The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1946 Chevy 1/2Ton in Utah - "Here We Go"

LOL, I've done that more than once looking for a part that I'd stored away (somewhere.) My battery box cover is still MIA.
If anyone needs some nostalgia, I have a couple of those old oil can spouts.

When did they stop putting oil in cans? 1980s? That plastic one is probably one of the last made.

Successful search this morning for my tailgate hinges and chains! 90 minutes searching the shelves and ended up finding them in a box with labeled zip lock baggies of all my old bolts.

Well John - they were "inside" a zip lock baggy - LOL!

Glad you found them.

So funny! Of all the things I just threw into boxes and bins, I actually labeled and zip lock these. Well, I did clean and organize some of my shelves. So there's a plus!

Installed the tailgate today. Pretty straight forward, but I did have one issue. The hinge has two bolts. Lower bolt/nut can be accessed from the bottom bed stake. The upper bolt goes into a nut that is tack welded on the inside and cannot be reached from the same bottom access as the lower bolt. Well, yesterday I had to drill out a broken upper bolt and when I used an extractor, the tacked nut broke off. I had to figure out how I was going to mount the upper bolt. My first thought was to just drill all the way through the bed stake pocket and use a longer bolt. But I ended up putting the bolt through the hinge and hole, then using a one of those flexible grabby things (I don't know what it's called, but you push one end and the other reaches out four little claws to grab stuff) and I was able to placed the flat washer, lock washer and nut. Just held the nut in place and screwed the bolt until it grab. I don't have a 14" long 1/2" box wrench, so I used an extend magnet to lower a 1/2" wrench to hold the nut and tightened the bolt from the outside. Unconventional, but it worked.

Later a friend said I should have just lowered a bolt down the stake bed using the grabby thing, poked the bolt through and just had the nut/washers on the outside. Maybe that would have been easier, but it wouldn't look the same as the other bolts.

John, I admire your tenacity and solution to get that nut on the upper bolt. I had an issue with a replacement stake pocket but was able to weld on a new nut before the stake pocket got attached to the bedside. I can't imagine fishing a nut all the way down the stake pocket and past the stop inside it.

John, the technical name for the flexible grabby thing, is flexible extendo grabby thing 😂 You were right on the money.
It sounds like it was a proper dance to get washer, lock washer and nut over the bolt so you could tighten everything down. Nice work.

Flexible Claw Pickup Tool

That would be the correct way to do it Kevin. So much easier to weld it with the stake pocket off the bed.

Starting my day off with a good laugh - Thanks Paul!

Guess I'll do anything to avoid starting on the wiring. 😉 I decided to get one of the front fenders installed. Took me about 3 hours! I added some welting on the rear part of the fender. Now for the other side.

Careful John, any wiring may be easier with the right fender still off. I’m not sure, but it’s possible.

Thanks for the reminder Paul. You're right. It will probably be easier to reach the starter, coil, distributor,... Maybe I'll work on the rear fenders first.

I really wanted to get the left front fender attached so that I could be sure the wiring harness reaches the headlight junction block mounted on the fender. Then secure the harness to the fender and add the grommet on the firewall. The harness I have doesn't have a label/tape to show how far it should be in or out of the firewall, so having the front left fender install will help.

Took time today to install the rear fenders. I added some welting - probably the longer part of the task. Bolts are loose, but snug for now.

Coming together nicely John!

Added the rod braces to the rear fenders. I have two shorter braces and found out they go up front and ties the inside of the front to the lower center pan.

My license plate topper arrived today! Thanks Luke!!

That's pretty neat. I just won an ebay auction for a 1950 Georgia license plate for $10.00 but have no place to put the topper. The mounting bracket is missing or broken off or whatever so the plate hangs below the tailgate.

Lazy Saturday - I only tested my ignition switch with key and 12v battery, and then added the heat shield to protect the wooden bed from the exhaust pipe.

Cleaned up the gauge cluster today.

Those wiring photos with all the connections labeled are going to come in pretty handy

I'm still nervous about the wiring, but I actually did something today. Very little, but it's a start. 😀 I'm still reading and trying to build confidence.

Could the blue and black wires in your picture be for turn signals? Maybe see where they go on the other end of the harness. I added wires for those into my original harness.

The BLACK one for the left front turn signal. The BLUE one for dash accessories?

John,

What method did you use to clean up the gauge cluster faces? They look good!

I will be trying to clean mine up soon. They are looking pretty rough at the moment.

I didn't remove the glass since all the dirt was on the outside - plus I was afraid I might break it. I just razor bladed the glass and cleaned with Windex. My gauges are faded a little and I lightly used some 409 cleaner and did not rub too hard. Yours looks more faded than mine and I think Jim Carter (or someone) has a new decal set. Oh wait, your decals look pretty good. You will probably need to separate the glass portion and re-paint the light brown metal.

Shucks! I was hoping you had figured out a magical solution!

Testing my head light switch. Seems to work OK.

That's good. It looks like it's in pretty nice shape, too.

Be careful cleaning the inside portion of the gauge cluster glass. The paint is brittle and thin. Even light strokes with a micro fiber towel will cause headaches. Don’t ask me how I know…🫣

I was able to get a few things done today. I wired in my dimmer switch and I was able to shorten the flexible metal casing on the ignition switch. (I used a plumbers pipe cutter and stopped before it got to the wire.) I didn't need it hanging all the way to the coil since I need to install a ballast between the key and the coil. So now it will be easier to bend the wire to the firewall for the ballast. Any suggestions on location? High, Low, Closer to the coil,...?

Utah
The wiring inside the cable appears to be original. If so, consider replacing it because the insulation is likely very brittle and could lead to excitement best avoided.

Actually the wire is flexible and the cloth covering looks new. I did slide some heat shrink over it to protect it. But, you are right. I was thinking about installing new wire. I was afraid to pry the three tabs and thought they might break off. Did you open up your switch?

Yes, the case was opened to replace the wire. This task needs done with care. The Bakelite insulator inside the case is somewhat fragile. (Lock Magilla Gorilla in his cage before proceeding.) A small thin blade screw drive can be used to carefully wedge open the tabs and slide the internal assembly out. Once wire replacement is completed and the internal assembly is reinserted into the case, I used pliers to carefully re-crimp the case tabs.

Sweet! Thank you for your help. I'll look at it today. I'll feel better with a new wire inside.

Found an old picture of my '46 Dodge that I traded for my now '46 Chevy. Picture from the late '90s early 2000?

Baby steps, but had to remove the cowl vent to get the gasket installed. I removed the two swivel bolts from under the dash, but had a difficult time trying to get the vent removed. Finally I removed the push lever from the vent and was able to get that thing out of there. Then the gasket was easy to install.

I forgot to mention, when I first read this I was thinking about Gorilla glue for some reason and Magilla Gorilla didn't come to mind until reading it again. Old time cartoons were the best on Saturday mornings.

At NAPA yesterday and ran across this '59? It had a little Christmas town in the back window.