Speed

I got it to run,again,but it sounds just like it did when it still had the old distributor,carb,computer and wiring;wouldn't idle,ran absolutely TERRIBLE,but I REALLY like the sound of the exhaust. I messed with the timing for quite a while,I have it at about 13 degrees now,checked the plugs and they look to be burning well so far,though they were gapped at .044,so I brought 'em down to .034.I used the plug wires I had on my 355 Chevy before I went over to HEI,and I shortened them to fit a little better. STILL didn't run well. Hooked up my vacuum gauge to it and that showed 15 inches at 1000 rpm,and 10 inches steady at about 700,but still didn't wanna stay running under that. Then I unplugged the vacuum hose to the EGR and capped the line. BOOM-INSTANT SMOOTH!!! STILL won't idle below 1000,but I think I might get results if I adjust the low speed jets-I tried the other night but I can't even SEE the one on the left side,let alone adjust it. I NEEDS me one of those carb adjuster screw drivers. Don't wanna get my knuckles against the air compressor belt again. It's possible I have some minor vacuum leaks between the spacer and the carb;I didn't have new gaskets so I used the old ones and brushed anti seize on because of no Hi-Tack. Next payday I'll get new gaskets and a can of Hi-Tack and work on getting everything properly sealed. I was hoping to get the BroncWorth licensed,but had to spend the money for some food and some dog food. I wouldn't have had enough money left after bills to license it anyway-it'll be $60.00,the DMV's online estimate calculator says. As it is now,I'd feel okay with driving it. Speed

The parts arrived today,so I went to work on installing them. Turns out the cap adapter wasn't needed,and the pigtails for the harness from the module to the distributor weren't needed either,I took the harness off the 2.0L 4 cyl. engine I pulled from an '83 Mustang;it plugs in at each end,so I'm assuming (Probably will be my downfall) that it'll work. Discovered the recent plug wires I'd installed won't fit this cap,so I scrounged a set to work. The coil wire was too short so I had to buy one. I'd been using a lawn tractor battery to check electrics,and found it'd crank the engine for 15 seconds before it started to slow down. I had one wire to connect to the coil for power,so I checked terminals in an 8 terminal plug that wasn't being used until I found one that was dead with the key off and had power with it on and in the start position,cut the wire from the plug and connected the wires together. Found TDC,set the wires where they should be on the cap,took the battery out of the '54 GMC and put it in the B-II.and tried to start it,but it was out of gas. Emptied my 5 gallon gas can into the tank and cranked it long enough to get gas to the carb. Next project will have to be installing a choke cable and making a new remote starter since my old one seems to have migrated to the Twilight Zone. Speed

Good stories-these B-II's seem to inspire adventures. I got my '84 when a friend called to say he was moving and had to get rid of all his four wheelers. He GAVE me the one I drive now,and another one that was stripped and cut down for strictly off road-no roof,doors or hood. the "yard goat" (I used it to tow cars around where I had them stored) had an automatic,my driver has a 5 speed. I sold the transmission from the yard goat to a young couple who lived in Fernley and scrapped the rest of it since it had no Title. Before I hauled it away,though,I noticed the wheels both turned the same direction with the rear end off the ground,so I pulled the cover,and discovered it had a new Detroit Locker in it. That rear end is in my other Bronco II now. The front of the "good" B-II was all pushed in,the radiator ruined,core support bent,and the clutch was shot,so I pulled the core support out as straight as I could,found a radiator from a parts truck and used the grille from the yard goat and put in a new Borg Warner clutch. It worked well until the gearshift broke off,so I did some mods to the shifting tower and made a shifter from a heated and straightened stick from a spare SM420. It's a little hard to find the gates until you're used to it,but it works great. I've run 10 wt. synthetic motor oil in the T/C since I got it. I've since added a double tube front bumper and grille guard and a rectangular tube rear bumper and receiver hitch that also serves as an air tank for my home built on board air. I also replaced what remained of the bucket seats with a split bench from a Ranger,and installed a tilt wheel steering column from an '86 Ranger. I had to mix and match some stuff to make everything work but it was mostly plug-n-play. I've used this rig so much for towing I re-named it the BroncWorth. (It thinks it's a Kenworth,and from what it's done,I'm inclined to agree.) I've towed a car trailer load of scrap to the scrap yard twice-first one was 9010 pounds and second was 8977 pounds,towed a car trailer from Carlin to Spring Creek hauling a '76 Jeep J-10 with 3 engines in the back,pushed a Ford 2 ton service truck across Ryndon,across the freeway,over the frontage road to Elburz,across the freeway again and up to the top of the hill between Ryndon and Elburz. (That job beat up the right side of the front bumper a little. I NEVER thought I'd be able to bend 4 inch well casing!) Suffice to say,this truck has never failed to go where I wanted to go,push or pull what I needed to move or impress the people I deal with. Even my 73 year old Sister loves it. It's been down for a couple of months because I had to replace the starter ring gear,and I figured,since I have the engine out,why not "de-smogify" it. I removed all the vacuum plumbing,smog pump,put the engine back in and fired it up,and it ran TERRIBLE. I was informed I'd now have to remove the ECM,remove all the wiring under hood except what went to battery,alternator and starter,replace the carb and replace the distributor. Well,all that's done but I learned that the new distributor uses a different cap and rotor,with an adapter,and I had to build a bracket to mount the module that's needed,and find a place for a different coil. (For lack of a more convenient location,the coil is bolted to the right master cylinder stud,and the module bracket mounts to the left master cylinder stud.) The rest of the parts will be here Tuesday,and I hope to have it running before dark that day. I didn't check on it,but I hope to have enough money left to get it re-licensed. (I let it expire,since it was apart and I really didn't know when it'd run again.) Looking forward to driving it again! If all goes well,it should make more power AND get better mileage. (I think I'll have to go a couple of sizes leaner on the main jets,though the author of the article insists it'll do just fine with the same jetting that was used on a small block Ford V-8. We'll see.....) Speed

Thanks Moses; Here's my thinking on this particular engine. After having Dutch hear it run and drive it,I feel pretty comfortable that it'll run for a while without major issues. Before installation,I'm going to clean the engine and pull the valve cover,and look at the guides from topside;if they look okay,I'll go with it as is and install the engine in my truck. If it makes bad sounds with the exhaust sealed up,I'll plan on going into it later,if not too bad. (Remembering my original timing chain,which I could clearly HEAR it rattle,but on opening it up,everything except the tensioner looked fine,I COULD easily have used the guides again,but since I had NEW ones...) Before installing the engine,if the guides appear overly worn,I'll probably just figure it for rings,bearings and a new double row timing set with the metal-backed guides,and probably an oil pump,and keep driving the leaker while I do this,THEN swap it. As much as I'd like to rebuild the original engine,with over 300K on it I suspect it'll need more than rings-n-bearings,plus it has a hole or two with buggered threads and possibly (probably?)a cracked timing cover,so I'd save THAT engine for an extensive going over later on. My big issue is that,to do a timing chain on this engine,it's highly recommended that I pull the cylinder head. (Trying to avoid that is what started this mess.) At that point,I might as well just do the rebuild and get it over with,so the break over point is pulling the head. If I can use it as is or make it relatively good short of that,I'll run it;if it takes anything more,it's overhaul time. Once the BroncWorth is operable and legal,I can spend more time on the 'yota and put more effort ($$) into doing it up right. A LOT of this depends on a lot of other factors,it truly is a matter of "making my choices on-the-run". It appears the "look down the timing case and see how it looks" method is pretty universally accepted,so I'll go with that. Speed

Question---I have my truck's wrecking yard replacement Toyota 22R four-cylinder engine sitting in the driveway. How can I check the condition of the timing chain, gears, sliders, tensioner without taking it apart to look? My Brother Dutch drove the donor truck onto a trailer, off the trailer at home, turned it around and parked it. He said it sounded good and ran healthy, but it had an exhaust leak so he couldn't hear everything. The speedometer was already gone, so I have NO idea how many miles. It had been rolled so there was oil all over everything. The truck was an '85. Any help would be very much appreciated. Speed

Not really-pretty much any of the V-8 four speed trucks from back then would have it;the big deal is that this bell housing will only fit Pontiac motors up to '63. In '64 Pontiac went to the BOPC pattern,BUT in '64 ONLY they used the BOPC pattern AND the bell housing mounted starter. THAT is the Holy Grail part. (Also the flywheel and starter for that combo.) I ended up with a '64 Tri-power 389 which I put into my first '62 Chevy shortbed;I couldn't find a proper bell housing so I used an aluminum later one and had a 3/4" thick aluminum starter mounting plate added to it. Wasn't pleased with the fit,the starter bolts kept loosening,and every time I drove the truck I got another ticket. I ended up selling the engine and installed a built 350 Chevy motor with the iron bell housing,truck flywheel and standard six cylinder hydraulic 11" diaphragm clutch,with the left side slave cylinder mount I described earlier. (I probably should have shortened the line,since it used to go clear to the right side,but I just looped it a couple of turns and tied the loops to the firewall. Laziness rules!) Worked great,made good power,had a nice choppy idle but still made lots of torque from 800 to 5,000 rpm,and just like the rest of my trucks,it got 10 mpg no matter WHAT I did. Speed

I like this.....

All my iron bellhousings had the mount pads;I used one with the hydraulic slave cylinder and used a "gutted" brake master cylinder to power it and built a mount for it to connect to the floor pedal, (I also learned you can use a mechanical linkage bell housing with a hydraulic clutch by cutting a piece of 2 inch angle,drilling the holes for the stock slave cylinder and drilling two holes to match the two flywheel shield bolts behind the oil filter,and mounting the slave cylinder on the bracket so it kinda fits around the oil filter. I used that set up for about 9 years,so it's plenty strong. Since then,I found that a complete system from a Datsun or Toyota works better than the home-built master cylinder,unless you're using a Borg & Beck or Long style clutch. (They'll still work okay,but figure on rebuilding the hydraulics a couple of times per year due to the excessive pedal pressure.) On my '57 Jimmie I ended up using an aluminum housing because nobody makes an iron bell housing for the BOPC pattern. I used the newer clutch fork and made a rod for it that had a "J" at the end that fit into the recess where a pushrod would normally fit. (The Chevy/GMC clutch was a pull type;I tried drilling through the recess,but it's hardened metal and my drill bits just shined it up.) I think I'm down to one bell housing and V-8 flywheel;I was going to V-8 a '52 Chevy dump truck I got,but I've since found more wrong with the truck than I was told of,so I think I'm going to hand it back to the owner. Speed

Apparently there IS a pilot bushing available for the Cadillac engines. Transmissions, Parts, and Adapters Billet Steel Flywheel for standard clutches $380 Uses stock starter. Fits most 10” through 12” car/ light truck clutches. Cadillac Pilot Bushing For manual transmission $45 Fits existing machined hole in crank - No crank removal or precision machining required in most cases. For standard GM car/ light truck input shaft size.

I agree with the center hole needing to be "perfect" sized for it to work;likewise the bolt pattern would have to be right,the offset from the block would have to be right-there's just too many things that have to be "just right" to hope for an easy conversion unless it's to work for one specific engine. Still,could have been pretty cool,if only......Besides,those truck bellhousings are getting hard to find-I only have a couple left. Speed

Hey-the GOOD stuff lives forever. Look at the ol' 392 Hemi-the people who love 'em keep finding ways to keep 'em running. I know a guy who ran a Stude on the salt flats,and he ran a 392 in the car and another in the '64 Dodge 700 car hauler (as a spare in case he hurt the one in the racer on the Salt Flats). The car ran 267.??? pretty consistently,but this was back in '80 or so. His race block had been welded back together so many times both sides of the block were made of steel plate. It sure was a fast car for the little money he was able to pull together to run each year. On the Caddy motors,you can use a BOP manual bellhousing with no mods. BTW-you can run a BOPC transmission,GENTLY,on a Chevy engine,or a Chevy trans. on a BOPC motor,if the need arises;the alignment dowels and two bolts will match on any combination,but this strictly a "Getcha home" measure. Flywheels/flex plates,not so lucky,though I've messed with a conversion kit that would allow a standard Chevy 168 tooth flywheel and iron bellhousing (with a T-400 adapter) and 3 bolt starter,to run a Cadillac engine in a truck,but it looks like these guys have a better arrangement. My idea might be stronger on work trucks,trailer pullers and Ton or bigger trucks. I need a Cadillac crankshaft to see if the bolt holes match (I doubt they will) and to make a jig to build a spacer that can fit whatever center hole diameter it has to fit,maybe drilled for a dual pattern if the bolt holes are different. There are so many things hat have to be the same for this to work, If everything fell into place on the Cadillac motor,there's a chance this could also work on Buick,Olds and Pontiac motors. Speed

"When I played with Toyota FJ40 Land Cruisers, which ultimately led to writing the Toyota Truck & Land Cruiser Owner's Bible, Cadillac Motor Sports was a popular option to the common Chevy V-8 swaps. When owners wanted serious torque, they turned to these big displacement Caddy V-8s, the Turbo 400 was a natural, and a manual transmission conversion was possible. (A pilot bearing bore would be essential for that approach! See you local machine shop.) As for a 472 Cadillac engine in a Chevy pickup, this had to be a conversion. 454 or 396/400 (big block) maybe, not a Cadillac. If a Cadillac, the truck would be a museum piece or collectible." I'm wondering if a thin bellhousing spacer and a "bolt on" pilot bearing that attaches via the flywheel bolts and "cups" the end of the crank for alignment might be possible. Not having a Cadillac motor sitting in front of me,it's hard to tell what could be done. I just hate the idea of pulling the crank out of a good running engine to get one hole machined in it. I can see that becoming the start of a classic "Money Pit". ("Do I stop here? Put in new bearings? Maybe I should do the rings while I'm this far into it. Well,might as well get the valves done too;since it'll all be apart anyway,this'd be the time for a trick valve job,maybe a cam and lifters......") Speed

Good article,Moses. I had to laugh at your description of people's "It worked great last time I used it,just before the big flood of '92-but it was only under water for a week..." kinda commentary on the units they're trying to sell. Dutch gave me this compressor,with a 3 hp motor he tried to use to replace the original that melted down. I traded a bunch of bamboo flooring for another motor,which lived for a couple of hours of operation before it melted down. Speed

I think you're right-a used trans. might be a good way to go. I think I'd go ahead and service it before installation,and maybe give it a can of that Lucas Trans. saver or Trans-X treatment. I told Dutch he'd be well advised to install a separate Trans. cooler too,just for safety sake. Personally,I'd bypass the cooler in the radiator,but I guess that's something a person has to decide for himself. Today I scored a BRAND NEW motor for my compressor! I have a friend who's an Industrial Electrician,so I'll have him double check my wiring to be sure it won't smoke THIS motor. I THINK the last "free" motor just had a dry bearing that failed,but I didn't have the wiring looked at,so I don't know that for sure-it ran well for about 4 hours before it slowed down and started to smoke. Another few days I can install it and see if I have BIG air. Speed

Hi Moses; Dutch just bought a '90 Cherokee,4.0 straight six and automatic. Everything looks to be in very good shape and works fine except it has no Reverse. I'm told the forward gears all work fine. My first instinct is to drop the pan,look for debris and do a filter/fluid change,but if there's something else more likely to be wrong,I can pass it on for him to check. He's building this for his grandson Wade and his wife and kids to use. They're using Wade's old Chevy 4 wheel drive truck for transportation,but living in Washoe Valley it's killing 'em in gas,and it's a tight fit taking the family anywhere. I'll try to get 'em both logged on here later. Speed

The truck you're describing,if I'm not mistaken,is likely a one ton. They (the ones with a 9 foot bed) are quite collectible,so if you can snag it for a fair price,you should. If it was mine,I'd go with a 292,alternator,install electric wipers from Newport Engineering,swap in a 4.10 pumpkin from a late 60's 3/4 ton GM truck,swap the Master Cylinder over to a dual reservoir;if you find the right one at a parts store for a drum/drum system,it's just a matter of a mounting bracket and a couple of brake lines. If you use one set up for a disc brake front end,just pick up an adjustable proportioning valve from Summit,put it in the line to the front brakes and you can adjust the pressure to work as you like it. (I did this on my '54 two ton.) For SOME reason,getting the new M/C with the same bore diameter the truck has makes it feel like power brakes,but not as sudden. If the brakes aren't beefy enough,you can get the kit with a booster,but I don't think you'd need it. Personally,I'd run it with the springs it has and see how it drives. (Maybe remover a couple of leaves if your trailer's not a 5th wheel or goose neck.) If you want different springs,it may be possible to find later,wider springs in a wrecking yard,and if you grab the shackles and frame brackets,it might not be too tough to just change the whole set up to the older truck. The problem I see with going to later axles,frame conversions,etc. is that the wheels will stick out too far. If you go with a cab & chassis,you might cover it by going to a 2 ton front group (longer hood,wider fenders,still fits the smaller truck cab),but it'd be a bit of work to make it all gell. If you do it,PLEASE don't change it over to hanging pedals-that just ruins the character of the truck. After I ruined the second rear end on my '57,I used a rear end from a '74 Chevy 4X4,with my stock springs,the newer u-bolts and spring plates,and I made some shock mounts to use my old shocks. The '57 driveline bolted right up. It was MUCH easier than I was told it'd be. (wrong spring spacing,wrong spring width,wrong this,wrong that,etc. There USED to be an outfit that sold a roller bearing kingpin kit that was GREAT,but they're not around now. Also,(and I'm not sure one is offered for a 3/4 ton) a tapered roller wheel bearing conversion seems to make these ol' trucks drive better on the highway. You MIGHT be able to work up a conversion if you're in good with someone at a bearing house. If you score that truck,get logged on with "Stovebolt Forums". http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php (If it's a GMC,it's "oldGMCtrucks.com" .) Better yet,log in on both-Lots of good information and good people there. They have a lot of information on conversions to disc brakes,etc. In the Gallery are some pics of some trucks I've owned. I towed a 35 foot 5th wheel RV a lot with my '57 GMC pick up. Even being a half ton it did fine. (I shut down a Ford one ton with a similar sized trailer between Immigrant Summit and Battle Mountain,he backed out of it at about 80,I ran it up to about 90 before I let up.) ONE thing you'll want to do is get a pair of 16.5 wheels and 9.50-16.5 tires for towing. I noticed they make the truck rock-steady with a big trailer. Also,make damn sure your trailer brakes are working right. I'm not sure my trailer brakes EVER worked,and the pick up's brakes worked fine unloaded,but doing all the braking for a trailer that size gave them a working life of about 100 miles. When I brought the trailer from Elko to Reno I wasn't too worried when the brakes went bad,because I knew the road very well,but on the move from Reno to Boise,it was a different story. I discovered the brakes no longer did as I was pulling off 80 into Winnemucca. I didn't have the time or the money to go through the brakes so I just bashed on,regardless,with my ex,Dawn,leading the way in her '79 Mercury Zephyr,using her CB to tell me what was coming up-idiot drivers,steep grades,cattle,etc. I didn't know the trailer was as heavy as it was. On THAT trip I had to skip the 16.5's,as they were showing wire and I couldn't find used tires that size. I ran E rated 215-85R-16's on all four corners,and between Caldwell and Elko TWO of 'em started to blister;once I got to Elko another one threw tread. APPARENTLY,this size,even E rated,was too small for the load. After that,I started running 235/85R-16 E's,and never had another tire problem. I DID have to replace the 347 V-5 (3 dead cylinders) with a '68 Pontiac 400,and grenaded two rear ends,one towing the RV out to storage (Exploded the spider gear case,bent the pinion shaft,cracked the punkin.)and one just pulling away from a traffic light on my way home from work.(broke the ring gear in 5 pieces,none stayed secured. It was so weird-pulled away from the light,shifted to third at about 2500 rpm,let the clutch out and it just coasted to a stop,still idling in gear. Got out and looked under the truck,driveline still spinning smoothly..... Speed

I woke from a dead sleep last night to realize a '66 Chevy 60 Series I "restored" 4 years ago has the exact axle I need. Don't know what gears it had but it was a Limited Slip,and with a 292 and 4 speed,it ran about 60-65 comfortably on the 50 mile delivery to its buyer's ranch. (I wonder if that truck's in the "back 40" yet....) Speed

I'm only guessing on the weight difference,but I'm going with something in the 300 pound range. The 302 is a pretty heavy engine,and the Clark isn't very light either. Even if I'm off a bit I don't think it'll be enough to be a problem. Jess is pretty good at his job,so I'm going to figure my DL angles are okay. Now-for gearing,I went with: 38.5 inch tire diameter 6.06:1 Low Clark 264VO 2:1 Brownie 5531 Low 8.10:1Eaton 1350 Low 3,400 RPM ================ 3.968 MPH I see where I screw'dup-it was in my first total. I suspect I was guessing at the low range ratio in the axle,before I found a definite number. I think I was guessing it to be an 8.41 or something like that. THAT number figures out to the 3.82 MPH figure. Okay-I got it now. Here's the number cruncher I use. There's more stuff you can do with it. http://www.rocky-road.com/calculator.html Speed

Hi Moses; I'm planning to stick with the Brownie,and the axle I use will have to be the Eaton 1350 2 speed until I can find a later single speed that can use the same lug pattern,at which time I might have to re-do the driveline AGAIN. For now,since that last link already needs work,I figure I'd rather do it up right than patch it up. That way,no matter WHAT,I can drive it and not worry about it. I'll do all my adjusting in the section between the Brownie and the 4500. So far,I've been hearing the bellhousing to block line can stay the same with the Cummins as with the engine I have. Therefore,unless I've been misled,the only actual change would be the shaft between the Brownie and the 4500. I don't have measurements to compare yet,as I'd intended to get everything else put together then measure and order the driveshaft. For u-joints,I like Spicer too,but the guy at the driveline shop says he's having trouble with price on 'em,so I think he's switched to NEAPCO. I'd prefer the grease fitting to the added strength of the HD option,since I don't anticipate doing anything that could break one. (Theoretically,an axle would twist off before I could break a u-joint.) As it sits now,the drive line angle is suspect between the end of the transmission and the axle yoke,the "adjustment" being the height of the Brownie. When Jess looked at the truck to find the vibration,he said it looked good as is,but without his angle tester he wasn't solid on that. If it turns out to need adjustment,I can raise or lower,or tip,the Brownie a little. I just measured my tires and they're 38.5 inch diameter,so "Theoretically" my low,low,low speeds should be even lower,but they figure faster (or LESS slow). At 3400,it went from 3.82 to 3.96 MPH-How did THAT happen?? Speed

Yeah,I think it'd run 50 with both boxes in Direct,even loaded and with the 90 meager horsepower it probably has now. I've driven this truck half a block on the starter to get it out of the traffic when I ran it out of gas. I've also used the starter to nudge it just a little when using the clutch might be too much. Hey-I'm planning to get my rear driveline section replaced as soon as I can swing it;It's built an inch or so too short,and is getting a wobble at the slip yoke from not having enough spline engagement. I want to upgrade it to more common u-joints and replace the slip yoke with a new,and longer splined one,and go with a little beefier tube. I figure,with TWO overdrives and the 6.40 axle I'll be running for the next little while,that driveline will be spinning pretty fast,so I want it to have every advantage I can give it. The driveline shop here said they'd re-tube it an inch longer and install near new u-joints for $250.00,but if I can afford it,I'd rather start fresh and go with a little overkill. What components would you use? Fine spline or coarse? What size u-joints? I know they'll have to have grease fittings. What's common,but suitable for what I'll be doing? I'm told they do an excellent balance,and that's gonna have to be MANDATORY with me,regardless of what else they do. I'm not going to try to make the whole drivetrain perfect (I'm sure both boxes have loose bearings,etc. that won't be helpful,and ALL the u-joints could probably stand replacing-LOTS of expense there. THEY might get upgraded next.),but I'll work from the back forward,since that's the problem I KNOW needs to be fixed;a small problem at the nose will often magnify as it goes back,to become a BIG problem at the tail. I decided to change out the taillights on the GMC;I have a pair of taillights from a '66 Pontiac I'm mounting just below the deck on each side. I can use the ones I have on the truck now,from a '70 Chevy stepside pick up,on the utility trailer I'm building from a '32 Ford rear axle and a '40 Ford pick up bed,solid mounted,no springs,hitch welded to the end of the torque tube. the fenders were toast so I'll use a couple of little "cycle fenders" off an old wooden trailer that self destructed hauling a Harley in from Ryndon. Speed

Hi Moses; I have a minor update regarding my gearing;I found more accurate information that says this. My Clark is a 264VO,with a First of 6.06,Second is 3.50,Third is1.80,Fourth is 1.00,and Fifth is a .80 Overdrive,not a .85 as I'd guessed. The Brownie is a 5531,with a 2:1 under,1:1 Direct and a 0.72 over,not the 0.74 I was told previously. At 2000 RPM,in low,low and low,I'm going 2.25 MPH. In REVERSE,I'm going 2.275 MPH. At my 302's REDLINE of 3400 RPM,in low/low/low it's 3.82 MPH,in REVERSE,it's 3.87 MPH. How cool is THAT? Do I have enough gearing ? Speed

This Mack's engine ran great considering it had an updraft carb I couldn't even remove. (My hands just don't articulate that way.) It has a 5 speed with a Direct 5th,and 6031 Brownie and single speed axle with 6.86 gears. I was especially proud of the fact that,with absolute garbage for wiring when I bought it,(I touched the headlight wiring and all the insulation crumbled and fell off.)we finished up with EVERYTHING working (even the little marker lights on the headlights!) and a 140 amp Leese Neville one-wire alternator. (The wipers never worked,but THEY weren't electric-they were vacuum.) We used a wiring harness from a '75 Chevy pick up,as well as the fusebox, switches and relays from it. I was able to use the stock "Mack" knobs for the switches and the cigar lighter. I ended up selling the Mack to a local Propane Distributor who had one like it as their very first truck when they opened in 1954. I should ride to Wells sometime this Summer and see how (or IF) the restoration of the Mack is going. Speed

I think this truck will be as fun to build as it'll be to drive,and I LOVE to drive it already. The only factor that keeps it parked is the cost of operation. Hey-I just ran across this set up;I had considered something like it for the 302. What do you think? They say they even work on Diesels. http://globalenergydevices.com/dry-duo I'm curious what kind of "power increase" they're talking about. As is typical in my life,the fun is only limited by what I can afford to spend on it. Much of what I do seems to be "Redneck" natured because of the expense. Part of the fun,though is finding a way to make things work when you can't come up with the "right stuff". (It's interesting to see how some people think if you can't buy a part to make something work,it just can't be done. That just makes me think,"What could I modify to make it do that?" That's actually like my Signature on another Forum;"HMmm-What could I make outta that?" I think I can make LED's work on about 99% of the truck and have it still look "original". I ALWAYS convert to sealed beam Halogen headlights. My GMC's amber fog lights are also Halogen sealed beams. I tried LED 1157's (two different designs) for the tail lights,but just couldn't get them bright enough to make me happy,so I'll probably go with the rubber grommet mounted LED's like the OTR rigs use,as well as the side markers,and Harbor Freight sells a rubber cased Halogen work light with a swivel mount that works awesome as a back up light.(TWO of 'em) (I'll be "light poor" before I'm done-I have the GMC,a car trailer,my '66 Pontiac Catalina,probably the '48 Mack EG and eventually a '53 Chevy 1-1/2 Ton dump truck I'll have to do. (The dump truck will get the GMC's 302,rebuilt,and possibly the Clark 5 speed when I switch to the Cummins.) If I can work up the brackets for tube shocks on the rear (I'm thinking something like quad Rancho 5000's),I have an OEM set of lever action front shocks off a '49 Mack School Bus I think I can make work. (Or,more of the afore-mentioned Quad Ranch 5000's). Naturally,there are a LOT of things that just take cubic MONEY-no substitutions possible. Shocks,the change to Radials,the lighting upgrades,etc. ,but I'm always running across cars,trucks,other stuff people give to me to get it out of their way (or USUALLY to get it out of their WIVES' way) that I can sell or trade for stuff I need. And MOST of it doesn't have to be done right away,so I can piece it together,or save up for it,or not do it at all and just dream of getting it done eventually. I really enjoy creating a plan for what parts I'll use,how I'll make things work,even what they'll cost. I'm a "Listoholic";I make lists of everything,what I need to get done on a particular day for instance. If it isn't on the list,I'll probably forget all about it. Once I get started on the Cummins Conversion,you're always welcome to come up and get your hands dirty and enjoy a cup of coffee. Well,you can come up anytime for coffee. Speed

Yeah-my old truck is about as aerodynamic as a barn door. Regarding axle ratio,I'm pretty sure I can fit a later,same sized single speed under the truck;the critican concern,for me,is spring width at the spring pads. It's hard for me to imagine the spring spacing changing enough to be a problem. Within limits,I can make some offset centering plates to line up the center bolts,and just set the U bolts a little farther apart to compensate for the change. Brake lines are no problem,wheel lug pattern is "easy"-they only had a couple or three different hub styles avaailable for the 1-1/2 and 2 tonners. A late 60's or early 70's truck would very likely have gearing suitable to run at 60-65 mph with a Direct 4th or 5th gear,especially with an engine bigger than a six or a smaller smallblock. I expect the brakes would be better,seals and bearings would be easily available,and a suitable yoke to upgrade to a better u-joint would be easier for the driveline shop to find. AND a later truck MIGHT have brackets I can use to put some SHOCKS on my truck! I'll have to look and see what kinda year-spread I can use,get some measurements,etc. I guess I was figuring the intercooler might give a little "free" horsepower,so I could get away with less throttle. You're right though,better to leave things as stock as possible-less to give problems later on. On my list of "to do's" is re-gauging my truck;I'm getting a couple of extra dash panels,and re-fitting them with more modern gauges,including a Tach and a Pyrometer,and the gauges are whether I change to Diesel or not. I'm so tired of not being able to see the meters at night-it'd be wonderful to have internally lit gauges,maybe with LED's. The ones I have work okay,but the lighting on that model truly sucks,and once they start getting all faded and discolored they're even hard to see in daylight. Speed

What do these transmissions use for lube-90 wt. or ATF? On the T/C in my Bronco II it calls for ATF,but I changed it over to a 10Wt. synthetic motor oil. It's been working like a champ for 4 years now,and that includes highway trips,Four Wheeling and two scrap runs of about 15 miles one way towing a car trailer with over 9,000 pounds of metal (Hell of a load for a 2.8 Liter to have to pull!),and it even gained me a couple of miles per gallon in the deal. I may have to put the 5600 and the 5.14 axle idea on a back burner while I get other stuff done,and while I wait for "the deal I can't pass up". Looking at the details in my Assembly Manual,I was mistaken on the 5.14 ratio-it's for a ONE ton. The BEST factory option for the 2 Ton axle is an H-150,with a 6.17 gearset,better but not nearly better enough. The actual rear axle I have is an Eaton 1350,but I don't know if a single speed carrier will fit the housing,since I have the 2 speed. If it WILL,I still have to find a single speed 2 Ton rear end,THEN try to find the gear set I need. I'm pretty sure they used the 5 lug/10 lug wheels well into the 70's,so maybe I can find a complete rear that could be installed on my springs. I ran across an abandoned truck,about a '70 or '71 Chevy C-60 last Summer that had the same set up,wheel-wise,as mine and a single speed punkin,but it was gone when I went back to get it about a week later. I think that's what I'll have to do. I'd intended to hire a friend of a friend to do my conversion,since he does a couple per week,and knows all about the conversions,but everything I'm reading tells me that except for a little fabrication work it's a pretty easy swap,so I'll probably do as much of it myself as I can,and call in the experts if I get in a bind,or for special stuff,like the drive lines. (I'll need to damn near start over on those-my rear one,from the axle to the output of the Brownie needs to be re-tubed 3 inches longer to get rid of a vibration in the slip yoke,and the one from the Brownie to the transmission will need to be shortened and a new front yoke to fit the 4500.) Not sure about cost-just these changes will be around $250.00. I'm going to find out about changing all four yokes and switching to a more common u-joint type,which essentially would be starting from scratch. (Made that much easier if I find a later rear axle to install.) I think that'd smooth the drive train up a bunch,too. Something else I was thinking about is an intercooler. Would that be worth doing? What external measurements would I be looking at? Would there be a problem with mounting it under/behind the front bumper,angled back at the bottom (---O----------O/ < only more so) for ground clearance,with ducting and a couple of electric fans to keep air flowing on low speed hard pulls. I was also thinking about building an air dam under the bumper from thick conveyor belt about a foot wide,to maybe help the truck bash through the air. Speed