Newbie Questions for a 1962 M55 Gasser

[vtdeucedriver]

More pics

 

[ThatXJGuy]

I will do that, I keep forgetting, i'm terrible at that. I never have any before pictures of my projects. On monday I'll have a good part of the day to work on it but maybe i'll go shoot some pictures of it tomorrow too, I have two hours tomorrow but I don't get to bring it inside so I just work on the parts I pull off to bring inside... It was -24 degrees at my house this morning, no joke. It warmed up all the way to -5 today for a high, needless to say I don't work on it outside at these temps. It has been nice and sunny though on the bright side.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

So does anybody have the part number for the R6602 Thermostats? I think mine are either stuck open or somebody took them out, even with the radiator blocked off and running inside a 70 degree shop I can't get it to go over 130 degrees. I am working on it now but I can't take any pictures today because my phone took a crap. Maybe I'll have my wife run up and use hers haha. I just flushed and drained the oil, and I'm about to go change the filters. That was a lot of nasty black oil, I'm glad I grabbed 3 drain pans, I got 2-1/2 out of it.

So I just pulled the oil filters, It had two 1500 Napa filters. The spreadsheet says 1503 and 1056 I think, I have a couple of each and the 1503 seems to be the same length as the 1500 and the other is a little shorter. Any reason that the spreadsheet has two different numbers? Ill be cleaning stuff up for a few minutes but unless anybody says any different before I do i'll just put the two 1503s in and go with that. Somebody told me that the two are supposed to be the same so I was curious about the spreadsheet.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

Well I found the air leak, turns out the front driveshaft had rubbed on the hose to the transfercase and it split down the side, and th other one had so I got two brand new hoses. Got the fuel tank on today (a 30 gal off of an old pickup but it's better than the 5 gallon can). I found out the temp guage works and finally covered up the radiator good enough to get it to warm up nearer to operating temperature. I learned that the distributor cap is far from waterproof and if you powerwash the engine, it won't restart until you take it off and dry it up... Anyway, having a great time learning everything the hard way haha, but its been fun, these trucks are great to work on.

 

[porkysplace]

Well I found the air leak, turns out the front driveshaft had rubbed on the hose to the transfercase and it split down the side, and th other one had so I got two brand new hoses. Got the fuel tank on today (a 30 gal off of an old pickup but it's better than the 5 gallon can). I found out the temp guage works and finally covered up the radiator good enough to get it to warm up nearer to operating temperature. I learned that the distributor cap is far from waterproof and if you powerwash the engine, it won't restart until you take it off and dry it up... Anyway, having a great time learning everything the hard way haha, but its been fun, these trucks are great to work on.

You can figure on replacing all the rubber hoses.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

So I have a couple of new big questions for all of you R6602 guys, is there a good reason why you would need to advance or retard the timing so far that you would need to cut away part of the distributor housing to turn it further? Also, because of the cap being cut up like you see, all of the internals have seen more weather than they should have and are a little corroded and I was wondering if anybody had numbers for the rotor, points, resistors, condensers, etc. in the cap. I think I could probably pull them out and take them in to work and see if I can't identify some of them based on visual but it sure would make my life easier. While i'm speaking of numbers, how about marking light bulb numbers or a flasher maybe? I haven't investigated too much but it seems that I only have one marker light (the driver corner) when I put it in service drive or blackout drive. The headlights work great although I think somebody installed them upside down because when you flip the brights on they get lower and brighter and the dims are up in the trees...

While i'm talking electrical, I can't find any sign of circuit protection, is there any? I can't hardly believe that they would forget fuses and everything but I don't really know. This is my first after all... The truck quit running the other day and I found that the power wire to the ignition system had shorted out near the firewall and it just burned up the wire and actually burned a hole in the sheet metal where it grounded out! I found another hot wire the other day when I was working on something else and bumped a wire with my elbow and it started sparking on a fuel line it rubbed up against! Needless to say it needs some electrical system work but that's no worry to me.

And about the sprag that engages the front axle, it seems to always engage well in reverse now that I have those new hoses but it seems to have trouble engaging in forwards. It will but sometimes I have to release and pop the clutch a few times before the front driveshaft starts spinning. Is there an adjustment to this by chance or should I just hope new gear oil will help?

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Sent you a text with a pic.

 

[ReoRider]

The grinding on the distributor body is to compensate for the mismatch by a tooth or so of the drive gear for the distributor connection in the crankcase. At some reassembly of the engine they were not quite matched for TDC and as a result there is not enough swing in the distributor to adjust the timing. Hence, the grinding to allow the distributor to rotate a little more for greater advance of the spark. Not a problem if it gives you the advance needed.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

If it's off a tooth shouldn't I just pull it out and move it over one tooth? Does this distributor just pull out like many others or is there more to that than on some other vehicle? I'd like to return it to the original rotation if its not really difficult. I don't like the grind to fit method on anything if I can avoid it, not to mention they compromised it's water-proof capability. I am planning on building a set of wires for it and getting spark plugs to return it all to water proof ready. I had heard that going one heat range hotter of plugs would be a good option to help with warmup and the natural richness of the Holley and 6602, any reasons that it wouldn't? I found the Autolite 2245 that is one heat range hotter than the 2243 and is also military waterproof.

And how about the sprag issue wit the front axle? Is there some different gear lube that might help that issue or should I just flush it all out and hope for the best? I was thinking of draining all of the gear boxes and differentials and filling them with diesel, driving gently around the shop a time or two just enough to rinse the cases out and then drain and fill with new 75-90. What I have found with the oils I have checked so far is very very nasty so I figured a good flush would be a good idea. And once I run it through my wmo filtering system, I'll just burn the oily diesel in my dodge...

I also pulled off the front bumper, frame extensions, and broken winch today. Planning on straightening the bumper out and putting it back on like a W/O winch truck until I find another winch or decide what I want to do there. I left the PTO on the transmission but it appears to be leaking so when I do the gear lube drain I'll either remove it for now or see if I can't fix it and see if it still works after whatever happened to the winch which had to be some catastrophe. I'll try to remember to take and post more pictures tomorrow. I'm about to re-install the floor panels with weather stripping around the edges and paint the tops of them with truck bed liner along with the rest of the interior floor. Then I'll pull off the dash and clean up and paint the whole interior and have my wife sew up the new cushions and covers for the companion seat and get some door handles and be all good inside. Then it will be on to painting the outside of the cab and the whole rear frames and all of that and then i'll build me that custom bed I want... Big plans, and a long way to go but it's too much fun to quit.

 

[ReoRider]

Unfortunately, it's not the distributor shaft that is off. It has a flat/off center key that will only go in one way. It is the adapter below it that that is off from the drive gear. Don't think that is accessible except when you drop the pan. For the distributor itself, it looks like from your picture that the top cover was cut out to use a civ. distributor cap. A fresh cover, new cap and other internals will make it like new- then worry about the re-timing when you have other reasons to go below! TJ Murray, Memphis should have the parts.

The 6602 will run rich with the Holly- there was a replacement carb kit for the engine when the Holly was no longer in the system. I believe it was a Rochester, and it does a better job of fuel management. Won't choke anyone following you quite as bad. Again, some of the old time dealers could still have that carb available.

The engine is a winner- can run at full output all day long, with more torque and less noise than a multi. Might also consider the 5 speed Spicer with the 5th OD (a bolt in), as used in the Mack engine versions. The low end torque and wide rpm range make for a very versatile power plant.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Unfortunately, it's not the distributor shaft that is off. It has a flat/off center key that will only go in one way. It is the adapter below it that that is off from the drive gear. Don't think that is accessible except when you drop the pan. For the distributor itself, it looks like from your picture that the top cover was cut out to use a civ. distributor cap. A fresh cover, new cap and other internals will make it like new- then worry about the re-timing when you have other reasons to go below! TJ Murray, Memphis should have the parts.

The 6602 will run rich with the Holly- there was a replacement carb kit for the engine when the Holly was no longer in the system. I believe it was a Rochester, and it does a better job of fuel management. Won't choke anyone following you quite as bad. Again, some of the old time dealers could still have that carb available.

The engine is a winner- can run at full output all day long, with more torque and less noise than a multi. Might also consider the 5 speed Spicer with the 5th OD (a bolt in), as used in the Mack engine versions. The low end torque and wide rpm range make for a very versatile power plant.

This is the info you want!!! He knows the 6602 and probably has the sweetest running 6602 around..........I know, ive followed it many times. The OD trans he talks about is also in the 800 series.

The replacement carb he talks about, I got mine from the boys at White Owl in Newton NC. Still have it in a box, going to play with the holly for a while.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

Ok, thanks a bunch for the input, I'll leave it for now and worry about it if I ever need to take the oilpan off.

I have a new question, its a long shot but do you think that the PTO from the front winch would fit facing backwards on the other side or upside down? I am considering all sorts of possibilities but I found a winch with a PTO and a shaft and everything required that's kind-of within my price range and my end goal is to have a dumping bed as well so if I bought this winch, and used his PTO and everything since I think mine leaks, if I fixed my PTO could I use it on the other side of the tranny facing rearwards to operate the hydraulic pump for the dump bed or maybe even a rear drag winch which may very well become a possibility as well. I just thought of this idea and am just brainstorming a little and it may not even fit in the location or something and maybe when I go to work on my truck tomorrow i'll answer my own question but just thinking... I really would like to replace the front winch and if I ended up with two PTOs... I just figured that if the two ports are aligned with the same gear then the gear pitch and everything would probably be right so why not? I don't know if my current PTO is trashed though like the rest of the winch system is so that may answer all of my questions.

I've been toying with the idea of fixing the old winch again and using it for a lighter duty rear drag winch but I don't know if it would be possible to make that work. First off I don't know what metal the winch housing is even made of and if it is weldable at all or would ever have any strength again. New parts are all so expensive that I figure that if I could re-use it even for just a half rated capacity winch to pull crap into the bed, I would be saving that much money over buying a new one. Is cracking the case on one of these winches a semi-common thing or was somebody just being really dumb with it? I'll post pictures tomorrow when I take some more but somebody really really jacked that thing up...

Thank you guys all again for all of the answers and knowledge, i'd be a lot more lost without your help.

 

[swiss]

They make a dual output PTO that has front and rear output.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Find yourself a M-62 or 5 ton wrecker and grab the PTO and the set up. You will have everything you need in one.

 

[ThatXJGuy]

I have also seen an accessory PTO available for like $600 from one of the vendors here that sends power to the rear that bolts to the current PTO
So I pulled the winch apart today and decided that is far from worth fixing... I am going to cut the bad sections out of the cable and make some short lifting cables and tow cables and whatever else I am feeling... Is there any part of these that would be worth posting in the classifieds? I heard somebody the other day looking for a brake for a winch or something so I was just curious if anybody would be interested in any of the parts or if it's just scrap...

I found a guy who has four winches for like $950 each and shipping to me would be like 300 or I could go pick it up, they're in Nebraska which is actually in my neighborhood of the country! If I could be sure I could make it work I would buy two and use one on the front and one as a rear drag winch. They come with PTOs and shafts and linkages and everything necessary to add one to a truck that didn't have one. I don't know how I would set it up with two winches and a dump bed all running off PTOs though unless I just did a hydraulic pump and motors...

I also fairly successfully straightened out my bumper and bumper mounts today with a 25 ton shop press that had to work at it... I then primed them all and will paint them and the frame on front and install them next week or something. Unfortunately the next time I get a day off is next Thursday and Friday, on the bright side my tires should be here by then! I also need to order taillights and probably some markers, problem is I can't decide what I want to use.