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

It’s 4 bolts John. Take it off and check. I have found that when I’m second guessing myself, there’s a reason for it. It was a total step backwards for me, but I’m not sorry I did it. I really should ask more questions before I end up getting myself in trouble. I was thinking earlier that there is so much knowledge here and I should take advantage of it more.
Unlike you, I’m more of a “go for it” guy, and I pay for that sometimes

I spent a couple of hours yesterday, attempting to bolt up my intake and exhaust. The Clifford intake looks great, but the bolt locations aren’t exactly accurate. After much fussing and enlarging holes, I finally just walked away from it. Besides, there was a hockey game I needed to watch.
The Oilers won 5-1 in case everybody or even anybody was wondering.
Back at it this morning for another hour and I finally have it
semi-bolted down. I need to fabricate two custom saddles to fit into spaces my fingers barely go.
Anyhow, it’s eye candy and it’s fun for me to look at.

That color really looks nice.👍

John

Those are some monster carbs! My little single barrel is feeling a wee bit inadequate. 😁 Wondering why the front half of the header points back and not down?

More gasoline than the engine can possibly use.

They are a pair of Weber 2 barrel carbs. I expect my motor to be making 320-350 hp and I don’t want it going thirsty.
I think the tube length is the same front and back. I wondered why it didn’t go down too, but it may look better when the exhaust is run.

Go oilers Go

350hp? I guess I missed that. What did you do to the engine to quadruple the output?

It’s a 292 block bored 0.060 over, making it 302 cu in, zero decked the block for higher compression, new pistons, higher lift cam, larger valves and hardened seats, larger springs, obviously new intake and carbs, and headers

I’ve been walking around piles of parts and moving parts because they’re in the way etc. After a back and forth with John (UtahYork) re: his misplacement of parts I have decided to do something about this sooner than later.
As we know, a dismantled truck has a bewildering array of parts, and takes up a lot of valuable floor space if you do what I have done, which is to sort of try to keep everything together. I’m going to spend some time in the next couple of weeks cleaning out and repurposing our hen house as a truck parts storage area.
I’m going to build some shelves, and have an area to store sheet metal, suspension parts, heater, door panels, seat frame and seat parts, radiator, core support and all the miscellaneous stuff ( you all know the list) I have taken off and will need again in about 4-5 years.
It’s really something I should have done when I took my truck apart. We all know we’re supposed to bag and tag everything as it comes apart (done that) But we also need a safe storage space to put all the big bits. We need shelves, and we need to be able to find our parts when it comes time to re-assemble.

A sound plan, Paul. I had parts in three different areas: front garage, back garage and storage shed. 20 years ago I only had the attached two car garage. As I built a shed for my lawn equipment and then a detached garage in the back yard, I migrated parts to different areas. It would have been better to pick one area and kept everything together.

Hen House?? Don't let them crap on your sheet metal or there won't be anything left in 4-5 years.

Hens are all gone Kevin. At the moment it’s dry empty storage with windows and power.

Power? I see a Man Cave in the future! 😁

Ha ha, my wife would argue I already have a man-cave. We built a 1500 sq ft woodworking shop so I could do a lot of the finish work in the house and have a place to run my business.

With only a 24’ x 24 garage that I share with my wife’s 2007 VW Eos. Just so I have room to do the bodywork, I rented a 5’ x 10’ Storage Unit and that is already packed with nothing but body parts. I feel your pain!

My new storage space, which as yet is full of nesting boxes, roosting perches and pine shavings, is probably 8’x 16’ x 7’ tall. Plenty of space to store sheet metal.

My wood shop was already choc-a-block with machines, before I decided I probably had enough room to dismantle and work on a truck. I had a small area for assembly and working on projects, which is now filled with a truck.

I started building an extension dining table yesterday and had to move my truck frame to get my pallet jack out, so I could move a shaper to get at my wood inventory. I also had to move my clamp dolly, and a couple of stacks of bee hive boxes to access the shaper, so I could access my wood. Fun, right? No wonder my wife thinks this whole thing is crazy. She wants a couple more pieces of furniture and my “shop is filled with that stupid truck?” I need another garage.

I finally got some time to build the shelves in my storage shed. I was actually forced into it by necessity. My wife has wanted a new dining table and in order for me to be able to work on it through the summer, I need to get my air conditioner installed in my shop. To do that, I needed to move a large pile of truck parts out of the way. So, on Tuesday, I tore into what used to be a henhouse, removed everything, scraped and vacuumed and on Wednesday I put some shelves up. Today was moving day, and I still have the
seat cushions and inner fenders to move, but everything is now in one place instead of being spread around my shop and pushed into odd corners. Even better, the parts that were put into 3 week outdoor storage 2 1/2 years ago are back in dry storage.

Looks good. 👍 Hopefully you can find a way to keep out the mice. I have a storage shed that has been overrun with critters for a number of years.

This August I hope to clean out, rebuild and double the size of my storage shed. One can never have enough storage.

John

Nice to have a dedicated space for your parts. That will narrow down the search.

The only thing the mice will find attractive is the seat, and I think I’ll strip the cushions down to the springs before I add it to the stash. I was interested to find out I had 3 different engine stands for a 292. Now I need to find two more 292’s to bolt to the extras.

In my continuing efforts to regain real estate in my shop, I spent the day making a dolly for my frame. I had a bunch of 4x4’s in inventory, and had casters and lag bolts. Out of pocket expenses were a perfect zero. I’m going to lower it some tomorrow. It’s not top heavy, I would just like the frame to be closer to the floor. It will fit in the dolly better too. It sure is nice having the frame on wheels. Moving it now is super easy.
After moving my drill press, I think I’m finally ready to start building furniture again.

I am in the “collecting inventory” stage again. With my frame somewhat squared away, I am buying IFS parts before getting back to work on my truck.
When I was looking for motor mounts I liked, I came across Paul Horton’s Hotrods up in Breslau Ontario. I liked what I saw, and bought one of their Mustang II Welder Series cross member “kits” They used to ship them as flat stock with laser cut slots where the bends happen, but have changed things up and now ship the two pieces of the X member already bent at 90 degrees. They get placed together and the open corners get filled with a weld bead. The mounts for the steering rack are laser cut, and the box section gets folded into shape, and the openings of the cuts get welded.
I opted for coil-over towers for my front end, and they are put together the same way. They send cardboard fitting templates to help with ride height cuts.
Once I have all the rest of my front end components, I can pull my frame back out and return to truck work.

No pictures, just an update. I have been busy in the shop, building a new dining table for my wife’s birthday. All the while, I’m thinking and strategerizing about my front and rear ends. Over the years I have collected a fair fleet of boats, boat parts and boat projects. I went through that collection and have started to de-fleetisize. I’m trading boats for parts I guess.
There are a lot of moving parts right now, but I’m close to an order and a Christmas-like delivery.

Paul, Are you going with a solid front axle or IFS on that new dining table? Sometimes it's good to take a break from the truck and utilize other skills. Woodworking, fishing, boating,... it's all good.