Been working on the 54 for a couple months now..total rust bucket except for the body... dash was pitted with rust and guages were a mess..pictures are from the clean up and putting it back together.. Just finished the main part of a rewire kit and have lights now.. turn signals are on hold waiting for a new collar and turn signal assembly.. Just got the gas tank installed today and wouldn't you know it but the gas gauge doesn't work right.. but making progress.
Last edited by T-Doug; Sat May 27 2023 11:20 PM.
1954 Chevy 3100 One problem solved doesn’t seem to shorten the list Montgomery, AL In Project Journals
1970 Chevrolet C10 - Grandpa’s- My first truck.—in progress to shiny 1972 Chevrolet C20- Rusty- the puzzle box lid for the C10. 1950 Chevrolet 1300- in progress to shiny. 1962 AMC Rambler American- my wife’s
Parts trucks- 1951 GMC 9300 1951-GMC 9430 1951- Chevrolet 1300
Got the oil pressure gauge hooked up top and bottom.. thats next to last opening on the engine.
Last opening to fill is water temp sending unit... took me from yesterday staring with penetrating oil and hitting it with the impact wrench a couple times until I gave up.. hit with the penetrating oil heavily before retiring for the day.
Today up early and hit it with more penetrating oil then impact wrench.. no go... pried the top section of the sending unit out and squirted more penetrating oil in the middle. Waited a half hour and did it again and hit it with the impact tool again no go..
Repeated penetrating oil twice over the next hour... hit it with the impact tool and lo and behold it broke loose finally... I danced around the truck to celebrate.. haha.. cleaned it up in the parts washer and then put it in the bucket with the white vinegar until I get home from working in my store... clean up then install tonight..
1954 Chevy 3100 One problem solved doesn’t seem to shorten the list Montgomery, AL In Project Journals
It’s Saturday and felt it was time to update the progress this week.
Had one defeat. Could get the retainer pin out of the gas pedal. See pics. Ended up cutting the head of the rod off with my Dremel and removing the old one and putting the new one on. Can it tell there was a major fight there now.
Got the fuel cut off valve in and installed. Good thing too. Later on that.
Got gas tank installed a couple days ago and installed the sending unit last night even though the gauge doesn’t work right. I’ll keep mental track of fuel level. Too much work getting the cluster installed and wired to go back now.
Hooked up fuel lines this morning and put some gas in the carb and it fired up. Yea The I checked and found the fitting at the fuel pump was leaking pretty good. Went in the cab and switched the gas off. Walaa it stopped leaking. Pulled the fitting and found the 5/16 fitting was gauled badly. See pic.
Trip to hardware store and nada on the same fitting but found a 5/16 barb whick worked. Came home and cut the fuel line and installed barbs and hose. Turned fuel back on. No leaks.
Now on to best part of my day. Was pouring gas in carb and it would run for 5 to 20 seconds and die. Each time I’d check the fuel pump glass to see if it was filling up yet. Repeated it a bit and at some point it kept running. It dropped to an idle and sounded like a singer sewing machine.
Turned it off after about 30 seconds since I hadn’t put water in it yet. I did dance around the truck a couple times before going to get the water hose.
See last pic. Got a nice sized hole in a freeze plug. Not going to replace it ATM. Purest will hate it but I’ve got some marine JB weld. Yeah you know what I’m gonna do.
Last note. After it ran for half a minute it died. Did that twice. Going to wait til after I fix water leak to run it again. I’m thinking carb problem butto early to tell.
Sorry for the long post but hope you enjoyed it. Til next time.
Last edited by T-Doug; Sat Jun 03 2023 08:17 PM.
1954 Chevy 3100 One problem solved doesn’t seem to shorten the list Montgomery, AL In Project Journals
