Dodge Weapons Carrier

[troyluginbill]

If you need pics I can take them of my engine. All the wires are currently going to the right place and there are no extra wires in there.
One of the tricks to wiring-especially on the lower body harness is to have a very long wire with alligator clips at both ends to help chase down which end is which without having 2 people.

The transmission removal is a cast iron bitch. The lesson I learned was use guide studs. With out them it is nearly impossible to line it back up when it goes back on and can really bung up your clutch throw out bearing when taking it out.

[hairy apple]

Ah, photos of the wiring would be awesome. Plus, I'd like to see photos of yours anyway

I have a spare tansmission that I got to throw into the back of a lifted toyota... I can only imagine how much fun it will be to take out and put back. However, I have practice.... When I built my cruiser up I unknowingly got a from the factory defective clutch... before I figured out it was the brand new clutch that wasn't working... I removed the transmission/tcase and reinstalled it 8 times trying differant combos of T/O bearings and shift forks and belhousings... 8 times. At least on the dodge they are divorced.

I pulled off a rear wheel today to check out the axle/diff situation... I'm wondering if I don't have a broken axle and the rear end is OK... a broken axle would be 1000 times better then a broken diff.

[troyluginbill]

Best place to get pics of mabel is ourlifeasasitcom.blogspot.com-just search for "mabel". With the guide studs in place the transmission is easier to take out (with a transmission jack.) than a regular car. I found out the hard way you need the studs. (sad me). And the jack. The axle would be easier to replace than having to rebuild the differential. Luckily it slides right in/out unlike the jeep axles which have a funny alignment issue with the differentials (at least that I am given to understand.)

The whole thing is interesting in how modular it is. I am surprised that todays car manufacturers dont make things more modular. That way they can change a small part instead of redesigning the entire thing. Ahhh....progress.

[hairy apple]

Looks nice man. I wish mine had the winch. PTO winches are awesome.

Sadly I'm not sure it's the axle. With the whells pulled off I spun the hubs around and when I spun one, the other spun the other way.... so they are both connected. Which means... somethings up with the pinion. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get the brakes functioning. THey look to be in good shape.... maybe they'll work. Who knows.

[troyluginbill]

replace all the flexible brake lines and the wheel cylinders. The smallest amount of rust will really screw you when you least need it. I tried to rebuild the wheel cylinders but no matter how smooth I got the inside they just would not hold fluid.

I have yet to try the winch. It is mechanical so I assume it still works. It is a low priority right now though. And may be the end of summer project I have just been hoping for.

[troyluginbill]

let me know what electrical connections you want pics of

[hairy apple]

At least I have company while working... Rosco seems to aprove of the new yard art.



My guess is that this should be connected to something... Can you get a photo or tell me where this goes? Thinking that this is the reason I don't have spark since the other end of going into the coil. :roll:

[deacon]

oh, lucky, I wish I could buy a harness for my truck. I didn't realize they had them for the WCs. Nice lookin dog by the way.

[hairy apple]

Yeah, he's a cute pup. And he knows it. His brother was even bigger, I wieghed him about a week before he died (and broke my heart) and he was 110lbs. Rosco is probally 80+. I wish I had had them both at the same time, they are both really cool dogs.

I'm so mad right now, I sprained my ankle bad this morning and I can't walk, so instead of working on the dodge on this awesome spring day, I'm sitting here on the computer.

troyluginbill-
I've been looking for info on the wc55's. I noticed they have no spare tire, and extra gas cans. Also, the ammo bins, where are they, are they in the front two boxes? Did you build your's? Buy them from midwestmil? $1200 is nuts for two sheet metal boxes... I don't know what exactly I want to do with mine yet, but I kind of like the idea at least making it able to become a 55 as I already have a cannon for it. I'm sure you've got a good head start on research, any info sources you could share with me on the 55's would be awesome.

[troyluginbill]

Yep, WC 55 means extra gas can, no spare tire, a ration can, the pioneer tools are mounted to the bed sides and the pioneer rack has a gun bore cleaner in it. It actually has 4 ammo cans, one in each corner box, and various little other bits and mounts here and there about the truck. The ammo boxes are only available through midwest mil, originals are like 5000 a set in crappy condition if you find them. You could always fake the ammo box lids and just keep the cargo boxes for the cargo boxes. And a winch.

I have a whole folder of info on WC 55s from various resources. PM your address and I will xerox it and wing it to you.

I know where the electrical connection goes, but will take a picture tonight. Easier than trying to explain.

[troyluginbill]

The wire connects to the right terminal of your radio filtrete. From there it goes to the starter. If the radio filtrette is not installed you can connect it directly to the starter (you will need an intervening wire as it wont reach on its own.) The starter should also have the battery cable connecting to the same terminal. That should complete your circuit and give you some spark. It is supposed to go through the radio filtrette into the dash (upper body) wire harness and connect to the ammeter and ignition switch. But like I said for checking spark you can bypass that.

[hairy apple]

Ah, OK. I am spending all day tomorrow working on the wiring and trying to get some spark. Thanks a lot, you have been very helpful. I'm just going to go ahead and replace the coil, and condenser and points even though they all look good, my girlfriend works at NAPA... I'm so happy about that. Ha ha. By the way, Mabel looks great. Still havent' got a name for mine... I have to own it a while and see what kind of a "personality" it has. Ha ha. For those of you who have never owned an old car, they all have a personality... wierd, but true.

[deacon]

For those of you who have never owned an old car, they all have a personality

Amen to that!

[hairy apple]

Today was not a good day. Pretty quickly got power to the coil. From there I went to check to see if there was a spark at the points.. and the distributor wasn't turning around. Pulled it out... it turns freely outside of the engine. And it was engaged in it's slot when installed. Timing chain? That's my best guess. I'm pretty bummed, I was hoping it wouldn't need motor work. I guess in the long run it's better as now I'll pull the motor and overhaul the whole thing, but still kinda a bummer.

Good news is I went fabric shopping today, and found canvas in OD that is dead on for the seats. I think I am going to redo the seats myself. I am going to focas more on the body until I can afford to rebuild the engine.

[shadycadence]

Don't rebuild it, just replace the timing chain. I cant imagine it being too complicated.

[hairy apple]

We'll see. Tomorrow I'm going to tear into the front of the motor and see if it is in fact the timing chain. Thing is, it's been sitting for 19 years, and I know it hasn't been overhauled since 1963... it could probally use it. Long term it would be better for the truck if I did... but we'll see what I find tomorrow.

[hairy apple]

Pulled off the fender to get at the engine a little better.


The shock absorbers just freak me out...




BIG ass drum brakes. BIG ass lug nuts.

[troyluginbill]

Someone installed a monster non-standard horn. You can take that off, must be for scaring entire herds of mammoth. Before rebuilding the entire thing, get a crank start and try to just turn the engine around. See if it is seized or if you can see things that should move move.

[hairy apple]

Huh, didn't know the horns weren't part of it. THere were like 3 more in the extra stuff in the back so I figured they were part of it. The motor turns over, but the distributor doesn't spin. I pulled it out, it spins around fine outside the motor. I'm working on pulling off the side plates on the motor so I can see if the valves are moving while it's turning over... then I'll know if the timing chain is FUBARed or something else is causing the dist not to spin. No matter what, non of it is good.

[shadycadence]

On the upside, none of it is terminal. Everything can be fixed, cheaper than you might think.

[hairy apple]

Yeah, got the side covers off. Valves are not moving when the motor turns over. So tomorrow the front comes apart to check out the timming chain. ANYTHING can be fixed. I'm not too worried about it, just bummed... I was hoping it was actually running when it was parked and would just need an oil change and some new plugs and wires... oh well. We'll have this thing going soon enough.

[shadycadence]

The beauty of it is it's a flat head, so there's no chance of valve damage. Slap a new chain in (or gears, as the case may be) and she should fire up.

[troyluginbill]

yeah, I know how you feel. You want it to work to expected and then it doesnt and the project suddenly got a lot bigger. Surprise. What I keep muttering every time I have to fix something new is......"it could be alot worse."

[hairy apple]

Yeah, more and more I keep thinking... I should just keep taking it apart and just go all the way with it. It will be better in the long run. Today I got it as far as I can get it with the tools I have, I need to get some bigger wrenches and sockets... they weren't messing around when they built these things.

[hairy apple]

Got some gas can straps... I know, but a red can is all I have. I'll get green ones soon enough.


Ewwww...


All chopped out and ready for new sheet metal.

[shadycadence]

Did you wiggle the rods for play while you had the pan off? If so and they were tight, just pull the manifolds, maybe the head too. I bet that valve is just plain stuck. #2 exhaust, correct?

[hairy apple]

Yeah, the valve isn't what I'm worried about right now. The rods seem to move up and down just fine, but are tight side to side... I think they are sound. I think some PB blaster and some jiggling the that valve will move. The main issue right now is the fact that the cam isn't moving. I'll have the timing chain cover off tomorrow and know more about what's going on in there. With any luck it is just the timing chain causing things that need to move in there to not move. That would at least be an easy fix. I had a local machine shop quote me for an engine rebuild... yikes. $3400... more then three times what I paid for the truck. It will be a while before I'm able to even think about something like that.... so I better figure out what's going on with the cam.

[hairy apple]

Son a bitch. Now I'm lost. The timing chain is fine. The crank is turning over, but not the valves/rods? This makes no sence to me at all. Is there something else I'm missing? I have no clue where to go from here... why wouldn't the cam be turning with the crank if the timing chain isn't broken?

Edit: Ok... found the issue. The timing chain sprocket is spinning on the shaft. The cam is frozen up, and when I "freed up" the motor, all I did was shear off the key on the cam shaft. Time go go start taking more stuff apart.

[shadycadence]

Take the pan back off and remove the oil pump, then see if the cam spins. I think it sucked up some goo it couldn't pass and seized. And pull the rear side cover too, just to see what's going on. You know the cam turned a little, or that valve wouldn't be standing open.

[sarge12]

Why has all the posting ended?