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

So I started working on pulling the motor from my Montana GMC this weekend. The transmission was stuck in gear and I didn't have any luck getting the old crashbox to pop into neutral even with a 4x4 post/hammer. At this point, I couldn't tell the condition of the rear end or the motor so I needed to separate the 3. I pulled the motor out and discovered the rear end is still fully locked up which isn't that big a deal since I already have a new rear end. once I got the transmission separated from the engine, the engine was also locked up. Based on the casting numbers, it is not the original motor to the truck. The head also has a later casting date than the block. I got to work stripping the block down to see if I could find the reason that it was locked up and after a couple hours I got the head off to discover this disaster.

Yup - That's gonna make internal movement a little restricted. Gonna be a tough one to get freed up, if it can be, but its possible it may still be saved. I guess now it depends on how much energy you want to put into it. I think I'd venture a look at the bottom end to see what it looks like and then you can decide if it's worth the time/effort or not.

That's solid advice. It's currently hanging out in the corner while I'm working on my 2nd 228 that I acquired earlier this week from a guy up in Joplin that was selling it as a 256. This one supposedly ran when parked but I'm skeptical.

So last weekend, in my search for a GMC engine, I found a "256" in Joplin that ran when pulled, supposedly. Joplin is only an hour and a half down the road and it was a good price so I thought what the heck. I knew a 256 was an oddity, but I was fine with it. I loaded up on Tuesday after work and headed to Joplin. It was interesting getting it loaded while we were blocking the neighborhood street with a cherry picker since it still had the transmission attached, we barely got it in the truck with my toolbox taking up part of the bed. It took us about an hour. When we shut the tailgate, the fan blades were touching the gate. The guy said he got it in a package deal with some other car parts and it had supposedly been in a dump truck that was getting squished so they pulled it to save it since it ran. That's all the info the guy offered. Away I pulled!

After a brief pitstop at Menards, I decided I'd try to scrape some gunk off the tag next to the distributor and voila a 228 appeared. In a dump truck you say?? I say as well. I believe the transmission is a sm420 and the bell housing is out of a 48-53 truck.

I tore the Joplin 228 down and by the looks of it, its good enough that I dropped the head off at the machine shop this afternoon to be checked out. If its free of cracks, they're going to work it over. Stay tuned. He told me it would probably be mid August.

Bought this tool to help the tear down on the 228.

I put some more work into the Joplin 228 this evening and well into the night. Its 1203AM here and I'm just about to turn in. At some point in its life, this engine spent some time on its oil pan and its all beat up. I got it pulled off with about a 5 gallon bucket of dirt and oil. I found this video that explains how to remove the oil pump and it made a quick job of it. Afterwards, I began the horrible job of removing the stuck lifters. Every single one fought me. I know I could only use my hands to get them out so with a combination of brake cleaner and a whole roll of shop towels and nothing but time, I got them all out. I made this handy holder out of a scrap stick of lumber.

Added a tool cart and a harmonic balancer puller to the mix today.

Today was a lot of work. I'm trying to get the block torn down to send to the machine shop and I'm just about there. I got the ridge reamer out and even though it was my first time using one, it worked mostly great. I did have to go back and ream one cylinder again because I could still feel a small ridge. When it came time to drop the pistons, they all came out without a hitch. I also plan to send the camshaft and lifters to a company out in Vancouver WA called Oregon Camshaft. Their turnaround time is 4 weeks.

Also, thank god I bought this impact driver screwdriver a long time ago. I probably never would have got the screws out of the camshaft thrust plate and the flat blade screws on the motor mount plate.

In case anyone is wondering, the caps and rods are stamped so that they go back in the same orientation.

Daniel - Very nice progress on the engine tear down. I like your balancer puller! I've also used one of those impact drivers and found it to be really useful. I'm following along on your engine work as I hope to be doing something similar in the somewhat near future.

So glad I have my impact screwdriver too! Very handy in some situations. When it was time to rebuild my 235, I just dropped it off at the machine shop and they took care of everything. I guess I lost out on gaining some experience in tearing down the block.

The downside to this puller was that the central bolt was slightly larger than the bore of the harmonic balancer and cut some threads into the balancer bore. If I were to do it again, I might buy a different one with a slightly smaller bolt.

Thanks for the follow-up on the puller Daniel.

Worked more on tear down tonight. Got everything off the block except for the freeze plugs which I'll try to get out tomorrow before I take it to the machine shop. I looked at the oil galley plugs this morning for about 2 seconds and assumed a 3/8 extension would fit and NOPE it's 5/16. Well at 9pm it's not like you're going to town to buy a plug remover if they even had one so I made one. The first one ended up stripping the threads out of the nut so I welded prototype #2. I ground the head down to 5/16 square with the world (mostly). Lastly, I took a bunch of measurements on the bore and I won't lie, I'm second guessing myself here. I quadruple checked my zero with my mic. My block is stamped with an A meaning 0.005 overbore from the factory. I can't figure out for the life of me why most my measurements are under. I set my dial bore zero at 3.5675

For anyone reading this wanting to do a tear down, they sell this tool which is the proper tool to remove the 5/16 plugs.

Got all 7 freeze plugs out and remaining oil galley plug that I couldn't get to with it in the engine stand. I finished off with blowing out every accessible passage with compressed air so that It gets as clean as possible before I drop it off a the machine shop in the morning.

Took the day off work and dropped the block off at the local shop this morning. In the meantime, I'm "fixing" what I tore up before. Originally I was going to swap this cross member to a Chevrolet cross member so the shorter 261 dropped in but I've since reversed direction. I had ground these rivets intending to punch them out but I'm now drilling the holes to accept 3/8-16 grade 8 bolts. I am also going to mock up a spare "bad" engine I have so I can get a driveshaft made.

Hit a snag today. I had ordered rear engine mounts back in December anticipating this. I ordered ME217 from Jim carter. It said to use ME218 for a 48 to 53 truck and I was using a 48-53 bellhousing but I figured the 217 one would be correct since my frame is a 39. I was wrong, I think. Long story short, the rear engine mounts are too wide to fit in my crossmember. Its sitting about 1/2" where its hitting on the 45 degree bits. I called Jim and ordered the 218 motor mounts so well see.

Another problem that's coming down the pipe is that the SM420 is basically touching the rear engine crossmember and I cant get the front engine mount bolts to come forward enough to seat in their home. Once I get these other rear engine mounts, well see what needs to be done.

I pulled the camshaft timing gear off the camshaft this morning. I rigged this puller up and made sure the nuts and washers cleared the thrust plate. A lot of people probably press it off and back on so I'll need another setup when it comes time to reinstall. Hoping to get the camshaft and lifters sent off this week to be cleaned up.

I got the camshaft sent off on Tuesday along with the lifters. It was delivered Friday so now the long wait begins. In other news, I met a gentleman this morning and sold the 261. It was hard to see it go, but it was the right call I think.

Friday night (today is Sunday) I got the new motor mounts (ME218 from Jim Carter) installed on the bellhousing and was able to get the motor to drop in. I am getting a little bit (a lot) of direct contact with the SM420 on the rear cross member, so I am going to need to slightly modify the cross member to get some clearance. Worse case scenario, If I ruin the cross member, I do have a spare frame with a good one in it.

I am currently going to college part time, so I may not have a lot of time now that the semester is starting, but Ill try to get a little work in every once in a while.

I visited the Ozark Antique Auto Club Swap Meet last month in Springfield MO. I picked this horn up for $15 untested. When I got it home, I hooked it up to a 6v battery and what do you know, it sounds great. Of all the parts trucks I've got, none had an original horn.

It's the little things. Plus, the family had a nice Saturday out and about.

Daniel, I'm late to your build and for that I apologize. I'm south of you a bit but my son just moved from Bentonville to Tontitown so we're in the area occasionally. All that said, a neighbor down the road has a small salvage yard. Way back in the brush is a 40-50ish GMC with county road department door markings. As I recall it"s a complete solid body truck (may have a small dump bed). Don't recall the hood emblems but it sure looks like it could be a desirable GMC engine donor. If you're interested I'll check it out and let ya know.

RonR

Id definitely be interested. They aren't making any more of these things lol. I try to collect everything I can which is probably why I'm not done with this thing yet!

I got these packaged up to make a trip to Independence MO tomorrow, or Jim Carter, whatever your preference is.

I’ll make a trip down the road one day this week and take a few photos. I’m in recovery mode from a “unscheduled rapid dismount” from my Brides new horse and moving slow at the moment.

RonR

I sure appreciate it. It's no rush, so don't get out there and make it worse.

Jim Carter did my speedometer last year. 1500 miles later, it looks and works great.

Daniel, I forgot to mention this; If access to your instruments behind the dash is difficult, re-assemble them with knurled nuts that you can spin tight by hand. Trying to put little hex nuts on the little studs on the back of the gauges and then trying to get a socket and wrench back there was very difficult on an AD truck.

I bought brass knurled nuts at Ace Hardware to re-install my speedo and it took about 5 minutes.

Otto, thanks for the quick tip, I think that's a great idea. I'm not sure what the turn around time will be but whatever it is, I'm sure I still won't be ready for them lol. The person on the phone said it's their old technician that restores them.

As the moderator for the Project Journals, I pride myself on staying well-informed about all our contributors' efforts, and I must confess I completely dropped the ball on keeping up with your epic journal.

While I certainly have an excuse (don't we all?), it doesn't diminish the fact that I should have been paying closer attention. When I took over the Project Journal forum two years ago, my primary focus was on streamlining and organizing. I've been busy culling journals that had become inactive, gently prompting contributors who needed a little nudge, and relocating completed journals to a dedicated "Completed Journals" forum. When I started, there were approximately 150 Project Journals, and now, thankfully, the number of truly active journals stands at a much more manageable 21.

I just recently took the time to read through your journal from beginning to end, and I must say, you have quite the project on your hands! The sheer amount of donor trucks, engines, and spare parts you've managed to amass is truly amazing, especially considering how rare your truck is. Your workshop is equally impressive, housing a lathe, Bridgeport, plasma table, and all the other essential tools required for such a thorough restoration.
Your dedication and tenacity in sourcing the correct parts, regardless of cost, are truly impressive. Furthermore, your mechanical and engineering abilities are nothing short of outstanding.

To all my fellow 'Bolter's out there, if you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading Danielbolt's journal, you are truly missing out on a genuinely impressive build. It's a testament to what can be achieved with passion, skill, and determination.

Please keep up the fantastic work and excellent documentation on your build. You got me hooked and I will be following!

I certainly appreciate the kind words. I'm fortunate to have access to a lot of tools the average guy doesn't but it doesn't mean I always know the proper way to use them hah!

I'm currently jumping around a bit on the project, but this week I'm working on getting the new to me 248 dropped in the truck so I can start figuring out fitment, driveshaft, brackets etc.

Couple things:
1. SM420 was hitting the rear cross member on the junk 228 fitup so I assume that's still a problem. I'll need to modify the rear cross member
2. Battery tray was also hitting the trans, I'll need to modify that.
3. I want to get the pedal assembly bolted to the modified bellhousing to see if I need additional bracing (probably do)

I figured out the drag link ball that I replaced awhile ago wouldn't clear the front axle. I ended up cutting the stud off and heating it up and peening it down. I had considered welding it but I thought I'd try peening it first. It wasn't as easy to peen down as I thought it would be.

Low and slow tonight. I'm certainly not the best sheet metal welder. Like planet fitness, this is the judgement free zone lol.

That looks like a decent weld to me.

I wouldn't mind having that welder you have.

Got my gauges back today. It took a few months to get them back and a decent wad of cash. One thing at a time...

That's pretty nice

The gauges look great. Money well spent - well, I don't know the cost, but I like them.

Your gauges look really nice. Who did you send them to?

I sent them to Jim Carter. I think they sent them off to bowtie bits. It was about $700

Your gauges look amazing and it was “money well spent”!

Not much in the way of work has gotten done this year. Been saving up some money and I'm headed north to the artic circle of kansas city next week to pick up my new rear 40-46 fenders and front bed panel from Jim Carter. It's a shame mar-k went out of business because I really need a new or at least better tailgate. The folks over at Jim Carter don't know if or when they'll get any more tailgates and I've called many others and have been told the same. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on eBay for now.

I'd like to reuse my gmc bed but it's in a lot worse shape than my Chevrolet bed. Either way I'll aim for a nonstamped tailgate and apply the gmc decal or find a nice stamped gmc one.

I actually have a stamped gmc gate but it looks like it's been ran over and someone turned a child loose on the welder.