through the gears to get on the freeway .... I'm not sure I will ever grow up ..... while others have more restraint then me. A mellow sounding 4.0 would probably have just as much HP as a nasty V8 ....... but not nearly as tempting to open it up .... That's my story & I'm sticking to it.

I'm curious what transmission @librado65 plans to use ..... The way I read it is the original transmission adapted to a 318/360? Just suggesting it is a bit more complicated then just motor mounts. .... Is there a adapter for a 318 to go to a 1950 Dodge 3spd? I have never looked for one. Sure would make it simple if there was .... Seems every engine swap I hear about they swap in a automatic trans with it. Now you have transmission mounts and drive line ..... shift linkage, throttle linkage .... wiring ..... Not saying it is difficult, just never heard of a bolt in kit. I picked this engine/trans up a couple weeks ago just because I could ..... No real plans for it yet, it could be a future transplant for my 49 Dodge truck. Just looking at a photo of it as I unloaded it and preparing it for a pressure wash before hibernation. ..... It is a 318/3 on the tree from a 1970 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup. Just for a visual reference .... I can see picking up a reman small block mopar .... think of all the parts you need to go with it. The flywheel, bell housing, clutch pressure plate throw out bearing & linkage ..... or a different transmission .... You will also need complete front dress .... what about the oil pan? This is a front sump truck pan .... what pan will your engine come with if any? Enough pictures, I'm just trying to show that a 318 V8 & a 218 straight 6 has nothing in common. Maybe they make a kit to bolt the V8 up to the 1950 transmission. Why would you want to do that? .... A 318 I also would want to change the rear end and also the obsolete u-joints on the drive line. .... naturally a different transmission goes with it. The small block mopar into these old cars has been done exactly 1.6 trillion times ..... it is not rocket science. ..... But it is a project. You state because of time restraints and the cost of rebuilding the flatty .... easier to just do a V8 swap. ..... Maybe you want to rethink that? Have you thought about just jacking it up & pull the head and pan ..... toss in a new set of rings & bearings .... look at the valves see what you can do with them. These engines have cast iron rings and never lasted long. It was common back in the day to drop these cars off at a service station in the morning, then pick it up the next morning with a new set of rings .... or a valve job. Then run them another 40k miles. Just possible you can stick $400 into what you have with new rings and a valve job ..... it may not be perfect and smoke a little bit .... but you get restored performance and driveabilty while you prepare for a future engine swap. Or the cheapest most simple way is to take it to a shop and have the engine rebuilt ... The V8 swap is cool, there is a lot more to it then just engine mounts.

There is a older thread here on the model 36 and shows the defroster duct.

I would go out on a limb and suggest your son in law is correct. The only reason why I say this is my wife youngest brother who lives in WA, I helped him install the TPMS on his wheels. He lives with father, I will say they both dabble in flipping cars. Father is pretty sharp on mechanics .... He will buy a pristine car that needs major engine work at a bargain price ... then fix it. Then sell it for a profit. So little brother had one of these vehicles, it had new tires on it but the previous owner installed regular valve stems instead of the proper TPMS. He was explaining to me why he was installing the proper stems ... I really did not pay attention .... I knew how to work Uncles tire machine, he did not. He really did not have the money for the stems, he had to save up for them .... If he did not feel he needed them and his Father told him he did need them ... He would not have bothered to install them. So no actual experience with them myself .... I hate new vehicles for the reason they are overly complicated. My Father inlaw is a real arsehole ... we never did get along ..... He likes to get drunk and then make fun of people. He got beat up a lot when he was younger ... middle age he learned to stay out of taverns .... He is in his 80's now and has not changed a bit. ??? I have A lot of respect for him, when he was young and built his first house, He saved his paychecks and lived in a bumper pull trailer with the wife & kids. When it was time to pour the foundation, he would have 8 or 10 paychecks saved up .... he needed 3 to pay for the foundation he would cash them and paid cash for everything his whole life. He started as a union laborer setting up scaffolding for Berkshire construction in Seattle when he was in his 20's, retired in his 60's doing the same job. After the house was built, he did the same thing. Time for a new car, he would go down and find one slightly used and pay cash .... pull out however many paychecks he needed and cash them. While he does have a bank account today and direct deposit, a very nice retirement pension, 401k, SS, over 1/2 million in real estate he paid cash for ... this guy is so tight, he squeaks if he pulls a nickle out of his pocket. If he says you need TPMS for the car to function properly, and spends his money to get it fixed .... I will take his word for it.

Not really sure what scale would help. I do have a model 61 heater and is different then a model 36, This is how the 61 looks. currently the flap is closed blocking heat to the defrost hoses .... so air blows to the floor. Here is the flap open, it allows air to go through the ducts and blocks air from going to the floor. Real simple operation. ..... close all the doors and open the defrost ducts .... or close defrost and open the doors for heat. As far as size goes, you want to measure your hose size in the photo you posted. Mine measure 1-5/8" od. Searching for defroster duct hose, I see 1-1/2" available? I'm hoping it will stretch over the 1-5/8" connections I have. I figure if the model 36 did not come with the defroster option, you will need to fabricate from scratch. first figure out the pipe for the duct hose .... match what you have under the dash. Then you will need to modify your case .... my Y is located in the upper left hand corner of the case pointing to the vents under the dash. You need to figure out how much room you have and make it according to the size available. .... Then figure out your flapper for the door. Why the only dimensions I'm including is for the hose, you just need to match what you already have then make something work .... while my flapper is fancy cable operated, a simple lever on the flap would work just as good. But I will gladly provide measurements of anything you think you need.

The only ducting would be to the defrosters if your model 36 has a defrost option? Other then that it just sits under the dash and you have doors to open or close to direct the flow of air. The heater was never installed at the factory, if you wanted a heater you either chose a model at the dealer and had them install it ... or you bought a heater yourself and installed it. A really poor picture, I just painted it 15 minute ago and letting it dry. and it is hanging upside down. My model 61 heater has a Y adapter on the side that has a cable operated flap on it. I can connect two 1.5" defrost ducts to it and route them to the defrost vents under the windshield. .... that is the only duct work these old trucks would have. ...... My truck never had a heater in it so it never got the tin adapters under the dash to connect the hoses to the vents .... I will need to fab something up.

I think your plans sound fine. Last Meadobrook at the plant??? I dunno, sounds interesting though .... I say fix it the way you want it. I have a 1949 Dodge 1/2 ton truck that identify as a 1950. What I mean is that at the end of 1949 they made about 2k trucks that had all the 1950 upgrades ... moving the 3 spd floor shifter to the column is the big one. Then they shipped them out to the dealers to put on the show room floor in 1949 to advertise the 1950 trucks. You can identify these trucks with a X on the end of the serial number. I think it is interesting, but I do not think the value is increased any. Is basically a 1950 truck with a 1949 title ... I will repair and modify as I see fit to make the truck work for me.

It is my experience they get hot ..... possible it could still be bad and not get hot? I dunno. If you still have your old one lying around you might try hooking it up and see if things change. While your coil is new, with the quality of some parts today it would not surprise me to see it go bad

Kind of a long thread so unsure if anyone has mentioned the coil? As it warms up a bad coil will get very hot to the touch and get sporadic ignition going in and out.

I certainly hope your new tires will be of current age. While I might expect Coker to have maybe 6 month - 1 year .... that would not bother me as they sell to a specialty crowd. I think Keith misread .... it is your existing used tires that were born in 2006. .... My point of my long winded post, maybe your existing tires do look fine .... do not feel bad about replacing them. They will not perform well when you need them. I have been doing a lot of driving the last couple weeks, have a BIL in a hospital 75 miles away in critical condition .... wife has been given full responsibility for his medical/estate decisions. ..... Lots of highway miles this month. Last week a semi truck treated a intersection as a 4 way stop while I had a flashing yellow caution light .... I was 40 mph with no intention of stopping when he pulled out in front of me. I needed every bit of braking power I could get. I stopped in the middle of the intersection about 2-3 feet away from his rear axle ..... I almost spilled my beer! I'm just saying it could have just as easily happened to you at 40 mph, if your old 2006 tires did not grab the road and went into a skid .... you would have hit the truck & spilled your beer Be happy you are replacing your tires .... keep the old ones around for spares or for rollers for another project .... just do not use them on something you drive.

One thing I've noticed over the years .... bias ply tires often were used for trailer tires long after radials were the norm. They just seem to hold up longer to age when you have a small trailer that gets used a few times a year .... Takes longer for them to get the dry rotted sidewalls, even when they do start cracking on the sidewalls, they still good for a few more years for the occasional trip to the dump. Another thing Ive noticed is the rubber gets hard as it ages. Performance tires have a speed rating on the sidewall ... they have a softer rubber compound that will really flex and grab the road. ... softer rubber wears out faster and you get less miles out of the tire for your $$ The average tire has a average rubber compound that is adequate for todays roads and driving/weather conditions. .... as they age though, the rubber gets harder. They will not grip or grab the road like they use to ..... go into a panic stop and they may break into a slide losing braking power. Go around a corner when it is raining, they may lose traction and send you into a spin. They just do not perform as well as they did when new. I had a old 1960 Dodge 1/2 ton I use to drive to work. I was retreading Semi truck tires, we had a retail shop connected to our shop. I would just run free used tires on the truck. Someone would come in and buy a new set, send the old set to the junk pile ..... They were old but no cracking on the sidewall, legal tread .... I would run them. There was a tricky double s curve near my house, every time it rained I got 1/2 way through the curves & I would go into a 180 spin. The tires while they looked good, they simply could no longer perform like originally designed. After 3 times spinning out on the corner, I put a different set of used tires on it and never spun out again. Just my opinion, older tires may look fine, they may or may not explode on you .... they will not perform for you as you might expect or need.

I'm just smart enough to know I'm not smart enough to figure out transmission conversions on my own. I can buy a kit and follow directions, figuring out pilot bearing dimensions, shaft lengths & diameters ..... throw out conversions .... way out of my league. Seems to me, you almost need to have all the pieces at your disposal just to measure & mock up ... just to see if you can make that trans work with your bell housing. Just tossing out my opinion, I love the idea of keeping a truck original and using it as it was designed to be used. I feel I can keep mine original because 90% of my driving is in a small town with population of 2500 people and speed limits up to 50 mph. I can drive to neighboring towns using side roads ..... I can use the stock truck as it was designed to be used. If I were to do all the fabrication to convert it to a 4x4, I think I would want the jeep 4.0 motor to go with the total package. To me it makes it complete. I would probably want to run some mild 31 x 10.50 - 15 tires ... a little taller, wider then stock .... While I would not want to beat it out on the trails, I would like to be able to use 4x4 when I thought I needed it. I'm not saying the flatty will not do the job of turning both axles with taller tires ..... boy it sure will be working hard .... and wearing out twice as fast. The flatty would be a serious weak link if it was left in place. I'm just suggesting in my opinion, the 4.0 needs to go in with the rest of the package. .... It would really change the abilities of the truck and allow you to use your new drive train as it was designed to be used. Freeway driving, trailer towing, lite off road or winter driving in ice & snow .... many trips to the ice cream shop. I will not say you are improving or harming the value of your truck ..... IMHO if you had 2 exact same trucks with the same 4x4 mods and your excellent fabrication skills to build them ..... The truck with the 4.0 would sell faster for more money then the truck with the flatty. If you are going in, go all the way not 1/2 way. Just my opinion.

@ggdad1951 story is just about like mine, I waited my turn in the right lane, when a opening in the left lane came available I moved over. That pissed off the semi truck driver .... they rode my arse flashing their high beams all the way. I suppose the big difference in my case, we were in a construction zone where traffic fines double and we were doing about 45-50 mph. There was no option to change lanes again til after the road construction ended. I wonder what the ticket for the semi truck driver for aggressive driving in a construction zone would be? Last week was coming coming home on HWY 208 going through the outskirts of a small town. At a intersection I had a yellow caution light, opposing traffic had a flashing red light. Speed limit was 40 mph in this area. A dang semi treated the intersection as a 4 way stop and pulled out right in front of me ..... I just barely got stopped and avoided running into his rear axle on the tractor. If I reacted a 1/2 a second slower I would have nailed him and it was 100% the semi drivers fault. ...... Yeah I was laying on the horn watching the kid look out the drivers window as he crawled away. I have the upmost respect for truck drivers and the job they perform that we all need. ..... starting to wonder about the younger generation on the road.

You are 100% correct @Bob Riding and I suspect the Desoto also use the same wheels .... I'm just not sure if all of them use that bolt pattern or just some? @Bingster could easily check by measuring the bolt pattern on one of their wheels. Or somebody else already knows. Really kind of sorta getting off topic here though, Bingster looking for cheap tires, I'm suggesting a different option to just replace the tires & wheels with something used. No idea if they are even open to the suggestion .... it does have other advantages though .... saves on labor cost to mount/dismount new tires. If I wanted to find a used set of tires & wheels. There is 8-10 wrecking yards within a few miles of each other in Abilene TX. I would call them and tell them what I was looking for. A few might be very well organized and have no time for such shenanigans. There will be one though that picked up a car last month that they never got around to taking the wheels/bald tires off of. They will work for you. If you want them for rollers, give me $50 cash and you can have them. ...... Cheaper then the mount/dismount fee of new tires. You just need to know what you are looking for, the counter person can then use that information to tell you all the different vehicles and also used sets they have sitting in inventory. Or just buy a new set of tires .....

I realize this, I know some Chrysler uses the 5 on 5" bolt pattern ..... In this case the wheels from my 1991 chebby would fit. I'm sure other makes would also. I just do not know what the bolt pattern is on any Desoto. Most modern wheels are made from magnesium and have larger center holes for larger hubs on modern vehicles ..... so it is the bolt pattern and the tire height to be concerned with. ....... Naturally width but a stock wheel should not be a issue. I do know of a guy that installed Cadillac wheels on his 3/4 ton B1C pickup with the 5 on 5" bolt pattern.