Los_Control

Thats a very good point I did not think about. Is a very good photo, you can look down the main tube and see how thin the metal is. My first thought was to get some square tubing, & make a wider front axle for stability. That will look awesome. Now the rear axle is going to look stupid wimpy compared to the front, so replace it also. The castors look wimpy, lets make it look cool and replace those. Now the bottom is beefy, you still have the thin wall frame, add some gussets here & there .... where do you stop and say it's not worth the effort? Better off to just build a new one from scratch. Or buy a better quality stand. Thats where I am at ... I only plan to use it a few times, others have used them cautiously without catastrophic damage. I know I can use blocks and a bottle jack under the front of block to take out some of the bounce. The Ford engines have a problem with lifters rusting in place. This engine has that issue. There will be some prying and banging bad words used, while taking this engine apart. I just have to be careful. I do not believe this stand is worth putting a lot of money or time into beefing it up. I plan to have the engine on the stand today and may have other opinions about it. ?

And mine is a 1/2 ton 1950. No clue about the moving of the pedals, I would assume the 1-1/8" may still apply. Here is a better photo, there is about 3/4" strip on my 1/2 ton between the two holes. When the bronze bushing wears out, the clutch pedal leans to the left and scrapes that side ... the squeaking sound is obnoxious metal against metal. I would just assume, if they were to lazy to fix it right, replace the bushing. They probably only trimmed the left side to fix the problem. I would guess if you added metal back to the left side to make the opening 1-1/8" the new rubber boots and all would work. Again just a guess, you will need to measure but I may at least be close And yes they are bolted down with the standard clips and body bolts used throughout the truck. The hole around the column I only guess to be some sort of fastener for the rubber boot that fits in that hole. Mine was removed when I bought the truck so just a guess.

clutch is about 1-1/8" wide and column shifter ~2" My clutch I think is original but worn and boogered ... the clutch shaft bushing wears out, instead of replacing they cut hole bigger in the floor on yours, mine they just let it rub. Also I have a column shift, so a little extra doowiggie on the column for the shifter to run through ... guessing you have a floor shift.

I found a old post here from 2018, while there were assorted replies, I kinda thought VPW would know shipping weight ... But what do they ship with them? Does it include exhaust, oil pan carb etc? I do not know. @Dodgeb4yaVintage Power Wagon ships them....

Thats good to know. Close as I can find the 218/230 weighs about 450 pounds. Complete engine on a pallet ready to ship. Honestly do not know for a fact, I think the older ones did have thicker steel Someday I do plan on putting the 218 from my truck on it ... I just want to run it a bit first, then get a game plan for it before pulling it. Today I have a old flathead ferd v8. I have it sitting outside under the carport. I need to get it up on a stand and in the garage and torn down. I just need to find out if it is a boat anchor, or a good engine to save. Currently spraying down with oil to keep from rusting and a pita. If it weighs 525 pounds complete, is probably 400 or less now with no flywheel, heads, intake. I figure if the stand has any issues, I can take care of while the block is off being hot tanked before putting it back on.

Just curious what others have done to their engine stands. I bought this cheap Harbor freight stand. My intention was to turn it into a minor welding project and beef it up. More I look at it more major it gets. By the time I bought all the metal I wanted, may as well just build a new one from scratch .... or just buy a better quality stand. The stand claims it is rated for 1/2 ton. The engine going on it is rated at 525 pounds without the trans, I do not know if that includes flywheel. I would be pulling it down to bare block and send off for hot tank. So the longer it is on the stand the lighter it gets. Real question, since this is my first engine stand, is there any do's or dont's ? I am guessing it will work fine as is. Maybe weld it together instead of just bolts, then a bigger gusset and call it a day?

Nice car, glad it found itself in your hands. I am same way with scrap metal, slowly building up my stash pile. I was just browsing the forum as I sit here and wait for the big brown truck to deliver my new spindle bearings. I spent some time stitching this deck back together The metal I used is from a old shovel I found out in the yard when I bought the house. I also went around the inside with some nice flat 18 gauge metal I picked up somewhere. I paid $35 for the mower at a estate sale last spring and used it all season with the deck in the condition it was in. With all the holes I had to use the air hose to blow the grass off me when finished mowing 27 year old John Deere runs & operates as it should, I only need to nurse it along for another 20 years ... what could go wrong?

With what little I know ... points are like a switch, on or off ... should be .000 when off. If you get some sort of reading ... you know that is not correct .... it may start and run but you know is not right. It could be a bad ground or connection, or points need replaced. Could be a wire ... you will have to find what is causing it. Pretty sure you can remove the points from the distributor and check them isolated from the car. If they check out fine then you are 1 step closer to finding issue.

Torque spec is a 3' cheater bar and 4 grunts. Or 160 + pounds. Possibly some heat on the keyway to break the rust? ... it should just pop out in a perfect world.

You wont need to worry about wire size when switching to 12 volt. With 6 volt the wire is larger then a 12 volt system. What you have will be fine without changing the wiring if you convert to 12 volt. This is why we can convert to 12 volts and keep the 6 volt starter, it is built heavier then a 12 volt starter. Back in the 1970's, when these were just 20 year old beaters to drive around. People would convert to 12 volt because it was cheaper and easier then buying expensive 6 volt battery. Assuming what you have is in good condition. Usually by now your wiring is falling apart, either been replaced already or needs replaced .... or the car has been well stored and original wiring in good condition.

I cant say it any better ....

Only reason why I plan to stay 6 volt is because am a cheap arse .... when I need to start replacing generator etc .... going 12 volt.

you can switch to 12 volt, then run a voltage reducer to certain items like radio or heater motor windshield wipers

I do not think so ... but why would you? 1rst issue is the starter .... you can use a 6 volt starter on a 12 volt battery charging system. I do not think you can use a 12 volt starter on a 6 volt battery. Any modern engine will have a 12 volt starter.

I was messing with my shifter, going to remove it from the steering column etc ... when I bolted it back together, I only had 2nd, 3rd gear. 2 leevers coming off the trans, 1 is 1rst/reverse other is 2nd/3rd I put the gear shift in neutral, then put the 2 shift levers on top of transmision in middle position & everything started working magically again. I assume this means I have excess play and need to do some adjusting, may be what you need also. Other option you can just crawl under the truck and manually shift it into reverse, then start truck with clutch pedal to the floor ... let up on clutch just to verify trans is working.

I am tempted to do the red truck with black fenders theme ... so I can run red wheels .... No just thinking it may be a few degrees cooler in the cab with red paint instead of black, some good insulation on the headliner, red paint .... maybe get a few degree's cooler but doubt would be enough to help. But yeah, me and the wife going to jump in the car and go for a drive today because it is such a great day weather wise to do it.

I stick with the grey plastic conduit, easier to work with for a old carpenter Although seems impossible a electrician could get by without owning a conduit bender, they have their purpose. I love me a good hammer drill, I have a dewalt 1/2" with hammer option, real piece of crap. I have 2 uses for it, mixing up a bucket of drywall mud,thinset etc... and anchors for screws in brick siding or other similar materials. I have drilled 1/4" holes with it in concrete ... she wont mix mud though The Bosch Bulldog is a excellent hammer drill. Lots of power and will drill concrete all day long, has the option to switch off the drilling and just use it as a hammer. A good example is removing ceramic tile from a concrete floor. A flat chisel bit and can remove it like butter ... (almost) Can put a pointed bit in it and break concrete with it ... A lot of uses that many hammer drills do not have the option. If I find one at a pawn shop I will snatch it up .... also a good drill for mixing mud ?

I think your approach is just fine .... figure out what you want before dumping a bunch of money into something you may change in a year or two. Shoes are now becoming available, unknown quality but have seen them ... Drums are the real hard ones to get. If you wanted to do a original restoration to take to car shows, You can find them ... last time I checked, front drums on ebay were $400 each. And I thank the guy for recasting them and putting them out there. While mopar brakes may have been the best available at the time .... we have better now. You could switch to disk brakes for less $$ then rebuilding new. Just depends how authentic you "need" to go. I have a Rusty hope disk brake kit sitting on the shelf, (I bought for a different project) But my original brakes only needed a new wheel cylinder ... I will just use what I have. But if they start getting involved and difficult to adjust and simply become a pita, disk brakes are going on.

1978 I was a 16 year old kid working at the Texaco gas station, learning to do brake and tire work. We always rebuilt the wheel cylinders. Was what I was taught, we would hone they cylinders and then put in the next size larger cup ... 1" bore we would put in a 1-1/16" cup. If they did leak, then we just replaced the wheel cylinder. Looking at the rust in the photo, seems like you may want to go 3 or 4 sizes bigger on the cup I am rooting for your success, do not get me wrong. Sometimes photos can be deceiving, that cylinder looked pretty bad before you honed it.

I have to admit I am too grumpy to go anywhere

I can say my 6 volt system with a new fuel pump from napa, a rebuilt carb from rock auto, let it sit for 3 or 4 weeks and couple pumps on the pedal and a few seconds on the starter ... fire right up. I may do 3 or 4 pumps on pedal then 3 or 4 seconds on starter, then repeat, it starts very easy. Thats when I had the fuel tank installed. Today I have the tank removed to do some welding on floor, I have a gas can on the front bumper and it still starts kinda easy. Every time I remove the temp hose from the gas can it drains the fuel pump, have to crank it longer to get the fuel pump to pickup the fuel again. Even with that issue, it starts pretty quick.

I have a busted dinning room chair I am salvaging the upholstery for my arm rest and sun visors We all know what opinions are like, everybody has one. My thought process, A car is like a tool .... the tool has to be up to the job you are going to use it for. In my case, I will be driving around podunk usa at 35 mph or less. I will be fine with drum brakes, no seat belt ... etc. If I changed the rear end gearing and started driving freeway speeds, then I will need to adjust my tool accordingly. I say welcome to the forum, we love pics and are patiently tapping our feet waiting to see them, most importantly enjoy your car. Too many cars today are going to the scrap yard as younger crowd is losing interest in them.

I always found tossing a rag over the top of the carb was a good choke ... then run around and remove it after started. I was a little younger then, 16. I was a little faster then also. I dunno, seems to me the 1952 panel truck would have came with a manual choke. Possibly the throttle cable also ... I could be wrong. If you have some sort of automagic choke gizmo on your carb, probably carb was replaced at some time with something that did not belong.

First step is to grab a can of beer and drink it, Then you cut the empty can into strips and shim out the new bearing shell. Hopefully 1 shim between the rod and bearing will work. Be sure and add oil hole where needed. Talk about a hill billy fix. Met a guy in Vegas when was there working construction. He did that to his 1957 cheby truck, original 6 cyl and drove it from LA to Vegas and daily for work for over a year .... Last I heard he drove it back east and about Arkansas the rear end went out and had to replace it ... motor ran fine. Drove it to DC

Good lighting is crucial to doing good work. If I lived in a big city like yours I could probably find led bulbs that work ... here in po dunkville no such animal. Tough area to light because of the height, seems like you got it under control Night time and it looks like day light in work area. That new addition is really coming along nicely. I'm kinda kicking myself in the arse right now, knowing how easy it was to get decent lighting and not doing it last year. What a huge difference it has made. Now am up on a ladder and blowing the dust out of the rafters, wiping down the doors .... Thinking about a fresh coat of white paint. Then I have 2 more 4' fixtures if needed, I am thinking do not need at this time.