Drive line - Keep or Up-Date to Newer

[brian hood]

Hey,

I would like to get your opinions. I own a 53 1/2 ton B-4 PU. It shows 68000 miles on the od. It has a nice body with an older restoration. I seemed to run ok. I had normal small amounts of smoke and was a little slow. There was some blow-by from th crank case. I am at a cross roads. My flat head engine in my B-4 is old. It does run. I am assuming that it probally should be totally rebuilt . I currently have the Head at a local shop ( I found coolant in the oil- It was between 15 and 16 thousandth out and needed re-surfacing). While off, I put some PD Blaster (Simular to W/D 40) on top of the pistons- still in the block, still in the truck. This stuff pooled up on top of the pistons. On two cyl, it seemed to leak past the pistons in a few hours. On the others it remained in a pool for the entire night. Does this mean that a ring is sticking, my block needs to be bored, or is this a process of simple evaporation? I am not wild about throwing good money after bad. All of the parts still seem to be available. However, after I do a complete rebuild, What if the drive line is weak. Are the parts for a 3speed trans still available? Would I be better off putting a moderen sub-frame/clip from a 80's mopar and going with a modren small block and automatic? I know it is possible to put anything in a truck, but is it do able for a moderate ability mechanic? I am torn between repairing the original drive-line or up-dating to a newer engine trans combo. If the trans parts are as available as the engine parts, I am leaning towards restoring it to OE spec. Any suggestions for you more experienced Dodge Car/Truck Guys?

Brian

[Young Ed]

Brian if you want it to retain that old truck feel I think you will be better off with the flathead. You missed another option though. Its possible with that relatively low mileage that you could rering the existing pistons and get a decent runner out of the deal. You'd want to check the cylinder walls to see how warn they are. With too much short trip driving the cylinders tend to get egg shaped and then would need to be bored out.

[brian hood]

bUT WHAT ABOUT THE TRANS? THIS ONE SEEMS TO WORK OK NOW, HOWEVER, IF IT DOES FAIL, ARE THE PARTS STILL AVAILALE? i AM IMPRESSED THAT THE ENGINE PARTS ARE AS CHEEP AND PLENTIFUL AS THEY ARE. DO YOU HAVE MUCH EXPERIENCE WITH A 3SPD TRANS?

[Young Ed]

I'm still using the original 3spd in my 46 pickup. I've heard that the rebuild parts are expensive but available. Might be expensive because they are somewhat rare-that I cant say. Anyway I've got about 4K trouble free miles on mine so far. Besides you can always buy an extra tranny from the other guy who street rods his

[grey beard]

Brian,

If you take the time to read some of the archival posts, you will fine conspicuous by their absence very many threads that relate to failed transmissions or rear ends on our trucks. These things are truly bullet proof. My own engine has been overhauled and the original transmission works flawlessly. The only problem these ever seem to have is the occasional oil leak - same with the rear axle. The only problem the rears have is very low gear ratios. Clutches are usually only changed when they are apart already for some other reason. They're pretty bullet proof, as well.

So if you are able to get that flathead healthy again, you'll be happy, and I believe the truck will retain its value better. It's a hindsight shame it wasn't possible to check engine compression before you removed the cylinder head.

In line with your question about a heart transplant of some more modern nature, please know that this requires far more work and effort than most people realize. It is for this reason that so many partly-completed basket case rat rods are always for sale on the HAMB- guys whose eyes were bigger than their wallet, er whatever. A project like this takes several years of time and a committed wallet. JMHO

Let us know what you deciee.

Thanks

[Rich Gengo]

You might have answered that question yourself when you said moderate ability mechanic. It is a lot easier to rebuild what you have than to try to redesign the truck with some modern driveline. I hot rodded my truck with all the goodies and it was a ton of work and took years to do but thats what I wanted and the bottom line is what YOU want your truck to be. As far as your trans and rear goes you know the old saying, if it aint broke don't fix it! If you don't beat on it, it will probably run forever. It's Job-Rated ! : )

[Thunder II]

The question is, what do YOU want from your truck? There are some hardcore purists here, that are meticulous about nuts/bolt/washers on their trucks. Color codes, and other, highly technical questions often arise here, again, from and for the purists. As for me, I want to DRIVE my truck. In comfort and style. However, my style may not fit the likes of anybody else here. So the question, which only you can answer is, what do you want from your truck?

[Bob_Koch]

I want to reinforce what grey beard said. I'm into modernizing my truck with newer drivetrain, brakes, steering and the likes. It's WAY more than I planned on and is costing WAY more that I figured. I'm 4 years into it. Not saying that it shouldn't be done. In my case I had little choice as the truck had already been hacked up and someone put in an old V8 poly engine that had a cracked block. So it was hard to go back.

After having ridden in Jim Shephards truck I found out how nice the original truck rides and runs. For me it was a real treat. I'm not saying that you shouldn't make improvements, but be aware it always costs a whole lot more in time and money than ever anticipated. Fortunately I have a wife that has shown some understanding of this.

[oldmopar]

I would think the most important is what type of driving you plan to do. If just local then I would restore/rebuild/repair what you have if something does brake down you just get the truck towed home and fix the problem. If you plan on long distance driving you then may want to switch to a more modern setup.

[Jim Shepard]

might as well weigh in on this since I recently went through a fairly thorough restoration. The fact that it wasn't a more complete and true restoration is owing to my initial plan to put a Red Ram Hemi and subframe in my B2B. About halfway through the restoration I bought the motor and because I planned to put a subframe and updated running gear, I didn't do anything to the old flattie or the original drivetrain. Except for cleaning and painting, nor did I touch the suspension - it was all going to go away eventually.

After I got the cab to come back from the body shop and was starting to plan the overhaul of the Hemi, it dawned on me that my truck was pretty damned nice to look at. I had purchased a very original, near-complete example that never had a radio, never had a single toggle switch, never had an after-market gauge. It was simply very nice and original. It had been taken care of to the point where many things were still on it that arn't normally found on these trucks. Splash panels and weatherstripping were either partially or fully present. The only thing missing was the outside mirror mounting bracket. It took me seven years to locate one.

At this point I decided to stay original, or at least original within my self-imposed limits. I allowed myself a six volt alternator and radial tires. I also, as a concession to my wife, mounted three point seat belts. Had I not started with such a pristine truck I would have continued on down the modification route. As it is, I think my truck now rivals Ron Cenowa's truck that now sits in the Chrysler museum.

I still have issues with top speed. I don't want to go much faster - just fast enough to not be as much of an impediment to others on the road. I recently mounted big 16" tires and that has helped. Eventually I will put an overdrive unit in it. As to the motor, I will be putting in a punched out 230 with three single barrel carbs and cast iron headers.

While none of this is origional they are all things a smart-elick kid could've done is 1959 or 1960. And they're all things that can be reversed without too much trouble and effort. I haven't butchered anything.

Meanwhile, the Hemi will have to wait for another project. Perhaps a deuce coupe or rat rod...

[brian hood]

I guess I answered my own questions with the phrase ability. I will go back to the flat 6. thanks guys for your help.

Brian:)

[Jim Shepard]

I wasn't really trying to convince you to stay with the flathead. My point is that when one is faced with a pretty original, unmolested Dodge truck I found it very hard to change it in ways that took away from the originality. Because there weren't that many made and many fewer survived, I think we should keep them as original as is practical. There are many more out there that have been butchered and, consequently, any kind of modification or customizing is better than just letting them rot somewhere. Ford's and Chevy's are a dime a dozen and have many after market pieces available. You can practically build those of the shelf and not even start with a real vehicle.

[Merle Coggins]

When I got my truck the engine was seized up tighter than Toby's @$$. The head was removed and laying in the bed, and the cylinders were filled with a mix of oil, water, and unidentified gunk. The engine was basicly half disassembled, yet still in the truck.

I have a 360 engine from a '75 Dodge truck sitting in storage and I entertained thoughts about squeezing that into my truck, with a possible K-member upgrade. But the more I thought about it, and the labor that would be involved in that project, plus the fact that I didn't have a good place do that type of project, the more I leaned towards keeping it original. Also, since my truck has the Fluid Drive I liked the idea of keeping that unique drive train system in tact. So far I'm happy with my decission.

Merle