Los_Control

A lot of things to be considered on pinion angle. .... I can only give a few examples. When you set your engine in place .... typically you want your carburetor/engine sitting dead level. Now your transmission will follow this example. Now your drive line going to the rear end will be a different story. .... If it ran directly level to the rear end .... It would cause vibration & be a bear to drive. So we have pinion angles. You will need to learn this. Usually rotating the pinion down or up for 3-5 degrees will be good. Next is the simple fact your 8.8 rear end has already offset the angle by running a shorter tube on one side. The drive line goes to the passenger side because of the change. Many have installed the small block or 318 engines in your truck ... often they move the engine to the right to clear the headers with the steering box. Obvious new cars did the same Like Explorer..... Just saying some sort of pinion angle is important. So you will need to study this.

You will bee fine on the width & the bolt pattern for the wheels. There are 2 more obstacles to overcome. First thing is the spring perches will not line up. This is a 1949, it could be different then your 1946. The lower plate is also the shock mount & comes off when you unbolt the U-bolts. The areas circled is called the spring perch. Your explorer 8.8 will also have these perches but in the wrong place to fit your truck. So you will need to cut & grind them off of the 8.8. Many stores such as Tractor supply sell new spring perches for home built trailers. .... Just not a huge deal to change them. Naturally you will want to change your hardware ( U-bolts) while at it. ..... You will need to mock it up & set the correct pinion angle before you final weld the new perches. The 2nd issue is the U-joint connection from the drive line. Depending what U-joints your truck has, that may be a different topic .... there are options here. can be a very easy fix. ..... If you are installing a different engine trans you will need a new drive line made anyways. 3rd thing is the brakes. ..... If you had a older 8.8 with drum brakes, you could probably swap it in & leave your existing brake system alone .... Rear disk you will probably want to update the entire brake system to work properly .... I doubt any car manufacturer anywhere used rear disk with front drums & a single pot master. You have the right rear end, probably the easiest of any to install, just some things to remember.

Thats a big milestone .... congratulations. Glad it is going in the right direction.

I wonder what the 8.8 came out of? Is often suggested to use a Ford explorer rear end because of the width & it is a 8.8 ..... Could it be from a wider truck? The WMS (wheel mating surface) Is what you will need to measure now to compare it to your original rearend. FWIW, I heard of a guy swapping in a full size chevy silverado rear end for the 5 on 5 bolt pattern. It was 2" wider but fit well using his Cadillac wheels with a reverse offset. Just saying your 8.8 probably will be ok, still need to measure it now.

Pretty tough to deal with these old tanks as they are. They will drop rust inside & clog the outlet for the fuel ... We are talking a fuel tank 70 years old ... it needs replaced. You can deal with it anyway you want .... I would replace it.

For what I have learned .... If a crank sensor goes bad .... The engine can not possibly run ..... not your issue. .... The mechanic also knows this. If a cam sensor goes bad, the engine will run but have issues. The crank sensor will kinda sorta pick up the slack. You have modern sensors I do not know about. Do you want to pay some goofball shop $100 per hour to work on your 13 year old car they think is junk? You may want to just fix this issue yourself ... or replace the car. ... I would try to fix it. A qualified mechanic, the shop charges $100 per hour ... The mechanic probably makes $30-$40 per hour + commission They can make some good money off of the daily vehicles that come into the shop. You bring in your 13 year old hoopty .... They will charge you for it, then send you down the road .... you need to repair them.

Hard to say ... I have a Model 61 & the doors were completely frozen on them. I disassembled it & soaked it in a bucket of molasses. ...... While the existing doors are very thin, they actually move & function now. I'm just giving a personal opinion .... I think you may be looking for a replacement heater that you can take 2 and make 1 working heater from them. The doors are made from very thin metal ... 20 gauge? Probably something you can make yourself. .... They in no way are air tight, Just a flap you close & air leaks around them. Only suggesting you could probably fabricate a few doors in your shop with a vise & pliers., easier then you can find a replacement.

Some people really should not work on cars, my brother is one of them. While fixing the brakes on his Duster, he got pissed off and broke out the tail lights ... that pissed him off more so he broke out the back window & junked the car. .... Somehow he ended up with a nice 1934 Dodge pickup. While it was a driver, It had a problem with the steering box. It was dry, so he took a grease gun & pumped the box full of grease .... did not fix the problem so he sold it. NO MOPAR FOR MY BROTHER! ??? I once had the same problem on a 1964 chebby truck with same intermittent problem. The alternator had a internal short. Like playing Russian roulette. If the alternator stopped at a certain position, the brushes or voltage regulator stuck & would drain the battery in 2 min. A new alternator fixed it. I told my brother this ... he is not going to touch it. @Eneto-55The difference here is you can work on cars. you are busy with life making a living .... I think @kencombsis on the right track. Often these sensors are pretty cheap in price, I found a bad cam sensor the engine will still run relying on the crank sensor ... on my 1993 caravan. It is the cam sensor that kinda sorta does the fine tuning. The van would sometimes die at a stoplight, but run fine at high rpm. I'm just saying it was a learning experience trying to learn these cars for me. I figure a good modern tuneup includes coil pack, plugs & wires, crank & cam sensors. Modern mechanics will trouble shoot each individual problem & bring you back each time a item fails. .... Back in the day we would replace the points, condenser, rotor, cap, wires, plugs ........ We did not wait for things to break. So set the car on the side ..... when you are through being pissed off at it, throw a good tuneup at it, get the engine running perfect. May fix the problem. While you are changing the sensors pay close attention to the plugs & wire connections. A bad connection could indicate a bad sensor while it is simply a bad connection. Personal attention you can give your car while working on it. If you decide to tune up your engine yourself, ask @kencombs for advice installing a crank sensor .... I can tell you how to create a broken pistons & rings.

I agree 100% @keithb7 I just feel the thread kinda moved to a different direction. I understand cost of keeping a vehicle running for the year. But when you have a vehicle with a problem that can not easily be fixed .... then you continue to try & fix it with no success. Unless you can fix it yourself, it can easily escalate into a project that cost more then the car is worth. Simply turns into a car you wish you never owned. ..... While the right person may fix it in 5 minutes. Just depends what time the owner wants to spend on it if any. I'm guessing @Eneto-55 is just about fed up with this vehicle, the wife for sure, I say lets find a old Mopar for the wife to drive.

Often people will use the parts cannon & replace everything .... sometimes that is not the best approach.

I say it may be fine, I would spend as much time greasing it as needed ... I would not toss it off like yesterdays newspaper. If a bearing is good & functional it is ready to use. Including rod or crank bearings .... no need to replace them unless needed. Zero reasons to replace a throw out bearing unless it is needed. You will be the judge of that.

I did that once on the very first car I bought, fixed & drove. 1962 Rambler I bought from a lady on my paper route for $65 .... needed a new clutch. I was 15 & while I managed to drop the rear end & pull back the enclosed drive line to pull the transmission .... I was just too stupid to figure out how to install the new throwout bearing. ..... So I put it all back together with new clutch/pressure plate & old throw out bearing ..... That bearing squealed like a stuck pig .... I think I'm a little smarter today. If the bearing was making any noise turning it by hand, even a murmur .... I would replace it or massage it with grease til it did not murmur a noise.

Thats my story & sticking to it!!!! LOL, Here in my small town, the mechanics only stock & sell Interstate batteries for $200+ for my truck. ... !991 chebby. While walmart sells a battery for $100 .... My walmart battery is now 6 years old but working perfect. A Interstate would not have a longer warranty. Just saying besides batteries there really are few manufacturers and they just put a different name on the same product.

Sometimes we just have to throw in the towel. With some of theses modern cars. Just incredible to look at the miles of wire that comes out of a modern vehicle with all the modern gadgets. My brother has a Camaro about the same year as your journey. His main vehicle is a 2003 Ford with a power stroke he spent $20k just on the engine. Then a bunch more on the suspension, paint, transmission .... you get the idea. So you can imagine the Camaro is just a car with low miles, always garage kept, ... driven on weekends perfect condition. The camaro has a simple issue where there is a drain on the battery. If he charges the battery, drives it 2 miles to the local pub to order dinner. ... drinks 2 beers. Goes to leave & the battery is dead. He has taken it to 3-4 electrical shops, gave them free reign to fix the problem ... spent a few thousand of $$ trying to get it fixed .... nobody has been able to fix it yet. Now it is parked & he bought something different. I know it sounds ridiculous, I have to agree also. I think if I had a chance at working on my brothers car, I may eventually find the issue in a few days or weeks. Buuuut, to hire a professional mechanic to invest that much time it would be cheaper to buy a new car. Possible you can find a mechanic that will buy the vehicle from you as a project. Possible you can spend time searching for the problem. I would almost bet cookies it is some stupid loose connection somewhere along the wiring system in your car. .... Just takes time & patience to track it down.

That was a real good test. Sounds like it was just a few miles/minutes .... I wonder if you took it out for a afternoon drive without a T-stat, if the water would eventually reach over 180 & continue to climb again? This is where you would need a T-stat to control it. I think it may be possible if you installed a 195 T-stat ... your radiator may be able to maintain a 195 temp all day long. I will be honest here, your radiator just looks puny in the photos. How tall & wide is the Chrysler radiator compared to the Plymouth? The depth of the radiator in the photo .... 1.75" thick? .... looks skinny but photo's are deceiving. The factory honeycomb not very thick either. Here is a photo of the $50 radiator I plan to use in my truck to replace the leaking original. ... it does not leak, painted black will look good enough for me. The width & height are the same as original ... It is 3.25" thick, so it as least a 2 row .... I dunno about 3 row. When I install it, it will take up just as much room as the original & not look out of place. ..... I hope it does it's job keeping the engine cool.

I think this is the which came first, chicken or egg theory .... I think a hot engine first needs cool 180 water to cool it. But if all the water is over 200 then the radiator never gets a chance to cool it .... even if for only 30 seconds the T-stat closes .... I think it is obvious the T-stat has no control here. I like @wallytoo idea also ... would be a simple test to install a 195 T-stat just to monitor if it can control the temps better? ..... Who knows, it may just maintain a steady 195 temp. With @keithb7observation skills, would be easy to see if the different T-stats could maintain proper temps for longer times. The 195 still may get eventually over run with 200 temps .... but it may maintain 195 temps for 1/2 hour, where 180 maintains for 1/4 hour? The T-stat opening & closing is what allows the radiator to work & shoot cool water back to the engine when the T-stat opens. .... even if the T-stat only stays closed for 30 seconds, that allows the air flow through the radiator to cool it. I think this would be a good experimentation on what @keithb7cooling system is actually capable of. We all know the block is clean, parts are new ... I would feel silly if asking the heater core was plugged .... Just a simple case of to small of a radiator to do the job. .... I think if a 195 T-stat improves it, proves the radiator is too small.

With the Chrysler & no T-stat, the water never stayed in the radiator long enough to heat up. I saw the same thing with my truck just driving it in the yard ... Installed T-stat & maintains 180. I do believe your Chrysler is also 25" so no difference there. I see the difference is the bored cylinders = thinner mass & bigger pistons = more heat. ... nothing crazy Then the shaved head = more compression which also creates more heat. ..... nothing crazy. The aftermarket radiator could be less then adequate. I see the opposite thing happening to the Plymouth. The cooling capacity is too low, the coolant heats up beyond T-stat capacity. The T-stat now never closes because it is beyond it's limitations. The coolant just continues to circulate never getting a chance to cool in the radiator with the T-stat is closed. See what I mean about your 2 cars? ... The Chrysler stock radiator works so well it never has a chance to warm up without a T-stat to control it. Your Plymouth with a T-stat & aftermarket radiator. You have a 180 T-stat? The coolant is above 180 so it never closes ... same as removing it. The coolant never stays in the radiator long enough too cool ... so you are just circulating hot water. Same issues many car builders run into. DDspeedshop will drop a 454 big block in a 57 chebby. The only radiator he has in his stash is from a 6 cylinder 57 chebby .... so he uses it. Gets the car driving then complains it is running hot like your Plymouth .... He said the radiator was too small when he installed it. .... Now he is satisfied with his work, he gets online & orders a proper 3 core radiator for it & problem solved.

I wonder how radiator size compares? Just creating a number here .... Lets say your original honeycomb radiator holds 10 quarts of liquid. Now a modern aluminum replacement replacement holds 10 quarts. .... Technically they are the same size? I'm just guessing the original honeycomb radiator would do a better job then a replacement. I also think a modern radiator will work just as well, if you go with the right size. I agree using capacity as a measurement is over simplistic. There are single, double, triple row radiators .... I imagine your modern diesel truck you use to tow with has a triple row radiator. I figure if you have room to add a spacer to your fan, you have room to go with a wider radiator. If you already have a 3 row .... then maybe larger capacity would help. The fan only helps at low speeds or stop lights. Modern cars use electric fans on a T-stat control .... At a long stop light you will hear the fan turn on or off as needed. The fan will have no effect when moving down the road .... imho. As @wallytoo says, your engine with the bored cylinders, shaved head .... may just like to run on the warm side & be fine.

My first project was a 1949 B1C 3/4 ton truck. It had 11" drums while 1/2 ton have 10" If you use Facebook, there is a group https://www.facebook.com/groups/pilothouse Douglas Crozier is a member there and he has been buying trucks & selling parts for some time now .... just possible he may have them. No idea if they would work on your car .... I just assume mopar kept things simple & 11" drums would be the same between the car & trucks ... same with 10" Good luck in your search.

I wonder if a grade 5 bolt of the correct diameter with a shoulder long enough to reach needed depth ... then two nuts to lock it down with .... Would look like a fix from a old Hog farmer .... but it would be a good fix. Just thinking a pin .... if you could find one, or even cut the head & threads off of a grade 5 bolt & used the shoulder .... You would need a drill press & a machinist vice to drill holes in the pin for cotter pins to hold it. ..... It would look more professional. Not technically better then the hog farmer fix above.. Choices.

I think annual vehicle cost should include car insurance, tires, brakes, fuel ...all maintenance involved. Some vehicles will cost more to maintain then others ..... A 4x4 truck may have a higher tire, fuel and need more brake maintenance then a dodge caravan. This is a choice we choose Same with a classic car. My hoopty with a heater, on it's very best day with everything I plan to do to it .... in my dreams, be worth maybe $7k? I plan to just run basic liability insurance on it. While the next person with a expensive vehicle will want full coverage insurance .... which adds a price to it annually. ... Again it is a choice. I just assume the cars are paid for & do not count the initial cost. If the car sits in a back yard, then it may not cost anything. If you drive it then there is cost to keep that vehicle legally & safely operational. I agree with your father. We can adjust the cost to our comfort level. A Hot Rod will have certain insurance, fuel, tires, .... A whole set of maintenance issues with that vehicle. A 1939 100 point Desoto restoration will have it's own set of yearly cost. A 1949 Dodge hoopty has it's cost. My neighbor buys a new Dodge truck every 2 years, trades them in with 20k miles & pays cash for the difference on a new one .... He drives a company truck 5 days a week. Now I count the cost of the vehicle, the full coverage insurance, the pricey yearly registration .... He has a high annual vehicle cost also.

Yes @sniper is correct, thanks to all the high quality replacement parts coming from overseas .... The arm that rides on the cam, the pin that connects it to the fuel pump can walk out. You would need to remove the fuel pump to see if this is the problem. Then using a hammer & punch you mushroom over the head of pin on each side so it can not walk out again. Still could be lots of other things. When I first started my truck I used original tank and running it in the yard was fine for several months ... eventually crap fell apart inside & plugged the pickup line. Let it sit and the crud would float away, start it & the crud would get sucked back in again. Basically, remove the line from the pump & see if you have fuel coming from the tank to the fuel pump. If yes, then the pump is not pumping it to the carb.

Not the only game in town, you do want to bookmark DCM. https://dcmclassics.com/lighting/761-le-133-r-tail-light-rh-plain-red-lens-non-original-w-wire.html

Good catch, that really looks suspect. If it is what I think it is, it looks hard wired. That needs to be able to disconnect quickly if needed. .... Left as is it could simply weld the points together making the engine non operable. The power to the coil is not needed to get the foot starter to turn the engine over. Is only needed to start the engine while it is turning over. You need a quick way to disconnect it in a emergency like a stuck throttle & racing engine.

I really like the idea of red & black two tone paint. My idea of two tone on our old trucks ... yours have full fenders. I have seen many old black & white photos from the past where our trucks followed the body line across the doors around the cab and ends behind the bed. I have seen a lot of commercial trucks use this scheme. While the top is optional, I'm just talking the lower 1/2. To me this just looks correct, not painting the door and rear of cab would look wrong to me. There was a old Steven Seagull where he drove a 49 chebby truck red & black fenders. I've always wanted a red & black truck since then. The Fords & Chebby of the era the fenders protrude from the body & look great .... the Dodge had modern sleek body lines that require the door painted also. I dunno, my truck was black from the factory, I'm not sold on two tone paint for our trucks ... I'm going black ..... There is always more then one way too skin a ..... do a two tone paint.