Double Dingo's 1965 3/4 Ton "Crusty Biscuit"

[DoubleDingo]

Straight antifreeze? I don't think that's particularly good for the engine either.

No it's not.

Last night I decided to add some flush to the cooling system, and some Marvel Mystery Oil to the crankcase to clean out passages and lifters. Going to run it like this until Sunday, and then I'll do a thorough cleaning of the cooling system and an oil change. The radiator is new so it doesn't need much, but there could be debris lodged in the tubes from the neglected cooling system the truck came with. I got the '81 fixed up and running cool with the original radiator, so this one should be just fine after some attention. The '81 was worse when I got it, the fluid in the radiator was brown and has masses of floaties in with it. If this one still won't cool down I will assume the cylinders are bored over and the thinner walls are going to cause me grief. But first things first.

Got the fan to shroud clearance dialed in and now I don't have to worry about the fan hitting it and I can replace belts without having to remove the fan and shroud. As yo can see in the photo of the temp gauge the truck runs cool while idling, 45 minutes of idling when the pic was taken. Driving to work this morning the gauge began to climb but not as bad as it did the days before.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Yesterday I saw there is a car show on the 29th about 45 minutes from here, so I am going to enter this truck. I have a few things to clean and check and such before then. I get to try out my electric buffer that i got for $18 at the pawn shop. Entry is $20 and it's a 4 hour event, so I figured why not, should be fun.

There is another car show in October here in town, so I am going to do that one as well.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Didn't get to the truck on Saturday, did yardwork instead.

Sunday I got a late start but got the rebuilt tranny installed. Except the driveline won't slip past the tailshaft bushing. Will have to deal with that after work tonight.

Here's some pics of the rebuilt tranny with some fresh paint applied and one of the date code before being painted. According to the date code it's a Saginaw built on April 12th. The OD unit is an R10Q-1, I've read the R11 unit is stronger, but I am not complaining about this one. The Governor wasn't hooked up when I got the truck, and I'm not sure if I will rewire the OD system to work like it's supposed to from the factory. I can see the benefit of having it like that, but now that I know how to drive with it, I don't mind it like it is.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Took off an hour early from work yesterday to tackle the driveline installation. First attempt to tap it in resulted in it getting stuck and I almost couldn't get it out. So I took some emery cloth and shaved a little material from the yoke. There was some light surface rust too, so I got that removed. I didn't get a photo of it, but the first 1/2 inch of the splines of the yoke were boogered up, so I took my saw sharpening file to them and got them smoothed out. Applied a good thin coat of lithium grease to the splines and the yoke, and proceeded to tap in the driveline, and then took a small prybar and twisted the driveline back and forth, tapped it in a little more, twisted, tapped, twisted, and after about another 45 minutes I finally got it installed. Replacing the tailshaft bushing with the transmission rebuild, the yoke didn't want to slide in. I either pressed the bushing into the tailshaft, or I got it freed up enough to accept the yoke. Hopefully I just freed it up, I really don't want to replace the bushing again, mainly because I don't want to fight the overdrive again. Tonight I will button up the rest of it and test drive it.

Here's a couple pics of the color scheme I mentioned, except after looking at these, I decided to add a color to it. Frame - metallic silver; Engine, Trans, Axles, Control Arms - Dark GM Blue Metallic; Cab, Grill, Tailgate Letters - Arctic White; Anything that rotates (driveline, pulleys, brake drums) - Gloss Black

I need to get a different exhaust system put on this thing so the engine can breathe better.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Got the truck buttoned-up and took it for a spin. The tranny feels good and tight now, much improved, and it has much quieter operation now as well. BUT, the brass rings need to be seated/worn so the shifting will be better. Have to fight to get it into 1st from a stop, and that can only be done by shifting into reverse first, and then with a firm movement down into 1st. Or lightly let out the clutch and let the stuff rotate and then it will go into gear.

Shifting from 1st to 2nd isn't bad, and 2nd to 3rd is fine. But there is no shifting from 3rd to 2nd without finessing it into 2nd. It just grinds. And the reason for this new crappy shifting is because the brass rings that came with the kit, mainly one of the brass rings, would not fit easily into its spot, so it is hanging up instead of sliding. After some miles it should be okay. Frustrating nonetheless.

Tonight or tomorrow night I need to get a cable stay mounted somewhere so the overdrive will work properly, the cable is moving so the lockout isn't operating the way it should, and I don't want to damage the tranny just because of that. Other than that the truck drives much better, much more responsive when giving throttle and letting off the throttle, due to the slack in the drivetrain being mostly gone.

Over the weekend I wasn't able to flush the cooling system or change the oil, so that still needs to be done. Just ordered new radiator and heater hoses, and new iginition parts for the HEI dizzy I have laying around. Was going to wait for the HEI swap, but for reliability-sake it is going to happen sooner. The truck needs a good washing too. So much to do, so little time, and no garage doesn't help either. Oh well, I have concrete to crawl around on instead of dirt, so that's a plus.

 

[foamypirate]

Good progress man, you were quick betting that thing back in there!

 

[firebane]

Just ordered new radiator and heater hoses, and new iginition parts for the HEI dizzy I have laying around. Was going to wait for the HEI swap, but for reliability-sake it is going to happen sooner. The truck needs a good washing too. So much to do, so little time, and no garage doesn't help either. Oh well, I have concrete to crawl around on instead of dirt, so that's a plus.

Don't forget to either get new plugs or gap the plugs properly if going from points to HEI. Points is .030 and HEI is .045. IF you don't do this the truck will run like a turd... ask me how I know

 

[DoubleDingo]

Good progress man, you were quick betting that thing back in there!

Thanks. It may seem quick but it's been slow going with most of it being done after work and limited light.

Don't forget to either get new plugs or gap the plugs properly if going from points to HEI. Points is .030 and HEI is .045. IF you don't do this the truck will run like a turd... ask me how I know

I already got the plugs. And yeah I remember years ago when I did this swap in Mean Green, I didn't re-gap the plugs and it didn't run right. Lesson learned for sure.

Crap! I just remembered that I forgot to get a cable stay while I was at the auto parts store during lunch! Maybe I have one at home I can use. Crap!

 

[DoubleDingo]

Made little progress Wednesday night, just switched out the temperature sending unit to the old one.

But last night I got the transmission working properly, saw the rear u-joint wasn't seated in the cup of the yoke, fixed that, double-checked the center bearing and it's shot because of the first run with it and not knowing the factory driveline would hit it without it being properly bolted in. I'll get a pic of that so you can see what I'm talking about.

Changed all the fuel rubber lines, the one under the truck was completely dry rotted and flaking, the others weren't bad but are new now. While changing those lines I saw the PO put on a fuel pump for a 283, not a 350, so I need to switch over the pump to a 350 pump and run hard line from it to the carburetor.

Since the fuel lines took longer than expected I wasn't able to fully flush the cooling system, but I did do 5 fills and drains with tap water. There is a lot of debris in the cooling system. Tonight it will get a thorough going through with probably 5 more fills and drains before adding the distilled water into it and getting a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant. I did get the heater hoses changed though. A little peace of mind there because the 5/8" line was leaking a little bit. Right now it's all water in the system.

On the to-do list for tonight:

Finish the cooling system, including changing the radiator hoses;
Change the oil;
Put on new wiper blades;
Wash the entire truck, including inside the cab and the engine bay;

During and after this weekend's to-do list:

Grease the front end;
Pack the wheel bearings;
Swap in the HEI dizzy, plugs (gapped to 0.45), wires and time it appropriately;
Remove the seat and add seat belts and a new seat cover;
Get a new center bearing installed on the driveline and make sure it is installed properly in the truck before running it;
Get the AC vacuumed down and remove the aftermarket system including the compressor until I can find a better set of ramhorn exhaust manifolds;
Install the factory AC components from Mean Green in the cab, including the Deluxe Air System for better control of the inside/outside air and the heat;
Get a better exhaust installed, either the glass pack system that dumps in front of the wheels from the parts truck with the crossover pipe for scavenging, or the Dual system from Mean Green that has dual-in/dual-out Borla muffler that dumps behind the passenger-side wheel which also scavenges but is very loud;
Add some sound deadener to the floor boards and firewall and maybe behind the tank;
Fix some wiring issues I have discovered;
Tighten all the bed bolts and add some to the front mounts because the PO didn't install those and I want the bed to be very secure to the frame and the wood to be snugged down well;
Paint the grill from Mean Green and the grill surround on the truck and install the grill;
Paint the rear bumper and install the bolts and washers I got for it;
Install a chrome bumper on the front....just a few things left to do...

Took it for a quick test drive early this morning, the overdrive works perfectly, still need to get the brass rings to settle-in so the shifting will improve. Can't expect it to be perfect with only 10 minutes of driving time. The temperature didn't climb up like it was before, so that tells me the cooling system was clogged with debris, or the sending unit I bought was either bad or the sealant added to the threads was causing a false signal or both. Glad to know it's not running hot.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Was bored so I did a quick search on "283 engine for sale"...look at that beauty!!! I doubt I could rebuild the one from the parts truck for $2,200. Just don't have that kind of money right now. It sure would be cool to have a 283 in the truck though.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Well @HotRodPC, I took a closer look at the 283 I have from the parts truck, and there are little pyramids cast into the heads. From what I've researched, those are Power Pack heads, and from what I gather those are like a very early vortec-type head designed for high velocity to get the small 283's revving up to move the big cars and trucks back in the day. I think I need to tear this engine apart and get it cleaned up for a rebuild. A nice running 283 pushing 220 ponies would be nice and gas mileage would be better too.

On a side note, the car show was cool. Got lots of people checking out the truck. I ran out of time to wax it and polish it before going up, but at least got it washed and looking good the night before. The truck "photo-bombed" the winner's photo. They took a photo of the winner's cherry 55' chevy sedan and mounted it onto a plaque. My truck is in the background. That '55 was a sexy car.

I did check the mileage from the round trip on Saturday, 84.2 miles, truck used 6.2 gallons of gas (13.58 mpg's) and that was cruising along with traffic around 70-75. Truck pulled the grades going up to the car show just fine in overdrive.

Pulling the OD tranny again to replace the synchro rings. Pissed about that, but have to do it if I want normal shifting. Was hoping they would loosen up, but they didn't and I don't want to damage the tranny running it that way. Replacing those on Saturday, JOY!

 

[DoubleDingo]

I will stop with my indecision posts. I am just trying to figure out the best route to go with this truck. I am seriously leaning towards rebuilding the 283, but need to tear it apart before a firm decision can be made. No matter which route I take with the engine it will be setup to run at its sweetspot in the rpm range for highway economy.

The OD-3-speed saga continues. The reverse gear thrust washer broke and am waiting for a replacement to arrive. So the OD tranny is sitting on Pop's bench in pieces. Not having OD on the camping trip last week made highway driving slow going. 55 mph at 2,600 rpms is not fun, I ran the numbers after getting back. The tach is definitely not right as it shows 2,200 at 55 mph. The speedometer is off by about 10 mph at anything above 45 mph. Found that out by one of those side of the road radar things that they put up in areas that they want you to do a certain speed. Was showing 54 mph on the speedometer and the radar thing was showing 43 mph. No wonder it felt like we were going so slow.

Truck did great though. After learning what speedometer speed I needed to be going for the highway, it wasn't as bad, but still slow. Truck didn't burn any oil, only got a little hot climbing the steep grades, but there was no boil-over. After the 6th the campgrounds were empty and that was nice. Gas mileage wasn't too bad either for turning such high rpm's. Yes it wasn't great, but burning about 14 gallons for a 174 mile trip isn't bad with 4:57 gears. Definitely need to get an overdrive back in the truck. And if this OD-3-speed keeps giving me fits it's getting shelved for the twin-stick-setup I have sitting around. A 27% Ranger OD and an SM420 would be a cool setup and give me back the granny low that I like to use in old trucks.

So that's where things are now. Taking a break from working on the truck every night. I have a big list of to-do items for it as posted earlier. But I know it's road worthy and reliable and that's all that matters to me. The other stuff is just time killing things that will make it better.

 

[DoubleDingo]

.....burning about 14 gallons for a 174 mile trip isn't bad with 4:57 gears....

Forgot to add, this was the mileage coming home, but the mileage wasn't bad for the whole trip considering hills and highways.

 

[Stewzer55]

That's not too bad at all. The Ranger OD would give you splitting too and no loss of engine braking if you're not in OD.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I estimated the 14 gallons. It was just under 1/2 tank when getting home, and it sat for a few days before taking it to another town for a baby shower, and coming back I topped it off and it took around 16 gallons, so it I still had enough to get back home. But with being about 6 miles from home and not wanting to walk, I got fuel.

I think it's because the engine has a cam with a lope to it so the sweet spot for it is in the higher rpm range, and low end torque sucks. The saving grace of lacking low end torque is the low rear end gears.

I do like the idea of having 8 forward gears and 2 reverse gears that is achieved with the ranger gear splitter overdrive. I've read they make shifting the tranny a little harder because of the added rotating mass of the overdrive unit between the tranny and clutch, but with some practice it's not that bad. Just need to be mindful of the synchro's and let the rpm's match better before shifting. Having gears between gears is an added benefit.