The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1952 Chevrolet 3100 Project

10/25/20: I got the axles installed and it looks like the new sleeves are going to work. While I was working on the axles, I was also going to make up new brake lines on the axle and inspect the brake cylinders prior to reassembly. I pulled out one the rods that go into the wheel cylinder on the passenger side and it had moisture in it. I pulled that cylinder and tried to pry off the dust cap. Not knowing how it was assembled , I end up destroyed the first one but saved the next three after finding out how they were assembled. This came back to bite me in the a$$. I was able to press out the frozen pistons and hone out the cylinders so I thought I was on easy street. That was not the case as I was not able to get a rebuild kit that contained the proper dust seal. I ordered a kit from my local NAPA dealer and the dust seal attached externally not internally like the original. I then looked online in the major auto parts suppliers and none of them carried the rebuild kits, just the cylinders at $40 apiece.

I relented that I was not going to get the wheels back on the truck anytime soon and decided I would order the kits from my go to online supplier “Classic Chevy Trucks”. Their rebuild kits was also on backorder but had new wheel cylinders for $30 apiece, so I ordered them. I also needed to replace a brake shoe hold down that mysteriously disappeared some time before I disassembled the drum. I figured I would order a hardware kit and replace everything so I added that to my list, in addition to a few other odds and ends. When I got my conformation email, I saw that the hardware kits were also on backorder. When I placed the order it did not say anything about a backorder! I guess I’ll have to call them to find out how long the backorder is.

In the meantime, I have turned my attention to reassembling the engine. I got my head back on Friday. They hot tanked and Magnaflux the head, refitted the valve guides because some were too tight, re-ground the seats and valves, decked the head and gave it a nice Chevy orange paint job! It looks fabulous but unfortunately, I’m changing the engine color back to the factory original color gray in which I already purchased from Bill Hirsch.

So far I got the oil pump reinstalled and fabricated a bushing to center the timing cover on the crankshaft. I’m actually seeing light at the end if the tunnel!