The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1952 Chevy pickup - "Learning as I go"

The width of the bed is about 50 inches, a few years back I put a temporary bed in mine out of plywood. I made two pieces of moulding to make up the extra inch on each side, so I could use one standard piece of plywood.

I went and removed the spring hangers from an old parts truck in my area. An old hot rodder’s junkyard. Had to do a little weed eating. One of the hangers was bolted in. Talk about good luck!! He has a set of shackles too, but I forgot them.

I removed the bad hangers and pins and replaced with about good as new parts. I ground the rivet heads flat from the bottom and drove a pin with a hammer up until they popped out.
Replaced new hangers with grade 8 bolts. I soaked the pins in gas and worked out all the old grease.
I used a 2x4 and wedged it from the springs right next to the axle straight up to the frame. The board was a little long and I had to wedge it with a hammer. When I removed the shackle the spring rose maybe an inch. I was all scared for nothing. I put some grease on the threads, screwed them in, replaced the shackles, and greased the fittings. It was a satisfying sound to hear that grease flow through those pins. It did take a little muscle to get everything back together, but not too bad. Still cleaning frame and prepping for paint.

Wow! Those mounts show a lot of wear over the years.

I meant to post this pic of what the replacement looked like compared to the old.

Bill - You're missing some bits from your shackles that are needed to help make them last a bit longer. On the ends of each pin, and sandwiched between the bushings and the shackle plates, should be some either cork (original) or rubber (repop) shackle pin "washers" like the one pictured below. They provide a bit of protection from the elements and help keep the grease to stay put for longer lubrication effectiveness.

These Rubber shackle pin "washers" are a little dirt cheap protection to fill those wide gaps you have. This is just one vendor of many that offer them.

Were did you get your replacements? Were they from a donor truck?

Thank you Gdads51!
I'll put them on my next order list.

Otto Skorzeny, Yes, I found a donor truck in my area.

That's amazing those were in such good shape from that donor truck.

I agree Otto. One was actually bolted in, so it had been replaced, but the other was just as good and it was original.
The pins I used were in the hangers on that truck as well. The man who owned the place gave me the shackles with bottom pins too. 40 bucks for everything. Real nice fellow. He helped me pull the hangers off. I’ll definitely go back just to talk to him.

What is the name of that “old hot rodder’s junkyard”, and where is he located?

Phak1- His name is Walkie White. He lives in the booming metropolis of Timmonsville SC. Mainly retired from the looks of everything. He used to travel some sort of circuit selling hot rod parts. Very knowledgeable about anything I’ve asked him about. The pic posted is a dash a friend of his fabricated out of steel for his COE project. I thought it was some kind of molded plastic. Nope. Steel. Probably sitting there 20 years. All kinds of different stuff.

Bill - Glad you have such a valuable resource to turn to in your immediate neck of the woods! Thanks for sharing.

I rebuilt the master cylinder. I was really nervous about the hard lines, but vice grips and heat persuaded them fairly easily. The cylinder honed out nicely. The small hole in the resovoir was stopped up. Carb cleaner directly shot in a few times cleared it. I replaced all old parts with new ones provided in the kit. When I pulled everything apart, I removed the old pieces from the boot end of the cylinder. I found it easier to install everything back from the brake line end of the cylinder. I don’t think it matters as long as everything is in the right order.I used a little bit of brake fluid for lube. l Everything went back together nicely. I still have the lines removed from the rear of the truck so no bleeding yet. I definitely plan on flushing all of the lines before bleeding though. Glad to have this done. I feel pretty good about the result so far.

This is the honed pic. Previous post had pre honed by mistake.

That started out gunky! Nice work to clean it up.

Thanks Utah. Great call on checking those holes for blockages! Definitely saved me another trip inside.

I used a wire wheel on an angle grinder, wire brushes, and a pressure washer to prep the frame. Wiped it down with acetone right before painting. I used Rustoleum implement paint low gloss black. I applied with a small sponge roller, a 2 inch regular brush, and maybe a dozen sponge brushes. A rattle can saved the day for those hard to get places. It was pretty shiny for low gloss. I’m not unhappy, just a little surprised. I thought it would be a little flatter. The axle was really smooth so I used self etching primer for it. I’m super happy with how it looks!

That looks pretty nice. It'll last forever. I painted the entire undercarriage of my Cadillac with Rustoleum semi-gloss black 20 years ago.

It still looks like new with over 100,000 miles on it.

Thanks Otto. It should outlast me for sure.

I removed the rear exhaust pipe and muffler several weeks ago to make it easier to replace the spring hanger. I went ahead and removed the front pipe today. Hit it with a wire wheel and some acetone before rattle canning it with high heat paint. I saw a red muffler somewhere and thought that would look good. I’m gonna clean the clamps up a little before installing back. I can touch up some spots on the frame that I missed under the cab near where it was ran. My next goal is to get the inner bed panels prepped and painted. It may have to wait a few days. We are having a heat wave in my area. 3-4 hours and I’m about done when it’s like that. It’s not enjoyable.