Los_Control

Well that was short lived. Ran great around town, first time on the highway at 75mph she blew up. I am certain I had something to do with it. No clue what though. Car ran and sounded fine. First time on the highway and engine came apart. Got it home today and just wanted to see if it was locked up ... I turned the key and it tried to start ... I wont try again because no oil in it. Wife said it sounded fine and driving home ... just blew up. She has driven the van from Seattle to Texas twice and 3 times from Texas to Albuquerque .. she knows how it should run. I am kinda bummed, I am sure me being a idiot replacing the crank sensor caused a problem ... I am now in the market for a good used engine and replacing it.

For some reason I think about a story of retreaded truck tires. One driver been using retreads for years and never a problem. Next driver tries retreads on their trailer, one comes apart, destroys a fender and the lights, sits on the side of road for hours waiting for a repair ... Swears they will never use a retread again. Just a bad experience with them. Same thing with a repair on a tank by coating it ... Some never have a problem, the next guy has issues that would drive you batty as a small piece falls off then another and then strange running issues then 2 months later a clogged fuel line. Just a very frustrating time trying to diagnose a fuel tank liner falling apart and blocking your fuel supply temporarily. Same time it may work perfect and never a problem ... roll of the dice.

Going by the census for my zip code, 7900 people or 13 people per square mile. Lot of rural area with farms & ranches, there is a state park outside of town with a 500 acre lake, many live near the lake. So maybe 1/2 that number actually live in town. Abilene is is about 1.5 hour drive and go through 3 other small towns to get there. I have lived in rural areas and cities before, I always preferred rural, but needed cities to provide work & a income. When I became disabled, sucks but I lost my house and tools, everything we owned in Albuquerque ... basically homeless and we hung in for 3 years but last 2 years we lived with inlaws in Washington. Took 5 years to get social security disability going. So I had 5 years back pay coming to me. I had to make a plan. I was going to pay cash for a house so no mortgage, I had a price in mind what I could spend and leave enough for other needed items. Just simple math for me why I live in a small town. We were going to spend more for a house, we fell in love with this one. Small towns there is not a large real estate market, more homes for sale then being sold. My house started on the market at $42k, 2 years later was down to $28k, I offered $25k cash and they did not hesitate... sold! They kept all the utilities on, gas, water, electric, property taxes ... it was their parents house left to them and costing them $$ to keep it up while sitting empty. House had a pretty new roof, new dual pane windows, storm doors, new hot water tank, gas range had never been cooked on. Garage with a carport. Large back yard. Not the best house, going from homeless to something you can afford, not a bad house. $25k for a move in ready house? Property value is lower so taxes are lower. Property tax would be $1200 a year. Being disabled my tax is $400 a year. This is what I can afford & maybe set a few $$ aside when I retired at 48 years old. Moral of the story, Always think safety when working .... or you too can be a homeless bum living in the middle of nowhere in a $25k house and damn happy you got it

A lot of if and or buts here. I have seen guys do this at home with a high failure rate. While some had good luck with it. I have heard of guys sending tanks off to a professional tank restorer, a better success rate but still is the odd few that fail. My thoughts on the radiator shop, you have a better chance because it is clean .... are they really professionals? Then the bronze filter as old as it is ... My thoughts would be to have the tank boiled out, if you can use it as is ... fine I would use it. I would not introduce foreign material into the tank. Although I might use a little J-B weld on the outside of the tank If you pay $250 to have it repaired, and it fails ... it is finished. You will not be able to clean it out and get a 2nd try. So now you still have to buy a new tank and out the investment in a questionable tank.

Not sure if this helps .... Just showing what Ford did in 1951. The bolts going to the fingers are grade 8 fine thread and flat washers. The bolts going to the flywheel also grade 8 but uses lock washers. Just saying a lot of pressure here and you want it right.

good job on the potatoes. I tried the same with some russet potatoes, they started off great ... Then just died. My potato harvest amounted to one, 1" diameter potato from 3 plants. I knew my garden would suck this year, I got on it late. It actually did better then I expected though. The heat here in West Texas and then start planting in June ... just too late. Again I am too late for my fall garden, but it is cooling down. 57 in the morning and 80-90 int the afternoon ... so I now have my salad & herb garden planted ... see how that goes ... I should have planted middle or end of August, never got to it til 3rd week of September. Day late & a Dollar short ... busy working on the wife car. I got a lot of peppers, I canned them & have 2 styles, sweet not hot ... hot! also made a few jars of salsa. Looking forward to adding a jar of yellow tomatoes corn salsa to a pot of chili ... should be good. Been making what they call Cowboy candy, Hot jalapenos canned in a sweet syrup. The peppers are awesome, but the liquid I have been saving and canning and makes a awesome meat marinade. The small amount I have wont last long, but jars are sold out for this season. About 4 days ago I planted a salad garden ... or 2, maybe will grow now. Depending on winter may be able to keep it going through the winter til it gets too hot next summer. Tomatilas are going crazy, 10' tall and in a raised box 3' off the ground ... that was a learning point. Next year they are going in the ground.

You should be fine. Strange things do happen. My first project truck was a 1949 B1C 3/4 ton. I found it had a 1937 218 engine, had a 1/2 ton front axle ... who knows what else the farmer did to it. Was it the trans from the 37 or was it the original from the 49? Good chance a 3/4 ton factory flatbed would have a 4 spd. I had a 3spd. I did a lot of reading at that time & when I learned about the changes to the starter in 1935. They made very few changes to these engines over the years. They did make changes, for the most part mopar was really good about keeping things the same. If it works don't fix it. They had several changes for the fluid drives, the overdrives or the automatics ... for a standard 218 3 spd floor shift you are probably good to go. The trucks often used a Cleveland u-joint. While cars would use something different ... A 1951 suburban had u-joints with a leather boot wrapped around them ... just different. You should be able to swap them and use the one you need. Another issue may be speedometer gear. You may want to hang on to the original and swap it in to the new trans if speedo is off.

Might depend on what engine you have, maybe post that info. AFAIK, a 218 6cyl had some changes to starter location in 1935. So A 1935 to 37 you would need to swap bell housings at least possibly flywheel also. So 37 to 36 should be fine .... you need to check your u-joints also, they may be different between the car and truck ... should be a simple fix if you have both transmission. But that info is for a 23" 218. If you have a 201 or a 25" engine, I have no clue.

Yeah valves do stick on these engines. ... first one was Molly my post on her "ran when parked" In the 1970's. I ran a compression check and 1 cyl had 25 psi. The rest had zero. When removed the head it was very simple to free up the stuck valves. #6 for some reason was stubborn. Could push it down by hand, it just did not go down by itself. Life happens and I was at this point when we bought our house 1200 miles away. Sure the rings would need oil ... just a thing for these older engines. Point is, yeah I could roll the engine over, the valves would stay open and could push them down by hand ... oil and they did free up ... accept 1. We also know the rings were stuck, we need lots of oil to free this engine up. Even if you do not want to rebuild the engine, you kinda need the rings expanded for use. I just thought this video was fun because they showed why & how they pulled it to get it started. We hear funny stories in the past how they would drag cars around to start them. Here is a good example of stuck rings & valves.

hope they show now

Thanks Todd ... lets see if I can fix that.

Thought this was kinda cool. Just a different atmosphere living in a small town. While we miss out on some of the cool stuff a city offers, we make up for it in other ways. We have a yearly parade to celebrate kids. I dunno sometimes I think the world needs a little normalcy. Even though I am a Grumpy old man & not participate in this sorta thing. I think it is cool to see it go on. I think they need a Dodge in next years parade. I laugh at the fire truck ... We do have a Hotel 4 stories tall on the edge of town. This truck is just used at parades, car shows etc...

Ahh 1968 ... that was he year I got mad at my parents and ran away on my tricycle Pretty sure it was dual foot powered not dual points

There is sooo much truth to that statement. I was mowing the grass for my Uncle one day, had to start several vehicles move them off the lawn .... The key ring is huge and not something to stick in your pocket. I swear I set them on a tool box, was a fair sized shop with 3 main roll away's, several smaller older boxes ... I looked for weeks. 2 years later they were found sitting on a window mount AC unit 15' from the front porch. Glad he had spare keys to everything.

w00t Lady Belle is alive again! Finally got a chance to mess with it yesterday, I have had the crank sensor for a week, been holding off and waiting for cam sensor to arrive. It came yesterday. Changed the crank sensor and checked for spark, all was fine ... wife was working the key. I plugged in the coil pack told her to try it one more time. She was surprised when it fired right up like normal. Really sounded terrible, either a really bad lifter or a rod knocking ... My first thought is the crank sensor in too far and hitting. I moved it out just a hair .034 is proper gap. Changed nothing. I was bummed So after starting engine several times, drove it around the block once ... Drive it and see if it blows up Started it up in the driveway and was quiet again. Now I think the computer was re-learning with the new crank sensor, and struggling because it has a bad cam sensor. Anyways just happy she is up and running, I am happy the computer is still working. I still need to replace the cam sensor but Lady Belle lives on

IMHO, A run in engine stand like @Plymouthy Adams is the cats meow. Many of us know Nicks garage. He breaks in a engine (cam) on the dyno. Just pointing out that expensive 426 hemi, 440 big blocks are broke in on stationary stands and not in the car. A home made engine run stand is no dyno, but a very valuable tool in the home shop. With PA engine stand is specialty built for a certain purpose. One certain engine with certain size limitations. I understand. I know PA has many interest and will not only want to test one size motor. Most would build something more versatile for more options. @Plymouthy Adams is that thing potty trained yet? ???

The offset does not cause a issue, ujoints correct it. Many will install a V8 engine 1" to the right to clear the steering box. Just saying the offset can be your friend, not a deal breaker for your truck. Dual ujoints there is no issue.

Just another image of west coast mirrors on these old trucks. They certainly have been mounted in a high quality way ... Nothing but the body original on this truck and they have them mounted. Are they riv nuts? Did they weld the brackets? I would like to ask them. It can be done and it looks good, but it is not simple or easy. You need to think it through.

@Brent B3Byes sir exactly what I am looking for. My existing mounting holes are the same on top mount as yours, slightly different locations for bottom brace/mount. Why I am convinced at one time it did have them, That really is the look I am going for. If you look at my truck as it sat in a field resting. The overhead glass cab lights, the home built front bumper, one time it had a radio antenna mounted to the side of the drives fender ... I am certain it was someones pride & joy at some time and it had West coast mirrors. I am not trying to put it back like the previous owner had it, I am building it the way I want it. Just happens me and the original owner think on the same page.

I really want to go with west coast mirrors myself. My truck came with no mirrors, but have the holes in the doors from a past set of west coast mirrors. There was one bracket left on the door. Mine were installed with sheet metal screws, of course they worked loose and so they removed the mirrors. Or they fell off? Mounting can be a problem, you can get nuts & bolts on the bottom brackets, almost impossible to do so above the window. My plan is to weld the mounting brackets to the door skin. I think I have a decent chance to clean up the welds and paint the brackets ... Probably not fly in street rod car show. But decent solid mounted mirrors on a working truck Is good in my book.

Was someone who did it. ... I really appreciate the build thread. Maybe take a look at it and see what you are doing. Been done 100 or more times, not a bad idea ... @Radarsonwheels really made a nice build thread.

How about a youtube video of it happening?

Just my 2 cents. Last year while working on my truck I thought would remove the steering wheel & removed the linkage on the column. When I put it all back together I found I had no reverse gear. I then found when I reached down and put both transmission arms in neutral , I could then shift using the shifter. I then realized my shifting linkage adjustment is out of whack. I have the shift rods and there is adjusting nuts on them. The linkage rods are in mid air. Is it the bottom nut that needs to come up? Or is it the top nut that needs to come down? I will find out. Just saying if your transmission jumped into gear, I would suspect bad linkage adjustment and start there.

This would be a very rare issue. I am 59 years old ... think I have seen 2 cars do this. The truck talked about above. Then there was a old beater impala with a V8 did same thing. Would take certain circumstances to recreate it. Normally if you have a leak there you will hear it, and fix it or not. Will just leak and not randomly go KAPOW! Seems when you have one that kinda sorta leaks but not always so you can hear it while running. Almost like hunting unicorns. Possibly the gasket has some damage, maybe a warped tail pipe flange, it is normally sealed but enough back pressure at the right time, the route opens up and cold air is sucked in meets the hot air and KAPOW! Just not convinced a photo of the installed gasket will help. Not even convinced this is your problem. Both times I have seen it in 50 years, were not my cars and I never fixed them. Has others seen this and fixed it?