The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1950 Chevy 1/2-ton Farm Truck: Frame-up restoration/modification

So that scallop goes at the very end of the boxing plates at the ends of the frame rails? I still have short sections of plate to cut once I release the last X members.

If you're running the plates all the way to the end, there's no need for the scallop. That end can be flat, as there's no stress at the end like there would be at the middle. If you're boxing the whole length of the frame, then a scallop wouldn't be needed.

Even better. Thanks Kevin

I told myself I would go down to the shop and just spend maybe an hour working on my truck. I have a lot of welding to finish off the seams on my boxing plates, so started on the front plate on the passenger side. I welded an inch and ran into a spot bead, which was kind of annoying. I jumped back a foot and welded another inch and ran into another spot bead. It was at that point that I started to rethink my strategy of many spot welds to reduce concentrated heat in my frame rails. I shut off my welder, and picked up my 4” grinder. I ground down all the spots, and merrily welded 2” strips of bead before leaping ahead a foot to do another.
In hindsight, the way I have approached this boxing project has been too tentative. I didn’t want to create too much heat, but I could have used fewer spot welds and achieved the same result. Live and learn.

My one hour in the shop, turned into 5 hours down there. I had the two forward plates to locate and weld in. I have to leave the forward X member in place because that’s where the core support bolts on. So, my boxing plates aren’t going all the way to the forward end of my frame. I cut out some half circles at the forward end of my forward plate where it meets the X member (thanks Kevin). I managed to get all but about 7” of seam welded before my wire spool ran dry. I was already tired and had I not run out of wire, I would have finished up. As it was, I changed the wire spool and turned out the lights.

I like the "15 minutes per day". You can a lot done in 15 minutes or 5 hours! When you hit your groove, you just want to keep going.

That may be true on some days, but I didn’t have much of a groove going today. I did finish up all the welding, and got the bottom side of the passenger side frame ground flat. Not much motivation today, and I stopped after 2’ on the driver’s side.

With the clear weather and high atmospheric pressure, walking was once again manageable. I was happily skipping around the shop, graceful as a little gazelle and making plans to hang my motor and get started on whatever needed to happen to fasten my motor mounts.
I had looked at 12Bolt and balked at paying $115 for a set of mounts, so went to Speedway Auto and opted for the $7.00 ones that were reported to be the stock units. When I pulled them out and went to attach them to my block, only one of the bolt holes lined up. “Hmmm”, says me to me “clearly this isn’t right”.
I trudged back inside, and opened the page to 12Bolt and sheepishly pressed “buy” for the previously too expensive set. While I’m waiting for 12Bolt Tom to box and ship, I’ll get my bell and transmission bolted onto the end of my block so I can locate my frame bracing that has the trans X member built in.

Here is the X member carnage. The main member was built in place from two pieces and it was clear it wasn’t coming out in one. Mr Sawzall made removal pretty easy. The last X member I remove was the one to the very rear of my frame. I welded on a piece of 2x2 angle iron, to tie the two frame rails together, then removed the last bit of stock structure. I have it marked to cut and weld back in place if I decide to go that route, but am currently thinking of a piece of heavy round tube to carry the new upper shock mounts.

I have my new bracing sort of tentatively located. It’s at least within a couple of inches of where it’s going to live. The transmission attachment plate is resting where it’s probably going to live. The width of these assemblies needs to be cut to fit my rails. The space between them, where my tube will run, should be about 7 wider than what is shown. The transmission mounting plate shows how much I need to dice off the ends of the tubes. I’ll have a better idea when my motor mounts arrive and I can get my motor and transmission measurements.

On to housekeeping: I have been bothered by the lack of light, but am not allowed to climb ladders yet. Now that I am no longer spending time inside a welding helmet, the lack of overhead light is an issue. Our 15 year old doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to volunteer for ladder duty and “changing tube fixture camp”. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled, as only a 15 year old can express.

I forgot to add this photo. Kevin Hansen alerted me that leaving the boxing plates square where they ended, would lead to premature (never one of my favorite words) stress and potential cracking. He instructed me that I should put a scallop at the ends, or in this case, trace a paint can and cut it out.
At the back end, I ran the boxing plates the full length after welding on the 2x2 angle. I haven’t decided whether I will cap them or leave them open. I have lots of time for that decision.

Your progress is looking good. 👍

Thanks John, another benefit of poor lighting 😁
It feels good to be done with the boxing plates. It was a tedious project that kept me occupied with thoughts of waterskiing and weekends at the lake.

Paul -- About your lighting... Are you switching out from florescents to LEDs?

Yes, I was given a bunch of LED fixtures but didn’t get enough to eliminate the fluorescent ones.

Today was the day I re-leveled my frame and got ready to hang the engine sorta where it’s going to live. I spent about 2 hours lifting and wedging and finally got it so it was level on both frame rails and across the ends.
Whoohoo, I’m making progress now!
I received my motor mounts from 12BoltTom, got them bolted to my block and got my engine hung from my engine crane. Then I started maneuvering that whole lash up so the block was over the frame opening. This is when I reached the first hurdle, and it stopped me dead in my tracks. The darn engine crane won’t let me position the engine even close to centerline. I needed to pick up the engine with my chainfall, but that meant moving my frame over about a foot so it’s under the centerline of my chainfall. This is when I reached the second hurtle. When I lifted the front of the frame on my floor jack, it fell off the jack stands aft. And this is when I knew my day was over.
I have the engine hanging inside the frame, but I now need to re-level it and make sure it’s still square. I made punch marks on the top outside radius of my rails, directly over the axle centerlines. Pulling diagonals between those punch marks will let me know pretty fast if I’m good to go.

I have been getting my engine placed fore and aft in my frame. I thought I had it fairly close at the end of messing with it yesterday, but looked at it today and started all over. God only knows what I was looking at yesterday, or maybe some vandals got into my shop last night and adjusted it for me.
Anyway, now that it’s on centerline and level, I started patterning my frame mounts. I started by bolting a pad to the motor mounts, and then worked with thick cardboard before transferring my shapes to 1/4” plywood. Once I had them fitted to my satisfaction, I hot-glued them together.
Now I am working on fitting the tubular bracing inside my frame. At first layout, it looks like I have a total of 4 1/2” to cut off each assembly. I’m going to start with 2 1/2” and lay them back on my strong backs and see what it looks like.

Paul - Looking at your mock up of the engine mounts, my mind asked this question. What are you planning on using to act as a vibration/engine movement damper or buffer with the frame?

A solid mount from frame to block is going to transfer all the engine vibration and torque twisting directly to your frame, potentially leading to a very uncomfortable ride experience I think.

Good point Dan, thanks. I’ll have to rethink this.

This is why I love the Stovebolt community! Post what you are doing and you get extra eyes to help you think about your project and give you additional ideas.

My 15 minutes in the shop was more like 3 hours, but I’m moving ahead. My tubular stiffenizer arrived in 6 pieces, so I laid it out on the floor, made sure it was square and tacked it together. I finished all the welds with it placed on my frame to get it at a comfortable height. It is now placed about where it’s going to live within eyeball tolerances. My string line has vaporized, so I’ll pick up another coil of string tomorrow and place it where it really wants live before marking the tubes to fit between my frame rails.

Paul - I think here's a possibility maybe worth considering on revising your engine mounts. Perhaps use these insert mounts bolted to your existing black bracket (3 point bolt side). You will then need to reconfigure your frame stand piece to step the mount face back enough to fit the mount between the two fixed brackets.

The frame side plate would be setup for a single bolt/washer connection that goes up through the underside of the plate into the flexible mount center threaded insert. The insert mounts become your front of engine vibration dampers. Make sense?

I’m thinking about this style of mount. It will isolate the engine vibrations, it’s clean and elegant, and the vendor has excellent reviews. It’s from Paul Horton Hotrods up in Ontario.

Paul, I saw that one too when I was peeking through the web. As you mentioned it does look well engineered and should perform well. My suggestion was mostly based on thinking you might want to use the already made mounts attached to your engine.

As you say, it does look "clean and elegant". Looking forward to seeing how things turn out.

One thing I noticed if I’m interpreting the picture correctly is engines are typically not level. They need to be matched to the angle of the rear end so the universal joints work properly. The intake manifold where the carburetor sits is normally level and a good place to start.

Thanks for that, I placed it level and on centerline so I could pattern my frame mounts (aborted) and place my tubular stiffenizer to catch the end of the transmission. The motor is where it needs to be fore and aft, but that’s all.
My plan is to get the front and rear ends back in once my bracing is welded in place. As soon as my bracing is located fore and aft, the motor will come back out and go back on its dolly until it’s really time to place it.
I’m really appreciative of you guys keeping an eye on me as I move forward on this project.

I have been spending a lot of time getting my tubular stiffenizer into my frame, and today it is finally in. Being that the frame is a big wedge, fitting the ends of the tubes to the frame rails was pretty straight forward. I marked my cut lines with the whole assembly on top of my frame rails and back about 2” from where I wanted it to be. That guaranteed that it was going to be big and I could fine-tune it forward to where it would finally live. I clamped it from the forward X member, and ran a saw blade between my frame rails and the tube ends to correct any misalignment from my initial cuts. Once it was slid forward into place and fitting nicely between my rails, I measured diagonals between my axle centerlines that I had punched into my frame rails tops. The green tape tabs are where my punch marks are, and makes them easy to find. The frame was out of square about 3/8” so I put a come-along across the long diagonal and ratcheted it square. I have the tubes about 75% welded, but I was getting tired and walked away. I’ll finish them up tomorrow and then give the whole assembly a cleanup with my grinder so it’s ready for filler and paint when the time comes.

I have reached a decision point that I am not ready to make yet. It’s my rear end that I need to decide on. On the one hand, I have an OE rear that I can slide new gears into, replace all the seals and shims and put the 1950 rear back in my frame. That would be after cutting off all the factory brackets because I’m not going to be going back to leaf springs. Or, wait until I can afford to buy a Ford 9” without already installed brackets that need to be cut off, that is already set up for highway speeds, and that doesn’t have to be modified for disc brakes.
With all of that hanging in the balance, I’m going back to my engine. I have the head back from the machine shop with all new valves and hardened seats, new valve springs, and I have even shot some paint on it.
Since putting the lower end back together, I have second guessed myself on whether it was assembled properly so the first order of business is going to be going backwards before I can go forward. I’m going to dismantle everything I have re-mantled, and recheck assembly.
I know, but I have the time and I want to be completely sure of internals before I bolt everything else together again and start bolting on the externals.

I never gave it much thought before, but every welding or fabrication shop I have ever been in has been pretty dark. I found out why. Welding and then grinding welds makes a lot of black dust. My shop and everything in it has gotten pretty well covered in a fine layer of black steel dust, so to combat it I’ve been driving my shop vac around doing my best to clean it up.
But not all at once.
I spent an hour with a 4” grinder and a cup wheel, removing the “safety orange” paint off my old Muncie M21/new Saginaw. I rattle-canned a coat of Forrester Green on it before stopping for the night.

Wow Paul - That is looking sweet! Hard to tell that it is the same transmission. Well done.

Does that M21 have a cast iron case? I have never seen a cast iron Muncie.

Thanks John.
And TUTS, it sure looked like iron to me. I was expecting an aluminum case when I started peeling paint, but that would explain the weight too.

Paul - That's a Saginaw cast iron 4 -speed. A solid transmission for your truck. The M21 would have been an aluminum case Muncie product.

If you’re right, and you probably are, (2 out of 3 doctors and all) I’ve been hosed. I was told it was an M21 by the guy I bought it from.

Sorry Hope the wallet bite wasn't too horrendous! FWIW, it could still do what you want as far as driveability goes. If you want to know more on the specific transmission, how to ID, gear ratios and the like, post the question in the Driveline Forum where we can break it down and/or point you to what you'd like to know.

It’s all good Dan. It’s pretty likely the gentleman didn’t know it wasn’t an M21. He seemed pretty darn honest and a total straight shooter.
But now that you got me on the “things I’d like to know” path, here’s one.
Why isn’t there a warning tag that the transmission shouldn’t be left vertical overnight? 😂😖
Luckily I have loads of absorbent sawdust.

Whoopsie - LOL! I didn't say anything when I first saw the pic as I figured you wouldn't have stood it up for painting full of earl. Many of the earlier manual transmissions didn't use seals at all, just a "slinger" to keep oil back out of the input shaft collar, and those only work when on a mostly level plane and oil level is at proper level or below. Sometimes parking on a steep downhill slope could result in oil getting out and ruining a perfectly good clutch.

Neither the EPA, nor the Coast Guard showed up so I think we can pretend that little oil spill didn’t happen.
I had been having thoughts of impending disaster, and second guessing myself about the way I put the lower end of my engine together. I decided to pull apart everything I had done and start over. I had numbered my main caps with a sharpie when I took them out, but then had moved a couple into different locations in an effort to get better clearance numbers. After thinking about it for a couple or three weeks, I realized that each of those caps would probably have a number stamped in it. I started taking apart my engine on Thursday, and sure enough I found some numbers stamped on the main caps. Three of them were completely legible, but 2 were only moderately visible and the last 2 were really questionable. With the aid of a really strong light, I was able to get five of my seven caps in order, then finally made out the 6th one, and the process of elimination identified the 7th.
On Friday I started back in with torquing my main caps and checking clearances. They didn’t change much. My tightest one was 0.0015, and two were about 0.0018 and four were 0.002. I cleaned off the plastigauge schmutz, lubed the bearings and torqued my mains down. The connecting rods all measured 0.002 except one that was a tad tighter and I estimated it to be 0.0018.
Now I can sleep peacefully. Do I feel a little foolish about mixing up my cap order? Sure, but I’ve never had an engine apart before and I’m learning as I go.
With that bit of worry taken off my plate, I refastened the timing cover, set the harmonic balancer, and the oil pan in place and fastened them, then set my head in place and torqued it down. I slathered the lifters and slid them in place, and then put the push rods in their homes.The side covers are fastened in place temporarily until my cast aluminum ones arrive. They’ll keep dust and debris out while I continue to forge ahead.

I seem to second guess a lot of things I've done while putting this '46 together. Mostly I believe I'm OK since I research each task and ask questions before tackling it. But, one that's been on my mind lately is the water pump. I was reading some posts about the water pump and sealing the threads. I think I did, but now I'm second guessing myself.