The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Re: What did you get done on your 'Bolt today?

Got the cab removed. By myself. Without a hoist!

Built a pretty sweet gantry, strapped some lumber through the windows, tied into the overhead crossmember and lowered the frame out from under it.

I legitimately sat back and laughed at how well it worked when it was all done.

AND....didnt draw blood a single time!

*pats myself on the back*

Did a little but of work today..

I now have a horn!! It sounds like an angry duck!!
I also have doors that lock! even the drivers door!! New glove box, complete with new lock.

Still got a loooooooooong way to go!!

after several years of working on Blanche (50 pu) with certain hesitations I finally put the first coat of epoxy primer on the stripped down cab, racing against the return of our old friend oxidation, this morning everything looked great and I might be closer to finishing

Removed the head from the 216, cleaned it up and lapped the valves...
Going to order some piston rings soon!

66 1/2 ton rear end is under the frame now. Good points and bad points:

Good: I can now put 2 6 lug wheels on with better drum brakes. Plus I now have a better than stock gearing to make me able to get on the highway for the 2 or 3 miles it will be on the way to work. Once the wheels are on, I can use one of the U-Haul dollies to pull it to where I need it to be while I finish it up.

Bad: The spring perches aren't where they need to be, so there will be new ones ordered and put on. The drive shaft will also need to either be redone or by some miracle, find a U joint that will work with the old shaft and new yoke.

One step forward and all...

Scott, contact Precision Drive LTD 6201 SW 15th (MacArthur) @ 495-1344. They may be able to find a u-joint to adapt for you. If worse comes to worse they can swap yokes for you. Take them your shaft and the yoke off the 3rd member. Very positive experience with them in the past. Reasonable pricing.

I think I might have heard it all the way over here....

As mentioned earlier, after 46 years we started the truck on 8/8.

We were able to take it for a drive or two but had to iron out a couple of bugs. Replaced the dizzy, intake manifold gasket and drained and cleaned the tank. She is ready to roll when the rain stops.

We held a little party for starting the truck with family and friends. My dad was able to watch the event via Skype.

We had three GoPro cameras around. If you are interested, you can see the videos here

Awesome Justin! LOL at the smoke-out... "Children....out of the smoke please...(3:39-camera B)"

Thx for the videos- super cool watching on a lunch break.

I installed my rearview mirror last night. (3) 6-32 1/2" Stainless flat head Phillips machine screws worked perfect.

Brad

Contacted Precision Drive as directed by Martin and my friend who was helping me out with the swap of the rear end. Was told that I can measure both sides or just bring the whole thing in and they can figure it out from there. At worst, they can cut the driveshaft end off and replace it with something that will fit. So for now, I'll go buy a couple of rims and tires and be set to move it with minimal issues instead of trying to find a trailer.

Installed new shocks up through the coils on the danforth S-10 IFS on my 49 sub today. Used grade 8 bolts where they fasten to the lower control arms. Taking one little chore at a time so as not to get overwhelmed. Exhaust from headers to the existing pipes is next and then new brake lines from the calipers to the front brake lines. made a bracket for the throttle return spring to hook to. Slowly, very slowly, getting there.



Weeds

I wanted to reply on this drive shaft issue the other day but time wouldn't allow. I was able to have a completed new drive shaft built here in Dallas for a little over $100. The more I trolled the wrecking yards looking for the right shaft the more it seemed clear to me that those lots might be a good place to find some parts but not drive shafts. Salvage yards tend to move vehicles around using fork lifts and when they do they bend the shafts. Also with so many cars build with no drive shafts the pickings are small. But at $100 I saved myself a lot of time and gas money as well.

Looking good Richard! When can we go riding?

Yay! Major milestone achieved this weekend... reinstalled my dash! Badly needed this to finalize the installation of my new wiring harness; I wanted all the under-dash wire lengths to be "just right" instead of having lots of excess sagging.

Bad news... in the process of pounding the dash into position, I managed to irretrievably destroy my amp gauge. The evening sun was in my eyes and I didn't notice the exposed gauge internals were hung up on the bottom edge of the dash and the steering column brace. Oh well, thankfully they're readily available... just a needless expense on my part.

Working backwards it seems, I removed my driver side door hinges to put new pins & bushings in them. Painted them while they were off. Painted my taillight assembly, as well.

Brad

I ironed "most" of the bugs out the truck and was able to put about 30 miles on Ol' Clyde last Thursday driving it to work and run some errands.

Thanks again to the great people that make up this site. I used the tech tip for adding a filter inside the gas tank outlet to keep some of the grime out of the petcock valve until I have the tank cleaned. Nothing serious, just some mouse "left-overs" and 1 moth - I have removed the moth. Instead of using the sink strainer as listed in the Tech Tip, I used the lint trap for a washing machine outlet. Cut in half and rolled - it worked perfectly.

Over the weekend, used Clyde to run grass clippings to the city compost drop and went to the hardware store (where I met a young lady that drives a '59 3100 as a daily driver).

Yesterday we got the headlights and fog lights working again.

Nothing like spending the weekend cruising around in a 78 year old truck.

Repaired the shifter in the 37,it broke loose where I attached a 37 shifter to the T-5 shifter so while I was at it i shortened it a little so it will not hit the glove box door while open in 5th.

Got rims and tires put on the replacement rear end and under the truck. I believe we can now move the big girl without using a trailer!

Making a new rubber floor mat to replace the carpet.

Last Friday through Sunday--- I cut a shaft off an old distributor to use to prime the oil pump; wired the truck instrument gauge cluster & everything essential to start the engine; connected the temperature sender; bought & attached a muffler to my exhaust pipe; installed the mechanical stomp starter pedal; ground paint off the firewall to attach an engine ground strap & I hooked that up; put the battery back on my trickle charger just to be safe; filled the radiator with water & tightened up the hoses; made a temporary strap to hang the muffler & exhaust from; removed & cleaned the ignition switch at least four times; filled the engine with oil & camshaft break-in fluid then looked at the engine for several hours; checked the triggers on my fire extinguishers; poured 5 gallons of 100% gasoline in my new fuel tank; checked timing by watching the valves; primed the oil pump; installed the distributor; installed the spark plugs & wires; connected the battery; removed the distributor, valve cover, & wires again- just to prime the oil pump again & watch to see that oil was at the rocker arms (that's how all this got started); re-installed everything & set/checked the timing again; finally got the engine running Sunday morning for the run-in period; almost had a heart attack when the oil pressure gauge failed at the 14-15 minute mark (we did not know that it was just the gauge at the time); I bought another gauge, connected it, & oil pressure was great.

Brad
edit- my blood pressure just went up typing about the gauge failure- that was not a fun experience

Good show, Brad.

Haven't slept as much as I should lately, Charlie... my Great Uncle bought the truck September 29, 1955--- that date, this year, is sticking out in my mind as a good date to be on the road. Or at least driving the truck.

Drumroll... I got ONE of the U-joint/trunnions replaced on the driveshaft today.

Brad

Got the driveshaft installed today. Carburetor installed, choke & throttle linkage installed, choke & throttle cables installed, taillight wired, and a makeshift tag holder are up next.

Rebuilt the carburetor last night; or, I re-rebuilt it.

Brad

Did nothing to Ole Charlie today -- just hopped in, hit the starter and drove over to my chemical dealer for some herbicide. Had a fun drive in the '49 3804.

I got the carburetor installed; the choke, throttle, clutch, & transmission mechanical linkage installed & tested, and the choke & throttle cables installed & tested. I had to touch-up some paint because the diameter of the repro cables' bezel is a LOT smaller than the original bezels. I am not attempting a swap out of the bezels at this time. I also did a heli-coil insert on another carburetor that had me sweating; I like spare parts, especially when they're obsolete, so the carb will now be good to go.

Brad

Hit a mile stone, got the hood on today:

https://ssrjim.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/mile-stone/

I changed the condenser on the 30. It has a 216 in it. Anyway I finally got it to run for about a minute. It backfired twice then died. Now, once again nothing. I can't get it to run.

I tried to fire the Yard Dog today after it sat for I don't know how many months. No such luck. I removed fuel lines and blew them out. I disassembled the carburetor and cleaned it out. I found a big ol' daub of hockey blocking the inlet to the needle valve. Reassembled and she runs like a champ.

Seems I have to do this every time I use it, which isn't very often. Today's fuel blends suck.

Careful Cletis some on this site would take issue with the assumption that the fuel is the cause of your woes. NOT ME just some.

Yesterday I filled the 3 spd transmission with 90W, and went to replace the speedometer cable- it is broken off & frayed deep inside the 20 tooth speedometer gear. Made out of metal. Vendors all say "plastic, as original" so I don't know...

Brad

Brad,

What year three speed?

Which gear are you referring to: the drive gear or the driven gear?
It looks like you are referring to the driven gear.

The driven gear is the gear that the speedometer cable goes into. The drive gear is on the main output shaft inside the transmission. (if I am wrong, we will quickly hear about it)

Both of those gears are metal in my 54 transmissions.

Here is a photo of the gears - wrong transmission, but the locations and general appearances of the two gears should be similar to yours.

Maybe you are referring to a plastic gear/part inside the speedometer unit on the dash? (sorry about my poor comprehension)

Tim, Yep- I didn't know what to call it, and read a BUNCH of discussion on it; it is conflicted even in my GM/Chevy books... all the terms are correct in its description in both locations...

Anyways, it is the speedometer driven gear that (in your picture) is inserted perpendicular to the main shaft of the transmission. The cable from the dash gauge screws into this on my 1955 3 speed transmission. Here is the picture of it installed. . Here's the first place I found them : plastic.

I have a hard time believing GM made these plastic, originally

Brad

more sanding... close to being able to spray primer over the body work... then a final sand, sealer coat and color.

I tore into the 283 today. I have never worked on a V-8 before. There sure are a lot of things to take apart.

Inside floors, firewall, dash backside, back wall painted and sealed with POR15 on my one ton cab. I also replaced the rear cab mount bushings. Ahhhh...progress!

Got her moved to her new garage. Going to start with the rear brakes since they seemed a bit locked up with 2 of us pushing it out of storage. Loosened up the brake bleeders and were able to get the brakes loose enough to move it out. Good news is that it only takes 5 people to move it onto one of the UHaul car dollies. 4 pushing and 1 driving.

Found a new bendix on eway last week. pulled the starter and replaced the bendix. now it turns over every time. Mtneermike

Trying to get 4 layers of paint off the new 235 for my 37.

Replaced the plastic tail light lenses that came on the truck when I bought it in 2008 with heavy glass lenses. The plastic ones were scratched & foggy & I had been wanting to replace them for a long time. Finally found a pair of new ones at the Pate swap meet in Dallas. Man, they really look nice!

Spot- did we ever figure out the transmission swap out?
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Last night I noticed I will have to move my oil filter assembly (on the manifold) about 1/4" more toward the front/carb to allow for clearance of the throttle rod linkage. I haven't yet, but if I were to fully depress the accelerator pedal, the oil filter u-bolt would/could make the rod stick whilst driving...

More adjustments before I hit the road. I also marked off some steel material to cut for my seatbelt brackets.

Brad