Los_Control

I agree it works. I have had other cars like a old 1971 Datsoon, dizzy was a tooth off and compensated by moving the wires, I really could tell the difference in tune after correcting distributor. Ran much smoother with more power. I bought a junkyard motor & installed it, just never could get it tuned right til I corrected the distributor and moved the wires as it should be. But this is a geared distributor & different from our old flat 6 distributor. But the oil pump is geared, & a tooth off the rotor may not be hitting the plug wire at the most optimal time? My truck seems to run pretty good as is and does not care. I tuned up a 1967 international for my Uncle, he inherited it from his brother. Same problem, tooth off on the dizzy and moved the wires ... I did not know this going into the job. I just ripped out all the wires, points condenser & replaced. That cost me some time to troubleshoot the issue and re-install the dizzy ... I was told it ran better then it ever did afterwards. I have no history with how it ran before. It was a rebuilt engine from Napa. You would think I am old enough to learn from my mistakes. When I tuned up my 49 dodge, ripped out the wires and installed new with #1 at 7:00 ... Wrong! Again it cost me time, but I learned from reading how the system works. So I would not call it a waste of time. My experience with past vehicles, we can adjust the wires, then play with the timing & get it to run. I feel it is better to just correct the issue and make it right. Yes these flatheads seem to be more forgiving in this area, I will sleep better at nights when I do correct it. That will be in the future when I am working on the motor. As is it works fine.

Issue is, you need to follow the book to install the oil pump. You need to put the engine on tdc, then insert the pump, then time the engine . Thing is, If others have messed with the engine & not follow the book, the timing or #1 @ # 7 position may be wrong. You really need to pull #1 up and check timing .... The distributor is ran off the oil pump. The oil pump needs to be install correctly to have the .... just saying, my oil pump was installed wrong. My #1 is at 6:0clock position. Maybe some day I will fix it. ... seems to run fine as is. Just saying it is not written in stone that # 1 is at 7:00 position .... mine is at 6:00 until I change it.

Excuse me for being a old carpenter & not a mechanic, & lazy for not going back and read previous post. My 2 cents. A knock is not good. At idle & goes away, kinda makes me wonder if it is wrist pin issues? A engine gasket set cost about $100 a few years ago, with today's inflation may be more now. If it was a wrist pin, it will be digging into the cylinder wall and leaving scars. Will be obvious the issue with the head removed. Your oil pressure sounds good which makes you think your bearings are good. If you got piston slap because of worn wrist pins. When is it too late? Can you just slap a old used piston in there to replace the bad one? These old girls learned some tricks along the years .... Will cost you $100 to peek inside , may cost you more if you do not peek.

I am trying to create a garden space from a blank canvas. Kinda crazy, city lot, house built in 1948. No real landscaping plan ever. We all got to start somewhere. I feel like my house/property is a survivor ... like buying a 1950 Dodge that was maintained and never messed with. Now it is up to me to make it mine. Bought the house about 4 years ago, first year just get by, 2nd year major plumbing replacement, 3rd year I put in the first garden boxes.... This year am going for the garden shed, creating the garden area allowing for expansion.

I am just laughing at myself this year. Pretty sure whatever I manage to grow this year will be bird food. I have had gardens in the past, takes time to cultivate them & build them up. I planted some things 2 weeks ago, still kinda cool weather in the mornings ... left over seeds from last year, really not doing great. Couple tomato plants doing well. Tomorrow I need to go to town and do the walmart shopping, then stop by the lumber store & tractor supply ... all day event They all sell plants See what we end up with tomorrow. My main goal this year is to get the "garden center" built. I have the post in for the 8' x 16' fenced area. Tomorrow pickup the lumber for the attached 8' x 16' covered area. A 16' x 16' area total to organize all the crap I do not want in my garage. Where I moved the boxes this year, much better sunlight first thing in the morning to mid afternoon. I will trim the tree as I need for light to the garden. A little shade at 4:00 pm may not be bad when it is 100+ temps out. I will run water & power to the shed, I will run a 3' wire fence off of it & enclose the garden which allows me to run a bird netting overhead. Enclose a area and not a single garden bed. I can have a combo of in ground & raised beds, irrigation on a timer ... I can be lazy. This year is kinda just playing carpenter to get where the gardener wants to be. Yes I have a junk riding mower to hide. A friend had it & gave it to me. Said it ran really well but did not cut worth a crap. Been sitting a couple years and need to go through it to get it started .... When I loaded it up I looked, the blades are just as sharp as new & installed upside down. Just no time to work on it yet. A guy just needs a place to hide all the manure, fertilizer different soils flathead engines/transmissions. This year my garden will not be great, sure looking forward to next year

I agree with everything you say there .... Back when these American cars or trucks were being used as daily driver they were so over built that wheel torque was a non issue. While in the early days the 30's - 60's the Jaguar, Mercedes, Porsche, There is many others but they built things one way. They won many races because of their design. Here in USA, we overbuilt everything. We made sure a brake drum would not warp from being tight, it would last longer then expected useful life. It could be turned and re-used. Same thing with every aspect of the car. Heavy & overbuilt. ..... A modern car is way safer then a old 50's car. Again my point is, on a older 50's American vehicle I would not be concerned about wheel torque. I would be interested more in the pinion bearing, the axle bearings .... A lot bigger fish to fry then the wheels. For over 40 years we have been told about wheel torque ... it just never applied at the time to cars born on this side of the pond. I have to agree

I see true torque specs as very important for critical components ... Heads, internal engine parts rods,crank etc... Born in the 60's, working in the industry in the 70's. Wheel torque was never discussed ... I think it was the 80's before wheel torque was discussed in my memory ... ? It was the mid to late 70's after the gas shortage that people started buying import cars, then by the 80's realized the cheaper thinner brake rotors would warp if not torque properly. Then proper wheel torque became a major topic .... shops had to start replacing rotors if they over torque a wheel & warp it. 100# torque sounds just about max for a rattle gun in good condition. I do not think it is to high, except if you are on the side of the road changing a flat with no cheater bar. 100# would not damage your wheels or your drums if in good condition .... most rattle guns have a zillion miles on them and only reach 80# before replaced. Into the 1990's, the tire shop we used a 1" impact gun with a 3/4" air hose just for it. For semi trucks. Get them girls on tight! There was no discussion on proper wheel torque for a 1990 peterbuilt. My only point is, any vehicle built in the 50's maybe 60's & earlier, the wheel torque was "TIGHT" Was the cheaper off shore parts from the 70's + that we started thinking about wheel torque. That applies to American cars, the British & other offshore cars were not common at the time and follow there own rules <--- @Plymouthy Adams

Oh Lord, I am feeling the itch .... I just hope I can drive my wife to the grocery store with no voodoo hex. I drove it again today, no issues. Not sure what I would do if I saw monkeys .... Suspect I would be looking up @MackTheFinger address

Mother inlaw wanted a caravan, Father said he chose this one for 2 reasons, 1, paint issue been fixed, 2, has the 3.3 that he claims is a better engine ... I honestly do not know the difference. Of course the transmission was bad & bought it cheap. Years ago I bought my wife a 1988 caravan with the 4cyl engine. The van just turned out to be a nightmare. Never had the power it needed, but did ok. When it ran decent. Example: we made a 200 mile trip, she driving the van, I was following her with my 1 ton flatbed. She went to pass a slow moving semi, I follow her and cars following me. She gets 1/2 way and the van starts doing the dance and cuts out ... end up slowing down to 40mph & pull back in behind the semi. Kinda dangerous. I spent a lot of money taking it to shops to be tuned and correct the issue for months. That was the final straw, I parked it in the backyard for 8 months. One day I wanted to try again, I was wondering if maybe it had some water in the gas. I put a $1 can of heet in it and a fresh tank of gas ... never had the problem again. By then I had bought the wife a toyota suv, "I am not going to drive that pos van" We sold it cheap to someone who needed it worse then us. Yeah the older vans had issues, The 1993 model they are comfortable, convenient, plenty of power with the 3.3, the 4spd od trans is awesome when it works. If I was still working, I would not waste anytime on this old van. Just replace it. .... Since I have more time and less money, seems to be more of a challenge then anything. I just have to be careful on where to draw the line.

I guess thats where I am at. If I can actually fix the issue, may be able to turn this 27 year old car into a survivor. Otherwise better people then me have sent them to the scrap pile. I really enjoy driving it because of the amount of crap I can shove in it, the dogs like riding in it, the ac works great ... just the electrics of the transmission that is creating a issue.

I thought would share a photo of it ... was a freak ice storm in Texas a few years ago. While we were house shopping was held up in a motel for a week because of the storm. Not perfect, just old ... I am not ashamed to drive it.

Glad you found that. The gasoline today really sucks if you have a car that sits a lot. I rebuilt a carb for my uncle, looked almost exactly like that except it was gray goo. I do not think so, will have to pull the battery & try to pull the tray to get better access to the harness. Might find a distribution box hidden away but doubt it. I had the van in front of garage to work on, then my chebby truck developed a hot no crank issue. I had to fix it first. Then it was going to rain and parked the pilothouse back in the spot, then spring hit and had to plant the garden, spring cleaning, etc... I got a pile of crap in the back yard and no outside garden shed ... painted 16' of fence yesterday and need to plant some post today. Just tired of looking at the mess. I think this statement has made up my mind ... I have to change my attitude, I know the 02 sensors go out at ~80k typically reading old post on forums for these vans. I may get better mpg if I replaced them ... buuuuttt \o/ it seems to run fine as is soooo. I know the IAC valve is a little gummy and needs cleaned, gives a little idle issue when running the AC. Would not hurt to change the egr. Would really be just catching up on overdue maintenance. Possibly eliminate random issues caused by older obd1 computer. Then after checking the wiring best I can, there is a electronic transmission controller that is a good possibility of being the problem. Rock auto sells a rebuilt for $157 + $50 core. That is cheap, if it would fix it ... kinda spendy if you just guessing. The van is a decent little van, A school teacher bought it new, that era had paint peeling issues and the van was re-painted and issue fixed. Maintained regularly. Transmission rebuilt at 150K, along with new axles, brakes, fuel pump. I went through it and gave it a complete tuneup, greased the rear wheel bearings, shocks, tires, all new belts, hoses, water pump ... car has never seen road salt and has no rust. We keep driving it around town, and works fine 98% of the time. Once in awhile 2 times in the past few weeks it drops into limp mode and can not go over 35mph. Speed limit in town is 35 anyways and only 6 blocks from home. Then go home unload grocery, next time you drive it works perfect .... just totally random. I swear going to get all over it like stink on poop, soon as my garden center is up

I have to agree 100%, if they can not keep up with traffic they need to pull over and allow it to pass. Otherwise they are now a traffic hazard. I think the old cushman are cool, nothing against them ... I would like to own one. Same with my old truck if I ever drive it .... it wont keep up with traffic outside of town, I will be pulling over often to let others pass.

Drop the pan, pull the head & remove the bad rod/piston. If it is hammered to bad, I once bought a 1949 chebby 1/2 ton with the 216 5cyl engine. It was a boy scout troops project truck. They used it to haul their gear to different outings, camping, sports etc. They had painted it orange with black trim, looked sharp. They did a good backyard paint job on it. The motor spun a rod bearing. Another troop project, they pulled the head & pan and removed the rod & piston, put it back together and drove it more. Eventually it needed a valve job .... Troop leader called it quits & sold the truck to me for $50. I was 19 years old & dumb enough to pull the head and have napa do a valve job. All said and done, the motor ran smooth, I had $200 into the truck. A mechanic that helped me set the solid lifters, knew the piston issue and offered me $300 for it. I sold it and he drove it a long time, think he eventually installed a sbc in it.

Beautiful car for sure, today is first time I saw it.

Some of us old dirt scratchers been busy planting

Be closer to drop it at my house, no sense in wasting the extra gas to your house ?

I use to wear the old blue denim bibs all the time, late 30's early 40's got away from them ... now in the 50's, looking for them and hard to find. Seems they are real popular for toddlers, while grown men sizes do not sell so much anymore. Couple months ago I looked at tractor supply, all of theirs had bright colored stitching, designer pockets ... I'll pass. Then I looked at a local building supply store, same thing. (compare to home depot) There is one more store I have not checked yet, this thread motivates me to do so The insulated bibs are almost mandatory equipment for those that work out in weather year around. You need to dress in layers, and a easy item to remove as day warms up. I would not consider them the same as the old blue denim bibs we use to wear.

Are you still on the engine stand? I installed a flushing T in my heater hose. This works pretty good if you have the major stuff out already. Also filling the cooling system with straight vinegar and warm up the engine, take it for a drive ... let it sit in the engine for a week run it through several heat cycles. Then flush it out using the T .... if it comes out dirty, you have time ... do it again, leave it for 2 weeks. The vinegar is mild rust remover, it works but is slow. Non invasive, will loosen the scale and rust while not eating through your radiator or heater core. If you are on a engine stand, almost need to rig up some kind of radiator & cooling system to accomplish what you want .... at this stage would be easier to pull the plugs, clean out the sand. replace and install the engine and finish it up in the car. I dunno what your plans are though. Good luck and have fun with it whatever you decide. I got to start my truck today and move it from side of garage to its carport. While I would love to work on it, I have to mow the grass

I would suggest pulling the water pump also. Behind it is the water distribution tube. Mine had been sitting for many years, first start I saw cooling system was not working at all. from cold start it would get warm and just keep climbing. Pretty sure this is why it was parked in the first place. I went to remove T-stat and someone had already busted a bolt and just gave up on it. I found the tube was clogged with scale and instead of replacing just reamed it out for now. Pulled all the soft plugs, With good water pressure and a spray nozzle on a hose into the wdt, will flush all the crap out of the engine. I also used mechanics wire to reach in the block and loosen drag what could reach. That cured my over heating issue. I would try to start the engine first though, as you said ... just to see what you are working with.

Thinking about this problem. When I measured my ranger rear end, it actually was a Bronco II rear end. I think they share same platform, rear end as the ranger. I also with my best guestemation with wheels installed and sitting on the ground, I guessed it was 2" narrower then a stock 49 dodge rear end. Thats only 1" on each side. Stock wheels may actually work as is, but look silly as the front track will be wider then the rear track ... rear wheel well will have way to much room in it. Solution, wider wheel with a offset Will need rear end installed and sitting on suspension to decide if wheels will work or need spacers. I would go with wheels if I could. Summit selling a 7" steel smoothie for $105. But possible searching craigs list or swap meets can find good used ones. In the opposite direction, last summer I talked with a guy with a B1C & needed a rear end swap. He went with a early 90's chebby truck with 5 on 5 bolt pattern. Was 2" wider then stock. 1" on each side. He installed Cadillac rims on it with a different backspacing all the way around and loves it. Gives the appearance the rear tires are a little wider then the front, but actually the same.

While searching for a rear end for a swap a few years ago, I was offered a ranger rear for free. I passed on it. While strong enough for a flat six, really is a smaller weaker example in ford line up. And too narrow. Sometimes free gets expensive. Many do run wheel spacers for different reasons .... You need good quality so you can trust them. I would guess the cost of good spacers would approach the price of a used explorer or jeep cherokee rear end that fits and is actually stronger not weaker then what you replacing. Just my 2 cents. The first photo, the lugs are technically the same and would work. The left lug is a modern decorative acorn lug nut. Meant to dress up modern wheels.

Do a good solid compression test on each cyl. Above I read you checked a couple? Mine smokes almost like yours does. It sat for a long time. My compression test showed a few cyl 100-115 couple @90+ then one was 60 another 75. I used the mmo in the cylinders to soak the rings. Let it sit for a week or 2 while doing other projects. Run the engine awhile then compression check again. Now all cyl are 100-115 except the worse one, is now 85 or 95 ... need to check again. Still smokes some like your. I am told the smoke from the road draft tube, breather cap is blow by. Usually caused by worn or stuck rings. Rings need to spin on the piston in the grooves when working properly. After sitting long periods, they get stuck and no longer spin, work properly. mmo in the cyl will help loosen them. I also am told, the engine likes to be driven in it's power band ...nice long drive 35-40 mph to get everything loosened up. Not just sit and idle in the driveway. Thats what I am waiting for as a final attempt for it to clear itself up. If your compression test shows all the cyl within 15# of each other, good chance you need a ring job. Just worn out. Back in the day, could drop your truck off at the local gas station and get a ring job done in 1 day. Pull the head, drop the pan, remove pistons/rods. hone the cylinders, install new rings ... over sized rings if needed, new bearings inspect the valves. May take 2 days if valve job was needed. Was just common maintenance back then to do rings/valves. Poor materials, rings wore quickly. Still need to inspect the wear on the cylinders.

I guess I personally am more concerned with gear ratio because I want to stay with the 3spd. I would be a freeway hazard if I ran into a hill at 60 mph and then needed to downshift to 2nd. In your case shifting into 3rd is not as bad. you know here the speed limit is 75, everybody is driving 80 ... I never plan to drive the freeway with my old truck. I wonder what gears factory used on these old cars with od? Seems I may have read some used 4:10 or 3:90 when adding the od. Actually going to a lower gear instead of higher. Then 3:73 gears for the plain jane 3spd. <--- Not sure if this is true but is sticking in my mind. What ratio do you have now? Might be nice to have some baseline as a starting point, then choose gearing from there. Will probably need to have drive line built for trans, seems a good chance can re-use it for future rear end swap? I use to have a F**d Explorer, 300 hp V6 with a 5 or 6 spd auto & 4:10 gears. That was a kick in the pants to drive. Til it kicked my pants I believe my dd cheby truck 350 with manual 5spd has low gears for towing, maybe 4:10 I should check. had to learn to drive it without spinning the tires in 1rst & 2nd while just breathing on the gas it cruises at 80mph. Gets 16-17 mpg. Not terrible but think just low gears. Truck puts a smile on your face to drive it. 4:10 are fun if you got the right trans to go with it

I would have to look it up, you can do the same ... jack up the rear end and rotate a wheel, count the revolutions of the drive shaft. You can confirm your ratio from that.