Firsrt Fifty Mile Trip

[grey beard]

Got out and about today with the Dodge - first real trip since I own it. All went just peachy until the foot throttle linkage parted company on the way home. The link between the rubber throttle pedal and the bell crank on the back of the block came unhooked where the pin goes through to hold the two pieces together. Someone wanna' tell me how to get down in back of the block to put that little 1/4-inch pin and cotter back in?

Made it home with the hand throttle, and let her cool down. Still doesn't look like an easy place to get into. Mebby I'll have to go get Lukie, my 7-year-old grandson.. He's built like a snake and he can still see - as opposed to this going-blind old man.

Any other suggestions? Sure would hate to take many long trips with just the hand throttle, although I am getting better at that, too.

P.S. BAAAADDD rattle in passanger's door latch area. Bab, bad, . . .

[pflaming]

It must be a real thrill to take a truck you rebuilt out on the road. Makes me green with envy. This fall my wife and I took in our son and his two children, transition, and so my priorities in several areas changed.

Congradulations!!!!!!!!!!

[theDyls3]

I think if you remove the floor piece over the transmission you should be able to get to it. Otherwise you.re best bet is a small hand.

[wallytoo]

dave,

that rattle could be the access panel on the door. mine are both pretty loud. you could test it by wedging a few cloths between the seat and the panel and taking it for a ride.

wally

[Merle Coggins]

Dave,

If you take out the front floor plate you have pretty good access to the throttle linkage.

Long runs are good, aren't they? I did my first "long" run last summer when I took my truck down to Racine to meet Bill Pingel and help him sort out his truck project. Then I continued south to drop off something for a friend. From there I made my first Interstate run. 50 miles at 65-70 MPH was quite a test but it survived, and so did I.

Now I'm trying to gear up for the "BIG" long trip up to Minneapolis for the Mopars in the Park next month. That'll be over 300 miles one way.

Merle

[MBF]

GB-that's a great feeling (been there done that). Do you should have long enough legs to bring it to Macungie this year? Mike

[Dennis_MN]

P.S. BAAAADDD rattle in passanger's door latch area. Bab, bad, . . .

I have a bad rattle in my drivers door and it appears to be a broken spot weld what used to hold the window channel in place. Let me know if you come up with a fix. I'm thinking of new window channels and then I think I need to put a drill bit in my dremel tool and drill a small hole from the inside of the door so that I can pop rivet it back to the door frame.

Dennis

[grey beard]

Dennis,

My doors have new channels in the front and back, and are pretty tight overall. I guess it's just that these trucks have likely been around the world a few times in their sixty-plus years of pulling their hearts out, and lots of sympathetic rattles have developed over time, in the process.

The noise in my r. h. door goes away when I hang ono the latch handle. The trim panel is not yet installed, and that will take up some space behind the escushion and tighten things up a little bit. For now, I'll just chicken out and slide a few rubber O rings onto the handle to snug her up a tad. Bet that'll work just fine.

Henry Ford once said, "Give me a smart, lazy man any day. I'll watch him and see how he does his job on the assembly line and then teach all the dumb guys how to do it his way." Mebby that philosophy works other places, too.

Me, I've always been sorta' dumb.

Merle, I remember when my floor was out, I could see that bell crank throttle linkage really well. It's just that with all that nice new sound deadener, insulation and floor mat in there, I dread the thought of digging all those bolts out of the mess just to put one stinkin' cotter pin back in. Surely there's another way to beat that little rascal.

We'll see.