The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Making a "Super 3100" - 1950 3100

A bit more power...

Dyno results are in!

I put a slightly smaller pulley on the nose of my blower (from a 3.05 inch to a 2.5 inch diameter) and saw a solid increase in power!

Dyno shows 530 at the crank with 540 torque. NOTICEABLE difference in takeoff and at speed.

You gotta love blowers. Power all the way through the range!

Kill story...

Some of you know, early on, I was a race driver and drove at NHRA events etc. so it is not new to me and like most of you, I know how to get a hole shot and put power down for maximum speed and takeoff. I just don't do much of that anymore.

However...

At a stop light recently, an arab looking guy in an M3 was laughing at my truck, holding his nose and pointing.

When the light changed, I floored it and he did his best to outrun me. IT was a total mismatch however...I beat him so bad, he got out of his little M3 and kicked it. I drove back by and just smiled at him as he was jumping up and down in shocked rage kicking his little car..

As immature as that was, it felt good.

Way to go!

Its been a year now since the final completion of the build.

I have driven the truck every day except when I was out of town on business and some of those days, my wife drove it. The truck has just under 19000 miles since the build (it had about 7500 miles on the speedo when I started daily driving so I have driven it about 11500 in the last year).

Over this year a few things have been added/modified as the continuing shake down took place. The most significant was the replacement of the transmission. One more crap incident from the original builder (ALL of whose work I have had to completely replace). The tranny started leaking badly and I got a recommendation from Pete at Fat Man Fabrications and took it to Affordable Transmission here in Charlotte (nice bunch of guys who know what they are doing). They pulled the tranny and took it apart and then they told me that the tranny was old and worn out. It had at least 100K on it and many of the parts inside had what they called 'hard rust' on them which indicated not only long wear but exposure to the elements over time. Apparently, it had sat outside for a long time and then been stuck in my truck with a few new parts to make it work. I was told it was a top quality tranny with all new parts. Oh well, live and learn..AGAIN!

Even so, it took four trips back to the tranny place to get leaks finally stopped (warranty, no charge) but now everything is doing well.

The blower (after initial issues with Summit) is now functioning well. I reduced the size of the top pulley by 30% and it dynoed out at 499 BHP. The smaller pulley made a pretty dramatic difference.

All systems are doing well now. While it was a tremendously hard task (five years and counting) and terribly expensive, my wife and I both now greatly enjoy Ol' Blue and take it on trips as well as drive it daily. I really enjoy having people smile when they see it and give a thumbs up.

Another adjustment was the power windows. Initially, the install was pretty terrible with me having to pull the windows up most of the time. I took it to Pete over at Fat Man's and he worked on it for about four hours. Now the windows go up and down like a new car. MARVELOUS - Pete is a wizard.

Finally, I now have power door locks on the truck. With a daily driver and living in Charlotte (where crime is rampant), you HAVE to have door locks. I have a hidden kill switch to allow for killing the starter and ignition but still can lost things in the interior (I have a Viper alarm system but no one pays any attention to alarms, they are going off all the time here in Charlotte) so I really wanted door locks.

Freeman's car stereo here in Charlotte is kind of legendary around here and they do some great work (they did all my stereo stuff (DVD, Touchscreen, Voice GPS, iPhone and USB connectors with voice activation, HD and Satellite radio and 900 watt amp with 6 inch speakers with 10 inch subs) so I went to them.

They came up with a really cool system using dual activators on each door to utilize the original locking arm system and I have no outside indication that I have keyless entry (my intention from the atart was to give the appearance of a mostly stuck truck with everything under the 'covers' being new and modern).

IT works great and locks the doors when I start the ignition and unlocks when I turn off the truck. When I lock the truck with my key-fob it also sets the Viper alarm. Cool.

That's about it. Ol' Blue is a continuing labor of love but since most of the expense, blood, sweat and tears are finally behind me, there is more love now than ever.

I really did not intend to build a super truck but one thing led to another and now I really don't regret it (anymore anyway).

To shortcut the gear heads who know more than I... No I will not argue with you about the horsepower. I have had it verified and and it is what it is. If you don't think its right that is your privilege but I don't appreciate being called a liar so do me a favor and don't post. There are a lot of other trucks you can take exception to and people on this forum you can argue with. I just posted this for those nice folks who asked me to keep them informed of the progress on my truck. To them, thanks for all the words of encouragement and support over the years.

- Dave

Awesome!

I reduced the upper pulley on the blower and it increased the power dramatically. I used to wind it up and allow it to shift and bark tires on its own. Now, I'm a bit intimidated to allow it to do that. It winds up so fast and shifts so hard that I am afraid of breaking something. I can bark the tires just about when I want now. Who knew that such a small adjustment could make such a huge difference!

Dave,
Great looking work you have done. My 6 month trek has turned into 5 years as well. I plan on copying your bedrails when I've done everything else. If we can install all the stuff (elec wipers, radio, air,door glass,interior molding, and tighten all bolts)we will have it down to Blanco TX for their car show this May.

Ol blue now has just shy of 23000 miles since the original 'build' (I put this in quotations since the original build was such an unbelievable botched mess that if it were not so heartbreaking it would actually be humorous).

Daily driving has exposed a LOT of flaws bungled work (and outright lies to me by the original builder and several so called mechanics along the way) and in turn has enabled (forced) me to get them replaced, redone or fixed.

The blower shaft BROKE (between the pulley and the blades) going a moderate 50 mph and NOT under any kind of hard acceleration. This was AFTER I had to have the engine COMPLETELY REBUILT when I found out that the pistons that had been put in were of the lowest quality (I was told they were the best and that is what I paid for - yet another lie) and one had broken. The blower was a Weiand from Summit.

Neither of the companies wanted to stand behind the product and refused to acknowledge or help. Lesson - NEVER BUY a Weind blower or anything from Summit.

Yesterday, turning in to my driveway, I heard a loud pop and my steering got hard. I have learned my lesson over time and called the wrecker service and had it towed to Fat Man's. Turns out that the main cross member BROKE due to INFERIOR WELDING (AGAIN by the original builder).

If it had happened while I was on the interstate, I would not be able to write this since I would be DEAD.

I know that I have said this before but to all of you out there who are in the process or contemplating restoration of or overhaul (like I did) of a classic truck - TRUST NO ONE - BELIEVE NO ONE - HIRE PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE CERTIFIED AND EVEN THEN, LOOK AT THEIR WORK CLOSELY, TALK TO THEIR CUSTOMERS (MANY OF THEM) BEFORE YOU COMMIT THE FIRST DIME TO THE PROJECT AND - VERY IMPORTANT - GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING, CERTIFIED AND WITNESSED/SIGNED BY A NOTARY SO THAT IT CAN HOLD UP IN COURT.

Otherwise, you end up like me.

DON'T.

It sounds like you have been put through the wringer several times. On the bright side your truck looks awesome. The most important part of your truck is the way it looks and we are all jealous of that. Fix the little stuff (engine, front suspension, blower, etc. and your troubles will be behind you.

Looks great! ...what hood ornament is that?

Great story Dave. I really enjoyed reading about your troubles for a change.lol

Can you tell me more about the seat? I've been investigating seat options for my 48 and Tea's has been near the top of my list however I've yet to see one in person or sit in one. I'd like a bench seat that's very comfortable and easy to sit in for hours and hours even weeks at a time for long trips. Also looking for something reasonably stock appearing and or can be covered very simply as the originals were.

Did you do your own upholstery?
What is the process of installing the seat, on top of the original seat riser or without?

Grigg

This is where I got my seat. Wise Guys

OK thanks. What does your seat from wise guys look like, how did installing it go, is it well made, and is it comfortable?

Grigg

It's been a long time since I posted anything about Ol' Blue but I have been busy with the truck as well as lots of other distractions (new granddaughter, new job, health issues etc.) so apologies for being quiet for so long. After YEARS of being screwed by just about every shady mechanic in the states of NC and SC (they are legion) I FINALLY found 2 guys who were the REAL thing. Both are former Joe Gibbs racing master mechanics and engine builders and both are men of the highest integrity (trust me, after my experiences, I checked both out THOUROUGHLY!!). Ken Meroney (KMEngines) has gone through my truck and found ALL of the jury rigged crap that was hidden from me by other mechanics (I know, I take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for my stupidity) and FIXED EVERY ONE! Anyway, if you are looking for a MASTER mechanic who you can trust, contact Ken Meroney at kmengines@bellsouth.net. You won't be sorry!

Do they make house calls to Dallas?

Been a while since I posted, life gets in the way.
Anyway, I met and became friends with a couple of former NASCAR mechanics (they have their own shops now) and they did some work on my truck,
Redid the engine and added fuel injection, new 5 speed (700R4 with overdrive), new 4 link rear suspension, new Wilwood disk brakes all around with a hydrabooster (stopping power is incredible), new Ford 9 inch rear end w/3.90 gears (smokes the tires easily). Repainted all fenders and running boards and redid all front end wiring.

To say it's better is the understatement of the year.

Handles like a Mustang. accelerates like a Vette and looks like a dream doing it.

Life is GOOD.

Gallery page and more pictures are in my signature line below.

Thanks Jim. Now that I found the right guys to work on her, things are great.

From a 1949 Ford that belonged to my Grandfather. It's the car used to bring me home from the hospital when I was born (I'm 67 now).

That's a Teas Designs recaro type bench that was covered in grey leather by a local guy. Went in great (made for the series and model so ft was perfect). Extremely comfortable even on long trips.

Or the Toupee off your head!

Welcome back.. that is a good looking truck there

Very nice. Congrat's on finding some good mechanics. Lot's of unqualified mechanics out there, it can be very challenging.

John

Ol Blue, would you share where, or what, your seat came out of. Thanks.

I see your in Charlotte, (have a daughter in Matthews) so if you ever get to Spartanburg hot dogs or BBQ and a cold Pepsi are waiting on you!

Thanks!

I tried a couple configurations before I found this seat. Saw an ad in one of my classic truck catalogs for Teas Designs in California. They make a seat specifically for the 47-52 Chevy 3100 so I took a chance. It fit perfectly and I got a local guy who did my door panels to cover it. He added some extra lumbar and leg support foam cushioning and its very comfortable even on long trips,

Thanks for the invite! I'll take you up on it one day!

Mechanics...don't I know it! I actually had to have the NASCAR guys undo pretty much everything that had been done by others to get things right. Worth it though, daily driver now with nearly 50K miles on the build with zero problems.

One of the best mods they guys did was to add fuel injection. After years of wrestling with carbs, starting and running now is a dream come true! If you are thinking about it, I highly recommend it.

I used a FiTech system but after a couple years had an issue with the command unit. Apparently, their quality control in the early models was less than stellar. Luckily my NASCAR guy, Ken Meroney (KM Engines) is a total wizard at nearly everything and he actually rebuilt the factory unit himself and everything is great now.

Good to know about fuel injection and FiTech.

John