STALKING THE USED PICKUP

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The best compromise is often what is known as the "truck-six". This is the engine designed especially for 3/4-ton and larger trucks. As built by most major companies, the powerplant ranges in the neighborhood of 300-cubic inches, has enough guts to walk right through the toughest jobs and is built to last. These durable mills almost always have five main bearings instead of the three considered sufficient on most automobile engines . . . which reduces wear on the crankshaft, rod bearings and main bearings themselves.

Obviously, a truck-six engine will probably be your first choice but—V-8, six or truck-six—every powerplant must be judged on its own merits. No need to jump in any direction yet. Might as well check out a few of the finer points while you have your head under that hood.

Look at the position of the distributor and the nut underneath which must be loosened to adjust the engine's timing. Is the nut easily accessible or will it take an extension elbow to reach it? Is the distributor itself in such a position that you can time the ignition alone . . . or will you need another person to move the blamed thing while you operate a timing light?

If you can see the fuel pump, can you get a wrench on it? Open, box-end or socket? Using an open or box on a long bolt can be a royal pain, especially when you're running short of daylight or a storm is approaching.

What about the water pump? Will you have to remove the radiator to change it? And the bolts that hold it in place . . . ask yourself the same questions about them that you asked about the bolts on the fuel pump.

By now you're getting the general idea. If you buy this truck, you're the one who's going to have to work on it, love it and take care of it. That knowledge kind of gives you a more critical eye as you look the vehicle over, doesn't it?

OK. Now check the maintenance potential of the seldom-considered bottom side of the truck. Crawl underneath and take a look at the bolts which hold the crankcase on. Can you get to all of them with a tool of some kind? A careful look will tell you a lot about whether or not you want to own this pickup. The crucial question is: can you drop the oil pan without pulling the engine? On a number of models you can't and, in that case, you probably won't want the truck.

In the same manner, if the drive shaft from the engine to the real wheels is enclosed above the frame, you'll have trouble dropping it to pull the transmission or to replace the universal joints. The situation is roughly equivalent to that of a dentist telling you that your teeth are all right . . . but your gums have got to come out.

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