Dodge50 Ramblings

France an all that Power steering

Well back from France and after staying at a very nice place called Maison Gubbins.

A bed and breakfast run by friends of ours who also own a Dodge50, click the above link for more info and they get 5 gold stars from the Dodge50 great places to stay guide, well when I get that one sorted that is.

I spent the best part of the week sorting out the ignition, replacing the steering with power set up, clutch slave cylinder kit and fuel tank water trap.

Lots of sun and also some snow ( it was still very sunny and warm ) and working , or should I say getting help from a local who couldn't speak english like I can't speak French, John Pierre was brilliant and helpful and with Nick the Dodge owner and Matt with his S56 Bus and S56 van on hand we got everything and the drinking done on time.

I Must at this point mention a couple of things relating to replacing the manual steering with power steering, firstly when aquiring said power steering unit you will need to get

1. Power steering box with its original steering drop arm, 2. Fluid Reservoir with hoses, 3. Secondary Belt pulley, 4. Original Steering UJ ( cos the splines are a different size on the power unit), 5.Hydraulic pump and hoses.

Take out the radiator as this will help loads, and the engine sound board and make sure you have the correct tools, you will need a ball joint splitter, club hammer, various spanners, socket set with a 24mm socket for ball joints, WD 40 and patience.

Make sure the correct steering box is fitted, I have been told by some people at Renault Tech div. that a mark two box and fitting plate will fit in a mark one Dodge and vice versa but its the steering UJ that's different and length and spline sizes can vary, so if you are fitting a power steering box make sure you have all the bits...... like the four bolts to attach the pulley wheel with, the bolts and fittings for the hydraulic pump, the right size steering UJ and 2 liters of hydraulic fluid, its the same as what goes in an automatic gearbox.

Some pictures From France Here

If you need information on fitting power steering units you can phone me on 07766 052 215 or email me here to my phone or here to my home.

More and More

Well what a mad couple of weeks it's been, as well as taking bookings for my circus and sorting out going to france for a week with the family (I do have a Dodge50 to work on there but I think they think it's a holiday for us all). Some friends have moved over there and are running a bed and breakfast business and their S56 Short wheel base Dodge50 needs some attention. For example: a new ignition switch / steering loc, which I have secured for him, a brand new one at that with spare keys.

A new water trap kit and a Power steering Box / pump / hoses / belt pulley etc. so as well as delivering it I guess I'll be the one who fits it. So as well as taking the old one off I have to take out the radiator to get to the bottom belt pulley wheel and change that, fit a new steering UJ and then the pump and hoses and reservoir.

So not a lot to do then.

Then there's the swimming lessons, drama, ballet school for the kids, paperwork for business and spending time with my wife who is just learning to drive.

Which brings me on to insurance, I have just insured Vern as a Renault Dodge camper but the listing only covers S35 he is a S75 so I hope its ok. I got it fully comp for £290-00 and £50-00 for recovery through CIS Co-op insurance services, go to yellow pages for your local number or phone the number on the message board.

We are not taking Vern our B75 Dodge50 with us as he is under reconstruction at the moment getting ready for the summer season, inside refit with bunk beds for the kids and fold up bed for us but I don't have to move the wood burner / fridge / sink and oven so that's all right then.

Then it's the leaking roof and all the pre season running gear and engine check ups.

I started Vern for the first time in two months and he started great, all the lights work the air brakes seem fine and the rear brakes haven't stuck on, so it's looking good so far.

The work on the site has slowed up a bit due to me being away during Jan/Feb for five weeks and having to update my circus site as soon as I came back, I have also been spending time with my kids and wife and dog.

I intend to get some more workshop manual stuff up soon and would like to know what you need or would like to see, engine stuff, more on brakes, front and rear axle? just let me know and I will see what I can do.

I am waiting for some stuff to be sent from Renault Trucks head office Tech division, I am not sure what to expect but as soon as I have it I will put up as much as I can, hopefully I will secure specifications for bearings, seals etc which means we can go to any manufacturer and with the correct specifications get the part we are after much cheeper than through motor factors outlets.

I am also asking for a full parts listing from Renault so we know which parts are available through them and which are not, what their prices are and maybe a decent discount for orders through the Dodge50 site, if a decent discount isn't offered then I won't set up an order form on the site just the parts listings.

Well the counter has been taken off the site as the system it was on keeps going down and wouldn't let the index page load up, it is on www.dodge50.co.uk/index2.htm if you want to try and see itbut I can't see why anyone would. The site got up to about40+ hits a day sometimes more and seems to be growing still, I didn't think it would grow so quick.

It's Getting Busy Here

Renault Trucks are now suggesting to people who ask for parts or information on Dodge 50 series vehicles to try the site as their best bet for what they need, I have been having talks with the Tech department at Dunstable and they are trying to supply me with as much Tech info and specification material as they can for me to put up on the site.

It looks like they are going to support the site as a resource centre for 50 series owners, I am now going to try and get a bit of sponsorship from them as I am doing a lot of their leg work . I don't know how this will work but I will not have banner adds and all that crap on my site, and I will NOT be charging for access to the site in any way but I can offer workshop manual sections on CD Rom at a fair price, just EMAIL me for more info and cost, it all depends on which bits you want.

I am going to start a Dodge 50 series owners club with a regular email newspaper, vehicle stickers and even meet ups for Dodge50 vehicle owners, I am also going to try and get a parts listing with prices and order form as well as a forum sorted before my summer season starts.

I am not looking at making loads of money from this site but as I put many, many hours into answering technical questions and updating the site, some payback would be great, so any rich Dodge50 series owners out there can send cash if they want.

Well the site is up to about 200 hits a week now and on some days 40+ and the emails are just as mad, so if you send me an email and don't get a reply straight away then be patient, I will either answer them myself or put it up on the message board.

If you don't get an answer within a week then let me know and I will see what I can do.

Now it's time to spend some time with my wife as she puts up with me typing away for hours and during my summer season May to September she doesn't see me that much as it is, so untill next time.

Happy Dodging to you ALL

Dodge Advertising

Well I have just got conformation that I won the bidding on eBay for a Dodge50 Series 20 page Advertising booklet with pictures of inside and out, vans, tippers, buses etc....as well as chassie details, engines and other stuff.

...... and after contacting the seller he dug out some more stuff like a Dodge News winter 1979/80 only 4 pages, front cover being entitled "Show debut for new van" all about the new 50 series as it was launched at the Scottish motor show 1979.

The second item is a 32 page supplement from Motor Transport, Nov 3 1979. It has loads about the 50 series including many adverts including a full page colour one. It is not only about the 50 series, but the majority is.

So as soon as I have them I will put some stuff up on the site.

Back From Dubai 01/03/03

It's hot out there, and it's their winter.

I flew out to Dubai, U.A.E. on Sunday 13th January, it was my first time on a plane and I thought it was great fun. I was going over to perform at the Dubai Shopping Festival with 15 other performers from the UK.

We flew out of Heathrow at 9pm in the evening and landed in Abu Dabi at about 3-20 pm for an hour stop off and then a 20 minute flight to Dubai. We landed, safely and thats when the heat hit us.

5-00pm outside the airport, it was hot and busy, we, all 15 of us, met our got on a bus and went to our hotelIt was then when some of us noticed the bad or lack of communication between themselves and the hotel.

The hotel had provided 3 appartments for us and all were shared rooms, the main problem with this was that the group had one married couple,two double acts, and a mixture of single and double people who had never met each other before!

We were of the understanding that we would all have our own rooms in shared appartnments. After lots of arguing / discussions we came to an agrement, I was to share with Richard in an appartment with 3 other blokes, souded like o.k. to me.

Got food, sleep and had a look about the area we were staying in, it was all concreat and roads with cars and trucks driving at 60 - 70 mph through the city

Five of us went for a walk to the creak, where the sea comes into and splits Dubai in half, it has a couple of bridges and a tunnel which were covered in lights and posters for the shopping festival.

Infact the whole city was lit up with millions and millions of tiny and not so tiny lights, every tree had lights on and nearly every building and well.......there were loads.......anyway.....

I saw a , well what looked like a dodge50, it had the markings of the Talbot logo and had TATA on the front. But the front and chassies looked Dodge50, the bodywork was a bus type but different from any in the UK.

I talked to an Indian bus driver and he told me they stopsd making them but it was made in India at a factory that puts merc's together but used to also build the Indian version of the good old Dodge50.

I didn't get any photos and will add more ramblings soon but have to watch Taken on the video now.

Ta ta

Greg

The Time has come 08 / 01 / 03

Well I Hope you all had a great Xmas and a super new years Eve. We did.

I am off to Dubai on Monday 13 Jan untill 16 Feb so as you can guess I have loads of stuff to sort out, I have only had 8 days notice and have to sort out insurance and all the other stuff. I don't have to sort out the Hotel and Flights but as I have never been on a plane let aloan half way accross the world with the possibilty of war looming I am a little nervous.

I will be performing 6 days a week evenings only and will be able to spend the days on the beach, in the pool or the gym which all comes with the supplied appartment. 5 star accomodation is going to be great but leaving my family and missing my daughters Third Birthday will be hard for me and them.

When I usually go away it's on tour in the UK so they can all meet up with me and I can call them everyday on the phone but a call from my mobile to the UK will cost about £1-30 a minute and to receive a call will cost me £1-43 a minute and cost the caller the usual cost of calling Dubai from the UK. I WILL NOT answer my phone unless I Recognise The Number and wan't to pay to receive your call. You can Text Me But It will cost you about 40 pence to do so.

So Sun Sun And more Sun plus a lot of unicycling and fooling around and getting paid for it

I am also waiting to hear from Hong Kong about a week there.

Looks like my Circus is Going International

I will report any sightings of Dodge 50's and hopefully get some pic's But I don't think that I will see any as the country is pretty Bloody Rich and I reckon most vehicles will be quite new.

So untill Feb Take care and have a very Dodgy New Year.

Greg

After The Great Computer Crash of December 2002 20/12/02

Well I managed to lose all my emails, web files and other stuff that wasn't backed up, what a bloody nightmare. Even this page lost ramblings written during December, but all is fixed now.

I have started putting the workshop manual up on the site, but I won't be putting at all up as its about 600 pages long. If you need a certain section please contact me and I will see what I can do. I will be putting up something from every section.

Oh what a palava xmas is, the wifes going all decorations and tinsel, the kids are toy mad and I just want to fix my Dodge.

I started working on it today, just adding anti-freeze, charging battery, fitting new battery terminal connection and lighting the wood burner to dry it out a bit, it's damp up north.

Workshop Manual 27/11/02

I have in my hand a copy of the Dodge50 series Workshop Manual. It comes in two parts, Sections A to G which cover all aspects of engine, gearbox, electrics, clutch etc and sections H to V which cover Brakes, Steering, Axle's,etc.

It is all thanks to Greg Taylor from Leeds, who has managed to send me both parts and another couple of gems, two training manuals which do contain stuff from the workshop manual but also contain some other stuff like Dodge50 Series performance predictions for all dodge50's with all axle, wheel, gearbox, engine configertions catered for, in other words, what speed your vehicle should be able to go.

For Example

Dodge50 S56, FX1 5 SPEED GEARBOX, AX6 AXLE, 8R X 17.5C TYRES, 4.236 ENGINE.

CHASSIS CAB= 63.8 MPH

VAN=60.4 MPH

HIGH VAN / BOX=54.4 MPH

So there you go

I have started to scan in some pages and the first example is here

More Next Time

Why Oh Why 10/11/02

I started this site because after 4½ years with a dodge50 I could find bugger all about them on the net, Renault didn't want to know and parts were getting harder to find. I had finished my circus website and wasn't sure what to do next?

So I started by getting a copy of Dreamweaver MX (free thanks to Kazza) and making some pages to add to my circus site that were dedicated to Dodge50's, just some pictures and technical stuff and got a bit carried away, you can still see some of the original pages at www.circusbox.co.uk/dodge2.htm and use the menue to look at the other pages.

Thats when I decided to get the dodge50.co.uk domain and put the site up proper (Oct. 3rd 2002), On the 9th November my wife went away for two weeks and I managed to add about 30 pages to the site. It's not that she minds me spending ½ my life at the computer but that I spend ¾'s of my life at the computer.

I am waiting to receive a copy of the workshop manual on wednesday and I can only guess that I will be scanning for the next couple of months getting the thing on to cdrom in html format and some up on the site.

MY Dodge

It's a B75 is my dodge, 1984 Mk 1 with air brakes and power steering, He is called Big Vern (B910 VRN) he had done 35,347 miles when I got him and he used to belong to Norweb. He has now done in excess of 130,000 miles

I guess I class Big Vern as one of the family because we bought him so we could get out of the shit hole we were living in, he helped us get our lives back on track, it must sound silly but it's true.

We bought Vern from Dodge City which was in Todmordin, for £1,000 with no mot or tax and hadn't seen him, we just had a feeling it was right, so I got on a bus with a heavy toolbox in Brighton and went up North with some cash.

I met Mark from Dodge City and we went to his yard, as soon as I saw Vern I just knew it was right to buy him, the body work was a little tatty but with six brand new Michelin Tyres, low mileage and the fact that he had been an Oil Tanker with an internal tanc which ment the entire van part of the van was covered in oil, so No Rust at all anywhere. The floor had a couple of holes for oil to drain away which ment the underside of the truck was covered as well, so No Rust There Either.

We took a test run and the only problem was the brakes were pulling to the right and when we stopped a small hole appeared in the radiator, not so good I thought, we pached the hole up no problem and it was only a matter of adjusting the brakes I thought. I thought wrong as soon as I paid for the vehicle and Mark left all the rear lights and their fuses blew! Stuck up north with a unroadworthy vehicle with 300 miles to go, what to do?

I got new bulbs and fuses from a couple of other dodges he had for sale, rewired the back lights and set off, When I got to the motorway (M62) at 9pm it was quite quiet and I was driving at 75 to 80 miles per hour, it was great, the only concern I had was the brakes pulling to the right and being pulled up by the police and neither caused a problem.

I arrived home (in Sussex at the time) at about 2 am and had some much needed sleep.

We cleaned out the back of the van the next day and used ecover washing up liquid in hot water and just washed the oil and crap on to a big tarp outside the van, the sun dried it up and we put the residue in the bin. The rear of the van looked new, the floor and walls were shiny and there wasn't a sign of rust.

I had a look at the brakes and found that one of the front brake shoes on the drivers side had come apart and every time I applied the brakes a bit of shoe jammed between the attached shoe and the drum thus locking up the brake. Fixed it, problem solved.

I put Vern in for a test Five Days after We got him, I had fitted a wood burner, a sheet of wood for a bed and stuck in a cupboard, and got it tested as a campervan. He passed with just a brake adjustment and a bulb, to say I was happy is an understatement. We then kitted him out properly with cooker, sink etc and moved out of our shithole flat and into a Very mobile home. A friend took on the bookings for the business an we went on permenant tour for a couple of years.

After five seasons with Vern we are very happy and will keep him for as long as we can, he has been seen all over the country at many events and he has done us proud.

List Of Things Fixed/ Replaced on Big Vern.

Clutch, which I did by myself, and I'll tell you it would be much eairer with an extra pair of hands. (when performing this task make sure you have a 19 mm rachet Spanner as it will help loads)

Rear wheel cylinder seal kits, brake shoes, rear axel hub seals, Handbrake actuator (spring Break) . Brake pipes.

Front Brake shoes, cylinder kits. Front nearside Drum

Starter Motor, which I had Rebuilt by Lucas, Alternator

Track rod ends, All Tyres, Exhaust system, Fuel filter, air filter,

Power Steering Box, Propshaft U.J. (rear)

Off-side Rear Light, Fog Light, Battery

Wiper motor plus mounting plate, wiper swivels, rods and replace/repair actual vehicle mounting points.

I guess it all sounds a lot but over five seasons and The 100,000 miles that we have covered, compaired to the cost of running a leyland daff 400 series van for 3 years it's been cheeper, I tend to work my vehicles hard.

Oh Blah blah blah thats enough for now I'm gona put this page up now, it's 0045 hours