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This has been great fun for me, and I want to thank you all again for helping me to learn more about the old truck from my childhood. I finally found another photo, and this one is a different view, plus full color. However, it was shot from a long distance away, and the truck is partially blocked by the first car I remember my parents owning...a 1955 Chevy Bel Air 4 door sedan. Does this photo help at all? Are there any more clues for us here?

I still have my Dad's old Alemite grease fitting display case, with fittings, grease guns, and catalogs. I can help if you need any further details, but I think that Craig Gillingham above has covered it pretty well.

I agree with Keiser. Aftermarket ornament, "similar" to authentic units. I think just about every hardware store in America must have sold them, "back in the day."

I found a couple more photos, so far, but not much help. The old Dodge is a little closer in this photo, taken at the same time and place, but from a slightly different angle. I'll keep looking...

WOW! Now I've just GOT to dig around and try to find more photos of that old truck. How interesting this has proven to be. You guys are AWESOME. Thanks!

Tom, LOL, well the old Shamrock was given to another family in our old car club back in the day, when I got too large to sit behind the wheel. (About age 12, maybe?). I'm pretty sure I could NEVER fit into something like that now. I'll have to hope that our old 23 Hupmobile will satisfy requirements for SOC tours.

Jack M...maybe you're right. A vinyl top on a rough old farm truck like this seems unlikely, but it certainly looks like it could be right. On further reflection after studying the tiny original photo at home, the roof seems to be dented, or at least a little too "flat" on top center. Maybe it got a vinyl roof applied to hide roof damage...or maybe even to cover holes to prevent leaks? I note that the stainless steel grille trim is definitely damaged, looking at the photo under magnifying glass, and see dents in both driver's side fenders. This was an old farm truck when the photo was taken, not a "collector's item..." at least not yet!

Wow, Paul, you must be correct. My little brother and I spent much of our youth "driving" around in one vehicle or another. I was hooked on cars many years before I could think of driving one. LOL

Wow, thanks to everyone for your help so far. Now I am fascinated with finding out more about Grandpa's old pickup. I may have other old photos packed away in boxes, although it will always only be an incidental background subject. No one ever purposely photographed the truck itself, as far as I can recall. I am very grateful for everyone's help, and now I can FINALLY tell the difference between 39-49 and 41-47 Dodge trucks. Thanks, guys!

Thanks so much, Dave Mellor and each of you. I rode all over the place in the bed of this truck, and sometimes rode in the cab when we went to town. But I was too young to appreciate any details. Grandpa tinkered around the house, doing lots of gardening and some woodwork. But he was not much of an automotive-type mechanic. So whatever was done to this old truck happened before he got it, I'm sure. I'll have to look through old boxes of photos, and see if I can find more photos of the old truck. You guys have me wondering now!

I believe a car's reputation can often be more powerful than any "facts" about that car. I was a service manager in an auto repair shop in the mid 1970's, when Vegas started coming in with bad engine blocks. LOTS of them, ...eventually virtually all of them. We specialized in front end alignment, we sent away quite a few Vega customers when our alignment equipment showed that their front crossmembers had sagged...whether from weight, abuse, etc, I don't know. But we did see it on about 1/4 of the Vegas which came in our doors, as the cars got older. And as the cars aged here in Ohio, the rust became obvious, and seemingly unavoidable. Soon cars were being junked for reasons of rust-out alone. Technicians and anyone who talked about cars from time to time would instantly cringe when someone mentioned a Vega. So, regardless of any merits the car may have had, the resale value of these cars went through the floor. Thus, it wasn't worth it to invest repair money into Vegas. By the early 80's it became very rare to see a Vega on the road here. I still recall a trip I made to California in the 1980's, to visit the editors and publishers of several car magazines that I did business with. I was astonished to see some Vegas (and some Pintos) still on the road out there, because by then we had NONE on the road back home. They had all rusted away...

SteveImpala, Are you purchasing new, or used quarter panels? New ones can be shipped direct from manufacturer. If you are buying used quarter panels...is it at all possible to go get them yourself? I must admit that I enjoy long drives to go seeking old car parts, and wouldn't hesitate to hop in my pickup and drive 15 hours one way to pick up big parts like quarter panels. I have seen too many instances of serious damage, AND of misrepresented parts. Just a thought. Cheers!

Wow, Trimacar, you said the truth. And look at the military style uniform the little guy is wearing; complete with sword in scabbard. He may have been royalty.

Marv, I'm no expert on industrial engines or their carburetors, but I will point out that those exact same engines were used on LOTS and LOTS of different applications. A small engine could have been installed on an air compressor, welder, huge pump, construction equipment such as loaders and/or small tractors, etc. I think you have all the info you need. It is the exact carburetor for 1977 Ford 170 or 192 industrial engines with manual chokes...almost regardless of what piece of equipment it might be. Also, DODGEDH2 has given you a list of other applications which seem to use the same carburetor. List it on eBay with all the search words which seem to apply, and lots of photos. Good luck.

Following is a photo of me driving the car in the parade that day. I was only three, so my young father was worried that I might have some kind of accident. He reminded me again and again to maintain the exact same distance between me and the brass-era touring car ahead of me...stopping when it stopped, and resuming whenever it moved again. Of course, he walked the entire parade route keeping pace with me along the sidewalk, just in case. That's him in this photo.

LOL. Well, here goes. The year was 1957, and the Soviets had just launched the Sputnik satellite, which some of you may be old enough to remember. There was a lot of concern and apprehension in our country at that time. My dad was a sheet metal worker, and he built the body for the car, and a "missle," which he mounted in a wagon, painted green to match my "Shamrock Special" car. Then Mom lettered a sign reading "Middletown's Sputnik" for each side of the car. When I slowly towed past the crowds along the street, people laughed and howled and applauded.

Wow. Nice photo!

My participation in antique car hobby began in the fifties. I have dash plaques from events I attended in 1958, riding in my parents' Hupmobile. My earliest car-hobby memories began when my dad and some family friends made a little gas-powered car from lawnmower parts. I drove it among a line of antique cars in a St Patrick's Day parade in Middletown, Ohio in 1957. The car was well built, and I drove it around the my grandparents' place for several years. My mom painted it and added details. There are lots of stories from that little car, and the special rocket that I towed behind it. ANYWAY, I remember the old blue Dodge pickup truck that my grandpa owned, which is shown in the background of this photo. That old truck hauled me and my cousins all over my grandparents' property, and into town and back. I loved riding in the bed of that thing. I ASSUME it's from about 1939 to 1941, but I note that it seems to have a soft roof in the photo. Any responses will be much appreciated.

Hello again, Hugh. Thanks for the excellent info on the bolts you need. I have exactly three bolts of that exact description. See photo attached. If you are interested in them, PM me an address, and I'll calculate postage.

Dave, I have 5 of those clamps, and five nuts. The nuts are 7/16" coarse thread. The clamps are marked 24 - TN. See photo. Are these what you need? If so, PM me an address, and I'll figure out postage cost. Then we can figure out a fair price. I am in Ohio, by the way.

I can't help with the Carter number, I don't think. (I have Carter carb books somewhere, but unless its really important, I hate to start digging.) However, Ford part numbers can be broken down to reveal a bit of information. Your number as listed is: D7JL-9510E "D" stands for the 1970's decade "7" is for the year within the decade "J" tells the model the part was first planned to be used on. J stands for industrial or marine applications "L," the fourth digit, represents which Engineering Design Office is responsible for designing that part. L = Industrial "9510" is just the "basic" part number, which indicates that this is a carburetor. Finally, "E" is merely the "Change Level," meaning any design changes since the original design was conceived. If they changed the size or shape of a fitting, for example, that would be one "Change Level." So this carb has presumably been through 5 revisions. Thus, ASSUMING the tag is correctly applied to this carburetor, you can be pretty sure it was produced in 1977, and intended for use on an industrial or marine engine. It may have other applications too, I suppose.

According to the Ford-style part number you listed, this carb seems to have first been designated for something industrial or marine, in 1977.

The book I have shows that the IHC trucks using shoe #63 would have the reinforcement on both primary and secondary shoes, for whatever that may be worth. Also, the catalog lists the same shoe using different linings in different applications. So the rivet holes may have been different in some applications. Who knows? Perhaps your shoe is for an IHC older than 1961, since that is as far back as my catalog goes. Good luck. I hope you find it.

Steve, Does that interchange with other 1970 GM A-bodies, like the Chevelle, Skylark, and/or Olds Cutlass?