The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 57 steppy, my beast :)

here is a few pics of her current state....
i will use this thread for future updates and general discussion...

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0183_zps08d3dbbc.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0184_zps35ac15cc.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0186_zps387ae582.jpg

love this pic !
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0185_zps7c0dc76d.jpg

idea is to polish her out, and paint the trim.... sort of a negative aspect...
plus after stripping all those years of paint, im not in a big hurry to put any back on her, lol

Wow, that is a pretty cool truck. What a piece of history of life in America. I am guessing that you used some sort of chemical stripper?

i used 2 gallons of aircraft stripper on the tough spots, corners, tight spots, etc...., and to remove top layers of paint and soften everything up...
then i used a razor to shave the bottom layers, once i got going i could shave an entire side, the flat areas, in about 20 minutes.

the conversion coating (sort of like a primer coating) isn't affected by any chemical means i have found, so to remove that i used a beveled edge wire wheel on my grinder, held flat to the surface, and it removes that coating fairly easily....
best thing is, doing it this way there is very little surface damage done to the aluminums original surface...... all aluminum has a "skin" sort of that is easily polished, if you hit it with a grinder or the wrong wheel, you dig into/under the skin, and then you have to sand it back smooth before you can polish it bright...

in my case on this van, i have about 80-85% of a great surface to start polishing on.... some areas the conversion coating was so strong i didnt have a choice but to dig in a little to remove it

after getting all the conversion coating off(lol, well 95%) i use an etching cleaner made for mag wheels to help remove the soot from the surface and that is what gives that sort of leopard print look that i have right now....

when i get ready to actually start polishing, i will go all over again with the etching cleaner right before i start.
i plan on using 10" wheels on my big grinder/polisher to get to the end result....im not going to try and achieve a show perfect award winning shine (think airstream trailer) but plan on as close as i can get before i get burned out, lol.

the plan is, instead of paint with polished trim, to go polished with painted trim.... only paint with be rub rails, drip rails/gutters, grill, and possibly door hardware...
this is the second one i have stripped down, lol, i learned a lot
on the first one, mostly what NOT to do.
i never got a chance to finish the first cause i was driving it/working on it and got blasted with offers to buy her from day one until someone ponied up enough to get my attention. it wasnt as nearly classic and cool as this one, it was a '77 kurbmaster, basically just a square box with no drivers door..... this one is a '57 kurbside

all in all, from start to where im at now, i would say about 60 hours in total for the stripping.

i usually hit it hard for 3 or 4 hours, then walk away for a day or two....
some of the tight spots, like over the rear doors, and drip rails are just mind numblingly slow

ok, been working on bearings, wheels and brakes last few days...

wheels were a no brainer, acid bath, a little wire wheel to smooth over a rough spot here and there, zinc rich primer and bright red enamel.....my buddy at the tire shop ordered in some "all position" 19.5 highway treads for me(should be the last pair of new shoes the ol girl see)

the acid bath took about 45 minutes at 175 degrees and they came out squeaky clean....

i rattle canned everything with off the shelf stuff from work, reasons being not only have i dubbed this a "no budget build", but i want ready access to materials to fix scratches, spruce up, etc...

when im done getting her up and running she will be put to work slinging drinks and food at select events and the such...

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0198_zpsa16bb53d.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0199_zpsbbfe5d91.jpg

bearings are stupid expensive for this thing, lol
im not interested in putting together some sort of frankenhub so i just sucked it up and got the original style....
i got lucky though, the inners were near brand new, must have been changed out right before being put out to pasture...

the brake shoes we had on the shelf, and bearing/seals i had to order in next day....

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0193_zps5d08da2f.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0192_zpsf0d99561.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0194_zpsaea29b6a.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0196_zpsd841917d.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0195_zps2c2372f4.jpg

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0197_zps4fe5e751.jpg

heres a couple of the tore down spindles just to give a good idea for before and after pics...

driver side...
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0191_zps743c9b3c.jpg

passenger...
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0190_zps51c12a28.jpg

i have cleaned and undercoated the wheel wells and test fit the driver side to get a feel for finished look, but the battery died in my camera so ya have to wait for finished pics....

right now im waiting for wheel cylinders to come in tomorrow, and have taken hubs back off to swap them out, lol, wasnt expecting that, but i should have thought about them when i was ordering the rest of stuff, lol

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0197_zps4fe5e751.jpg

can anyone identify my frame from these front hub pics?? im saying 3/4 ton

3400, 3500, 3600 maybe ?

but im sure she is 1 ton in the rear just from the springs, but im not sure...... when i get the camera charged up i will get pics and see what you guys think

What a cool truck!

Mine is a 55, but looks very similar to yours. However, I have three on the tree. Tag inside the doghouse says GVWR is 7000#. I always thought it was a 3/4 ton.

VEW, 7000# would be a 1T, and I'd say SteppinOuts van is a 1T as well

Bill

ok, just a little update....
lol, camera charger is still missing..
ive got the front brakes all squared away, and have started on the rears
the front is all put back together now and i must say, those 19.5 rims and tires really fill up the wheel wells nicely, and i think i picked a perfect color red for the rims:)
weirdly enough, the rear rims (split rims) are 2 different sizes one is 16 inch, the other 17....
so now the search is on for a second one of either size, im leaning towards another 17 though...
a lot of people are talking smack to me about wanting to keep the split rims on the rear, but i love the way they look

Thanks, Bill. That's news to me!

VEW, all the shop manuals and owners manuals have a "load capacity chart" - 7,000 is the middle 1T rating

Bill

hhmmmmm.......

from what i have been able to decipher from the data tag, my gvwr is 10,000 pounds, where does that put me?
i have been looking for parts for a 3/4 ton, and a 1 ton, maybe this is why im having such a hard time matching things up?

my back brakes are 14 x 2.5, a 10 bolt rear end, and fronts are 12 x 2

3600 and 3800 series are what i was mainly looking at
i also have a prop shaft parking brake
that keeps the brake assemblies nice and simple at the wheels

the rear drums were not nearly as nice as the fronts, the "lip" around edge was nearly 3/16ths inch !

i spent 3 hours turning them, shaved lips down and then about 10 passes to smooth all the gouges out..... one feather cut after another till they were near perfect again...
believe it or not, i kept one within specs, and the other is at the max spec...... not a perfect situation, but im calling it a good day for the short term anyway, good enough to get me rolling and give me time to figure out where to find new stuff

frame looks same as my 52 3800/ 1 ton.hey what size were your tires, origianlly?did you have to get different wheels to run 19.5 s? cool project,id do it myseld if i had the chance wtg,best of luck to ya

she came with the 19.5 tubeless rims on the front...
i assumed the rears were the same size just older split rims, but they were two different sizes so now im thinking this one got a mix/mash of whatever was laying around..
the guy i bought it froms brother was the head mechanic for merita bread in this area for like 25 years before he retired

ok, got the front brake lines plumed today, i changed up the routing, not sure if it was stock or not the way it was....
the brakes were plumbed with one single line going to the front driver wheel....
and one single line feeding the remaining three by way of strait back to the drivers rear, teed off to passenger rear and then teed off to the passenger front...
it just seemed like a long way to travel for that passenger front...

so i came out of the top port of the distribution block at rear of master cylinder to a T, fed from there to the driver front, and then routed along the rear lip of the trans cross member to the passenger front....
i plumbed to the T with 1/4 inch, and then from the T with 3/16 to each front side.
for the rear im going to run 1/4 inch from the bottom port to a T located at the axle, and from there to each side with 3/16...

reason for the 3/16 line from the T's is hoping for an increase in the pressure value to the wheel cylinders, i think i have that right, maybe no benefit at all, maybe im setting up for failure doing that.....
so please if anyone knows of a reason to change to all 1/4 inch let me know so i can fix it...

and im not sure if the "around the world" travel of the passenger front was for any legit reason, or if it even makes a difference, but it just seemed right to re plumb the way i did...
i capped off the port for the rear lines and bled the fronts, and man it is sweet to finally have some great pedal pressure...

im not going to drive with just the front working, but am looking forward to moving the ol girl around the yard while im waiting on rear cylinders..... ok, i lied, lol, i live on a country side road, so if around the yard seems good i may take her around the road once or twice, taking it very easy, just to get a feel for the motor and trans performance..... hopefully i will find the rear cylinders soon and be full legit when i hit the pavement first time....
i just dropped 100 bucks for front and rear shoes, and after dropping 600 on front rubber and bearings, im really hoping the rear cylinders are cheap, lol...... and i havent tore into the rear bearings yet either, but they sound ever so slightly grumbly when i turn the hubs (rear is up on jack stands right now)

and the backlash is like 1/5 or 1/6 of a full revolution.... so im thinking i will be rebuilding the rear end before much longer

I'd use all one size, pressure is the same everywhere in a closed hydraulic system, having different sizes won't gain any pressure - and the length of the lines doesn't matter, but commonly the line out of the master splits with one line to the front, there Tee'd to the other side, and 2nd line to the back Tee'd off a fitting welded on the rear axle housing to the 2 rears

Bill

ok,
headlight buckets came in, im going to have to modify them a bit, they are actually for a 55-57 car, only difference is the mounting tabs for the trim rings.... shouldn't be to hard to get them squared away

finally tracked down the brake shoes, so i have new shoes all the way around now....

and i have given up on finding a split rim in this hemisphere, just going to find a decent pair of 17's and go that route..... 16's will work also i think, but with 14" rear brakes they dont leave much wiggle room

Hi Steppin Out,

Really fun to read and see your progress with your Van!

I have a 1960 P-20 which has been 'A Work in Progress' for some years now.

Mine has some differences, but all in all, it has a lot in common with yours.

They are wonderful "Beasts" alright! and really fun to drive.

What Carb do you have on yours?

i have i think a carter "bb" series....
its an updraft carb mounted on the bottom of the intake
i have always known/heaqrd about them, but this is the first time ive ever seen or worked on one
i am pretty sure i will have to rebuild it, when i first got the van fired up as much gas ended up on the ground as went through the motor, but after a little running the gaskets all swelled back up but she still gets a little damp when running.... i think it may be the bowl gasket thats seeping now

i plumbed in a gas jug and used a bottle of seafoam and just a gallon of gas to get her fired up the first time

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/93MARKIII/57%20step%20van/CIMG0156_zps375cab09.jpg

here she is right after i brought her home, her last couple years of previous life i think she was neglected, was used for a pit truck at go cart racing

im still tracking down rear wheel cylinders, but as soon as i find them i will be complete on the new brakes, rear shoes were pretty hard to find but i finally got some...
i went on a shopping spree last and ordered new park light assemblies, a new 12 circuit wiring harness from hot rod wires(my second from them) and have the headlight buckets, new shoes, and rear bearings all ready to install here shortly....

she was a 6 volt in the beginning, and converted to 12 at some point in the past, but at 57 years old, the wiring she has now has been hacked, spliced into, repaired, etc.... so much that i thought a new harness would be so much easier to deal with

I put on all new Wheel Cylinders on mine...my old ones were like the proverbial "Sewer Pipe of Calcutta' inside.

Mine were easy to get though, at the time ( 8 years ago ).

I got some brand new Rear Brake Drums also, and installed those when I did the big huge thorough 'do everything' Brake Job ritual.

You might be able to find some for yours.


Check your Float Level in the Carb...should be like 5/32nds down from the fuel Bowl edge.

If it is right, there should not be any 'damp' going on.