rustyzman

Thanks for the compliments. The west coast mirrors were an ebay buy for about $25 each from a guy named justharris. If you email him, I bet he can still get them. Stainless steel tubing and mirror frame. It had a set on it from the original owner, but they had been communing with nature for a long time and were basically gone. I am missing the DODGE emblem from the front, but may just make up something custom at work if time allows. We'll see. Also have better fenders in the rafters with the double arrow type emblems on them from a '57. It came with a big strap iron grill guard up on the front bumper, but that was removed on arrival day. Probably won't go back on. Maybe I should bring it to a swap meet and sell it. I can't wait to get to work on the stake bed and really restore it. Right now there is not much of any real good wood left and it is covered by a layer of rusty sheet metal nailed to the rotton wood. Once I get the rusty wheel situation corrected, I will feel far more comfortable driving longer distances. Much to do, but no time limits on how long it takes! My buddies kids were playing with their hot wheels on the bed at the show and we had a little picnic dinner up there from Senor Taco's. People loved that. Love the '52 stake bed MBFowler. Nothing quite like a dually with a stake bed.

Just had to get out and say that I got the '54 out to its first full cruise night (last of the year here) last night. I had stopped by the week before, but left pretty quick. My buddy and I went along with my two neighbors. (the white Cobra, the black Falcon wagon and the white Country Squire wagon.) Actually stayed till dark, made possible by some quick down and dirty lighting repairs this past week. This is exciting for me because I have had this truck for a couple years and have been working to make it street driveable, at least for short distances. It was not licensed for about 15 years prior to my ownership and likely not street driven for many years prior to that. Just as expected, the more I drive it, the better everything works. Less smoke, better operation of everything that had seized and better braking every time I drive. I am a very long way from done, but it needed to be mobile. Looking forward to next year. link to picture. http://www.hotroddeals.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=myphotos&page=normal&pid=101670&aid=1375&id=2303&sb=id&sbo=asc&row=99&the_start=97&rows=8

Modern replacements will be a sealed bearing with a weep hole. No more grease. Possible that an over rich mixture of coolant can affect temperature. Also possible that a replacement thermostat is junk and inaccurate. Very possible that you had an air pocket in the block that needed a good burp. I can not believe that a two blade impeller could be more efficient than a turbine unit. If it was, every manufacturer today would be using it, and none of them do. It may require more torque to turn and that could lead you to a bit of belt slip creating the issue as well. Try the new one and see what happens.

The risk with a higher pressure is that the pump will overcome the float's ability to keep the needle closed and you will flood fuel out of the carb.

Due to the fact that your oil pressure was reading high and low erratically, you may want to look at the oil pressure relief valve in the engine. If it is sticking closed, the system pressure will rise up to the point that a pressure seal will leak. On a newer car you would see this as an oil filter that has bulged out or blown out completely. It can be very intermittent. I have seen this before on other makes and models of vehicles. I had one, a full flow filter system, that was pumping over 300psi when it happened, pumped all the lifters up and opened all the valves. Vehicle would stall, crank with no compression and have to sit for 30min for the lifters to bleed down before it would start again. Just an illustration of what that situation can do. It could very well be enough to overcome your filter gasket as the pressure will just try to find a way out of something. It won't all be able to pump out of the bearing clearances and will push out the next weakest point. I would pull it and look. Just some thoughts.

I bought some NORS engine bearings from him as well. Very fast shipping considering where they were.

Guy in Milwaukee I talked to said about $95 for four shoes. I found some NOS ones for the rear by luck and did not get to try them.

Yeah, Kanter is pricey, but for my C1D, they were the only company that had my rear wheel cylinders (1 1/8" both pistons). Listings in all catalogs and interchanges were wrong showing 1 1/2" bores or 1 3/8" or a different casting altogether. I know this because I talked to the reps for the manufacturers and actually ordered, measured and returned them all. They also had my front shoes. Price was higher, but they had it and the quality was good. Their tech guys knew what I was talking about as well. The front wheel cylinders were available as new manufacture from Dorman for about $30 each.

Kanter may well have wheel cylinders for you. If you know the WC diameter, likely Dorman, Wagner or Raybestos still has them. You may find that listings will be incorrect, but with some work, they are out there. The lines of course are just fabricate your own. Highly recommend Cunifer or NiCopp line as it is extremely easy to work with, will last nearly forever, but is a bit more money. Linings should be easy to have relined at any place that does modern large trucks or industrial trucks. Master on that one may be the same as the smaller trucks, not sure though. Check the piston diameter. I just completely redid my 1 ton's brakes and with a some searching found what I needed minus drums. On the dump bed though, get dimensions on the seals and numbers if possible. If no numbers, I say check McMaster Carr. For a shaft seal you may find one in a dimension chart that will work. National seals still makes those charts. Just some thoughts.

Love those 1 Tons. That will be a lot of fun. Welcome to the source for old Dodge info!

Just a quick line to say I have installed the differential gear kit (spider gears, cross shafts and blocks etc.) that is listed at Vintage Power Wagons (for 4x4 Power Wagons only) in my 54 C-1-D. I am very happy to say that they are the exact and correct set for my truck. If anyone else is looking for these parts, VPW has these military surplus kits for $65. You can't beat that. Also the pinion seal and u-joint for the Power Wagon is also an exact match. Really glad I tackled this now as their condition was very poor. All the carrier radial pins were loose, as was the threaded side and there is a really deep ding in the casting where the previous owner must have experienced a complete rear end lock up when one of those radial pins walked out of the carrier. I suspect this was rebuilt in the past due to that issue. I have now reassembled it and tack welded the pins and side cover in place. The ring was loose on the carrier and is now back in place with sleeve retainer, along with sleeve retainer on the bolt shanks with red loctite on the threads. If you tackle this yourself be aware that the threaded carrier can be a real PITA to reassemble without heat and an appropriate wrench or socket. I would suggest bolting the carrier to a heavy bench to hold it during the process. Sorry for the hijack, thought the info might be helpful to someone.

Maybe this will help. If I recall correctly, they are unequal length studs with a 7/16 coarse thread on the short end and a 7/16 fine on the long end. This is a coarse thread on both, but with a new nut will likely work fine. Search the same section for others of different lengths. http://mcmaster.com Part number 91563A177 If you have never used them before, they are a great company to deal with and have a truely outstanding website as far as I am concerned.

Not sure if this problem has been laid to rest or not. I am rebuilding my 54 1 ton rear end due to a severe lack of oil, many many years of sitting with no oil and just general rust issues on the gears. Mine is a 4.10 and the ring and pinion will have to stay for a lack of replacement units. The spider gears, shafts, pins, center block and shims I am replacing with the gear kit from Vintage Power Wagons. I got the parts today and just did a simple visual inspection, no detailed measurements, and this kit looks to be exactly the same as what is in my 1 ton. I will have to complete the reassembly to be sure, but it looks good so far. Perhaps this will translate to earlier models as well. This kit is cheap and is sealed in standard Military fashion, so no rusty bits. (just lots of cosmoline) When I get around to putting it all in, I will try and post whether or not all fit perfectly or not, but it sure looks like it will.

If you have a loose race issue a good fix is to install it with Loctite Sleeve Retainer. It will fill a small gap and greatly improve a loose press fit. It will be harder to remove in the future, but the results are great. I have used it in many applications and it is magic. Staking works OK, but I personally prefer to use it as a last resort as it creates a permanent mark/distortion. Just my thoughts.

Ed's right. If you have an unsynchronized unit it is built with straight spur gears and will have a natural whine, though the whine may worsen as the gears wear. A bad bearing is usually more of a groan or rumble. Make sure your whine is in the trans and not the rear end so you don't chase after the wrong stuff.

Just my $.02, but generally speaking it can't hurt. My feeling is that anything that required lubrication on any machine 50+ years old could use a tear down, inspection and cleaning. Old lubricants don't age well and we don't know the minute details of what others did or did not do for maintenance in the past. I'd say if your up to it, do it. Re seal it and adjust it as needed.

Good info. Unfortunately I checked with my NAPA and they just told me although the number is good, there are none locally or at the factory. I think I saw similar ones at Vintage Power Wagons though. May be worth a call. That same issue will be coming up on mine soon too. Let us know what you find out there.

Not sure if this is what you want, but here is a numerical listing with dimensons. http://www.interparts.com/pdf/NumericalListing-CVBoot.pdf

Detonation will make a very sharp, loud, distinct banging knock under loads. It will be a very fast sharp hammering. Can be caused by way over advanced timing, really crappy gas or a hot spot in the cylinder such as a knife edge on a valve or sharp casting flash that is glowing. It is also extremely destructive and will blow holes right through pistons if not corrected. Just had an AC Cobra in here with that problem from the distributor WAY over advancing timing on acceleration (like 60+deg. total). Sounded like someone threw some marbles in the cylinders at speed. If the noise is disappearing when retarding the timing, you may have an issue in base timing or in the advance mechanism. It may be worthwhile to mechanically confirm TDC with an indicator or some such and double check that your timing marks are actually correct and not off. Also, a quick check would be if it is only one cylinder, change that spark plug. It is possible to have a single cylinder event caused by a bad plug. Cheap and quick check. Just some thoughts.

Haggerty has the same garage policy. They told me that they needed a picture of my 1ton in the garage before a policy would be issued. Usage and mileage restrictions as well, like for parades and shows only. Went for liability only from Liberty mutual instead. Told them 500 miles a year and no other restrictions. About $400 a year, but in IL you need proof of insurance to get your annual plate sticker for another $100. The price we pay.

No source that I have seen yet. Do be aware of the drum interference issue on modern tubeless 16" wheels on the 1 ton. They will not fit due to the drop center. Let us know what you find out there.

I too like stacks. Expect short life in the lower elbow where it connects to the bottom of the muffler though. All the condensation will collect in the bottom of the pipe. A small drain hole might be helpful. It would look cool. Would look even cooler with a nice flame coming out of it (not necessarily safe, but still looks cool.).

If you find regular silicone does not work, try cleaning the area thoroughly and removing all corrosion, coolant etc. Seal the outlet elbow to the head with Permatex 599 Grey. This is the stuff they use in metal to metal seals with no gasket on aluminum transmissions like hondas (just like fujibond or hondabond). It is a very good sealer that does a nice job when no gasket can be used. It also works with a paper gasket if you so choose. Don't make a rubber gasket, it will extrude out and the results will be very unsatisfactory. If a perfect surface is needed, you could also use a two part epoxy (grey type, JBWeld, etc.) on the surface of the head and on the elbow. Let is thoroughly cure and sand it true with a sanding block by hand. We do this on severly corroded aluminum intake manifolds on GM's all the time to save them rather replace them.

This would be a good time to remove the carb and a watch it on the bench. likely no part of the engine is aggravating this condition, so suggest pulling it off and watching for the drips. If it is disappearing that fast and there is no external leak, it has to be going into the manifold. Bench it, put a taper punch in the vise and place a carb mounting hole over the punch. lay some rags under it for the mess and grab a good flashlight. Try to keep it level, so as not to just have it dump out of the main jet. Got to be dripping from somewhere. Only caveat would be if it is a fracture that opens up when the base is bolted down, but that is a long shot. Once you see the drip, follow that circuit backwards till you find the source. That's how I would do it anyway. Hope it helps a little.

Just about anything that rotates can cause a vibration. Most rotating components are balanced and sometimes the weights come off (for the ones that are externally balanced). So a vibration is certainly possible. Not to mention the possibility of internal damage causing the same.