Stovebolt.com Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1927 Chevrolet Capitol 1-ton -- Full frame-off resto

Hmmmmmm..... It starts about like this here ...

A few weeks ago, Ms. Peggy was checking on the Swap Meet ads and noticed our old friend, ODSS founding brother and purveyor of interesting antique iron (Phil, AKA TrknGMC) had listed his '27 Capitol project ... without a price!! (gasp! Shriek!!). Now Peggy and I had always thought an early Stovebolt (um, technically a pre Stovebolt as a 4 cylinder) would be really cool, fun and interesting. But we never pursued it.

Looking back through our history, it seemed the old trucks (with only two minor exceptions) always found us, not vice versa. Starting with the '39 half ton, the '49 2-ton and then the flagship of Stovebolt.com, the '49 1-ton, these orphaned trucks just seemed to find their way to our doorstep.

Who were we to turn them away??

So there it was, newly listed right here on Stovebolt. It caught Margaret's attention as being a gross violation of our Swap Meet rule about putting a price on stuff (who likes window shopping at stuff you don't know what it might takes to bring home???), so she immediately fires an e-rocket at Phil and lights him up. Because its *her* and not *me* he responds with a price...

I'm at work, mind you, trying to navigate the highways and byways of scenic and historic Southern Maryland (in an "antique" truck -- at least by Maryland MVA standards ...) and utterly unable to be a part of any of this. Just minding my own business and happy with the fleet as it is. None the less, There I am, risking life and limb getting an excavator off the trailer, when I'm told (in no uncertain terms) that we just bought a truck.

What????

Note: At this point, Peggy *may* wish to chime in and want to correct the facts as I have laid them out thus far. And that's fine. But tere here is *MY* version. If you don't like how I'm telling this here story, you can do your own Journal post

Ahem, where were we? Ah yes ... What???

So she tells me about it .... most of the hard work is done, just needs to be completed, yadda yadda yadda.

So skip to the chase -- Yes, we indeed consummated the deal and agreed to a pickup up day with the retiring resto guy who had the project until now (and forced the same due to his retirement). It worked out to coincide with the annual ODSS Wrenchfest (only an hour further West!).ODSS brothers Sweet and Hambone went with me to collect the project and figure out how to get it all back to Maryland.

Which is our starting point for this Journal:
-- Inventorying what we have
-- developing a plan

But in the meantime, I just look at a bunch of parts and wonder to myself,

"Self .... What in THE heck have you gotten yourself into now??"

Love the story, and love Peggy’s new project. LOL . Looks like you have the fun part of the restoration with all the hard work done. LOL AGAIN!

Seriously, good luck with your new project, and we’ll all be following!

Sure ... piece of cake ...

All I have to do is put it back together ... Once I figure out what "it" all is ...

Just need to buy that “rare as hens teeth” Factory Assembly Manual! LOL again!

This part is true. The "gasp" and "Shriek" was because I was watching the Swap Meet area while the Moderator (Gdads51 / Dan) was on a Leave of Absence. I only noticed: 1. 1927 truck (hmmm) and 2. NO PRICE listed. -- big no no in the SM Guidelines. It wasn't until after I clicked in that I noticed it was Phil Pierce. Well, hello there.


A little more "inside HQ" ... we had been talking for several months about adding an "Early Trucks" segment in the Parking Lot. Several folks who have the earlier trucks had suggested it. Set that on the pile of "things to get to some day, some where, some how, with some help.

So, me thinks: now with an "Early Truck" ourselves, we can noodle this through a little better. The "some help" turned out to be a thing (truck) rather than a person(s). Delighted to see that the people are showing up (mostly in PMs and emails) and I believe we'll be seeing the Early Trucks forum by next month!

It's also been interesting to now be spotting some of these earlier trucks as part of our HQ routine. When doing another segment in the Stovebolt Annual Reunion - 2012 - that we pulled up Bill "KC Caveman" Alderson's 1926 Chevy 1-ton Flatbed.


I want to add that when I went over to see the truck (Calvin) in the garage, our Mennonite neighbors strolled by. Since I was looking at the cab, I commented that it reminded me of their carriage. The young girl popped her head in and the Mom looked from the backside ... "It sure does." And everyone got a chuckle.

Amazing how stuff just magically grows! I now find myself the owner of, not one, but three Model A's. My original project, the roadster, a coupe and a Tudor. All the while my Burb keeps crying, "Will ya paint me for cripes sake!!!"

John and Peggy,

Welcome to the wonderful, wacky world of the Chevy four cylinder era!

I downloaded your photo of parts and circled the ones I can identify (see my attached pic):

1. Red box is around a rocker arm shaft clamp

2. Green box is around a front spring bumper housing

3. Blue box is around a brake and clutch pedal stop plate. It mounds in between the pedals on the shaft that sticks out of the left side of the transmission.

4. The orange arrows point to clutch adjustment bolts

Ever Onward! Dean

Thanks Dean! I'll post more pics like that!

I think (that always is trouble ...) that the engine is ready to go back in the frame. I am pretty certainly that I can reunite the transmission with the engine because I removed the one from the parts engine and took pictures!). Hopefully, the engine rebuilder aligned the clutch for me

But what will I need to do that? i.e., engine mounts? I have the bracket (inverted U) that mounts the front of the engine, but is there a rubber part I need?

And I see where the bell housing horns attach, but again, are there rubber parts needed?

Is lifting the engine via that oh so conveniently placed hole in the middle of the block or or am I going to damage it that way?


Whacky? I'll say .....

What does that hole look like? If it's threaded into the top of the cylinder head, you should be safe with threading an eyebolt in there. You'd be surprised how much weight a 1/4" bolt can hold. Put a jam nut on there so the engine doesn't unthread itself when you lift it.

Kevin ... Perhaps I misstated ... Its not a hole *in* the block. It's about a 2 inch square hole *through* the block, beneath the water jacket and between cylinders 2 and 3. It allows the spark advance linkage to pass through from the distributor to the base of the steering column.

See the photo below -- I took a chance and lifted the parts engine this way.

AH! Now I understand. You could surely lift the rebuilt engine that way, but you'd mess up the nice paint job on it.

I'm thinking an axle saver run through there ...

I don't know if it is safe to hoist the engine using the gap in between cylinders 2 and 4 as the lifting point. Keep in mind that these four bangers weigh around 600 pounds.

Oh, something that is VERY important. The 1/2" head bolts DO NOT have 13 threads per inch. They have 12!

BTW, no rubber on the engine or transmission mounts.

If it were me, I'd put the engine on a stand, take off the oil pan, and do an inspection before dropping the engine into the truck. Here's why I would do this:

1. On Justin (my '28 Canopy Express), the previous owner assembled the engine after the block got done at the machinist shop. ALL the bearing caps were just finger tight! Luckily, they had cotter pins on the nuts, but imagine what would've happened if the pins were not there (shudder). This discovery let me to adjusting the bearing caps (removing or adding shims) to get the proper clearance around the crankshaft and tightening the bearing caps before putting the cotter pins in.

2. Having the oil pan off is a great opportunity to make sure that all the oil reservoirs that feed the cam and main bearings are clean and not full of sludge. Again, Justin's reservoirs were full of crud, so I don't have a lot of respect for the machine shop that worked on the block or the mechanical ability of the previous owner.

3. A new set of oil pan gaskets (either store bought or homemade) will help in preventing oil leakage. Getting the gaskets to stay in place around the front and rear main bearing caps is challenging. Here's what I do to make it work: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/394210/re-resurrecting-a-28-4-banger.html#Post394210

4. Make sure the little wedge-shaped cover plates are in place to cover the gap between the flywheel cover and the block. For more info, read this part of my engine rebuild adventure from 2017: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/400512/re-resurrecting-a-28-4-banger.html#Post400512

5. Check that the oil troughs in the oil pan are positioned properly so that the tangs on the rod caps actually dip into the troughs to create the oil mist that is necessary for all the internal oiling of the engine. Here's the procedure I followed for Lurch's engine: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/394209/re-resurrecting-a-28-4-banger.html#Post394209

6. Who knows how long this engine has been sitting after it was rebuilt. While the oil pan is off, I suggest squirting some 10-30W oil around all the bearings before closing up the bottom end and smearing some assembly grease around the cam lobes.

Aside from the above stuff about the bottom end, make sure that all bolt threads that go through the block and stick into the 'splash zone' of the oil mist have some thread sealer on them. I used Permetex #3.

Has the pilot bearing been replaced? Maybe stick a new one in there just to be safe.

Regarding the alignment of the clutch, I seem to remember that a wood pilot bearing tool from an AD pickup is the correct size for the old four bangers. ;-)

Does your truck have the original carbon plate throwout bearing? I suggest replacing it with a newer-style permanently sealed ball bearing type of throwout bearing. The carbon disks tended to overheat and cause issues. The newer style definitely gives you peace of mind against this problem.

When you put the transmission in place, it will be loose between the chassis rails. There are 1/8" shim plates that drop down over the mounting bolts that will take up the slack and make for a tight fit. See the pic below for a view of the shims I'm talking about.

Speaking of putting the tranny in, make sure the truck is up on jack stands and the rear stands are supporting the chassis, not the rear axle. This will allow the rear end to hang down far enough to provide more space for getting the u-joint bolted together. This goes for any vehicle that has a torque tube.

That's all that I can think of at the moment.

Cheers, Dean

If the block was that weak not to be able to hoist thru there, then the block probably wouldn't be strong enough to run.

Congrats on your new project! You're off to a great start with that one! A heckuva lot more to work with than my '28 LO.

Very cool truck, John. That red will look amazing when it’s assembled. Assembly manual? I think you should try to find and buy another one just like it for a “puzzle box” to see how it goes together! 😁

That would be the worlds most expensive Assembly Manual! 🤣

Dean .... Great. Thanks. I wonder who I gave my engine stand to .,...

Brian ... Hmmm ... I may have some left overs you could use ...

Fox -- That thought *has* crossed my mind. Either that or providing Dean an all expenses covered vacation to the East Coast ...

Man!! All of this is starting to sound like work.

Building an old truck like that doesn't count as work.

Use a big V belt (like one for a garden tractor belly mower blade drive) looped through the gap in the block and tied into a choker as a lifting device that won't scar up the paint. That's how we handled Cummins crankshafts with a forklift, putting them between centers on the crankshaft grinder. They weigh 700 lbs. or more.

If that "parts" engine can find its way to Tennessee, I know a crochety old curmudgeon who can build it up into a spare short block.
Jerry

Dean -- Throwout bearing ....

Just want to confirm -- The thing I'm holding in the picture is what you're talking about, yes?

Thx,
John

That's part of the throw out bearing assembly. If you buy the newer-style throw out bearing assembly, this part gets replaced, as you'll see below.

In the transmission bell housing is the throw out bearing actuator arm. At the inner end of the arm is a round clamp that holds the carbon disc (the throw out bearing itself). Here's a new carbon disc (from the Filling Station's web catalog): https://store.fillingstation.com/detail/AF-91/Chevrolet_19271928_CLUTCH_THRUST_CARBON_DISC.html

Here's the newer throw out bearing assembly, where you can see that the carbon disk has been replaced with a ball bearing: https://store.fillingstation.com/detail/CV-102/Chevrolet_192531_THROW_OUT_BEARING_CONVERSION.html

No machining is required to use the new bearing assembly. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

Thanks Dean -- so the throw out bearing conversion piece fits into the end of the actuator arm where the carbon disc is?

I have a shop manual on order.

Now for the next round of "Name That Part!"

... On the push rod covers ... am I right in thinking that the '27 didn't use side covers??

You asked: "so the throw out bearing conversion piece fits into the end of the actuator arm where the carbon disc is?"
Yes. Instructions come with the new throw out bearing assembly.

Regarding the photos:

1. Dunno. Maybe a gas tank strap from a car, not a truck. The gas tank goes under the seat in the cab. The correct straps have a 5/16" T bolt riveted at both ends of each strap. There should be tank cross members on the chassis to support the gas tank.

2. Possibly cab parts. Not sure.

3. The rail on the far left is for a floor board support for the slanted boards that go from the firewall to the cab floor. The top board will have a hole for the pedals. I have no idea about the other parts.

4. The other support for the slanted floor boards.

5. The push rod covers are for 1928 only. You'll see that your head has side lips that would contact the side of these covers, but the block does not. Those side lips on the head continue down to the block on a '28 block and the '28 block has the bolt holes for those covers.

6. Two things to note about this side view of the engine.

A - The hole in the flyhweel cover is where you should see a U|C when the first cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke. There is another mark on the flywheel for 25 degrees before TDC. You'll use these marks to statically time the distributor.

B - The top radiator connection is from the '27 engine. If you want a thermostat, get a '28 radiator connector, which can house it.

Cheers, Dean

Thanks Dean! On the gas tank straps, I have the correct ones -- they were easy enough to figure out

I've been looking at a LOT of pictures on line -- those classic car dealers are great because they post a lot of pictures of even the basket cases/barn finds. I've identified a lot of stuff so far just by studying a lot of those detailed photos. I may need Lurch to help me put all the radiator pieces together... a few pictures of all of that would probably be helpful to determine which pieces to start running through the blast cabinet and which ones don't belong.

I've started wondering if I have car-specific parts thrown in here ....

At the moment, the chassis is serving as a workbench. As you can see in the pictures, I have all my drip pans on it holding parts and a pallet. Slowly, I am cleaning it off as I identify and organize parts back into bins. One of the big things I'm jazzed about is the bed hardware -- but I'll save that for a later journal entry...

Are there any go-to vendors besides The Filling Station and ebay for parts?

I appreciate the thought, but I've got that covered. A friend of mine gave me all of the stuff he had. He needed to move it all from Texas to Washington and didn't have the space to store it at his new home. The attached photos don't show the engine blocks, transmissions, fenders and other stuff. I stopped at accepting a '25 truck frame.

Brian -- your collection looks like mine!

Here's the parts sources that I'm aware of. There are probably more.

1. The Filling Station - https://www.fillingstation.com/

2. Gary Wallace - http://earlychevyparts.com/ (he has a good stash of used parts)

3. Marx Parts - https://marxparts.com/repro%20chevy.htm

4. Billy Possem - http://www.billypossum.com/Catalog/Catalog.php

There are folks that advertise in the VCCA's monthly magazine (Generator and Distributor) who have parts.

Also, a good source is to advertise what you want in the Parts Wanted forum on the VCCA website - https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/forums/26/1/parts-wanted.html

Dean

HUGE day in the shop today!

I *finally* got the parts inventory done and all the pieces sorted and off the frame. Turns out what I have here represents three trucks and two cars ... Possibly three cars, who knows?? I have parts sorted as to where they go or as "Who the heck knows what this is???" The unknown bin is actually not too big (and getting smaller) at this point, thanks to Dean!

So as of today, I can actually start moving forward. Next steps are to clean and touch up the chassis, inspect the engine and then remate it with the transmission and work on the driveline.

After that ... start working on all the linkages.

Toward that end ... a very important bit of intelligence came my way over the weekend... There exists within St. Mary's County, a barn find (i.e., unrestored and unmolested) 1931 truck that is available to me as a resource. I'm hoping to learn a lot from it.

John,
Dean sent me a link to your thread. Looks like you have a pretty good project going there. I have a 28LO I am working on. Real basket case when I started. Two years in now and it actually is starting to look like a truck. I'll try to stay following along. I was going to chime in earlier to help with questions, but it seems like Dean has most of your questions answered.

Sounds like you have a pretty good amount of extra parts and I am actually looking for a few items yet. Any group pictures of what you may have extra that I can run my eyes over?
A couple things I could use are door latches, and looking for good trim pieces that go around the gauges. A dash light and rearview mirror. My seat frames are garbage, but if you'd have those shipping would be ugly. I'm sure there are other odds and ends, but that's what comes to mind in the moment.

Going to be a nice adder to your collection. Keep up the good work!
David

Hi David!

I'm still cataloging what I have. I *do* have extra gauge bezels... not sure if they are "good" though. I'll be back over there tomorrow and I'll take a look. Not sure about the dash light and a "no" on the mirror and seat frame. Are you talking about the base that covers the fuel tank? or the actual seat parts themselves?

I have an extra door latch (the cab side) but I'm not sure it's any good. It still has the vertical cab shell piece attached to it.

A couple of things I need ...

Headlight lenses and trim rings
Windshield upper part hardware

Question:

What do the trim pieces look like that cover the seams between the cab sheet metal parts?

Nice to meet you!
Got pics of your project?

John,
I may have a 27 headlight trim ring. I will have to see what kind of shape it's in. They can be carefully straightened and polished up nice. I have the 28 rings and got one of mine to turn out good, but the other I think I will need to replace. Gary Wallace has the lenses and gaskets in reproduction. If I recall the lenses are $25 each and the gasket set is $15.
I have no hardware for the upper windshield.
I was going to private message you on the other items and for pictures, but I guess I am not a high enough level member to do that (so it told me anyway) so if you want to send me your email maybe you can PM me?
I will get a picture of the trim piece for the seam. It is basically a rolled sheet metal 'C' channel with screw holes in it.
David

Hey! One more post and you can PM. It only takes 4 and then on your fifth post, you are a Member and not just a User.



Peggy M here

I guess to just to say thanks Peggy does it then!

David,

No thanks really. It an automatic thing.

John is over at the garage taking pictures and what not on the '27 (Calvin). Got an "o no" text a little while ago. I'm sure he'll have some to report when he gets back.

A day of discovery today in the shop...

And "oh no" is right. As I was rigging the engine to go onto the engine stand (to flip it over and inspect the lower end), I discovered that the ring gear had not been installed on the flywheel ... Hmmm.

So ... even more emphasis on what Dean has suggested about inspecting everything. If whoever rebuilt this engine neglected to install the ring gear on the flywheel before installing the flywheel and clutch assembly ....

.... what else have they neglected to do?

So I installed the engine in the frame anyway as it clears up some floor space and it will make it easier (for me ... Jerry and I had a "conversation" about this earlier...) to deal with the flywheel rather than having to kneel down to floor level or wrestle the flywheel out from between the engine and the engine stand mount.

I had also thought the engine was locked up. Turns out it isn't. Yay.

So ... next step is to get the pressure plate and clutch assembly off the flywheel, and then remove the flywheel so I can install the ring gear. Which, as it turns out, I have. Hanging on the wall ...

Also ... today I discovered that some of these parts came from a hearse. Hmmmm.

Good catch at this stage!

I suggest that you make sure the flywheel is orientated properly (with respect to the crankshaft) before you take it off. There is no 'pin' that orients the flywheel correctly to the crankshaft. You want to make sure the timing marks are in the proper place. The flywheel can bolt on in six different positions.

Turn the engine via the hand crank until you have cylinder one at Top Dead Center (TDC) on the compression stroke. Watch the valves to determine when that cylinder is on the compression stroke. You can stick a wood dowel in the spark plug hole to feel when the piston reaches its top position.

When cylinder one is at TDC, check to see that the U|C mark on the flywheel is showing in the inspection window in the cast iron flywheel housing. There should be a pointer in the middle of the window.

If the U|C mark is at the needle, the flywheel is in the correct position. ;-) If this is the case, make some punch marks on the end of the crankshaft and on the flywheel so when you take it off, you know where to line up those marks when you put it back.

If the U|C is not in the window, you can paint a line on the flywheel and then disregard the casting mark or take the flywheel off and move it around until it is oriented correctly.

Here's a link to where I described mounting the flywheel during Lurch's engine rebuild: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/392749/re-resurrecting-a-28-4-banger.html#Post392749

For anyone who wants to read the whole adventure of the engine rebuild, here's a link to the beginning of it: Resurrecting a 1928 Chevy four banger [vccachat.org]

Cheers, Dean

Using the hand crank would eliminate the need for even installing the ring gear John. If you can't do it maybe Peggy???

I can't do EVERYTHING ...

Bill ...

Great idea. I'll take it under advisement.

John,
Sounds like some interesting discoveries on your flywheel. I can't imagine why it would have gotten put together that way.
One note on the engine. I have a friend who has a 27 he is rebuilding with the same set up as you where he has a 27 block with a 28 head. He has found he had to custom make a heat stove for the exhaust where the air cleaner attaches and has the tube that runs over the carb otherwise with the 27 block which doesn't have the crank case venting to the carb that he doesn't get enough air flow and he runs lean on his engine. I'm no expert but when you get to that point if you have issues......
Maybe someone else will have some wisdom. I was going to ask it over on the vcca site also.
As promised here are some shots of the trim that goes over the sheet metal at the back of the cab. Also a couple of pictures of 'Grumpy' coming home and about where the body is at today.
Didn't want to highjack your thread with any more than that.
I'll send you a pm about any parts you may be able to help me with.
Keep up the good work on Peggy's truck!
David

David -- Not a hijack -- good info sharing!

I got the flywheel off yesterday -- I found that the pressure plate bolts, as well as the flywheel bolts, were hand tight and that there was no clutch disc installed (that's hanging on my wall, too ... and looks new ... ). AND the timing marks on the flywheel were off ... Leading me to suspect that the rebuilder didn't have the ring gear or the clutch and just set what he *did* have back on there to send back with the engine and misaligned the timing marks as a flag.

Thanks for the shots of the trim. Did you get replacements or were your originals usable?

By the way ... did you get a wood kit for your cab? If you did, did it have the pieces for the seat base or any of the floor boards?

My trim pieces will be reusable. They are quite pitting, but not all the way through. A thin coat of filler and high build primer and they will be fine.
As far as wood, I bought several pieces from Jim Rodman at Autowood, like the A and B pillars, windshield bottom and top, one sill piece and one door header. I duplicated the other sill and door header on my own. I had enough wood in my cab back to duplicate that. A new roof frame work (bows were kinda tricky) and then made the new roof slats. I have one door done with new wood and just need to do the other side. The seat riser was easy to figure out after I got some measurements off a fellow members truck who lives about an hour from me. Floor boards need to be made yet but are also pretty straight forward I think. I just need to get the engine and trans in with pedals etc so I can figure out where to cut holes and slots. Doesn't your cab have all the wood?
I could lend a hand with measurements if needed.
David

Davis -- Thanks.

Yes, my cab is "mostly" done. I do have some original floor board pieces, plus one or two other pieces with sheet metal attached that I have not been able to identify. I won't be able to verify if my intact floor board pieces are correct until, like you, I get the engines, transmission and pedals in place and the cab mounted.

I was wondering about the seat base because it seems I have a complete (extra) wood kit. It's still wrapped up in its original shipping boxes and I don't want to rip into it if I don't need to (i.e., the remaining pieces I need aren't in it anyway). The seat base looks simple enough to replicate and the '31 my friend has will probably provide the measurements, although we could verify with yours.

John

Wasn't at the shop this weekend, but I still moved forward. Following the guidance above from you experts, I got the ring back on the flywheel. I even turned it so the unworn part is toward the "front" so the starter will engage unworn teeth

I set the ring out on Peggy's ramp in the sun (very warm today) and I had the flywheel in the house with ice packs on it. The ring got nice and hot after a couple hours and the flywheel got nice and cool ... and using a piece of 2x4 and my caulking mallet ... bing bang boom, together they went!

Yay!!

Thanks for the help, gang!!

Note: The propane torch was standing by if needed.

Congrats and job well done! Lurch has an original seat box made by Chevrolet, so I can do some measurements and take some pics if you need them.

Dean

Thanks Dean!

Hold that thought (about the seat measures) ... it will be awhile yet ...

Yay ... 2nd baby step to Carlisle Gold with this project!

Got off work early yesterday and swung by the shop for some quality time with Calvin. I was hoping to get the engine stand together and get the engine on it. A secondary objective was to get the blast cabinet "out of storage" and OpCheck it. Getting the cabinet "out of storage" pretty much meant getting all the cobwebs removed, plugging the vacuum/light power cord it, airing up the compressor and checking function on everything.

The shop has pretty much just been a storage facility for the last 4 years -- Just a place to park the '49 and the '73 Binder. Since then, the '49 has come over here to HQ, along with the Binder to make room for the '27 project and Joe's '69 1/2-ton project.

I think the last person to actually use the blast cabinet was Hambone for the '66 K-10 project .... and that's been a few years now.

So there were a LOT of cobwebs to clear out and dust from the viewing window. So that all went fine.

Until I went to switch the compressor on .... This is a compressor (5 hp, 2-stage with a 60 gallon vertical tank) I got more than 20 years ago. It hadn't actually been used much, either. well, prechecking it, I noticed it didn't have any oil on the case. Oh well, so much for the cabinet opcheck.

So I returned to the engine stand.

I got the stand put together and was ready to mate it to the engine ... I didn't have the right bolts ...

Done for the day??? Well, methinks, I could always run next door to my former neighbor (and who we actually sold the farm to), the Stihl Dealership, and see if they had compressor oil and the right bolts (4 - inch 3/8-14 shoulder bolts) to go into the 174's bell housing. So I did. And They did. Cool, I was back in work!

Now with the right bolts, I started to mate things up. Only .... the bolts wouldn't go very far in ... crud, corrosion, whatEVUR.

I needed to chase the threads or else risk damaging the only bell housing available on the East Coast for this engine ... (Not actually true -- there's another one on the parts engine, but you get the point...) and my tap and die set were back at HQ.

Soooooooooo ..... back to the compressor. I put the oil in and fired things up. All great until things stalled at 20 psi ....

About the time I was about to say a naughty word, I remembered to shut the drain valve at the bottom of the tank. Things went pretty smoothly after that. My bag of Black Diamond medium abrasive was even dry enough to use!

I managed to get a part of the radiator support blasted.

It was about time to go home anyway, so I declared victory, awarded myself several decorations on the spot, turned off the lights and went home a hero.

... trying not to think about how long this project is going to take at this rate ...


John

Two steps forward and one step back is still forward progress. You did get the blast cabinet set for you next piece so that is a victory.

My project was a three year ordeal and I’m in year five, with no end in site. My wife always doubles my time estimates but at this rate maybe quadruple would be a better estimate.

Amateurs. I'm 17 years on my project with another 3-4 others started in there. One finished, 2 close, another a big pile of parts and another one sent to a new home.

But, as I tell my crew at the end of day as they bang out their time sheets, "It's not a race, gentlemen. It's not a race!"

LOL, I was wondering why that compressor was making that hissing noise when it stalled out at 20 psi.

Looks like it's time to get the cobwebs off the welder too, John. You can award yourself another medal for that one, too.

I'm only on year 8 of a 5 year project. But the end may be in sight.

I am surprised the black bag of blast material was at all dry. I know how wet it gets in there.

But glad to hear of another restoration project taking the space in the garage

Not necessarily from a hearse.

Henney built custom bodies for commercial vehicles and trucks as well as limousines, taxicabs, buses, ambulances, and hearses.

Maybe the Professional Car Society can help you with the Henney serial number. Where was the Henney tag located?

https://www.theprofessionalcarsociety.org/

Also, the name of the company was changed from John W. Henney Co. to Henney Motor Company in 1927

You can find out more here.

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/h/henney/henney.htm

Thanks Otto! The Coachbuilt web site has a lot of interesting info. Um, the Henney tag was at the bottom of one of the loose parts boxes ... The bed parts I *have* identified, and seem to have been part of an express body (which is what I want to put back on the truck eventually), are "Schurmeier-Whitney" which is another interesting piece on the Coachbuilt web site.

Yesterday, I got the hood and fenders (three pairs of fronts and 1 pair of rears) over to the sand blaster -- Kenny Saufley, for you SoMD types. Kenny is related to my boss and we've done some work over there, so I am familiar with his work. He is also recommended by our own MPandC (Robert) who is going to do the body work on the fenders.

The fenders, by the way, are all pretty decent ... but ... each one has a flaw or two. Fortunately, none of the fenders share the same flaws so Robert is confident he can make a good pair out of the 6 of them. The rears are solid and not dented or creased ... just a few holes from the rust bugs ...

The hood just needs to be blasted clean and repainted .

That's good news for the rear fenders. Typically, the RR is always destroyed as no one can see them when they make turns. Especially on my Suburban! Took a while to find a righty.

John, you mention that you'd like to build an 'express' body.

FYI, I have an original 1928 truck body catalog from the Hercules Body company and they have a number of 'express' bodies that fit onto a Chevy one ton truck chassis.

Attached are a couple of pics from the catalog.

Cheers, Dean

Dean ... Perhaps I have the nomenclature wrong ...

This is the body I'm hoping to build.

In the meantime ... I need to ask you about pictures of the radiator support and how it all goes together. I think I have everything but it seems ... flimsy ... like I'm missing something...

That is a handsome bed for the truck. Might have to find someone with some nice white oak planks and equipment to edge and plane.

I agree, that is a fine looking bed for your truck!

The hardware reminds me of what would've been used for a horse-drawn wagon. Very cool!

Regarding the radiator support, here are some pics from Lurch's setup. What is not shown are the two carriage bolts that hold the bottom to the front cross member of the chassis.

1. The lower side flange pieces are looped/integrated/locked to the bottom piece and placed on the backside of the radiator.

2. Then the top flange is put onto the radiator.

3. Third, the two assemblies (top and sides/bottom) are wired together on the sides.

4. Then, you can bolt on the radiator shroud using 1/4-20 x 3/4" flat head slotted bolts. They should go through a strip of welting (might be the wrong word) that the hood pieces lay upon. A similar strip is bolted (or riveted) to the cowl for the back of the hood pieces to lay upon.

5. After all that is assembled, then you can bolt the radiator assembly to the chassis using carriage bolts. It is impossible to get a wrench in there to hold the top of those bolts, so the square under the carriage head holds the bolt in place while you tighten it from below. The last photo shows the interlocking pieces at the bottom corner and also shows the head of one of the carriage bolts that bolts the whole radiator assembly to the front chassis cross member.

Keep having fun! Dean

So you assemble the whole thing and *then* mount it to the frame?? The radiator is merely *held* in place by all this, not actually bolted to anything? That's sort of what intuition was telling me ... but I kept thinking that there had to be more to it than that..... apparently not. And the wire ties .... that's interesting ...

Peggy is about to lose her favorite office decoration ...

In other news, I turned my attention to reassembling the brake system over the weekend. A few parts went through the blast cabinet.

Hopefully, someone like Dean can walk me through how this gets mounted and connected to everything...

Yes, the radiator and its shell are held in place by the sheet metal surround (which is wired together).

Then, the sheet metal surround is bolted to the front cross member of the chassis (with two carriage bolts). I modified my previous post to include a few words about the carriage bolts and I modified the last photo to point out the head of one of these bolts.

The top back of the radiator shell has a bracket where the hood center support bolts. The other end of the hood support bolts to the firewall. This support is a thin sheet metal channel that has a bolt riveted to each end (3/8-16 I believe). This hood support steadies the top of the radiator assembly. It also allows you to adjust the distance between the top back of the radiator and the firewall so that the hood space is proper.

Regarding the brakes, there are some good figures in the repair manual. Use the figures that discuss the AA brakes (1927) and not the AB brakes (1928). The brake discussions in the repair manual mostly cover car brakes, not the one ton truck brakes, but the info is basically the same.

One thing I've run into before is the service brake bands (external to the drum) sometimes need to be man-handled to become round enough to brake well. I did a write up over at the VCCA about this issue. Here's a link to it: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/415134/brake-band-bending-technique.html

When I get a chance, I'll take some pics of Lurch's brake setup. One thing to note is that the brake light switch is located along one of the long brake rods that stretch from the brake pedal back towards the rear axle. ;-) Goofy, but fun!

Cheers, Dean

Thanks Dean!

Here are some pics from Lurch's underside. Since I have his transmission laying on the ground at the moment, the brake pedal and e-brake assemblies are not in place for this photo session.

The photos start at the front of the brake rods and then go towards the back.

1. The first pic shows the front of the emergency brake rod. This is on the passenger's side of the truck. Disregard the wood stick.

2. The second pic shows the front of the service brake rod. This is on the driver's side. I slid a plastic tube over this rod when I installed it because it seemed to come too close to the battery terminals for my comfort. The wood stick going across the open space in the pic is my elbow rest when I was recently measuring the hole in the end of the crankshaft.

3. The third photo shows the two brake rods going through little holders that are bolted to a sheet metal cross member at the rear of the gas tank. At the bottom of this pic you can see the brake light switch, which is activated by a little lever that clamps to the service brake rod.

4. The fourth photo shows the same area as number three, but closer to the driver's side of the truck. Details include another view of the brake light switch, along with the gas line, filter, and portable gas station assembly.

Okay, a little extra explanation is in order. Both of my trucks use their vacuum tanks to deliver fuel to the carb. Occasionally, the vacuum tanks lose their prime, usually from sitting too long between drives (three weeks or more). I have a tee and a valve plumbed into the fuel line on the output side of the gas filter so I can easily fill a small plastic 12 oz. soda bottle with gas that I use in turn to prime the vacuum tanks with. I have a 1/8" NPT plug in the top of the vacuum tank so I can easily pour the gas in the top for priming purposes. With this set up, I have my own portable gas station (at least for the vacuum tank). ;-) Here's a more detailed description of the system that is in Justin: Lurch's vacuum tank priming system [vccachat.org]

5. The fifth photo is a close up of the brake light switch.

6. Photo number six is looking back at the brake rod assembly that transfers the motion of the front brake rods (service brake and emergency brake) to the dual brake actuator rods mounted on the rear axle.

7. Photo number 7 is a side view of the rear axle brake actuator rods. The rods closer to the front of the truck are for the service brakes and the rear rods are for the emergency brakes.

8. Pic 8 is a closer view of the brake rod transfer setup. Notice the NOS screen door spring and coat hanger wire pull-back setup. ;-)

9. Photos nine and ten are views of the brake actuator rods going to the rear backing plates.

Enjoy! Dean

Thanks Dean!! That helps a LOT!

Turns out the piece I worked on over the weekend doesn't even go to this truck. Turns out I have a bunch of pieces then that don't go to this truck. It appears to be for a vehicle with front brakes, too. Yet ... I had holes in the frame that matched up to its mounting plates exactly. Maybe my frame is from a later truck??

Anyway, I just got back from the shop. I mounted the tranny in place just to be able to figure all this out. Turns out this is much simpler than I had thought. And when I left today, I had working brakes -- both parking and service.

And now I know where the brake light switch goes!



Also, I picked up my starter and generator from Wenger's.

That is coming along nicely.

Thanks Doug -- wish you were still here ...

I do have fond memories of restoration in the old OR. Have not found that up here yet, but maybe if I build it, they will come.

The OR was a very busy place.

I do believe that logic (build it and they will come) still works.

Since John is working on the drive train of his '27 one ton truck, here is a discussion of different transmissions and u-joint parts that fit in it: '27 and '28 Tranny and U-joint discussion

Cheers, Dean

Dean, Maybe post that link in the "Early Bolts section rather than in here -- probably get more traffic. Besides, I will be posting a question for you. It will be an open question but you're probably the only one around here who can answer it. I can also post it on the VCCA forum too if you think it will be helpful over there...

Meanwhile ... I did start assembling the radiator group... Found out I may have the wrong radiator ...

For Peggy's birthday yesterday, I got the radiator issue fairly well figured out. The later radiator I had with the brackets that wouldn't allow it to work in this application turned out to be the correct size ... so I took a deep breath ... put a fresh battery on the sawzall ... and now the radiator fits. Mostly. The two upper brackets still need to come off in order for the grille cowling to sit down on the top of the radiator. The gap formed by the two brackets being there will prevent the radiator cap from fitting.



I was also able to do a rudimentary leak check on the radiator, too. So far, so good.

And it turns out that where Dean's Lurch has wire fasteners on the radiator supports, I had two sets of ... clips? that draw the parts together and hold them.

And here is what the clip arrangement looks like

Slept on the couch, huh?

Oh no. It was a great afternoon at our house.

I wish ...

Today, got the complete radiator and cowl assembly mounted on the truck and the engine on the engine stand to check all the bearings. Big day.

"Couch time" ?? John does need a break. But, we don't have a couch. He's a man of "power nap" and then go. Too much good stuff to do! Getting stuff figured out - like the radiator - was a real boost. He used a lot of little gray cells trying to figure that one out. Joy comes when it's put to practice and it works!