Stovebolt.com Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1947 Panel Truck Frame swap with ’88 k2500

I think I’m getting better at welding. I decided the Left inner fender was good enough after welding and grinding multiple times. It’s no show winner, but it will be mostly out of sight. I applied Ospho, and some paint. I reworked some of the Right inner fender to eliminate the pin holes. I have watched a few videos, and read on a few welding forums. I read that there are three reasons for popping: Dirty tip, tips too big, or too much oxygen. Adjust the bigger flame to just before matching the smaller flame, adjust too far and it’s an oxidizing flame. With this info I got smaller welding rod, lowered the oxy pressure, and dialed the flame down to where I could just hear it. This combination worked with what I have to work with. I could use a smaller tip, but I’m happy with the results.
The battery has to go somewhere, as does the coolant reservouir. I put the Right inner fender back on the truck and used a cardboard template for the battery to determine placement. Some cutting and metal forming in the rain, a 4x4 was handy at the time. I’ll use the donor battery tray, it has a screw down block that grips the bottom edge of the battery. The test fit looks good, and the battery clears the hood spring.
After the inner fenders are installed, I can put in the inner firewall pad. I wirebrushed the dash and floor, applied Ospho, primered, and started paint.

The weather is getting nicer, so I’m getting stuff done. I picked up some sheet metal from the local hardware store for the battery box. I cut out and pieced together the box overlapping the new 22Ga onto the rusty 18Ga. By the time it was done I was feeling more confident in my welding that I considered just making the whole box instead of piecing it together. I won’t get any welding certifications from this, but it will be functional.
Between welds, I worked on fitting the inner firewall cover. Set it in place, check for fit, mark, remove, cut and repeat many times. I realized that I do not have to have the inner fenders installed before installing the inner firewall cover since the fenders bolt to the kick panel. Progress is progress. The dash paint came out nice. It’s never too late to organize fasteners. I got tired of looking through the pile of bags of screws trying to figure out what was what.

The weather got nicer for a few days, so I got on the ground and put in fresh oil. I checked the transfer case, it was low so I changed the fluid. I got an economy squeeze bulb and spent probably an hour moving 2 ½ quarts. The shifter gasket was in bad shape on the 5LM60, I found a gasket for an NV3500 and swapped that out. I’m not completely satisfied as the gasket is thick rubber and the top cover shifts slightly as I move the shifter. The bolts need to be tightened down more to minimize this movement, but they are steel bolts going into an aluminum housing. When I got the donor truck the shifter was really loose. I found the top bolts were loose and two of them the threads were stripped. I put in helicoils for those two, helicoils into the top of an aluminum transmission case. I don’t like the movement in the top cover, I may put the original gasket back in as it is thinner and has a metal plate. I also attached the inner fenders.
On to the interior wiring harness. I cut off the bulkhead connector, labeling each wire. Next I cut off the convenience center, then I cut the buzzer module and the relay sockets from the convenience center. I laid out the remaining harness, cut off the electrical tape, and started grouping and bundling wires. I sorted out the wires from the convenience center that I wont use, I could wrap these up out of the way, or I may remove them. With the harness loose I was able to reshape it to some degree. I’ll need a way to mount the fuse panel, so I made a box. The buzzer and relays will fit below the fuse panel.
I’m also getting everything under the dash ready. I decided to go over the heater before putting it back in.

I wasn’t sure how to attach the defroster vents to the dash. I fount one clip on each vent. I search this site and found several posts about this, but most of the picture links were no longer functioning. I finally found a link to an Optional truck equipment manual that had a good picture. It shows the clip on one side, and a sheet metal screw on the other side pointing up through the dash. It appears the screw tip will get covered with the windshield trim. One of the pages states that #8 screws are used on both sides, but that may be for a later year. The holes in my dash are not so big. I picked up a couple #6 x 3/8” screws and the first one fit perfectly. I’ll install the other side after the windshield wiper linkage is in place.
One of the cowl vent hinges had come off during dis-assembly. While cleaning and painting, I noticed manufacturing ID stamped on a couple of the cowl vent components. The hinge piece is stamped “Barth”, and the bracket is “Ternstedt”.
I picked up a rivet that looked like a good fit for the hinge pivot. I put the pieces in place and begun hammering. I soon discovered the short throws of my hammer under the confines of the dash was not doing much to the rivet. I filed off the mushroomed part, and cut the rivet shorter. More upside down hammering and now it fits well.

For my cowl vent, I got some spacers and plan on drilling the bracket out to fit them and then using a machine screw and nut thru that for the pivot. The original rivet was a shoulder type so there was a spot for it to pivot on and not get too tight. Mine was a bit rusty and needed to be replaced anyway.
My defroster vents came with the clip on one end and screw on the other. The fewer screws needed under the dash, the better.

I didn’t put much thought into the hinge rivet, but did notice the hole in the lower bracket is bigger than the rivet. Thanks for the tip klhansen! I looked up shoulder rivets on-line and found few options, nothing local. I may re-visit the cowl vent hinges in the future as the passenger side is rusted tight. I did get it to move some, but it has never been lubricated before.
I took a wire cup brush and sandpaper to the heater and applied rusty metal primer. Then I set out to acquire some Hammerite Bronze. I couldn’t locate Hammerite at any local stores on-line. The first hardware store I went to had one can of Rustoleum Hammered Dark Bronze, I bought it. I went to Five other stores, a couple had shelf tags for Rustoleum Hammered Bronze, but out of stock. I used some other paint for the insides. I had read that the hammered effect was much more than original, so I thought I could apply several light coats. It seems the hammered effect works with a heavy coat, the light coats aren’t very hammered looking. I’m happy with the end result anyway. I wasn’t planning on working over the heater, so I didn’t have the rubber bumpers. I found something that works with little modification. I had replaced the motor about 20 years ago and it has a slightly different shaft. The shaft has a flat side, I seated the set screw on the flat part, but maybe it needs to be on the curved part to get the fan farther down. After I attached the squirrel cage and put on the housing there was some rubbing. I was able to push the squirrel cage slightly to get clearance. I used an ohm meter to check continuity of the motor ground. The Heater Tag is stamped H 02 47 This may be the date as my truck is 1947.
I wrestled with the heater for quite awhile getting it in to place. I put the 2 studs through the firewall first and then had to push it into place on the side panel. When it was almost in place I slipped in the foam gasket, but I am certain the gasket is not in place at the top and middle front bolt holes. It was too tight to adjust and after a half hour of struggle I bolted it in as is. I connected the coolant lines, but before I fill the radiator, I’ll hook a battery up to the fan motor to test for clearance.

I hooked up a battery to the fan and tick,tick,tick… An hour and a half later it was back together and running smooth and quiet. I took the cover off and was able to push the fan down the shaft. Now that it’s in place I can see the subtle hammered paint, I like it.
I installed the electric wiper motor and transmission, the right defroster vent, and the cowl vent mechanism. The cowl vent has never worked as smooth as it does now.
I connected most of the wiring harness through the firewall and hooked up the relays so I can use the original key switch and the foot starter button. All the fluids are topped off and I’m currently making a bracket for the relays, and a bracket for the coolant reservoir. There are a few grounds to connect and then with fresh gas and battery I’ll be ready to fire it up.

After a trip or two to the hardware store, I installed the coolant reservoir, and the relays. I had just 3 grounds to connect before I could fire it up. Things got busy, seemed like Two weeks before I did the last 3 grounds. I picked up some 8Ga wire at one store, some 8Ga connectors at another store, and a capable crimper at a third store. Here’s that $70 crimp and worth every penny. Time to charge the battery. Charger didn’t like the battery, so I charged up another battery I had that was smaller. The next day I tried to start but no go. The engine did turn over so I has happy about that. I looked at the harness, and everything looked connected. I decided to buy a new battery and was at it again the next day. Still no start. I started looking at the fuel delivery. I put a test light on the fuel pump wire. Turn the key on, light comes on and then goes off after a moment. That part was working, but was the pump running? I disconnected the ground from the fuel tank and placed a current meter in series between the ground and frame. My meter goes up to 2 Amps. I turned the key on and the meter went to OL for a moment. Looks like the fuel pump is working. Lastly I unscrewed the fuel line from the throttle body, it was wet. Awhile ago I was troubleshooting a garden tiller. I needed a way to check for spark. I looked for spark checkers on-line and found two kinds available. I was not impressed with the reviews on either, so I made my own. I took a switch that contains a neon bulb, and wired that to a spark plug. Not for the spark plug itself, but for the terminal of the spark plug. I connected one spark plug wire to my tester and placed the light in the hole for the cowl vent drain so I could see it while cranking. No spark. Look under the distributor cap to find a rusted mess. I ohmed out the ignition coil(looked good), and the pick-up coil(bad).Yesterday with new distributor, installed, cranked, STARTED right up! What a thrill!

I drove the truck! I have been working on this project in the road in front of my house. It is now on my property, it was a very short drive. Doors bungied shut, plastic removed from windows, and backed carefully with no mirrors. I walked the car tent to the new location, it was easier than dismantling and re-assembling. I had some poles from an old car tent, but no connectors. I welded a frame for a vestibule and added a zipper door on the side of the tent. Topped off the fluids again. Another trip to the hardware store and I put a dryer exhaust vent on the exhaust pipe. That kind of works, but I’ll add an exhaust fan to the tent. I left the battery connected, and the truck started right up after a week. I ran it for awhile to get it up to temp. When I had moved it, it seemed like it didn’t idle down. This time it did idle down, but I noticed it could go lower if I manually adjusted the throttle linkage. I’ll spray that down. The top of the radiator was staying cool, I let it run for awhile and then shut it down. Finally the hose off the thermostat housing started to warm up. The truck started right up and then the top of the radiator was hot. So far so good. I heard a noise and traced it to the pcv valve cycling. When I put in the new distributor, I marked the old rotor to housing and marked the new rotor to housing and just put it in aligning the marks. I don’t know what the timing is set at, but I just read about pcv rattle could be the timing is off. I may just try to turn the distributor, but I’d like to get a timing light on it. I made an ALDL cable and downloaded a copy of WinALDL. The plan is to put the software on an older laptop with the d sub 9 connector and get a readout from ECM. I really want to drive this truck. I could slap the glass in and bolt on the fenders and grill, wire up the lights and go. It also needs the door latches installed. Then there is the door gaskets, but they should go on after paint. Still some body work before paint. I guess I’ll just keep on doing what I can when I have time.

That has to be a great feeling (driving the truck)!