I have a bit of an exhaust leak in the engine compartment. I believe it is from the exhaust manifold gasket. I have a couple questions, can I replace this gasket without removing the carbs and disconnecting the exhaust pipe? Also, what is the torque spec and order of which I should tighten the bolts back? I am not sure if I ever posted pics so here are a few before and afters:
I wish some of the trucks brought to us looked that good. The floor in front of the seat still has paint and even the cab corner still has it's shape even though it might need replacing. Even the passengers door handle looks like a genuine ViseGrip and not Taiwanese. As far as the manifold is concerned the accelerator rod from the bellcrank on the side of the block to the carb needs to be dropped out of the way, the gas and vacuum advance line, throttle and choke cable, and exhaust pipe will all flex enough to give a big enough gap to replace the gaskets. That said I never do it this way for several reasons, the main one being it's really hard to get the manifold back on the alignment rings with the exhaust pipe fighting you. If there is any gasket residue on the manifold you can't clean it good and you sure can't use a straight edge to check for warpage. As far as tightening you can work from the center out but most hobbiests won't have a way to check the torque since several of the bolts/nuts can't be reached with a socket. Since they are 3/8" bolts/studs you aren't going to twist them off with a standard length combination wrench so put some grunt on them and then after a few hot-cold cycles check them again.
Nice patina. A friend of mine said he painted the roof of his AD white to keep the cab cooler during the summer. He travelled in it from NY out West to Denver in the 70's and sold it for a HD motorcycle. . .
Yea, if I had to do it again I would have left the original paint for a while longer. I miss the old look. It was a great find too. My wife found it actually. It was in running condition and EVERYTHING original and I got it for a great price. It has taken a total of six years but I also have a VW Karmann Ghia I am working on working on the truck was about 3 years. The interior is a flat black paint but the exterior is just primer for now. I hope to paint it a maroon color with black fenders and maybe some black pinstripes.
