1962 Dodge AT4

Been following this forum for best parrt of 10 years or so now and always get a kick out of reading about the bloke(s) who are willing to at least try and do that something just a little out of the norm. In my opinion, before you even start you have to accept that unless you are virtually rebuilding a vehicle to accepted to original spec, you are going to draw the attention of the MAN! We have all read on this forum just how you can get ginned around by those in power when it comes to even minor safety upgrades! Remember even something as simple as adding a power brake booster! Not saying this is NOT warranted, days of shoehorning 6 cylinder Holden red motors into Morris Minor utes and hooking off for a Sunday drive have been curtailed and probably rightly so. Here in Vic. It seems the moment you want to get away a bit from "standard" rebuilds, you have to accept that you more than likely are going to require an engineers report. They are around, seemingly well spaced and are expensive and you either pay them to travel to where your pride and joy resides, or you either have to trailer or drive it under a permit to himm/her. Looked into this a bit a while ago, at the time I was quoted 2 grand over at Bendigo, about 100 km away. Possibly even had a price increase since. All I'm saying is this is a cost that you have to be willing to take on and then write off, like taxes! Have seen some remarkable restorations here over the years, some unbelievable modifications (Oilmans Atki and Zuffens project come mmediaty to mind) and if I may be bold enough to advance the old chestnut WHY?, I would say these guys did it not for monetary reasons, but because it was both challenging and the work gratifying, a sense of achievement. May well be wrong in this assessment, dont think so and if I am, I apologise. Anyone can buy original or reproduction parts off the shelf, the guy(s) who adapt whatever they can lay their hands on get my nod!
Dave_64

Dave

You are absolutely right. Any modification of grand proportions is always going to cost more than it saves (or adds value). But we all know that!

You can cut the cost of making it "legal" by being a bit conservative. An engine swap is very simple if the new engine does not increase power by more than, I think 30%. After that you are looking at modern brakes, collapsible steering wheels etc etc.

As you say, engineers vary in common sense. I have a very good one. For instance I bought a Morris Minor in Tasmania for a fun trip with my grandson. Got it back to Qld and needed an engineers certificate for the Datsun motor conversion. "Uh oh this has a Datsun 1400 which is more than 30% more powerful than original Morris 1,000. I am going for a coffee, can you just check that A14 on the block is not an A12 which looks exactly the same as the A14 motor. I think it looks like 3/8" letter stamps were used" Amazingly when he returned he was right it was only an A12.

Apologies to Boggy, once again we seem to have deviated from original topic.
Lang, at least it was a commonsense outcome with the Morry, marvellous how asimple shot of caffiene improves eyesight!
Cheers, Dave_64

Sorry Boggy this too is a little off topic but on our way back home today we stopped at a rest area for a cuppa. Sitting in the van I heard the sweetest sound of a gurgling exhaust as the gears where down shifted.
WOW, it was Constable Plod in his Chrysler 300c highway patrol. All 6.4 litres were happily making noises as he stopped for a leak. I went over and checked it out along with some pics as these things look great and sound just right. Well as Plod cam back he hit his key and it burst to life before he was at the car. We then spent a fair amount of time talking about his toy. I pointed out the size of the disc rotors on this animal of a car. He said when required at higher speeds after the 3rd pump on the brake pedal they faded. I made a comparission to the old Valiant Chargers which were all go and no stop. He claimed he had above 300kph when on an urgent response. HE opened the doors and gave me a lookm around inside and all the gear he carries. I asked if he was going to get a Camaro when they are released but no, they must have 4 door cars only as chase cars plus still e rear wheel drive only as none of them have had driver training for front or all wheel drive vehicles.
When he left he aimed it up the exit road flicked the lights on and launched it. Boy didn't it fly. Apparently there is no such thing as fuel economy in these rockets and as it only has a 65 litre fuel tank he has to fuel up twice a shift.

Sorry Boggy.

You have there a couple of nice original trucks whose performance reflects the era in which they were made. I would suggest first up get them going right and get used to them. You will either like them like that or get frustrated, in which case the better route would be to go Japanese for light truck or Euro for heavier duty - $5k can buy a lot of near trouble free horsepower these days.
For International spares look up Fleet parts at Toowoomba and Mike will look after you.

I love the slightly off topic discussion and the directions that they can take. Having a yarn is a great way to learn things. I didn't know that the latest plod mobiles had 300kmh potential. They have come a long way since I out ran them regularly on my old Kawasaki GPz1100 lol. Funny thing is that I know own an ex Police BMW K100 motorcycle and often wonder if it was one of the ones that couldn't catch me back in the day lol . I was based in Brisbane then and that is where the bike did its service.

I want to build the AT4 up so that it can sit on 110 kmh comfortably when needed, give reasonable economy, stop better than it does and last me a long time without constant rebuilds. Even if I end up putting a computerised motor in it, I would be happy if I get this outcome. I would prefer to run something age appropriate like the Perkins but I don't want to have to cut the old girl to bits and I want to keep the original looks as much as possible. A V8 is the obvious way to go but it will fall down in the economy department. I am in no rush, the slant 6 is a good motor, its slow but it will get me around until I get around to upgrading. The little "leaning tower of power" used bugger all oil and blew no smoke on the trip home from Sydney so It will run for a while yet. I am thinking that the 5 speed out of the Acco might add some legs to it but I dont know if it will pull the overdrive without the need for a bigger carb and extractors. Then it will use more fuel ............ I do my own head in sometimes. lol. ........... Anyway, I like this forum. I am getting lots of feedback and ideas from people with more experience than I.

On another thought.... What is that bar called (I am yet to get a manual) that goes from the steering box to the right front wheel? Mine has a fair bit of movement, as do the ball joints. Where would one procure such a gadget?

Its called a Drag Link......and youll find the wear is in the fixed balls that pivot in the sockets .....there are (usually) heavy springs that take up any wear in the socket pads in the link ends......generally there are threaded plugs retained by a split pin,remove the pin ,screw in the plug a little ,but not so much the the end binds up at full lock either way.

If I wanted a nice Dodge to drive that would sit on 110,I would definitely put a Dodge 318 in it........Yes ,you can do stuff like like 4-53 GMs if deafness is your thing,or buy a V8 Toyota diesel if youre rich,but IMHO ,a 318 truck motor (not a car motor) is the answer....the truck motor is quite different to the car motor..

OK, so I bought a pair of air bags with fittings for $220 from a guy in Dalby, They came up on FB market place last night. The rear springs are pretty shot so these will keep the tray up where it should be.
While I was in town I went to Prices Truck Parts. He has about 40 acres of old trucks of all descriptions. I got the hub nuts that I needed (pics coming later) and was quoted $500 for a rebuildable 318 truck motor or $1500 for a good runner. I am sure I can get that for the Perkins and the bits I sell off the old Inter. I will be sure to look at compression and seals/ gaskets before I put it in and in the mean time sus out how good the 5 speed is in the Acco. If wit will fit and what will be needed for the conversion. Lots to think about for now but things are coming together.

Last I heard (2 weeks ago) was that the EPA had frozen Prices activities with no sign of an intelligent outcome on the horizon. Grab it while you can.