Because we didn't know how to get the gear lever out, we took off the top of the gearbox. what I already expected came true, more water damage. I've come to the conclusion that the fire destroying the truck occurred many years ago and the fire brigade of course drowned the truck to extinguish the fire, causing all that water to sit in the steering gear and the gear box.
we'll deal with that when we get to that point. first we lifted of the cab with the three of us, pretty easy. whats next.. see if we can get that engine running, arranging a solution for the steering gear and reviving that gear box.
That shifter doesn't look that bad, as long as there is not water sitting in the bottom of the sump.
I think, if there is another nub on the other side of the tower, you turn the top "disc" that the lever comes through counter clockwise looking from the top. It should turn about 45 degrees and come off with a spring pushing from below. It should turn with not a lot of force, you might have to push down on it a bit while turning.
Last edited by sweepleader; 06/28/201910:58 PM.
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
That shifter doesn't look that bad, as long as there is not water sitting in the bottom of the sump.
I think, if there is another nub on the other side of the tower, you turn the top "disc" that the lever comes through counter clockwise looking from the top. It should turn about 45 degrees and come off with a spring pushing from below. It should turn with not a lot of force, you might have to push down on it a bit while turning.
yeah..we saw when we grinded down the nubs and drilled them out oh well, we'll fix it later. The gearbox from the top doesn't look to bad..nothing that a steel brush and some elbow grease can't fix. to be honest, we just need 1 gear to work, because its only job is to roll independently onto the DMV inspection platform for the shortened frame inspection. as soon as they certify that, we putting in the 6.2 Diesel with the TH400 (curious how that'll hold up against the 6.17 to 1 rear end..)
When we took the cab of I could take a good picture of the brake booster which says: Bendix Aviation Corp. I guess it works the same as the modern brake boosters, only it's not integrated with the master brake cylinder. Also took a picture of the PTO which drove the hydrolic lift in the back. we found out that the picture called PTO brake, is actually the parking brake. never seen a system like that and wondering whether it is linked to the PTO? so when you engage the parking brake, the PTO starts building pressure?.
Your 6.17 rear will probably hold up just fine, however you might end up holding back lots of angry motorists. You will want 1800 to 2000 RPM at your cruise MPH, so gear accordingly.
Ed
'37 GMC T-18 w/ DD 4-53T, RTO-610, 6231 aux., '95 GMC running gear, full disc brakes, power steering, 22.5 wheels and tires. '47 GMC 1 ton w/ 302, NP-540, 4wd, full width Blazer front axle. '54 GMC 630 w/ 503 gasser, 5 speed, ex fire truck, shortened WB 4', install 8' bed. '55 GMC 370 w/270, 420 4 speed, grain, dump bed truck from ND. Works OK.
While I would not call myself a perfect expert on the issue, I have never seen a parking brake linked in any way to a pto. They have always had totally separate controls. My firetruck has a parking brake like that, and a pto, completely independent of each other.
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
...Have you thought about how you will incorporate a parking brake on the truck when you install the TH-400?
ohwwww Dang! of course not...well..to be honest any car I drive with an automatic transmissing, I just put it in P... don't forget we don't have mountains here
any change of using this particular manual transmission with a V8 bigblock? but, we're getting ahead of ourselfs, first get the Jimmy six and the current trans working.
We'll be treating the cab with some special RustÖl, wich is basicly a anti rust oil for fences and stuff. it impregnates the rust and keeps it from rusting further. not cheap, about $70 per gallon. then I have to decide were to go from there. We're going for the rat look (I know there'll be haters) but we've tried a small bit (pic's later) and I was hoping it would make it a bit darker and bring out the contrast a bit more, but it still just looks rusty..so I'm thinking about using a dull clear coat.
more in a few weeks, Saturday we're leaving for a 2 week holiday.
The parking brake on my 69 T50 is cable operated. With a really long cable and some custom made brackets, it could be adapted to bolt to the front of the diff... Never done it or seen it done, just thinking.
BTW, I love the TH400, had one go into reverse at about 60 mph once. NO problem, made a lot of noise with the wheels hopping and squealing, the diff eventually got noisy, the u-joints gave up pretty quick, but the the trans never complained in many miles since.
Mac :{)
1962 K10 short step side, much modified for rally 1969 T50 fire truck, almost nos, needs a few things
Your 6.17 rear will probably hold up just fine, however you might end up holding back lots of angry motorists. You will want 1800 to 2000 RPM at your cruise MPH, so gear accordingly.
Ed
Hi Ed, sorry for the dumb question, but English is not my native tongue so I don't always understand. what do you mean by gear accordingly, are you saying I can change the gear ratio of the differential?
During my holiday my mate Ferry cleaned some pieces the cab a bit with a machine bristle brush (if thats the right name for it) and applied the Rustöl to preserve the rust and keep it from rusting further. (first 2 pics) I like the finish it's giving, bit still debating whether to clear coat it, which we'll test on the glove box first. We made a transport wagon for it, so we can move it around easier and it fits on the lift.
now we need to suit up, get some good mask and clean it all down.
Most of the cab has rust on it, but isn't it rotten through anywhere I hear you say? yes it is..but nothing we can't fix flipping the cab on it's back gave us a good view of the situation
Well we can ship everything from the US, it'll just cost extra and I would keep the original, even if it is just for the size of it
You might consider installing a rear axle of a daf 600/800/45/55 truck. These have the same dimensions as the rear axle of my truck and might fit yours to. Better axle ratio for the diesel engine.
'52 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (to be restored) '56 GMC 450 (work in progress) '79 GMC C15 (fully restored)
Fabricated some cab mounts, only we found out we're out of gas for the mig welder and no flapwheel anymote to clean of the rust.. oh well, there's always next week
Is the Rustol product you used meant to be a final cote? Some rust remover products must be coated with a final sealing coat?
Ed
Hi Ed, yes the product itself can be used as a final cote, but then you'll have to re-cote every 2 to 3 years (like you would do your rusted old metal fence) I'm leaning towards a clear cote finish, but have to check the clear paint compositions, because competability with the rustol could be an issue.
wow and two months have passed since my last post. what have we done in the mean time? nothing much seeing we're both busy with other stuff. But we managed to complete the right side repairs of the cab. we mocked up the floor replacement part and where the cabmount should come. we're 99.9% sure we've nailed the location, the only thing will be the hight, but that can be shimmed. then we welded it together and seeing it's a rat rod, we don't fuss about a bit bigger or sloppier weld it's actually very soothing not having to worry about the looks, only about the structural integrity. I can recommend it, everyone should build a ratrot.
oh and the first picture..that's why you shouldn't buy chinese grinding pad..it litterally exploded and luckily missed me
Then we turned our attention to cab corner which we did free hand. So some basic measuring and estimated guessing was applied, then we just started bending and molding some sheet metal and came up with this.
But before all this we replaced the door hinge. we had to make a brace to keep the cab from sagging or deforming, so we made a strut and make some customer measurement tools to be shure the door hinge would sit at the exact right position. we're 99.9% confident it is
first comes mocking it up, and then some welding. on to the other side! but first need to turn my attention to my '69 C10. replacing my th350 with a Th700 and putting in 5 bolt axles. (front was already converted)
I'm quite sure I won't be able to post anything until january, so early X-mas wishes to all of you!
Seeing I'm home all day I thought this might be a good time to bring you up to speed. The cab is finished for now, so the left front cab corner and cabmount got fixed. Then we used a electric wirebrush to get rid of all the loose rust. Then my mate found out that the Rustol can be sprayed on, which saved heeps of time compared to using a paint brush.
Being limited on usable space, we had to come up with a place to leave the cab.. luckily the bed of a 69 C10 is exactly wide enough to be temperary storage. we then turned our attention to the rest of the sheet metal with the same attack plan. use a scotchblock to get rid of most of the grime, wirebrush the rusted parts and then just cover it all in Rustol.
even on paint it seems to putting on a good layer, how long it will hold time will tell. perhaps the first rainshower we ride through it'll all come off..but thats for later worries.
With all the sheetmetal treated, it was time to focus on the mecanical side of business. first off, cleaning the gear box. there was water in there, so we drained the water/oil and filled it up with diesel. next you take your air gun and give it a bubble bath. here's the youtube link: better not inhale those fumes. after this cleansing therapy, we found 2 gears forward and what we think is reverse. more than enough to get going, we'll worry about the rest later.
Next up; getting the engine to run. Not knowing how long an engine has been standing still is never a good thing, but from all we have encountered we knew the car had been well taken care of...or atleast until the fire cleaned out the cab. just to be sure I changed plugs, wires, distributor, point, condensator and the distributor cap. the oil in the engine looked and smelled fine, no slush in the valvetrain, so just rebuild the carb and it fired right up! here is the youtube link:
having secured moving forward, it was time to focus on coming to a standstill. and..bleeding the brakes was all it took, ok we had to unplug the right forward hose, but we have full lock on all corners!. time to get those wheels back. speaking of which. perhaps you noticed my other post regarding the wheels. we've decided to go ahead with the fabricator. yes I'm aware we'll be running 20" tubeless car tires, which lack hight and sidewall sturdiness, but we're on a tight budget. weight indicatord on the regested tires are 108, which means 2000Lbs per tire..should do the job. we'll be running 245/65/20. thats the highest I could find. Regarding the front rims, the fab guy, just inverted the center part, otherwise it would be to deep and got in the way of the steering rod. First I thought we'd close them up like in the picture, but I've come up with another solution. stay tuned. the mock-up dually is with the help from paint. just taking one rim, making 2 pictures and posting them together. I like what I see, so now he'll fininsh the rest of the rims and we should have a roling chassis soon!. but what about steering? yes.. thats in my next post.
A while back I bought some stuff from a guy parting out a 1985 G30, among other things a front bench and a steering column with steering wheel. Now the Column had to much plastic and electronics on them, so we pulled it apart and where left with a naked column with tilt! Waiting for wheels, and being bummed out that we could find a solution for the steering gear we focused out frustration on the G-wagon steering wheel, which in our opinion had to much plastic. So we pulled the airbag out, and the got medieval on its [censored] ….I like the result. And if you’re wondering how we’re going to make the horn work? Artistic freedom.
But then suddenly everything turned bright pink and an Unicorn presented itself. Just by googling in Dutch instead of English (Steering Gear vs. Stuurhuis) I Found a C60 steering gear in the Netherlands! So I raced 135Mi north to get there as fast a possible. It turned out to be a small, privately owned ww2 Canadian Allied Forces museum, who had some C15, C50 and C60 stuff for sale. As soon as I got back to the garage I showed my price possession to Ferry, only to discover it was from a right hand drive!! (Canadian ww2 vehicles were RHD..) luckily we could convert everything tot he old steering box and now it works.
It runs, it shifts, it brakes and it goes around corners.. yippiekiyaaaay !
The problem with fire damage is you have no idea how hot things have gotten and whether the structural integrity has been compromised. So far everything was looking up. some warping in the roof, but that’s about it. the doors looked straight, so we decided to fit them just for argument sake and seeing we had replaced the lower hinge support on both sides, we were curious if the doors would still fit. well, you tel me ! the reason for the right door to be so clean is that they left it open when they bolted to get away from the fire the story behind this truck is almost movie script worthy. Seeing we have all the glass and rubbers, we started assembling the doors using as much of the original parts as possible. To our surprise we were able to re-use everything except the left door lock.
So the pink lining in the sky regarding finding the steering box turned into a dark ominous one, because that we didn't take into consideration was that some canadian ww2 vehicles were RHD... seeing that the box was placed on the other side of the car didn't set of any bells, eventhough it was mounted up side down compared to ours. but being busy with the tilt column, we want to measure positioning and where to make the braces, seeing it has no powersteering. we spot welded the steering shafts together and found out that in order to go left, we had to turn right so we had to rebuild the steering box using some old parts and although the bearings themselfs are ok, the seats are all eaten up. I know I've said this before, but we'll see how long it holds and then deel with that. now we're busy getting a 3" long pipe machined with on one end a 7.5" opening and on the other side 8" so we can marry the gear and the column together.
the wheels keep thowing us curveballs, because I dumped a lot of money into it to get them made, but the welding is mediocre at best , seeing it is not air tight and the insides are very ruff which doesn't sit well with inner tubes. I bought some army truck tires, but their tubetype, so now I'll have to find a shop willing to put them on these tubeless rims. to be continued.
being stuck with the major stuff, we diverted out attention to the small things that have to be done like deciding where the horn pull cord should be located and making holes in the dash for the gauges.
you must think of us as a bunch a amateurs, but we're learning on the job.
ah i see you found a set of rims , having a rough inside of the rim isnt good for inner tubes but you can probably grind and sand that down and i think you could allso mount a ribon in there same way as a bicycle rim but larger velglint if the tires and rims fit on a normal tire changer i might be able to help you , i rent a place in rijzenhout near schiphol and one of the perks is that it has a tire changing machine and a wheel balancer