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Los_Control

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Everything posted by Los_Control

  1. Well I can say it is a mopar year for me .....just which one? Pretty happy with the progress I made on my truck ..... although I wish it was further along then it is. ...... I did make my wife a promise that I would get the truck so far along, mainly welding because my welder can only reach so far and need the carport to use it. Well I got that far and even further with getting the truck painted. Well now it is time to move it to the side of the carport and work on her car. Some here know the story of me installing a used engine and it now has a spun rod bearing (I believe) It is time I start working on it. Cold dreary winter days it is tough for me to get motivated to go outside and work with my arthritis. But it is a good time to have the garage doors closed down with the heat on and work on her engine. ..... Slow as I am, will probably be 6 months before her car hits the road .... time will tell. So thats my plan ..... push the truck over to the back burner and start working on her car. ..... I figure I can still work on the truck when waiting for parts or if I just want to.
  2. I was pretty sure @Plymouthy Adamswas right before he even posted the comment ..... Well I think you should keep looking and not stop at the website I provided Things that went wrong so far. First off I was surprised there was no tax included on the bill of $89 .... just something did not seem right. So when they actually took out $104.90 from the bank .... I figured well that was for the tax ... It is not correct the way they did it, but was realistic to what I expected to pay. The next day I did get a tracking # ...... Although the package can not be found or tracked at this time. Tough break for me because it is a Holiday week and so many people take the week off and no commerce is done ..... so I still think it is a scam, but they get a break because of the Holidays. I have been watching the bank like a hawk, checking it every day. The money transferred from my account went into a account labeled "cardiacmoment.NK" ..... Like they don't even try to hide it. So by now I'm pretty sure it is just a scam .... still watching the account daily, Then Friday I saw the same scammers took out $0.91 cents .... the memo said it was for customs duty. ...... I instantly called the bank and canceled my card. My card expired in 2 months and had to be replaced anyways .... I just did it a little early. I'm not saying it is impossible that I ever will receive my tires, maybe after the Holidays things will start moving along ..... I might get them just about the time me and the Easter Bunny goes for a ride in my truck this year.
  3. I guess a sucker is born every minute ..... I just have a strange feeling about this deal. There is a place called Factory outlet at https://botiany.com/ I just bought 5 new 235 75 15 tires for $89.90 includes free shipping. Sounds totally to good to be true .... 4 for $79.99 & the 5th for 1/2 price at $9.98 ..... I did get a email for order confirmation, although I just ordered a few minute ago they are not shipped yet. Lets see what happens I did order a set of chrome shorty headers for a flathead V8 Ford motor from a clearance sale last year for $40 ... Think it was summit? ... dont remember. They are really nice & heavy casting, they will seal nice and are good headers. ..... Deals do happen at times. https://botiany.com/collections/new-tires
  4. A photo for illustration. It is bolted to the starter with the battery cable going to it and then the main power wire to the rest of the truck is connected there. The lever is activated from the pedal inside the cab. While the power going in is supplied from the battery, the connection to the starter is made mechanically when you step on the pedal and it makes contact to the starter. The 6 volt relay in the photo posted above by the name I can not spell is what I think you want and what sniper is pointing you towards ...
  5. Interesting .... that is a starter relay for a stomp starter. My truck has one and I suppose some cars but I dunno. The only wiring for it is the power cable from the battery ...... Negative cable from battery on a + ground system bolts to it. The relay is bolted onto the starter, then the stomp pedal inside the cab pushes on the button. Then mechanically the connection to the starter is made ..... there is no wiring. I just do not see how you can adapt that to work with your Desoto starter. ..... I suppose it is heavy enough to do the job .... would take some fabrication to switch the mechanical connection inside to a wire connection ...... I suppose anything is possible, pretty sure that is not the choice I would make though.
  6. I really like your game plan ..... I hope to keep to the same plan myself. Basically fix what you have then run it .... then from your experience change what you feel is important. I have a Rusty Hope disk brake kit I bought for a different project & never used .... Current project has good original drum brakes ... I'm keeping them for now. Maybe in the future will change. The original engine runs pretty good, transmission seems fine. I probably want to change the rear end .... lets keep it for now and drive it. Then make up my mind. I recently picked up a 1970 318/3spd with supposedly 114K miles on it. Would make a nice donor for my old truck ..... maybe in the future ... lets try original first. Curious to see how the pvc conversion goes, something I have thought about myself.
  7. Only times I have heard of problems is when you take a used coil and reverse the polarity .... IE, you take a old coil off the shelf that was used on a positive ground system, then use it on a negative ground system. Seems the windings in the coil get use to running in one direction and at certain rpm's if polarity is reversed, you can get a strange miss that is hard to chase down. At least that's my understanding .... does not mean it's 100% correct
  8. Just lame the older silverado seats do not fold up. .... still comfortable but may be a good reason to update them to newer with built in seat belts later on.
  9. It has been running not as well as I would like ....starts easy but kinda back fires through the carb if try to give it to much throttle when cold .... kinda sounds like it is not running on all 6 .... sounds better when warmed up. To be fair, I basically got it running in 2018 ... I did a lot of work on the cooling system, it just seemed to run fine and never messed with tuneup again ..... Now is the time for that I figure. First thing I noticed is the (New in 2018) rotor no longer fits tight, I can rotate it at least a 1/8" either way before it moves the distributor shaft. .... no idea what that converts to degrees in timing. The plugs were a mix between sooty & oily .... I put a lot of oil in the cylinders .... never changed the plugs. Also the plug gap was closed on two plugs, to narrow on the rest .... no idea what happened there. When I first started the engine the compression was 115 60 75 85 75 90 I checked it awhile back and was better ..... Now it is 125 85 125 100 120 110 ..... best it has ever been. I would like to see #2 get better, still hoping it will improve with driving .... I dunno though. Maybe I should drop the pan and pull the head to see whats going on .... would delay the project even longer though Think I will just keep pushing on with a good tune up and get the truck on the road driving ..... deal with the engine later. I got the brake light switch in ..... I still need to order a assortment of wire connectors, have some but not enough. Need new bulbs for the dash lights ..... should have everything needed to complete wiring. Been plugging away on the bed ..... paint is slow to dry this time of year. I had some 18 gauge metal I made a cap for the end of the exposed plywood ... I guess it is just me, I think I would want a cap even if I was using hardwood planks. .... Just seems like a good idea. Hope the next couple of days to have the bed all buttoned up ..... just out of room with everything pulled apart and all the fasteners sorted and ready to go .... the front end scattered all around ..... no room to do anything Still plugging away at it though
  10. I would appreciate the feedback. ..... I'm still uncertain about my Silverado seats. They are just a little bit tight at the knees when climbing in. Not terrible, but you do notice it. ..... Once you get in and sit down, just like sitting in a over stuffed recliner with plenty of leg room for me. The base of the seat front to back is 22.5" The older Dodge caravan the base is 18.5" .... Just leaves a little more room when getting in and out. ..... Also not quite as wide. I have to admit we drove this caravan from Seattle > Texas 4 times and many other shorter trips .... never complained about seat comfort .... And they do have a smaller foot print then the Silverado, and the inside arm rest do lift up .... 1990's Silverado the arm rest on driver/passenger do not lift up .... The caravan seats also sit higher off the floor then the Silverado. Just suggesting the Caravan seats would eliminate the need of the base of the original pilothouse seats for proper height. ..... The caravan seat as in photo sits 1" lower then the above silverado seats with the original base ..... Just saying, the caravan seats may be a better fit all the way around
  11. Honestly I think maybe you are making too much out of it. These wheels are from a 70's Dodge and fit fine ..... they were used for years before I bought the truck. They are using the original lug bolts. Many many many people over the years have installed modern wheels with original lug bolts .... never heard of a issue with the taper of the bolts. Some have drilled & tapped out the original drums and installed studs .... then used lug nuts with the original wheels. Never heard a issue about the taper of the lug nuts fitting different wheels. I need 1 more wheel to make a full set of 4 .... I have one odd ball wheel that takes a different size hub cap. The photo above is from a face book market place user .... It will work on my truck and math the other 3. He wants $75 for the wheel, I will need to bring my tools and pull it, then I will need to have the old tire removed and pay disposal ..... will cost me $20 in fuel to go get it. On ebay a clean wheel that matches sells for $85 + delivery. ..... Just saying it might be cheaper to have the ebay wheel delivered to my door. So if you can get a new wheel for $80 .... Thats not bad. Wheel smith makes reproduction wheels that will match mine perfectly for about $140. ..... I'm thinking that may be the best way to go. But for some rollers to move your project around ..... any old set of tires on steel rims that are bald and hold air from a local wrecking yard will work for you.
  12. Does it have a original generator or possibly a 6 volt alternator? If staying 6 volt, there really is no reason to switch to neg ground. ..... In fact if it has a original radio, will no longer work if it is switched to neg ground. I agree with Sam also .... that will tell you easily.
  13. All of the Mopar's were 6 volt positive ground .... until they were not .... Mid-late 50's? .... could google it. The only thing you need to be concerned with is ... did someone in the past modify the electrical system? If it is obviously original crusty cloth covered wire, good chance it has not been changed. If it has been changed over the years, it is possible they converted it to - ground. Use your judgement on it. But yes it came with positive ground from the factory.
  14. @ggdad1951I'm curious, do your inside arm rest fold up? ..... I'm guessing newer seats do? One thing I do not like on my older seats, the one arm rest on the drivers seat is locked into place and does not fold up. Kind of a pita if you want to reach over and roll down the passenger window or dig in the glove box etc .... I thought about trying the seats out of my wife Dodge caravan .... I think I would be searching for a new wife though if I could still walk afterwards.
  15. That is one way to do it .... but if you just pulled the vehicle from a field and it has not been driven for years ..... probably not the best way Sounds great .... cost of seals are not bad. ,,, seems drums and u-joints are the costly maintenance items. I pulled my drive line out and disassembled my u-joints ..... cleaned them good with gasoline and inspected them .... then gave them a good grease job and reassembled. They showed some wear but not bad, I expect them to last awhile. My truck had new brake drums and shoes before it was parked so they are in good shape. I also filled my rear end (and transmission) with 5-30 motor oil .... the old oil oozed out like black tar ? My plan is to have it on jack stands and let it run in gear for a good amount of time, long enough to get the 5-30 oil warmed up ..... Then drain it and fill with 85-140 gear oil. Just using the motor oil as a cleaner to flush out the old tar from the transmission/rear end. I let it run at 15 mph for 10 minute this way and ran out of gas .... I filled up the 2 gallon gas can and will try it again later. ..... I'm thinking 1/2 hour to 1 hour of run time? I expect the rear end will last a good long time cleaned up and with proper maintenance ... I fully expect to pick up a jeep rear end and keep it on the side, prepare it with new seals and brakes, pickup some spring perches from tractor supply ... figure out what I need for the drive line mods. Then at a future date take some time and swap it all over. It is suggested by many, a stock flathead engine likes 3:73 gear ratio .... 3:55 work, but might be a little too high and have to downshift to often. Naturally you can go lower with 4:10 .... but to high and you will lose drivability. Just suggesting to be careful in what rear end you choose. What gear ratio it has.
  16. Well I held off replying, hoping someone else had better options for you. Here is what I have done .... I used the original base flipped upside down & backwards ..... then I welded some braces to it for the seats to bolt to. The reason for turning it upside down has 2 answers. 1, There is a big wide lip on the top, and it sits really flat on the floor. .... Instead of welding it to the floor I bolted it with 12 grade 5 bolts, so it is removable. 2, I flipped it from left to right because the base is angled to give you the reclining feeling. ..... Now it slopes forward. I used early 1990's chebby Silverado bucket seats ..... they are very comfortable to me and what I had available for a real cheap price. The seat perches are also sloped. ..... I'm 5'6" tall and my legs were uncomfortable reaching the pedals with the front of the seat so high off the floor. Why I played with the base to get the angle right .... With the base sloping downwards and the perches sloping backwards .... it has a comfortable recline and just right. For me. What I like about the seats They are comfortable. They are very popular .... The backs have a zipper so you can unzip and replace the covering .... you remove the back from the base and you can easily replace at home without sewing. I have seen seat covers go from $35 for basic, to $300 for full leather. I will build a custom made console for between the seats .... I am 12 volt and will install a stereo in it, need drink holders for the top. Because I took extra care bolting the base to the floor, I can mount lap belts to the base. Because I used 12 grade 5 bolts to bolt the base to the floor ..... the seats & base can be removed and have a flat floor to lay on if I need to work under the dash. There is a convenient shelf under each seat, drivers side I will mount a fire extinguisher, passenger side will be a first aid kit. .... somewhere a flashlight. Under the seat there is a lot of room for storage and all contained by the base so no rolling around getting under your feet. What I'm not happy with. Bottom of the seat sticks out a bit .... limits the space between the A pillar when getting in ..... fine once you are in. Newer Silverado seats have 3 point seat belts built into them ..... just a better deal then old seats without. I expect to install newer seats at some future date. Just for the 3 point seat belt. I have heard of many installing the rear bench seats out of mini vans .... If a bench seat is what you want. ..... Depends what you are after. You can make just about any seat work for you, just is some thinking and fabrication that goes with it.
  17. Problem you run into keeping the stock rear end is cost & maintenance. Finding new brake drums can easily cost $400 each. .... or try and find good used ones. Probably cost you $75 for a decent drum puller so you can work on them. Brake shoes, wheel cylinders are all ordered over the internet, nobody stocks them ..... Then there is the old Cleveland u-joints ..... $85 + shipping if you can find them .... Possible you can find a mopar car of that era that has 3:73 gears in it and make something work. You either roll with the stock rear end or go with something more modern. A Jeep Cherokee or a Ford Explorer, from a local wrecking yard .... choose 3:73 gears . You will need to relocate the spring perches .... weld new ones on .... modify the drive line to use modern u-joints. Just suggesting it will cost a few bucks to install a modern rear end with pleasant gear ratio .... depends on how much work you can do yourself. Or just keep throwing $$ into the original obsolete rear end. I'm with you ..... My rear end has good brake drums and does not leak .... the low 4:10 gears will work for me. I will keep it for now. When it is time to start putting $$ into it, I will upgrade it to a modern rear end .... mine is no show truck.
  18. My opinion is any steel wheel that does not require special lug nuts will work. ...... A problem you will have is .... your stock truck hubs will have a locating pin for the factory wheels. You will have to smash it with a hammer and chisel to remove the pin for modern wheels to fit it. Because your truck has lug bolts, not wheel studs with nuts ..... The locating pin is simply there to help hold the wheel while starting the bolts in place. So it is up to you if you want to keep the pin or not. ...... Mine were removed long before I bought the truck. Here is a photo of a 1960's Dodge truck, you can see the holes in the wheel between the lug nuts for the pin. .... So later model wheels do have them ..... still not cheap or easy to find. So a Jeep Cherokee or that style, Ford Explorer, Dodge trucks with the 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern will fit. ..... probably many fords .... Crown Victoria? you need to measure the center hole to be sure it is same or larger then your existing wheels.
  19. I thought also the turn signal indicators on top of the fenders were mopar.
  20. Only thing I will add .... STOMP STARTERS RULE! Sounds like maybe your mechanic is learning ..... Lets give them credit for being honest .... working on 75 year old technology is not something everyone does. Just the fact he said I do not know .... instead of filling you with BS .... deserves some credit. These old cars today offer a learning experience, either working on the car yourself or choosing a proper mechanic to work on it for you. While it may be disappointing to learn you paid money and the desired outcome was not reached. ..... You learned something from it. A:, the mechanic was honest and asked you to bring the item back. Lets see what comes from bringing it back to them. B:, You will be better equipped with knowledge and what to ask the next time you hire someone to help you. Life itself is one big learning experience, how we deal with it is up to us.
  21. That is a great combination. If the marine grade plywood is available I would use it. The glues that hold it together is designed for wet locations. I admit I've never searched for it, I have not seen it on local lumber yard shelf's. And in the middle of the desert not many boat yards to choose from. ..... Treated plywood for me. Still not sure what to use for a cap to cover the end. Plenty of options at the hardware store for aluminum or SS .... piece of small angle iron? I think I want to make something simple out of 18 Gage steel & paint it to match the painted shovel strips. I chose a off the wall color for stain, Is there a reason why nobody else chooses it? I figure the darker color will go fine with the black painted strips & end cap .... body color. Also if I did spill some oil on it or some other product, will not be so obvious with the darker color. I was surprised that the wet treated wood sucked up a full quart of stain for color. Now I'm trying to get the oil finish on it and it is slow to suck it up and dry. It will dry eventually and I can put on multiple coats ..... cold, wet & rainy winter weather ..... will take time but it is protected now. Upon closer inspection, there is a provision for drainage built into the front rail. Has holes and is embossed to create drainage. Nothing gets bolted there using those holes. I guess the trick is, if that area gets clogged up with dirt and water does not drain .... need to clean it out so the water will drain again. I set the wood to have ~1/8" gap between the front panel .... then if I back cut the front edge of the plywood, it will keep the 1/8" gap at top but be a 1/4" gap or so at the bottom ... making it harder to plug up. At least that is my plan.
  22. I'm not aware of any that used a hinge (cars in this era) As Todd states, is the ball studs that is normal. Mine was in pretty poor condition and should have just replaced it. I had a small 3" hinge and welded it to the pedal then attached the big foot to it. You can cobble something together that works ..... or just buy a new pedal.
  23. I had problems with that conversion also .... My first failed attempt I used a 3/16" adapter. The threads were a little sloppy going into the 10mm .... once it bottomed out it was tight. It is the shape of the bottom where it seals ....... possibly you can use thread tape and seal the threads .... proper fittings you should not need tape to seal. I wrapped thread tape on them, tightened it all good and bled them out fine .... later it started leaking. Now I just ordered 10mm male to 3/16" female adapters from amazon .... everything went together just fine, I expect no problems from the fittings again. ..... I'm working on other things and have the toe boards out so I have not yet bled them out again. Think I got it .... feel confident I got it ... just not tested yet.
  24. Good points @kencombs The older wood is more stable because it came from large old growth trees with really tight growth rings on them. I'm guessing most of the lumber we get today is from tree farms that were planted 20 years ago and barley large enough to be profitable to cut. .... Simply is not very stable. While 100 years ago they could cut 12" wide boards and be very stable. I'm guilty of calling spf pine myself .... while they are different species, because of the age the trees were cut down the results are the same. If a guy was replacing the strips on the bed sides also, they could raise them 3/4" higher. Now they could use 2"x6" - 2"x10" etc ... for the floor. ..... I did replace mine without thinking of the option, just put the new strips back where original was. On FB I found a company fairly close selling decking for trailers. While it was obvious they sold large quantities of it to trailer builders (looking at their inventory) They also catered to the public with custom orders. All their lumber was treated with creosote and a nice golden orangey look ..... it looked ok and what you see on new trailers. ..... would have a better chance of it not needing to be replaced at a early time. Just one more option available.
  25. When you look at an H it is the shift pattern for your car, the 2 vertical lines represents the shift rails and the horizontal line is what the gearshift lever uses for a pathway between the rails. You have one gearshift selector in the car, 2 shift linkages connecting it to the transmission. One linkage selects the gears by moving the gearshift lever forward or backwards. The other linkage simply selects what shift rail you are on. Working normally, when in neutral you lift up on the gearshift to get to the reverse/1rst shift rail. Pulling it back into neutral, there is a internal spring inside the transmission that pulls it back to the other shift rail. This is all one linkage does, when you lift up on the gearshift & let it go back with the spring ... that is the full function of that linkage. Moves from one rail to the other. the 2nd linkage simply goes forwards & backwards selecting the gears depending what rail you are on. The tricky part is, Both the arms on the transmission have 3 positions. forward, middle, back. They both move together. If one arm gets moved out of sync with the other .... you need to manually put them back into sync. Or it will not work. IIRC, you should be able to correct this from under the hood, just by looking at your shift linkage and aligning them. Take one shift linkage and push it all the way down, then move it up one click. to the middle position. Then do the same thing with the other linkage ..... you should now be in sync and working again. ...... Might be easier to crawl under it and do it from there. I dunno. This only happens when you mess with the linkage, or if you have worn out improperly adjusted linkage .... it is a common thing though. Riding with a buddy years ago in his 68 camaro 4spd we got ran off the road and bottomed out in a ditch .... moved his linkage out of sync, had to crawl under it and fix it. Nothing unusual to see here and a simple fix.
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