Spring has finally arrived, and I took my truck out for the first time today for a little spin. It started right up, and everything worked as it did last Fall. My driving experience was enhanced by having working wipers and turn signals.

The little dead-end town road in front of our house:


Earlier today, I (finally) installed weather stripping around the rear doors. I've been putting off doing this for several years because I was afraid it wouldn't turn out well. I was right to be skeptical. My doors are almost impossible to close now. Sometimes they "pop" open by themselves. The door gaps don't look good either. I'm guessing when I go to check tomorrow morning, the doors will be "popped" open, and all the good compression I was hoping to have occur overnight will not have happened.

My rear-view camera (another job I've been avoiding) is mounted now and just about ready to go. The wires are run. I just need to power it up and figure how to make it work with my GPS. A duel master cylinder and all the parts needed for a conversion are on order. With wipers, turn signals, a rear-view camera, a duel master cylinder, and much improved handling, I should be all set for some serious inter-state travel.

Jim

 

I love that damn truck, open doors and all!

I also did a home-made dual master upgrade(I did not like the kit I bought) and it's worked very well, I just need to readjust the brakes and bleed one more time to be safe.

 

Did you use hollow core weatherstrip?

Can you adjust the striker plates?

 

The weather stripping is solid--purchased several years ago from Classic Haulers. I don't have striker plates--just crude holes cut into the floor and door frame. I did see, however, that Mid-Fifty has striker plates in the Panel Truck section of their catalog. Does anyone know if 48-52 trucks are supposed to have striker plates for the rear doors? I don't see any screw holes for attaching striker plates, so I'm thinking they might be for 53-56 trucks.

mOROTBREATH, thanks for the complement. I didn't order a kit. Just the master cylinder itself from Mid-Fifty. Diane said I would need a different brake light switch and maybe some kind of adapter for the clutch. Diane said she would do some checking, and see that I get everything that's needed. Did you have to do something with the clutch? Thanks.

Jim

 

No I did not, the clutch for my original 3 spd is also original mechanical style.

 

Thanks. It's good to know that you didn't have to mess with the clutch. Diane wasn't sure. My doors (surprisingly) stayed shut. I didn't mess with them today. Hopefully the weather stripping is compressing nicely. I'm interested in knowing if other panel owners have adjustable striker plates for their rear doors.

Jim

 

I'm happy to report that after a day-and-a-half "compressing", my doors are closing much better. I think I'm going to be good.

The gaps are still sketchy, but who's going to notice at 100 feet. I believe my doors are bent. Back in the day, when me and the truck were younger, at least one of the hinges was broken, and the doors never fit or closed decently. There is also evidence that the door hinge area has had some serious welding repair done to it at some point in the distant past.





I'm thinking my friend, Bob Jones, could fix these right up for me. I'm trying to stay alive until he retires. LOL.

Jim

 

I was pretty sure Bob would have stepped-up by now and scheduled me in for a little door adjustment, but that hasn't happened. I guess I need to reluctantly move on.

I've been to Pennsylvania, and I'm a little concerned about driving the back roads this September with my stock brakes and master cylinder. In the interest of making the experience a little less scary, I ordered a duel cylinder master cylinder. Mid Fifty assured me that they would include everything needed for the conversion with my order. As it turned out, all that arrived with the tootsy-rolls was the master cylinder unit itself and a different brake switch.

Almost immediately it became apparent that we weren't going to be able to mate the new unit that has two holes for attaching to the frame with my existing three hole bracket. Also, should we get the unit installed, it looks like servicing it through the existing hole in the floor is going to be difficult at best. I called Diane at Mid-fifty and she seemed concerned that someone had given her bad advice about what would be needed for my project. She is going to get back to me after speaking with her "source".

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this conversion? Thanks.

Jim

 

You can make a plate to convert from 3-holes to 2-holes, or buy a kit to mount it. No matter what, the problem with accessing the lid will be there. There have been some threads about remote reservoirs.

Personal opinion, if you have taken care of your steel lines, rubber hoses, wheel cylinders, and linings, stock brakes will be fine.

Someone on here made this adapter (I think it was Ernie?)

 

That has been my philosophy about brake lines, etc. So it's good to hear someone of your mechanical knowledge say that, Ross. I do have to tighten the ebrake on my F350, or I might have to replace the lining on it.

 

Someone drove my truck at least a couple hundred thousand miles for about 30 years before it was parked with the stock brakes. Someone else drove my '67 Chevy 2-ton over 250,000 miles with a 20,000lbs. GVW for about 20 years with it's single cylinder.


I converted mine after spending years telling myself in paranoia to do it, buying 95% of the parts, realizing that those parts won't work to my liking, and simply to prove I was up to the task. But there is a bit too much hype on this Single feed master cylinder? You're going to die in flames attitude.

 

By the way, the original adapter bracket placed the cylinder far from an ideal place for what seemed like no reason. I even found that the old style bracket would have conveniently placed it almost right under my floor access hole.

This guy is outside the U.S.A. and he had the OLD STYLE bracket that places it correctly....almost. https://dinnerhillspeedshop.blogspot...-drum.html?m=1



So what did I do? I modified my factory frame piece exactly as he did to move the cylinder closer to the main frame rail. I then fabricated a terrible looking bracket for the actual cylinder. It looks absolutely horrible because I have zero fabrication skills, but it is strong and functions normally. I check it for cracks every few weeks and as I've probably overstated on this forum, I daily drive my truck.


Notice for ease of installation I also welded plain steel nuts to the holes so I don't have to hold the nuts when bolting anything together. All of the nuts are "weld-nuts".

 

Spacer/Deflector between Carb and Intake mount solved a lot of hot day start problems. 100 degrees here in no. Santa Barbara County today. No starting issues. Keep foot off gas when hot. And no, it does not look stock. They make a triangle shaped spacer/insulator that looks more hidden.

 

I looked at those at Carlisle last year. There made in PA. I almost bought two. Then I read the fine print and asked the guy more about them. Not recommended for engines with crossover heat passages on manifolds like on Yblocks. It could melt and put stuff in the carb and so on .

 

Maybe not good for Y block. Seems fine on my flat motor. Maybe if flathead overheated if would melt?
Not sure, Abe, how it melts on Carb. I use two gaskets top and bottom.
Maybe others using this could weigh-in? Seems to solved my hard hot start issues.