50 year old wood hauler

[Patrick62]

It just made sense to me at the time.... this thing is geared so stinkin' low, and the way you gotta wind the snot outta the engine, that a small cam would be beneficial. I will run it this way for awhile, and if it really bugs me I will swap the stock cam back into this thing. Its running solid lifters, not really worried about wear patterns for now. The little aluminum tubes that go around the sparkplugs are now "unobtainium".

 

[sawfun]

My 97 Dodge 2500 4× 4 5.9 5spd had a 4,800 lb load of wood and got 23 mpg. On the flat I even had it to 70 mph but backed down to 55 due to the tire rating I was way over on. My M35A3C deuce and a half weighs 13,300 lbs empty and gets 13 mpg all day long in town or on the get loaded or not. It has a 3116 and Alison 4 spd auto. 11 mpg on the steep Cascade Mountain grades. Howevwr top speed is 60mph at 3000 rpm. Unfortunately, it has very poor city manners as far as visibility and right turns go. I can squeeze 3 cords in but generally haul 2 - 2 & 1/2. It doesnt even run like it has a load and has never gotten stuck where my sure would have.

 

[Patrick62]

I was chatting with one of my old fart gear heads up here, and discussing my /6 in this truck. He said something that made a LOT of sense to me. it's under carb'd. That little single barrel carb just can't feed this engine with its hotter cam, and slightly larger displacement. interesting concept...

I should stick a vac gauge on there and see if I still have a bunch of vacuum when it is wound up. That would tell me that there is room for more carburetor.

Not even going to go down the path of splitting the exhaust into duals, or headers, etc...

There was a 2bbl manifold out there for these things, used the 2bbl carter. That sounds like a idea....

 

[Ted Jenkins]

It never occurred to me that you were running a single barrel carb. A four barrel is much better. More CFM does not mean that you will go past redline it just means that at peak power you will have a little more. A number of years ago a friend of mine talked me into to putting a 390CFM Holley four barrel on mine and told me I would get better mileage. I did not go every where tacked out but had better torque and yes better mileage. For sure a two barrel is better. Bigger exhaust helps too. I have a 67 C600 with many upgrades. It is on its third 390 with great success. It came with a 331 that eventually spun a bearing and it had a two barrel. It was pure gutless. I would have put the 331 back into it except the valves were loose and a machine shop told me the heads were going to run about $2000 with new guides so off to the wrecking yards. It now has a new process trans and a CL900 split rear end. I enjoy racing large transfers up our hill just to see if I can keep up. However mileage is not so great when pulling our hill. Some times a mile per gallon is it. When off the mountain in the valley with 45,000 lbs it will get close to 10 MPG loaded or unloaded. Thanks

 

[Patrick62]

I had to run 2 cords up to Pan Ark estates today in the beast. Oh this is gonna be fun! Most of the way to Leadville, and then around the corner and up a short but steep section of dirt road (12% grade??). The truck did it ok, in fact the steep section I was in granny with the rear axle in high range. Which means I had one lower gear than what I was in. Last year with bad valves it was marginal even in low-low. No problem today! The highway is a different situation. Pretty much floored all the way up there, and Hayden flats I mustered it to about 45 mph. Which is a bit lower than it should be capable of, but not that darn bad considering the leaning tower of power and loaded heavy on top of that.

It won't take long to swap a 2bbl carb on there and see what the difference is once that manifold gets here.

 

[LegDeLimber]

Would a leaky "hydro-vac brake booster" be the reason a truck has about half of a pedal squash worth of brakes, when the cold engine stalls?
For ONE push...
And that's if you're reeeaally fast on the pedal when it happens.

I jumped into mid '60s Chevy, single axle dump truck.
whilst doing cardio on the manual steering and hunting for any(working) low gear, I fumbled the choke tickle and she died.
So Here I am, on a short, small, hill and the brakes have signed off.
Trying to stuff it into any (non-synchronized) gear now, just so as to be able to use the engine drag to stop it.
No luck there.

Ended up just going for steering to the terrain and letting it coast to a stop.

"You mean I've been driving this thing in afternoon traffic with these death trap brakes???!!!!"
That's -roughly- what I said to my friend when i next saw him.
You see, I had only ever driven it with a warm engine, before this day.
So hadn't experienced the brake trick.

 

[rarefish383]

Back in high school, a buddy of mine had an early 60's Dodge Lancer with a slant six. Cool little car. Had a bit of cam in it, Offenhauser intake with 3 Weber side drafts. It would pull the front tires off the ground for a few feet when he launched it. I bet you could get that old Dodge of yours to yank the front tires too. Might have to put a load of wood right on the back, but I bet you could do it, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

I'd find an old Winnebago motor home. They used the Dodge 413 well into the 70's. They quit using the 413 in cars in 62-63. I had a 64 Polara with a 426 Max Wedge, not a 426 Hemi, different motor. Anyway, if you got one of the old motor homes you would have the whole engine trans package with all of the linkages. You would have to get used to not having a clutch, Joe.

 

[Blackbruin]

I figured you had a 2barrel, Yes order the 2barrel intake, a 4barrel with your heads would be way overkill.
I wish I still had my 67 w500, that had a 318 we put in a factory big torque cam.
P4452755. Had a 2barrel quadrajet and put 360 valves in the head. What a srump puller she was, but along comes the divorce.

 

[Patrick62]

Would a leaky "hydro-vac brake booster" be the reason a truck has about half of a pedal squash worth of brakes, when the cold engine stalls?
For ONE push...
And that's if you're reeeaally fast on the pedal when it happens.

You fix squishy brakes with a bunch of brake fluid, new parts, and a checkbook. Somewhere up this thread, I stated that there are two things necessary. Brakes and steering. Everything else is optional. Maybe keep the front tires 1/2 decent. The potential outcome of ignoring things like this can be disastrous. Not something I would enjoy contemplating.

The hydro-vac is fairly reliable, it is the same thing as what is on the firewall just happens to have been relocated to along the frame and has a single cylinder to activate it. Which is sort of silly, cause there is enough room in my truck for two engines, several batteries, and still have room for the booster. The problem is that for some odd reason they stayed with a single hydraulic system. Even without the vac booster, it should still have brakes... Blow one line anywhere, and yee haw.

 

[turnkey4099]

You fix squishy brakes with a bunch of brake fluid, new parts, and a checkbook. Somewhere up this thread, I stated that there are two things necessary. Brakes and steering. Everything else is optional. Maybe keep the front tires 1/2 decent. The potential outcome of ignoring things like this can be disastrous. Not something I would enjoy contemplating.

The hydro-vac is fairly reliable, it is the same thing as what is on the firewall just happens to have been relocated to along the frame and has a single cylinder to activate it. Which is sort of silly, cause there is enough room in my truck for two engines, several batteries, and still have room for the booster. The problem is that for some odd reason they stayed with a single hydraulic system. Even without the vac booster, it should still have brakes... Blow one line anywhere, and yee haw.

I worked in a salvage yeard one summer. He hauled with what he called "The Five ton". Old rig. Loaded it up with a tractor with bucket to haul to site to be salvaged. hit main highwy, topped a hill and were facing a downhill with a flagger stoppign traffic for road construction. Heard a lough "BANG" from his truck. Went right through the construction without slowing down. I swear the flagger crawled her pole. He pulled it to a stop on the upgragde. Blew a can on the rear brakes.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I figured you had a 2barrel, Yes order the 2barrel intake, a 4barrel with your heads would be way overkill.
I wish I still had my 67 w500, that had a 318 we put in a factory big torque cam.
P4452755. Had a 2barrel quadrajet and put 360 valves in the head. What a srump puller she was, but along comes the divorce.

A four barrel around 400 CFM might be perfect definitely not overkill. However I do not know or remember the exact items to make it work just right. As I remember a 2 barrel manifold just had a square hole which worked perfectly with a 4 barrel adapter. It did run smoother and with a little more grunt down low, a 500 CFM 2 barrel could do the job too. Almost all hydro brakes work the same. Ford Chevy, Dodge and most others are the same even interchangeable. As long as your diaphragm is very close to the original size. Most brake boosters are in poor health and leak. They are getting harder to work on because parts are hard to obtain. They need to be checked for worn cups and seals about every 5 years and you need to know what you are doing if you open them up or send them to a shop. Service can easily cost 200 to $300, but that is only if you live near some hills and have the occasion to stop using your brakes. Thanks

 

[Patrick62]

No 4bbl carbs will be bolted to this inline 6 cylinder. We ain't going to the races. A 2bbl intake and carb is definitely workable tho. As for the brakes... The first sign of problems with the hydro-vac and I would saunter into the parts house and ask for a booster and cylinder for a late model gmc. I can do the lines no problem.

 

[LegDeLimber]

On the 60's Chevy single axle dump. I can vaguely remember there being some sort of canister under the frame.
This looked to be more of a vacuum reservoir, judging from the plumbing array.
Been about 18 years & several general anesthesia , so mental details are pretty faded now.

Funny thing was, the brakes had a decent feeling firm pedal
when the truck was running.
Didn't try to steer when you applied them and seemed to hold without any pedal creep, when sitting at a stop.
They just went away whenever the motor wasn't running.
Weird huh.

If they had felt mushy or the pedal crept down while holding,
I wouldn't have driven the truck a second time.

Further conversation revealed the brakes weren't quite at a factory configuration.
Something was purported as unobtainium and this setup what what someone had arraigned.

Bottom line? I haven't driven anything since, that I haven't hit the brake pedal first.
Combined with end of the day fatigue,
I guess that my old habit of foot on the clutch and the other on the throttle (with manual chokes) is what got me into trouble that day.
Motorcycles, bicycles, go-carts, lawnmowers, anything else I had always habitually hit the brakes before ever rolling away.
I just 99% failed the Darwin test that day.

 

[ken morgan]

Around here, can pick up reasonable shape 10-20yr old F450-550 cab and chassis for 5-10k area. or similar year semi truck for $5-10k (depending on how it's setup. I paid I think 3 or 3.5k for my 97 F450 4x4 diesel.

Some of the issue with old stuff is parts can be tough to get. The hydro vac systems on those trucks are near impossible to find parts for. Plus they suck to drive. The hp isn't there, slow, brakes are not great, etc.

Something else to consider is if anything would happen, like a car hit you, you hit a car, etc, the DOT will be on that thing like a fly on ****. Old = worn out = not in compliance = your fault = $$$$. I'm not saying it's actually work out, but that's the thought.

I think I loose some sales when I deliver in my old truck (an 83). It's reasonably ok, (no big dents, etc) but people see it and think "gypo/crack head firewooder"

I ain't never seen your truck and I think that j/k

 

[lindnova]

We had a 1980 international flatbed with a 345 gasser at work that had the vacuum booster with single hydraulic master also. I can't believe it was legal even up to 1980 to have a single master.