Been away for awhile. Truck has been doing good overall. Still have a clutch chatter issue, primarily in reverse.
Drove down to Beatersville in Louisville on Memorial day. Three of us local guys with old trucks went down for the day. Great show...went by myself last year, with the original 216. The 283 did great...averaged 16 mpg.
Got a little warm in the line to enter the show. The old mechanical fan is now gone, in favor of an electric one. Currently on a switch, but need to order a controller.
Loading the truck in preparation to tow the '57 Metzendorf camper to a vintage camper rally in Terre Haute . First real load on truck and motor.
Had to replace the passenger side shock and spring. Cut the spring too short, and damaged the shock. Already did the drivers side.
Added some moon caps to the drivers side for a comparison. Think I am gonna buy a full set.

Here is the latest pic of the combo...

Took care of a few issues recently. Had a front engine mount break taking the mounting boss with it. Luckily it was on the passenger side, as the drivers side has conflicts with the steering connections. Had to fab up a steel mount for the conventional side mounting position. This actually isn't a bad thing, as it frees up space for a mechanical fuel pump, which I may switch back to. The front mount actually was right in the way of the lower radiator hose, and I had to use a heavy sleeve over it so now that is a non issue. Had the heater core leak repaired, and on a cool drive yesterday, the first real continuous drive, about 100 miles thru rolling curving country roads, the heater leaked worse than before the repair. Truck did well otherwise. Rebuilt speedo works, odometer isn't very accurate. Heat still stays 160 even with a 180 deg thermo. Still cannot get small hesitation out if carb. Have all new clutch components and still have a clutch chatter. May to to remove all once again and have pressure plate and flywheel resurfaced.

Most recent work done on the '48 was the transmission...the used T5 I had put in started giving me some trouble, so I found another, did the swap out last week. Also swapped the drive shaft for a longer one. The heater core had a small leak over the winter, so it is out being repaired. Most likely install a new heat/a/c unit in the future, but this is a quick fix. Looks like the rear mainshaft seal is leaking, as well as the thermo housing, so little things are still needing attention.

Started the complete re-wire on the '48 Monday. Did not actually re-wire the truck when I got it running originally, or when I put the the 283 in, and it still had the glass barrel fuses in and a few of the old cloth wire coverings. So I bought an EZ wire kit, tore everything out, and started from scratch. So far so good, I am not using a modern column but the original with one of those inexpensive clamp-on turn signal set-ups, so changing the plugs and hard wiring the turn signals has been the hardest part. It did start today, and the lights all work. Also re-routed the wires so they are lower on the firewall and hidden better. And installed loom in places. Pretty cool kit.  Has many circuits I will probably never use but they are there just in case. Also has a fuseable link in line before the batt to solenoid for complete safety! Hell they all may have that feature for all I know.

After installing a quick and dirty exhaust system to get the truck back on the road, ponied up and had a professional install a nice throaty system. Tucked up nice and tight, clearance for everything underneath and sounds great. It is really a pleasure to drive. Next up, a new wiring harness with fuse panel to replace my feeble attempt to wire it from scratch. Still working out bugs in the pcv system that replaced the road draft tube. Builder may have left out a critical component under the manifold that keeps oil out of the pcv hose. May have to tear down topside and re-install the piece (oil vapor cannister). Engine idles and throttles nicely with the T5. Have  a show to do with the Metzendorf  camper and truck in a week or so in Indy.

Quadrajet ran poorly. Switched back to a different Holley 600 carb and runs great.

Got the adapter for the Quadrajet carb today to see if that carb makes a difference in how it runs.