Hi All,
I'm new here. Please forgive me if I'm posting this wrong. I've just started working on fixing up a 1942 3/4 ton special Chevy Stakebed. I'll have many questions over the next few months I'm sure, but just two for now:
1) A mechanic who worked on my radiator put in a 180 degree thermostat, which seems hot to me. The truck isn't overheating anymore (many radiator issues were dealt with. Not just thermostat), but it's still running right at the red on the temp guage. I live in Colorado, so it's over 90 pretty much every day here, if that makes a difference. Should I put in a cooler thermostat?
2) I'm working on the rear brakes, one of which is leaking and the other has a broken parking brake cable. I tried opening them up and one drum came off very easily and the other didn't come off at all. I've heard that a worn braking surface can leave a lip on the drum that can't fit over the pads, but that doesn't seem to be the case. On the side that came off there was no visible wear at all on the drum (brakes were rebuilt 12 yrs, 2-3K miles ago). It seems to me that it's actually stuck on the flange that it fits over in the middle of the lugs. Any thoughts on how to get that off?
Thanks everyone.
-Jon
