1953 M37

[T. Highway]

Not sure if you have seen this.

http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6789

Bert

[Cal_Gary]

Wow! that's a ton of work in a short amount of time-nice job!

Sal, great reference photos, glad you posted them!
Gary

[F18hornetm]

Well it was my son and I together took apart. We work good together. I do have all the exh/int off and cleaned up now. Still not sure on welding up the exhaust. Its pretty flaky around crack, so it must have been cracked a long time as well as part of the surface where intake meets is half gone[rust]. Think may just get used one or something. Any idea why these seem cracked so often. At least I read they are. Anybody every try a different mounting system? Like stiff springs on rear and front port under nuts?? Just thinking out loud, I do that a lot

[Cal_Gary]

Nice to have your son involved-we need youngsters in our hobby!

The exhaust is prone to cracking due to the front support hanger wearing out, eventually separating, leaving the majority of the weight of the exhaust being supported by the manifold, resulting in cracking.
Gary

[F18hornetm]

My youngest son is 24 and is a Journey HVAC tech by trade. He can sit for his Master test next spring. Him and I actually own all the trucks together. He's worked on all of them and goes to all the shows and parades as well as my dad and wife go as well.

Well if wore out exhaust hangers cause them to break, Mine didn't have any. The only support for the exhaust was one bolt on some kinda vertical tail pipe someone installed. I have all new exhaust for it and will make new hangers.
Also the heat riser flap is missing in the exhaust manifold. I guess maybe welds came loose and it rattled, someone just removed it. I have new one and shaft and will put back working like its supposed to. It doesn't get brutal cold here for days like other parts of the country but still could use once in awhile. We were thinking about putting on a cable control so you could control from inside the cab. In winter leave on "winter" setting until engine temp comes up then switch to summer. This would also help keep it working since it would be used often.

Didn't get to work on it yesterday as his new house takes priority but hope to work on some this afternoon. Have new thermostat to install, so maybe do that today.

As a follow up on the transmission issues, I ordered one from Midwest so maybe have that next week. Those guys super nice.

[F18hornetm]

Besides my son I have some other help, although except for keeping an eye on things not sure what they do.

[52 M-42]

Those are the Supervisors and Inspectors! Don't mess with them. They look like they are doing a fine job. Just feed 'em and stroke them and keep them happy.

Something about sleeping dogs comes to mind.....

52 M-42

[F18hornetm]

They do a lot of inspecting for sure. They are 9, 4 and 1 years old. 2 oldest are red and black shepherds and the youngest is a blue Shepard.

Well got some more done today, I put in all new studs for exh./int and removed thermostat housing and cleaned up, Just need to get some 1" heater hose tomorrow and can reinstall. Made new gasket for bypass. Interesting the box the new thermostat came in said "packed 5/1951".Looked like the box had never been opened. It looks different than the one that came out but seems to fit fine. Different style.
My son rewired one of the old turn signals, soldering new wire in the sockets, and putting on new Packard connectors looks great. He also re-used the distributor connector and soldered in new wire. He has one more turn signal to rebuild but needs a little glass beading. Saves about $50 each for each light he rebuilds, well worth the time. As we're going there will not be a single piece of old wire in this truck. Every wire in it if bent, the insulation would crack off.

[T. Highway]

Great looking dogs. I always enjoyed my dog helping / guarding the pole barn while we were out there working on stuff.

Did you put sealant on the studs when you re-installed them? If not, you will have water leaks.

Bert

[Sal]

F18. It would be a good idea if you haven't done it yet, Is to flush the block and check the water distributing tube behind the water pump before you install the thermostat and heater hoses.

Sal

[F18hornetm]

Yes I did put sealant on the studs, thanks for reminding me.

I was wondering about that distribution tube. I assume this tube is just pushed into the block behind the water pump to allow coolant to more evenly cool the block?? What's the best way to inspect? Pull the water pump off and pull it out?? I do have a blow diagram up of it, but no service manual on it. What holds it in the block?? the water pump?? Are there any seals on it?? I can research more just haven't haven't had time.
I did flush out the radiator as its off now and was not to bad. Have not done the block yet.

As always thanks lots for comments/thoughts. With about 10 different projects in the fire, its hard to think of everything and I hate doing something twice.

[F18hornetm]

I had a minute so I read up on that water distribution tube. I think you guys are right. I think I will pull the water pump of and inspect/replace. All the coolant is out now and the radiator is off. Would seem foolish not to go to the extra trouble to check it out. Thanks for the idea.

[F18hornetm]

Found an interesting article on it and a couple pictures with some methods for removal.

http://p15-d24.com/page/p15d24/tech/tech_tips.html

[Sal]

Good article and pictures. I used long nose vise grips to remove mine . I didn't have too much trouble removing it but did bend it up a bit while doing so. Got a new one from John at MW.

Sal

[F18hornetm]

Didnt get a chance last night to work on it but hope to tonight. If I do I'll take some pictures. Seems that whole tube idea was some engineer wishing he had the block cast different