Buying a J3000.....DRW

[KaiserMan]

Going to pick the bed up tomorrow morning. It needs a new wood floor and a couple of cross members. Got it for $150. Cheap money for a 12x8' bed; even needing some work.

And I'll be getting these wheels as well. All 6 matching from a Dodge fire truck. They will do until I find the correct Jeep/Ford style wheels. I tool a closer look at my customers wheels, and only the two single piece wheels are any good.

[Mikel]

Looks good to me!

[KaiserMan]

Got the bed home. It's A LOT rougher than the guy made it out to be. Sky turned black just as I got to his place and I didn't check it out as well as I should have in my rush to load it before the downpour.

It needs 6 cross member and the rear panel (rear panel is solid but beat). A couple of small patches on the right hand side rail and some dents beat out.

It's still strapped to my 71. It may just take a ride to the scrap yard.

Glad I made a four hour round trip for it

[jpcoutts]

After all this time I still haven't found a suitable bed for mine. The Jeep duallys are wider and shorter (you don't have the shorter issue) than others I've run across. I still have it in my mind to build my own, but that project will have to wait at least a while.

[KaiserMan]

I just did some figuring on what I'd need to make my own. Weight and material anyway. No clue what it would cost.

I'm going to get a price from a fab shop tomorrow for the 6 cross members. They are 4.25x2 formed C-channel, and for some 5" channel iron.

[KaiserMan]

Here's the new bed loaded on the truck until I can get around to working on it. It's a Reading Body 12.5x8' bed. It's 3" wider than a stock bed. It needs four cross members, but otherwise is very solid and straight. Paid $150 for it. And lost my tail board for the 71 bringing it home

And a pic of the Dodge wheels with my 7.50-16's mounted up on them.

Tossed all the old ignition stuff Saturday and swapped on the nearly new parts I had pulled from my 63 when I went to HEI. And a set of new Delco plugs. Fixed a few PO related things. The electric choke was zip tied shut. And the PCV valve was capped off. The PCV port of the carb was run to the breather on the valve cover

Starts right up now, and runs very well.

[mud89]

Seems like a good choice for the new bed, in my opinion the old one is not long enough for the extended wheelbase

[KaiserMan]

So I finally got some things done on the old dually.

New:

Mechanical fuel pump, hard line to carb, filter
P/S and Alt. Belts
Pressure and return hoses for the PS
CHROME!!! air cleaner (for now, this is probably going back to a 2bbl)
All radiator hoses/bypass hose, heater hoses, thermostat and housing
Freshly re-cored radiator
Tires

Used:

Dodge wheels
Complete power steering pump and bracket assembly from another '68 Glad.
OEM fan shroud (my last, and worst condition one)
Buick clutch fan blade with a replacement clutch
Boiled out heater core and repainted box from a 66 J3000
Complete low mileage tune up (plugs, wires, points, condenser, rotor and cap) from my 63 (pulled when I went to HEI)

Also, note how different my front drums are from the one Elliott has in his dually registry.

My $669.38 radiator


Original shroud from my 71. Missing the bottom, and repaired on top.




Late model production change on the drums apparently.


From Elliotts page

[FSJunkie]

Glad you're putting bias traction tires on it. Trucks like that just look goofy with fat modern radials.

Most old cars look goofy with radials, IMO.

[Mikel]

Hey Thomas, I have a fuel tank that size you are welcome to.

[KaiserMan]

Suburban sized?

[Mikel]

Roughly. About 30 ga. Should fit in the spare tire area.

[KaiserMan]

That sounds like it would work. I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to hunt down a stock tank for it or go with the rear tank yet. Need to figure out what's been done to the motor internally. I'd preferably like to go back to a 2bbl with single exhaust.

If I keep the duals the tank will move to the back.

[jpcoutts]

Interesting difference in the front drum/hub setup. I think and hope that the same drum will fit mine (11/2005 photo) as fits on the SRW trucks of the same year. At least they look similar. How the drums are mounted on the front of mine is not clear from looking at the truck or looking at any of the manuals and diagrams I've seen.

[KaiserMan]

So I got into the brakes a little today. Have the R/F apart to the inner knuckle.

The Spindle, Inner front wheel bearing and Seal are all different than the 5-7K lb GVW trucks, and also different that the 8000lbs GVW trucks. Meaning they are late model dually specific!

Managed to track the bearing down. It's the same as a 60's Chevy C30 front inner. The seal for the Chevy is close, but has a slightly smaller OD.

Good thing my seals seem to be in good shape! As are the drums. TONS of meat left, and they don't need to be turned. Hope the L/F is the same!

Edit, looks like SKF PN 22392 should work. Correct width, shaft size and OD.

Dodge wheels on.



One of the two VERY bad wheels on the truck. The two bad ones are from a Ford. The four Jeep wheels are in better shape.



Underhood so far.