1953 Dodge - What have I got into

[DJ194950]

Nice find!

 

A plus to doing a repair like this is you can cut the length as stock at the same time as most replacements are way to long. ?

 

DJ

[peteandvanessa]

I took the speedo and gauge cluster out today. For the most part it was good news. I connected an airline to the oil pressure gauge, the needle moves from zero to full scale, yay. Did the same with the temp gauge, same result (now I know it works, the solder patch I'm planning should work), ammeter works. The fuel gauge shows a small resistance to an ohmeter, that's good news, the bad news is that the needle flips and flops around when you turn the gauge cluster 180 degrees, so I think something is broken there. The other bad news is the speedo head is frozen, so I've soaked it in a bit of penetrating oil to see if I can free it up. I'll leave it for a few days and try again. 

[peteandvanessa]

[Bobacuda]

Now would also be a good time to replace old steel freeze plugs with brass ones.  MUCH easier when the engine is out.

[peteandvanessa]

While I'm waiting for some brakeline and fuel parts to arrive, I had time to try the temperature gauge fix. It went rather well. I found some scrap copper line in my parts drawer to make the patch. Dunked the temp probe in some ice water with salt and left it in there for a good 20 mins. I grafted the new sensor to the old gauge without any issues. Then it was time to test it, so I boiled the kettle and dunked the sensor bulb into the boiling water. Now the gauge works just fine and once it gets out of the normal area on the gauge I'll know the water is getting very, very hot. After that success I moved onto cleaning up the whole gauge cluster and fixed the fuel gauge (a wire had come unsoldered, so i sorted that as well).  Slowly hand painting the faces of the gauges, they aren't perfect, but my eye and hand coordination isn't as good as it used to be.

 

So all the gauges are working now (totally  happy about that), I'll have to delve into the speedo, cos that's still stuck fast). 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2019 by peteandvanessa

[Todd B]

Back in the early 80’s my dad told me to go get a temp gauge from our local salvage yard. I had a hard time getting them through the firewall so I just bent it a few times until it broke in two. I noticed the alcohol smell but didn’t know any better. So just to make sure I had a good one I grabbed two.  Took them home and my dad wanted to slab me.  Overall my dad was proud of me, but not that day.  

[peteandvanessa]

I finished the gauge cluster today, not perfect but not bad for a complete amateur.

[Jim Shepard]

On 1/8/2019 at 11:19 AM, peteandvanessa said:

perfect, I'll certainly plan to attend

There's usually a group of 6-8 of us in the Elk Grove/Wilton area that caravan down. We meet on Clay Station Road and Stablegate Road in Wilton (just south of the canal) and try and leave about 9am. Takes about 30-40 minutes to get to Tim's. You're more than welcome to go down with us...

[peteandvanessa]

2 hours ago, Jim Shepard said:

There's usually a group of 6-8 of us in the Elk Grove/Wilton area that caravan down. We meet on Clay Station Road and Stablegate Road in Wilton (just south of the canal) and try and leave about 9am. Takes about 30-40 minutes to get to Tim's. You're more than welcome to go down with us...

Sounds like a good plan, are there any pics from earlier meets? I'm also hoping there's a swap meet for parts, I have a growing list of parts that I need ?

[48Dodger]

If you're on a PC you can check my signature line for links to past BBQ threads....CYA There!!

 

48D

[ggdad1951]

11 hours ago, peteandvanessa said:

Sounds like a good plan, are there any pics from earlier meets? I'm also hoping there's a swap meet for parts, I have a growing list of parts that I need ?

 

dropped ya a PM.

 

There are a few parts that show up with members, but he's never had an official swap meet.

[Brent B3B]

2 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

 

dropped ya a PM.

 

There are a few parts that show up with members, but he's never had an official swap meet.

Yeah, To the outsider it might look like we are "dealing"

psst, Meet me at my truck, check out what I have for yeah..... you know you want it! LOL 

[tom'sB2B]

3 hours ago, Brent B3B said:

Yeah, To the outsider it might look like we are "dealing"

psst, Meet me at my truck, check out what I have for yeah..... you know you want it! LOL 

I’ve personally seen a dashknob deal go down. I think one of them was wearing a cowboy hat. ?

[peteandvanessa]

Thanks for the offer on parts, it's very much appreciated. Here's the growing list of parts that I'm missing:  I'm missing the floor panels (I have them but they are very rusty), accelerator pedal, door lock, front left and right parking/running lights and trim. Main lights trim rings, left and right door glass (mine are broken), rear center cab glass (again mines broken), emergency brake parts (all I have is the brake shoes that goes round the drive shaft), tailgate. Horn, fuel tank and sender (see I have a big list ?)

[Jim Shepard]

46 minutes ago, peteandvanessa said:

Thanks for the offer on parts, it's very much appreciated. Here's the growing list of parts that I'm missing:  I'm missing the floor panels (I have them but they are very rusty), accelerator pedal, door lock, front left and right parking/running lights and trim. Main lights trim rings, left and right door glass (mine are broken), rear center cab glass (again mines broken), emergency brake parts (all I have is the brake shoes that goes round the drive shaft), tailgate. Horn, fuel tank and sender (see I have a big list ?)

Sounds like you need to go to the BBQ just to check out Tim's "junk yard..."

[peteandvanessa]

3 minutes ago, Jim Shepard said:

Sounds like you need to go to the BBQ just to check out Tim's "junk yard..."

I bring ma tools ?

[peteandvanessa]

Started on the brakes today, I'm renewing the all the hard lines, soft lines and cleaning up the brakes themselves. Well,  I found out that the front left drum mounting lug holes are all stripped out (yup all five of them), and knowing that the drums are pretty hard to find, i'm having to think of a solution to repair the current drum. I'm hoping I can drill out the stripped drum threads and go up to the next size lug (well I'm hoping that's a solution, unless anyone else has any ideas?).

I carried on and did a full cleanup of the front left brake, man, it was dirty work.Still need to refresh a few things in there, but it's cleaned up well, installed new brake pistons and the soft lines. once down and three to go.

[59bisquik]

I converted to studs all around because my aluminum wheels were thicker than the stock steel wheels. Also, seems every tire shop in town will snap off one bolt atleast before they notice that the driver side all have left handed threads. 

 

I got the 718-8235 studs from Jegs. 1/2''-20 x 1-1/2" .615'' Knurl. Then grab a 39/64" drill bit and its an easy job. I dont know if the 53 has the same drums as the 54. I still have those laying around here somewhere. BUt the studs would be the easiest!

[peteandvanessa]

1 hour ago, 59bisquik said:

I converted to studs all around because my aluminum wheels were thicker than the stock steel wheels. Also, seems every tire shop in town will snap off one bolt atleast before they notice that the driver side all have left handed threads. 

 

I got the 718-8235 studs from Jegs. 1/2''-20 x 1-1/2" .615'' Knurl. Then grab a 39/64" drill bit and its an easy job. I dont know if the 53 has the same drums as the 54. I still have those laying around here somewhere. BUt the studs would be the easiest!

 Just a dumb question, but with the studs, wouldn't I need to tap the holes into the drum then screw the studs in, or something else?

[peteandvanessa]

1 minute ago, peteandvanessa said:

 Just a dumb question, but with the studs, wouldn't I need to tap the holes into the drum then screw the studs in, or something else?

I'm being dumb, I just looked up the studs you recommended, it's obvious now ?

[59bisquik]

I used a press to push them in, but you can pull them in with the nut also.

[peteandvanessa]

1 hour ago, 59bisquik said:

I used a press to push them in, but you can pull them in with the nut also.

Thanks for the tip, that's going to save me from worry, I'll sleep soundly tonight.

[Blue]

Hey Pete, you may already know this: from your picture your anchor bolts need to be adjusted. Drum brakes get a lot of bad press, but adjusted correctly I don't mind them. I also don't drive on the highway. Thanks for the thread, I have been enjoying watching your truck come together. Another old Dodge coming back to life. JD

[peteandvanessa]

16 minutes ago, Blue said:

Hey Pete, you may already know this: from your picture your anchor bolts need to be adjusted. Drum brakes get a lot of bad press, but adjusted correctly I don't mind them. I also don't drive on the highway. Thanks for the thread, I have been enjoying watching your truck come together. Another old Dodge coming back to life. JD

Yeah, I haven't adjusted any of them yet, saving that job when all the brakes have new Pistons and hardware, makes pulling the drums off easier ?

Edited January 27, 2019 by peteandvanessa

[peteandvanessa]

Here's what the front right brake looks like when I pulled it off today. The right brake lining actually fell off when I pulled the drum. Notice the hokey return spring, someone was creative there for sure. ?