Stovebolt.com Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1952 Chevrolet 3100 Project

That looks good, Phil. I've not heard of that product before. I'll have to check it out.

Is that little gauge down low behind the steering column in your oil line? If so, I like that idea. I'm curious if you've seen a noticeable difference in your oil pressure (when the oil temp increases) due to the filter set up? I've heard that on hot days the oil pressure to the top end can get pretty low.

Yes, it is a oil pressure gauge. The pressure pretty much matches the oil gauge in the dash. I haven’t noticed any appreciative difference since I installed the oil filter. Inside the center of the filter is a oil return pipe, with a 1/16” restrictive hole that keeps the oil pressure from dropping off.

I installed the oil pressure gauge when I was having issues with low oil pressure. It turned out the main bearings were all screwed up and after $2k and a total engine rebuild all is good.

You can get it in Ace Hardware or on Amazon.

7/29/22: Today I took my truck to it’s mandatory NY State inspection, and get my headlights adjusted. It’s about a 15 miles each way, so she gets a little work out. Just after the owner finished the inspection (passed with no issues), he handed me the bill. I said that I also needed the headlights aligned. He told me he hasn’t performed an alignment since NY dropped the requirement and he no longer had the equipment. I know that in the past, I would just pulled the vehicle in front of a wall and was able to do a semi-quasi job. I checked the Shop Manual and the instructions said to park the truck 25’ away from the wall and with high beams on, center should be 3” lower than the center of the light itself. That is a problem for me, as I don’t have a flat spot anywhere in my driveway so I needed a different strategy.

My iPhone has an inclinometer built into it, so I thought I may be able to use that. I removed the headlight bulbs so I could span the bulb holder. The phone is not large enough to span the distance so I taped the phone to a combo square. I initially placed the square (with phone attached) on the floor as my floor is slanted toward the garage doors. Adding 90 degrees to that would theoretically give me perfectly parallel aim. Since the light beam needs to be 3” lower over 25’, I needed to figure out in degrees how much a 3” drop over 25’ was. Using an online calculator, it worked out to be .6 of a degree. Adjusting the light to show approximately 1/2 of a degree should get me in the ball park.

Adjusting side to side was even easier. I placed about a 6’ 2x4 across from one light to the other and again using my iPhone with a compass app, showed it as 136 degrees. All I had to do was adjust the individual lights to 136 degrees and they should be perfect (in theory anyway). Being that the adjustment screws are working off of three points, I needed to readjust a couple of times. Depending on how accurate the inclinometer is in the iPhone, will determine the results. I’m going to a local cruise-in tomorrow evening, so I’ll let you know the results!

9/01/22: couple of years ago, My wife gave me a set of vintage NY plates, complete with a ‘52 tag for fathers day. When I went to register the truck for the first time, I couldn’t use those plates, but instead was issued Historical plates. The division that issues vintage plates, is located in Albany and you must apply by mail. In addition to the application, there was a plethora of other documents that they wanted plus you needed to verify that the plate number was available. This frustrated me to the point that I put the vintage plates on the back burner.

I finally got all the documents needed to get my plates together, and I received the new registration today. I was so excited, I had to get the plates installed immediately.

I blurred out the number, but you get the idea.

Very COOL, sorry you had to endure all the bureaucracy to get a vintage tag. Georgia only requires a simple form and that the tag match the YOM of the vehicle. The DMV will run the plate number to make sure it hasn't been duplicated, once that's completed they will issue you a new registration with the plate number.

Oh and it doesn't cost any extra to use the plate.

11/13/22:After collecting all the components over the last few months, I finally installed the HEI distributor I bought from a fellow Stovebolter. It didn’t go quite as planned, learned a whole lot along the way and got to speak to a legend in this industry, Tom Langdon.

I’ve wanted to upgrade to HEI ignition since I first bought our truck three years ago. Didn’t take long to figure out the only system to install was a genuine GM distributor and it’s associated components. Tom Langdon’s converted 80-82 S-10 HEI distributor seems to be the top of the line, so that is what I set my sights on. I wanted the system with the round coil so it would look nearly stock.

Since I had so many other issues that needed attention, this upgrade was put on the back burner. About six months ago, a Tom Langdon HEI Distributor came up on “Truck Parts for Sale” forum. After striking a deal the distributor, round coil and spark plug wires were now in my possession.

The first issue I discovered was the round Ford coil did not have studs and nuts to install the ring terminals that were installed on the distributor. After researching the issue, I found that Fords that use this coil also used a special terminal clip. I decided to call Tom Langdon Stovebolt company to demystify the issue. To my surprise, Tom answered the phone. I spoke to him over twenty minutes from the issues I was having to future upgrades.

After talking with Tom, he recommend that I ditch the round coil in favor of the square one that GM used with that system, stating he had allot of those coils returned, so he no longer sells or recommends that coil. He sold me the coil, spark plugs, distributor hold down and an installation kit that included the terminal for the coil.

After receiving Tom’s goody box, I was anxious to get started with the installation. That’s when I found the second issue. The coil wire for the round coil does not fit the square coil. The square coil uses GM style ends on their coil and distributor. A quick call to Tom, and he said He did not have any to sell but I could buy one at any Auto Parts Store. Armed with that info, I went to my local Parts Store and found that they did not carry them. I then went to my not so local parts stores (three more 45 minutes away), and discovered that they did not carry them either. One parts guy said that outboard motors use that same type of coil wire and that was the clue I needed.

I found one that fit on eBay and the only issue was it was blue. Not what I was looking for, but I think I can live with that.

After much discussion previous about supplying the power for this system, with Tom Langdon and on this forum, I decided to use a 60 amp bosch style relay with the required 10 gauge wire. This simplified the installation because I already had the wire from the ignition switch on the firewall attached to the ballast resister. The starter is directly below so getting ample power was easy.

I mounted the square coil on the frame as Tom Had recommended. The only concern I had was water splashing between the frame and the inner fender, as there is about a 1/2” gap. Tom assured me water was not an issue with this coil. I used my 3-D printer to print a 1x1x4” long angle iron (plastic), to install under the coil, pushed against the inner fender to form a barrier. Probably overkill but it makes me feel better.

I spent an afternoon assembling the wiring harness prior to installation. Installation went relatively easy. I first set the timing slightly before TDC, confirmed the rotor was pointing to number one spark plug wire position, then removed the distributor. Installing the new distributor was basically the same as the original, a task I have performed many times before. I changed the plugs, fabricated and installed new Cu-Ni timing advance line, installed the new Bosch relay, the new square coil on the frame then installed the wiring harness I previously made. A quick check with a multimeter to see if I had power at the positive side of the coil with the ignition turned on, and I was ready to fire her up. She started immediately. I threw a timing light on her but found it near impossible to see 10-18 degrees advanced. I settled for tuning it by ear until I buy an adjustable timing light. I might consider adding a timing mark on the front pulley.

I finished the job by neatening up the wiring with wire ties. I’m looking forward to a test drive in the next few days, weather permiting! I am in the mountains in upstate New York!

Is your road draft tube the stock one? Mine doesn't have that second bend in it.

Also, your 3D printer makes things in metal?

Yes, stock but not sure what year. ‘52 truck, ‘59 engine.

No, my 3d printer uses plastic. I used PETG which is good to 180°.

Phil, of that I'm second guessing Tom Landon, just wondering what was his reasoning for not using another coil?