The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1939/1940 Chevy GMC Frankenstein

Well I finally got the frame moved in the shop and got my new leaf springs front and back laid out. I started pressing in new female threaded bushings on the driver side which went smoothly. Next, moving to the passenger rear, tragedy struck. Broken bolt. Shucks... And only 1/4" left to go. Can't say I'm surprised, the last inch I figured it'd break any second. Not the end of the world because it's not a race I suppose. Left side springs are fully installed but right side has both hanging waiting on a new bolt tomorrow from Lowes. I didn't buy this one since I'm on record. No, it was just a junk drawer bolt. Maybe I'll use a little anti seize or some kroil in the front one.

I got these 4 pieces cut out with the plasma table this week. I intentionally left the bolt holes to be drilled since plasma isn't nearly as accurate as a drill bit. I made these cardboard templates out of the same cut file but changed the holes to 1/8" to make it easier to mark center. I cut them on a glowforge laser cutter. My new rear axle uses 9/16 U bolts so I drilled the holes for them at 37/64. The shock absorber hole is 29/64 as the bolts are 7/16. I still need to clean them up and paint them and then hopefully my rear end will be ready to bolt to my rear springs.

I got these back from Apple Hydraulics in NY two weeks ago. I was on vacation in Florida last week so I haven't been updating or working. They did a fine job. It was a little over $800 to have them rebuilt with shipping. One of them was not repairable so they replaced it with one of their cores which cost me a little extra. They came back primed, filled with oil, and with new bushings installed. It was about two weeks turn around time. I chased the female threads with a tap shown in the photo and I will be installing them as soon as I find my bottle of blue loctite. They will be going in with new grade 8 bolts.

Well I got my rebuilt shocks installed last night. It was chilly in the shop so I fired up the Kerosene torpedo. It was 30° beforehand. It brought it up to a balmy 40° in about 30 minutes. It's certainly undersized for a 40x60 uninsulated shop. Just 125000 BHU.

Next task was installing the stiffeners that I forgot to install in the first place in my haste to start bolting the frame back together. It was a little tricky since I had already installed my new leaf springs. It went smoothly though and I was finished in about 30 minutes with both sides.

Skip to this morning and I finished by cleaning up the bolt holes on the rear axle shock tabs that I fab'd last friday. Afterwards, I put two coats of primer, then two coats of paint. Should be fully cured in a day.

Next on my to do list is to cut out new front axle shock mount tabs that bolt to the straight axle. I am moving to 1/2" steel. Attached is my 2nd cardboard template that still doesn't have quite a deep enough throat. Ah well, even ole WD needed 40 tries. I'm working on a new template tonight in CAD that I will cut out in the morning.

I am currently waiting on the new u bolts that I ordered from general spring this weekend to arrive so that I can paint them. I already have new 4° caster shims.

I started cleaning up the front spindle/brake mounting bolts today. The cleaned up nice. For awhile, these got misplaced and I was worried that I was going to have to machine new ones out of 3/4" hex stock. (I'm guilty of having parts stored in at least two separate locations).They took about 5 minutes a piece to shine up and get the grime off. I haven't decided if I am going to paint them yet. I'll order new locknuts from Fastenal tomorrow.

I also pulled the shock mounting tabs off the paint booth. Not terrible.

Had a mild setback this afternoon. I received the u bolts that I ordered from general spring for the front axle.

I ordered:
(2) - 1/2" x 1 3/4" x 4"
(2) - 1/2" x 1 3/4" x 5"

I received:
(2) 1/2" x 1 3/4" x 4"
(2) 1/2" x 1 3/4" x 7"

I gave them a call and they were great. I've got two correct ones coming my way free of charge. I offered to ship the incorrect ones back at their cost but they declined. I'll wait to get the correct ones before I paint them all in one go.

I got my rear axle bolted in last night. It went relatively quick. Probably an hour in total including torquing the bolts down. These tires are really small car tires 205/65/15. The frame still feels like its really high though.

I got new front axle rubber bumpers installed today. It took about 5 minutes with some scrap steel pieces in the vise. Didn't even need to use soap.

So I got my new u bolts in (the correct ones this time). I got them painted Monday so I was able to start on bolting in my front my axle last night.

I started by getting it hanging from one side and then got the other side hanging. I left an inch gap or so to slide in my new shims. I had ordered a set of shims from sids dropped axles back in October and needed to cut them down to 1.75" from 2". They're a universal set so they already had a line to cut from. I didn't have my angle grinder so I had to do it the hard way. It took me a good hour or so to get all 8 nuts snugged up because everything needed to line up just right and all the u bolts needed to be straight etc.

Next step is to cut off the excess bolt lengths and torque the bolts down to 65ft lbs. and install the lever shock eyes for the front and rear axle (among other things). I need to buy new 7/16" nuts for them first though.

I can't tell from the picture, but be sure the thin end of the shim points towards the front bumper of the truck.

Hey bill, thanks for the comment. And no worries, that's how I got em in there. It's hard to see no doubt. Now when it comes time to do tie rod ends that's another story...

I've ran into a couple of snags and haven't been posting any updates.

1. I damaged a bolt off on my new tie rod ends and will need to get a new one. It's a 3/8-16x1.5". I'm thinking this was grade 2 honestly because it bent like cheese with barely any pressure. I'll replace with grade 8.

2. I cleaned up some brake hardware that was filthy so that when I get my hardware kit that I ordered and brake pads that are also on order, they will be nice and clean ready to install.

I now have a painted drag link and 8 (2 not shown) flange plate bolts. I actually finished these up Monday but I'm just getting around to update the journal. They turned out nice.

I got several things accomplished today.

1. I took my new to me flywheel to my local machine shop to surface. Should be ready early next week.

2. This is dangerous so I'm not recommending it but it certainly sucked less than doing it by hand. I chucked my new drag link balls into my drill press and put some valve lapping compound on the cups and lapped them in. They are much more smooth now.

I noticed that the new drag link rebuild kit needed a little machining to fit properly. I turned down the safety plug from 0.510" to 0.475" which is the same diameter as the old one. I also chamfered the edge so that it would drop into the recess. I then turned down a poly bushing to keep the safety pin centered in the spring but wouldn't keep the spring from compressing.

3. I pressed the new drag link balls into the third arm and pitman arm. I still need to put the pins through the castle nuts but that's simple.

My brake hardware kit is supposed to be in on Monday.

So I had to machine my drums to fit the studs. The old face thickness was 0.125". The new face thickness is 0.250". I faced off 0.040" and then flipped it over and machined off the rest to give a 0.125" face. The new studs that I got only had a 0.450" long knurl. I couldn't find anything from the dorman catalog and I didn't want to make it more complicated and this seemed like an easy solution.

I now have both hubs mounted and ready for bearings/seal.

Still waiting on the brake hardware kit though.

I've started the nasty (understatement) job of rebuilding my steering gear. I have 3 steering gears in total. One from a 46 Chevy 1/2 ton, one from a 40 Chevy 1/2 ton. And one from my 39 GMC 1/2 ton. The 39 interestingly enough looks like the 41-46 steering gears but I haven't looked closely enough. Left is the gear from the 39 GMC and right is the gear from the 40 Chevy. I haven't decided which one I am going to rebuild. I have already disassembled the 46 and it had some water in the gearbox with some pitting in the Worm gear. I need to draw up some gaskets in CAD and cut them out on the laser cutter but I'll need to decide which gear to use as the earlier 40 gear uses a different gasket pattern.

Well it's not exactly truck related but I got a new parts organizer and several new junk drawers yesterday. Took about two hours to put together but I'm pretty impressed with the quality for the money.

More work on the steering gearbox today. I turned a bushing driver out of some scrap stock I had in the shop. It started out at 1.300". I turned the first step down to 1.2460" x 3.5" and the second step is 1.123" x 1". Worked great. I chucked my steering gear in my lathe to hold it securely and tapped out the sector shaft bushings in about 2 seconds.

More work on the gearbox. Just a little at a time. Hard to find time this time of year. I faced both gasket surfaces and drilled out the steering shaft hole to 1". It had some burrs so it was mostly just to clean it up.

I only took off a few thous on the gasket faces. I only did this to eliminate any surface imperfections.

I also used a 3/8 - 18 pipe plug tap to chase the plug hole which had some gunk in it.

It's been awhile since I've updated this. Not much work has occurred. It takes a lot of money to do a project like this so I've needed to save a little back up before I start spending again.

One thing I just built that didn't cost me anything but time, is a cab dolly shown here. I used some old casters that I saved from a piece of machinery I tore down and threw out at work. I dressed the wheels with a power brush before I installed them. I cut down a frame from the 1940 Chevy truck that had already been cut on in the past. I had the tubing laying around the shop from one of those times of thinking I could use that later.

I am also going to update this post at the beginning of parts that I still need so that when people click on this post that's the first thing they will see.

Been working on some new gaskets for the donor tranny while I save up for more parts. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I am using an SM420 behind the 261. I ordered a gasket set from Home Depot no less. The part number is FelPro TS5100. I took those gaskets and traced them on bond paper and used my calipers to measure them before starting to draw them up in AutoCAD. After a few prototypes, I only have a few prototypes left lol. Getting into the home stretch. Once this is all done, I'd be happy to share the file (SVG, DXF, etc..) via email if you have a Cricut or something else. I am using a Glowforge to cut mine out of cardstock (cheap prototype material).

I'm sure it seems a little silly to spend so much time doing this, but I hate cutting gaskets by hand, they never turn out great. If I screw one up, I can just cut out a new one in about 10 minutes instead of waiting a few days for the mailman. Plus, I can share the file with others and help out when needed.

I recently sandblasted and painted my bellhousing. I wrestled with the idea to powder coat it and I still might down the line. For now, It looks nice and new. I still need to face the machined surfaces and retap threads, but that will be quick. This is a 48-50 bellhousing that I got from Dave up in Wisconsin. It has been modified sometime in the past to hold my pedal assembly while also mating to my SM420. My old 216 bellhousing will not mate to the SM420.

It's been slow over here the last few months. I got in the shop yesterday and painted the SM420. Next step Is sending a whole pile of parts to the powdercoater. Mostly interior pieces . I got some samples from prismatic powder in the mail and settled on a nice white color for the interior. Exterior is still being debated in the household.

My 39 GMC had a title at one time but the previous owner didn't know where it went, so I ended up getting a bill of sale and had to go through a whole process of getting a bonded title. This morning, I dropped off a mountain of paperwork to the DMV to get a bonded title. Now, I just have to wait 3 years to get a clean title. I'm just glad I don't have to mail anything to Little Rock again.

For those wondering, I had to trailer the truck to the state police troop headquarters which is about 45 minutes away for a vin verification and then mail that paperwork off to little rock along with an application for a bonded title and the bill of sale. I waited for at least a month and then had to go get a surety bond for $100 then had to go assess the vehicle to add it to my taxes, then take all this paperwork to the DMV to send off for a title. Now, I wait for that paperwork from the state. Whew.

I scored this on Ebay yesterday. Can't believe my luck. It must have just got put on when I checked. I'm excited to see it when I get it in the mail.

That grill looks a whole lot better than the one I have for my 1939/1940/1941 Chevrolet FrankenTruck.

(I have never named a vehicle of mine in the past, but I am starting to call this one "Frank"!)

I've been looking for one of these for about two years. At some point, I'm going to have a CAD model complete and machine a die stamp mold for these grill bars. I recently bought a parts truck that has a grill a little more beat up than this that I have to go pick up halfway across the country later this fall. It also has the original radiator with the offset filler neck that I'm missing.

I traveled up to Dillon Montana a few weeks back and picked this machine up. Whew, talk about a drive. 46 hours or so round trip in 4 days. It was a little more since I was driving slower with a trailer. It's a 1939 GMC AC152 3/4 ton longbed. It has a bunch of great parts on it that I need/didn't have. One thing in particular was the original radiator which I have since pulled out, crated up, and sent off to Brassworks in Paso Robles CA to have restored. I was told it would be about a 4 month turn around. If you haven't heard of Brassworks, you should check out their website.They do some pretty incredible work. Anyhow, the radiator is pretty uncommon and does not interchange with Chevrolet. It also has a nice repairable grill and excellent hood ornament. This cab is in much better shape than the one I had planned to use so that was a nice surprise. The downside is that the floor is actually in worse shape, so I am currently planning to cut this floor out and replace it with a good floor from another parts 39 GMC cab that I have. The 228 that came with it is stuck best I can tell. I've been really thinking about going full tilt and eliminating all things Chevy from this project but haven't committed to that yet.

I've been hard at work stripping the truck down and now have the cab off the frame and working on stripping the cab down to start the process of 10 different ways to ruin this thing. In all reality, I have a bunch of welding to do from fixing random holes that have been drilled through the years to crusty rusty floors and a patch panel or two. Not to mention a few bolts that broke off in the process of removing them. I must have only got 3 bolts out with a screwdriver. I swear I welded a whole box of nuts to screwheads. Interestingly, there wasn't a single clutch head screw that I've found yet. I've currently got on order a cowl patch panel from a guy in Canada (tscoachworks). On a side note, I've pulled out four 5 gallon buckets of rat nest that was inside this thing. This thing smelled terrible until I took it to the car wash. Last photo is it mocked up. I'll pull it back off to do any welding and such.

Couple things I've bought recently:
6v AGM Optima red top
1/0 battery cable
Battery terminals
Couple martin body hammers
Martin slapper
Martin dolly
Spot weld cutter kit

Daniel, I've just discovered your Epic Project, very impressive! On the Montana find and trip, I was fortunate enough to spend a few years working in that part of the world ending in 2015. My days often consisted in driving a couple hundred miles in the undeveloped high plains of North Dakota and sometimes eastern Montana. Most would be totally amazed at the amount of pristine old iron just sitting around. You'll sometimes find it near and in old barns, but more often just sitting in the middle of nowhere on federal lands. The best news is rust isn't the bad hungry beast we see in the South.

Good Luck

RonR

Daniel - Such excellent news about acquiring that wonderful parts truck! Looks like you are already elbows deep into getting things going. That was a seriously nasty "colony" you had going on in that door. Hope you didn't bring any of those critters home with the truck.

Been reading this journal. Learning so much .

Been a hot minute. Still paying for my restored radiator. I sent my Montana truck radiator off to brassworks in California to be fully restored. It was a pretty penny at $2700. Definitely made me question my sanity, still is honestly. Its one of the things that unique to the 39/40 GMC though so I bit the bullet. Took 4 months to get back.

The cost for a top quality job like that will be long forgotten when you're enjoying driving your one-of-a-kind truck down the road.

Here's some photos of the "new" radiator.

That 3112890 radiator is listed in my GMC Master Parts Book as correct heavy duty radiator for 1939-40 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton GMCs.

Bill,
It came out of my 39 AC152. I've been looking for a correct radiator for about 2 years or so.

Im at a crossroads. I've been planning to use the 261 for about two years now but I'm moving more in the direction of more gmc and less Chevrolet. Plus, I'd need to do some changes with the front cross member to accept the 261. I think I've decided to go the 228 route. If anyone has a nice running 228, let me know. I've also posted a wanted ad for more info. I think I'll sell my 261 or trade it.

Daniel - Any reason why you want to restrict it to a 228? With the larger displacement 248/270/302 having the same engine footprint (I think), just wondering why restrict your engine choice to the smallest displacement???

That's a valid question. I did say 228 route but I would be open to any group 1 (228, 248, 270, 302). I had seen somewhere that the 248 was more difficult to tune due to siamese cylinders but truthfully I don't know if any of the others would be the same. I know i haven't seen hardly any of these on Facebook marketplace let alone close to me in NW Arkansas. Id prefer not to get one that needs a bunch of machine work.