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

My thoughts exactly. Put the flat in the bed, get it repaired, then re-hang at home in my garage.

Well, funny you should ask. I was headed to a hockey game in Salt Lake City this past winter and... Anyway, I had these new winter tires on my car for 11 days.

Last night I removed the cable from the back of the speedometer. I spun the small brass piece and the needle did move. I notice lots of black grease on my fingers, so I wiped down the brass fitting and replaced the cable. Then I removed the cable from the trans and spun it with a drill and the needle move fine. I got it up to 30+mph and it would hold, not jump. This morning I went for a test drive and the speedometer looked to work fine, until I stopped to turn around. On the way back home, the needle only got up to about 10mph. I'm going to remove the cable and see if there's lots of grease again. If so, I'll remove the cable and see it I can clean it. Not sure where the grease is coming from, but this was a rebuilt gauge cluster.

If thats the original cable, I`d look/shop for a replacement. Cleaning that one you have is a good start.
It could have had powder graphite in and spray lube got in there and made a mess.

After cleaning the gauge end of the cable, I went for another test drive and the speedometer looks to be working again. I drove down by Utah Lake and there are some storage units with lots of outdoor signs. I think they have a small museum and I need to stop in and check it out. Even more signs on the other side of the road.

Your truck looks great in those shots!

Thanks Nick!

I put another 5 gallons in the gas tank and the gauge goes up to almost 1/4. That should be about 9-10 gallons in the tank. Maybe I need to adjust (bend) the float arm a little bit? Not a big issue yet, but something I'll add to the list as I continue test drives. Anyone know how much my stock '46 gas tank holds? I'll look in the Shop Manual.

if you have 10 gallons , keep adding till full.

John - Should be 18 gallons per the GM Heritage 1946 Chevy Truck Data file.

I'm swapping out carburetors and then I'll go fill it up tomorrow.


Got it. Thanks Dan.

Does anyone have a way to add the fitting to the tubing after you already flared the end? Yep, I did that last night. I picked up some new tubing this morning and fixed my dumb mistake. Boy, was I steamed last night. All that time learning how to bend tubing and I thought I had it just right. Oh well, ended up getting more experience working with tubing I guess. I also got my rebuilt Carter carburetor installed. Just need to hook up the throttle and choke cables, then the pedal linkage. While I had the air cleaner off, I riveted some guides to hold the air filter on center. The donut shaped foam board piece I originally used kind of melted and shrunk from the heat. Tip on rivets: Don't drill a hole right over the screw/nut that secures the air cleaner to the carburetor. I was lucky and just barely missed it and it was a tight fit to get that rivet installed.

Don't feel too bad. We've all done that. Except for me.

I now have a checklist for flaring tubing.
1. Put fitting on tubing.
2. Check that fitting is on the right way.
3. Flare tubing.
4 (optional) Cut flare off and start at 1. again.

At least you got practice on forming tubing. Looks good BTW.

Thanks Kevin. I like Step 2.

Instead of tubing and fittings, I usually do the same thing with wires and heat shrink.

Been there, done that too! 😀

Gee - I need to get the truck started now that I replaced the Rochester with a Carter carburetor. Is it just me or does anyone else get a little scared to get through the first start? Truck has been siting a week and I'm finding other chores to do around the house. Plus it's been so dang hot out side. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow and stop being a wuss.

Maybe just you?

After I install a new part on just about any vehicle, the first thing I want to do is start it up and test it out.

Your truck will start without any problems and it'll run better than it ever has before. You'll love having a properly set up Carter yf.

Started up this morning with really high idle. I loosened the throttle cable and adjustment screw, but still idling high. Looks like the linkage might be holding open the throttle plate by not pulling down far enough. Before I shorten the linkage bar, I might add a gasket to the bottom of the carburetor to lift it up a tiny bit?

I had an issue with the throttle cable holding my Carter off idle. The cable clamp was binding against the throttle lever. I would check that before shortening the linkage. Carter carbs should be a drop in replacement for the Rochester carbs.

disconnect the throttle cable. should have a choke for warm ups. but that Carter should idle well.

OK - I think I have the fast idle resolved, but it's late and I'll test it out tomorrow morning. I added a gasket to the carburetor base to lift the carburetor and verified the throttle cable has some slack in it. I did not have to cut the throttle linkage rod. Thanks for the suggestions from all.

John

Mine is a W-1. Different setup. But if it helps

Glen

Thanks Glen. I had a W-1 on my 216 and had thought about rebuilding it because it did work pretty well 20+ years ago. Not sure how it would work on my 235 today, but maybe better than the Rochester B? I'm hoping this YF 2100S will be the ticket. I do have a Carter YF 3211 I might try to install later on, but it has an automatic choke and I'd have to add some plumbing and a heater stove in the exhaust manifold?

I went for a test drive this morning and the idle is still a little high. I'm going to let things cool down and add a second gasket, but maybe I need a stronger return spring. When I punch the gas pedal and release quickly, the idle is about right. When driving and stopping at a light or stop sign, the idle remains high until I punch the gas pedal again. Another thought was to spray some WD40 on the throttle bar at the bottom of the carb. Maybe that will loosen it up a little more. Anyway, I'll wait until things cool down.

I'm not sure what you mean by "add a second gasket."

Are you talking about stacking two carburetor base gaskets on the intake manifold? What will that accomplish?

Is your throttle linkage getting stuck or something and not returning to full close position when letting off the pedal? Lubricate all points in the system with lithium grease at the pedal and linkages. Make sure your pedal /rod isn't binding at the firewall.

Make sure your manual throttle cable has an 1/8" standoff/slack when the throttle button is pushed all the way in to the dash. By that I mean there should be an eighth inch of space between the top of your cable nut and bottom of the throttle rod when the throttle is in the fully closed position and the button is pushed all the way inso that you have to pull the cable slightly out of the dashboard before the throttle moves.

The first picture shows a 1/16" gap. The second picture is hard to see but the gap is a little more than 1/16". Just make sure that when the throttle is at full closed position that there is no tension at all from the throttle cable.

If the throttle spring is not pulling the linkage all the way back to the home position when released but you can move it to the home position manually, replace the spring with a stronger one.

After I swapped to the Carter carburetor, it was not going to the full closed position and the idle was high. I double checked the throttle cable gap and it is not holding the throttle open, there is a gap. My first thought was to cut the linkage rod, but adding a gasket to the bottom of the carburetor would raise it up a little accomplishing the same thing? When idling, I can push on the carb linkage where the idle screw is located and bring the idle down by having the idle screw touch the stop point. But, if I rev it again, the idle will be high again and idle screw is not touching that stop point. So my thoughts have been: 1) shorten the vertical linkage rod so it will pull down a little heavier, 2) add a gasket to the bottom of the carb and raise it, or 3) maybe try a stronger spring. Not sure I have a spring that will work though. None of these options seem too difficult. I'm going to look in my parts bin and see if I have a shorter linkage rod.

Have you been able to figure out the exact reason the throttle won't return to the home position when the pedal is released?

When you move it to the home position by hand under the hood, does it fully close and remain in that position? Or does it pop back up to a higher idle when you take your hand off of the linkage?

If it stays put, just install a stronger return spring. If it pops back up when you take your hand off of the linkage, something is forcing it up. You need to find whatever it is.

Yes - If I put it at the home position by hand, it will stay there and idle fine. I'll see if I can find a stronger spring. Thanks for your input Otto!

I found a couple extra springs and hopefully one will be a little bit stronger to help pull back the carb linkage.

I went for a test drive this morning before it got too hot. The idle is doing the same thing. If I punch the gas pedal and release, idle will go down. Otherwise, if I release the pedal slowly, the idle will be high. I will look at reconfiguring the linkage. As it sits now, maybe there's not much more room to pull down since the bell crank is at the bottom of its rotation?

On a side note: The Carter 2100 carburetor is running great - much better than the Rochester B. Truck starts pretty easy and no sputtering when taking off from a stop. So far I'm pretty happy with it.

John - Just a couple of observations/thoughts on your linkage and return spring stuff. First, I'd suggest finding a return spring that looks more like the top of the three pictured, but at least a 1/2"-1" shorter in overall length. The installed spring you have pictured doesn't appear to be under much if any kind of tensions at the rest position. It should have at least some tension applied even in the rest position, otherwise it may not pull your linkage to the idle stop like it should.

I'd also look at the vertical rod from bell crank to carb as it appears it might be making contact with the exhaust manifold. It could be if it's coming in contact with the manifold through its range of motion that the contact/drag is preventing the linkage from fully returning to the idle position.

Last suggestion has to do with checking your bell crank and linkage for full range of motion. I'd suggest disconnecting the pedal rod at the bell crank, checking that the bell crank and vertical rod movement allow full range of the carb throttle arm without the pedal rod. If the bell crank and vertical rod action the throttle arm through idle stop to full open and full self return (with the return spring attached), look to see if the pedal rod easily still lines up and connects with the bell crank at the idle stop position. If the pedal rod is just a tiny bit too long, that could force the bell crank and vertical rod up off the idle stop position. Especially true if the return springs isn't still under tension when things are in the idle stop position.

Glad to hear the Carter 2100 is performing well.

Thanks for your input Dan! Last night I checked the rods and nothing is rubbing, so I'm good there. I did swap the bell crank to the one that was used on my 216. I had to pull the pivot bolt from the 216 and one thing to note is coolant will leak out. So, have a replacement pivot or bolt ready to plug the hole. No coolant leaked out of the 235 - hole must not go into the coolant gallery. Anyway, the carburetor throttle plate now closes all the way and I can adjust idle. I do like the idea of finding a spring that is 1/2" shorter to give it more tension. I also created a "Short" showing the linkage in action. LINK (That's not engine noise, it's my attic fan) I don't know if the throttle plate opens fully yet, but I'm going to look at that next. My test drive this morning went well.

Also, I made it to the gas station and filled up the tank full. The fuel gauge shows around 3/4 full. I may need to adjust the float arm on sending unit.

John - Great idea on swapping to the 216 bell crank. Just looking at it, I feel pretty confident you will have both full pedal travel and full throttle plate range of motion and I think your "Short" proves that point. Good to hear no rubbing interference on the accelerator linkage and your test drive went well!

First, congrats of figuring out the issue with your throttle, sometimes the best tool in the box is persistence!

OK John, I’ve been wondering for quite a long time, what is the significance of “- If you think about it, it has been one year ago today!” in your signature line?

It was just something I heard years ago. Now, I always think about where I was or how far I've come since one year ago. I guess lots of people think in terms of 5 years ago, 10 years ago,...?

Thanks Phil. I thought I had this linkage stuff whipped long ago, but swapping carburetors brought on some new issues. I think this solution is better all-around.

Today I noticed my brake lights were no longer working. Regular tail lights, turn signals and E-flashers all worked OK. I had power to the brake light switch, so I removed the switch for testing and it worked fine. I know the brake lights go through the Signal-Stat 800, so I removed it, opened it up and used some CRC electronic cleaner spray. That seems to have fixed it and the brake lights are working again. Maybe I should upgrade to the 900, but I'll wait to see how long this fix will last.

My test drives are taking me farther and farther from home. I just turned over 100 miles and I'm getting better at double clutching when downshifting. Shocks are not so great and at some point I may change to modern tube shocks if possible. Radial tires are a huge difference from bias ply tires. Truck is tracking nicely down the road.

Heck ya!