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Posted by Tom in Indiana [32.145.50.137] on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 05:12:26 :
After daily-driving my '50 for the last two weeks, I've been not only tickled pink from the experience, but also concerned and curious about my continuing doing so. I now KNOW I'll need to go the power steering and brake route; I'm perfectly comfortable with both as far as settling for them being what they are, but after meeting people on the road and in traffic, I have worries about being able to control the truck in emergency situations. My first question has to do with Ray's brake setup: could I use something other than the Chevrolet parts and be as well off? The only local classic salvage yard is strictly vintage Mopar. Has anyone done it differently?
I'm also wondering about steering column swapping, to be able to use a smaller steering wheel. I'm tall, and have to squeeze myself between the wheel and seat to drive it. Could a person take a '60's non-ignition switch column out of a 3/4 ton and mate it to the Saginaw power steering box? That would also add the benefit of self-cancelling turn signals.
I'm thinking about swapping out the front and rear axle assemblies for Dana 70/80's. Has anyone done it and been able to keep the factory 5-lug pattern? I'd like to run 60 down the interstate sometime- and be able to readily find/afford parts if something breaks. How difficult would it be to swap them out? Is there a rear that's really close to the same width of the stock rears? I could go to a centered rear axle and kill two birds with one stone that way.
In order to free up as much HP as possible, I'm going to be swapping in an electric fan, electric fuel pump (sorry, Dodge Boys), milling the head .070, and modifying a stock intake for a 2-bbl carb. Are there any more tricks you guys can think of to get me up my hill faster than 10 mph in 2nd gear, with the pedal floored?
My truck has the pto-driven MU-5 winch. I have free access to a synchronized transmission out of a '68 WM300 that didn't come with a winch. What would it take to swap it into my '50 in place of the original, grind-every-gear nguys?nchro tranny, yet still keep my winch operational?
Last and least, how does the windshield regulator assembly come out? Mine's non-op, and I want to fix it. Thanks, guys!
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