Project: Papa’s Dodge, stage one.

[Lonesome7.3]

Today I started by cleaning the diff cover. I found a lot ofpitting rust under the old gasket. Not a good sign. I briefly thought aboutprepping and painting it. Then I thought about something. Have you ever seen thoserusty old trucks driving down the road with a freshly painted diff cover. It lookedlike they just changed the fluids and thought it would make the truck look niceto paint the diff cover. I think it looks stupid. So it will go back on rustyand old looking. Later on I will get an extra cap aluminum cover when I canafford it.

Then I turned my attention to the auxiliary fuel tank. I hadto drop it to clean it and access the rear brake line in the frame rail.Luckily it only had a few gallons of gas in it. But that gas had been sittingthere for over a year. We all know what the Obama gas does when it sits forlong periods of time. The content of that bucket is not used engine oil. Thatis how the gas came out. It is hard to tell from the photo but it is as blackas used engine oil. The brake line that runs up and over the frame rail is whatI have to address. I was quite thankful to see the sending unit I had to havecustom built a few years ago is still in good shape. There is no off the shelfreplacement for it. I hosed out the fuel tank real well and it came out prettyclean inside.

 

[DofD]

You're doing a great job there.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Thanks. I am trying to get this done without sacrifcing quality.

 

[DofD]

It's always a balance between getting something done within a time frame and with the quality one desires.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

I already blew way past the time I frame I needed this truck done in. I refuse to slap it back together.

 

[DofD]

Yep, definitely don't want to just slap things back together.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

I want to trust this truck to make long trips. And, look cool doing it.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Not much to report today. I found out the studs I need arenot as easy to get as I thought. I spent a lot of time running around thismorning going through boxes at parts stores trying to locate them. I finally ordered some from NAPA. Hopefullythey will be correct. Because I am waiting on studs, I could not get much done.I was hoping to have the hubs reassembled today. On a good note, my new raceand seal installation kit arrived yesterday. I have wanted one for years. Itmade the two races and seals I installed a lot easier than it has been.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Finally located some studs. They are not a perfect match,but they are damn close. When I got home this morning my intention was to getthe rear hubs wrapped up, then go to bed. But, my luck kicked in again. I broketwo tabs off the retaining ring on the passenger side. Now I have to dig outall the grease and locate those little pieces then repack them. I do not wantto even think about trying to locate a new ring right now. I bet that pieceswill set me back because no one around here will have one nor will they knowwhere to get one.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

I addressed the proportioning valve today. I was having ahell of a time getting around the structural dimpled area. Finally I comparedit to the donor truck and sure enough it had the same thing. So I made atemplate of the holes. It worked out great and now the valve is right where ishas to be. The third hole I marked but did not drill is for a small bracketthat holds the lines in place. I want to wait and see if I can reuse the holesjust above it instead. I have no desire to drill unnecessary holes in theframe. Matter of fact, I usually weld in unnecessary holes when I do my frameoff builds. Still have no idea why I do that.