The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Re: What did you get done on your 'Bolt today?

Made trophies and plaques for the ALL TRUCK SHOW coming up July 9th. If any of you guys are near Fairbanks, Alaska, stop in, we'd LOVE to have you.

Buddy ;~)

Nobody else started one so here we go...

Saturday night I started calling around about a few of the 'Bolts that I found for sale locally.

I talked to one guy(Named Clay) who is about as old as dirt...LOL He has a 1950 Chevy 1-1/2 ton for sale. I wanted to go look at it but decided against it because there is no title. It was good conversation though. He said that someone recently stole the hood off of it. He said he probably would have given it away if someone had asked... Funny world isn't it?

I also called about a '58 GMC Big 'Bolt (22000 GVW) and decided to go look at it Sunday.

It was last inspected in '03 and runns pretty good. It is pretty much original except for a HUGE oil filter that was added on. With the exception of the fenders, the body is pretty good. The fenders are paper thin and I don't imagine they would be very easy to find.

The best part of the truck is the Hood Bird which is near mint condition. (Its probably worth as much as he is asking for the whole truck.)

The wife has been wanting to get me an old truck to tinker with for several years. We just never seem to go looking. I'm pretty sure this one is much bigger than she had in mind though. On the way back home, we stopped to look at a '53 panel that was sitting in someone's yard with a for-sale sign on it. When I pulled in the drive, I couldn't believe my eyes. This guy is a collector of AD trucks of all kinds. He had a couple of 3100's, another panel, and a school bus. I talked to the owner's father for a few minutes. He was asking $6500 for the panel, which is way too rich for my blood. We headed home again and about a mile up the road I spotted some AD trucks behind a little store. I stopped to drool over them and noticed that many of them were for sale. I took down the phone # and realized it was the same as the one on the panel up the road.

I contacted him this morning and it would appear that my cylinder index is about to go up. He is willing to part with a couple of them very reasonably.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera along with me, but WHEN I go back, I will be snapping alot of pic's.

What a great day in my quest for rust...

Went to a show on Sat. won a $25 gift certificate. Got 3 offers on the truck thats not for sale. Went to a cruise in Sun. night. It rained and the carb got gunked up as I was driving down the Interstate :mad: The accelerator pump still worked so I had to keep pumping to get it home. Boy was my accelerator muscle sore when I got home. It was about 15 miles with about 10 traffic lights.

We picked up a new old project truck from South Dakota - posted details in the 'spoon.

With the engine installed it was time to perform the final test fit of all the sheet metal. The primary objective of this is to see if I can find all the parts that came off it 2.5 years ago. Also finished installation of the parking brake mechanism. That thing is almost a Rube Goldberg candidate.

Saturday:

Found out that carb inlet was plugged with gunk, so I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. Also installed an inline filter.

Noticed that the fuel pump was leaking. Took it apert but couldn't fix it... the PO had gunked it up with RTV in an attempt to save it.

Filled the MC with brake fluid, and managed to get the brakes working... still need to be bled.

Got all of the front lug nuts off, lubricated, and back on.

Banged the majority of dents out of both front fenders.

Finally killed the bees that decided to make a nest in the ground by the donor van... after two weeks and six cans of wasp & hornet killer... poured seven dust in their hole... amazing... no more bees!!!

Sunday:

Went to the 22nd annual Back Mountain car show... will post pics in the event section.

Took the fuel pump off the donor van and installed it in the truck.

Took the HEI Dist. off the donor van and started to install it in the truck... I am making a clamp for it today.

Scoped out the Alternator in the donor van... that will be fun to get out... I will probably be cutting the Rad. support out first.

My Bolt has been layed up for a month while I've been down and out with Lyme Disease which brought on an onslaught of Viral Meningitis, Pneumonia and Bell's Palsy... Not fun at all!

Meanwhile, before all this I had started to replace the king pins... finished that last Friday with the help of my younger son. Then went to replace the rear pinion bearing and seal... couldn't get the old one out it was all busted up (Oh! So THAT'S what that noise was!)... Now have the rear end all apart and will start reassembly this afternoon....

I'm desperately trying to get her back on the road by Wednesday as the PO who is a good friend of mine will be here from Colorado and I really want him to see all I've done and get a chance to drive her.

And, oh yeah, while I was working on the truck I got THE call... we became first time Grandparents!! And here I thought I was still 32...

So that was my weekend!

Filled the tank and drove all over town.

Watched all the people that were out and about. (Some watched me.)

With the cooler weather finally getting here, it was a beautiful weekend.

As far as trucks... I worked on putting a new clutch in my '91 GMC S15. One of the springs let loose on the clutch plate. The original clutch lasted 105k. miles, this last one lasted 90k. The last 20k miles on this clutch was my two teenagers learning to drive. The clutch went out, go figure.

Rick

Getting better each day... just tired a lot now.

Now with a grandson, I'm rethinking about adding seatbelts! I'm definitely going to want to 'influence' the little guy about the important things in life.. like riding around in an old Bolt!

Went to the lumber yard on Saturday and loaded up 6 2x6x8, 14, 5/8x6x8, 4 concrete 4x4 bases, 4 4x4x8, and related hardware to build a treehouse for the kids. It's going to be a big deal by the time I'm done. My radiator cap doesn't fit quite right and it fumes a little but isn't really getting too hot. I need a new radiator anyway it's just finding the extra toy car money to buy it. Truck hauls good.

Congrats Larry Bear.

Hosed off the 55.1 and hung out at a car show Saturday. Always fun to kick back and talk to car/truck nuts all day. Got a line on a '74 GMC Sprint w/ factory 454. Is that a Bolt?

Buddy

Thanks all! Joshua Aiden Bearfield was born on 8/19... at 7:12 PM... weighed 8lbs 12 oz. (Mom is only about 105lbs!)... Us Grandparents are still in awe. I'm more than certain that he'll grow up loving the ol Bolt!

Started working on sound/heat insulation....layed down the "peel and seal" roof patch on the floorboard and inside doors, got to the headliner removed it and found a 5lb mouse nest...(I always wondered why my headliner was bowed-out!!!) Took it for a test drive...man, what a difference that made, I can almost hear myself think. Still have to pull seat and gas tank and put peel and seal there and then some foil back insulation over all areas.
Also put in inline shut-off valve for heater and plugged some holes in firewall..that also made a difference in cab temperature.

Chuck

Didn't work on mine over the weekend, but took this week off, and worked on it today. Does that count? Needed to replace the battery cables, and so did that today. The battery is still under the floor, so it took a little longer. Also took some time to clean off all the bugs that got on it when I had it out on the 4th of July evening. I also spent some time working on a couple of the non-bolt trucks, as I'm taking 3 of them to a show later in the week.

All "we" did this week-end was haul 36 tons of lime chips on Friday and a couple of tons of lumber Saturday and Sunday. My little 64 had to haul a new washing machine home Saturday morning. The thirty year old transmission in my old washer locked up, maybe I should put in a SM420 or a T-5. Nah, the wife would have killed me, even being the good sport that she is.

Congrats on the little one Larry!
Scott

I took my second drive around the neighborhood in my 49 Suburban. Actually conned the wife and daughter into going. No doors, seats weren't bolted down, headers only.... the look on my 14 year old was priceless. God I love old trucks...

After two or three years (yes, YEARS), I have finally began making progress on my 51 half ton.

This past weekend I exchanged the 3.00 third member for 3.50 third member formerly residing in my '66 F-100. I also used my new scarificing tip and cut off all the unneeded brackets on the Lincoln Mark VII diffy going under the '51. I almost had the old 235 and 4 speed pulled from the pickup, but a thunderstorm interrupted my work Sunday afternoon. I had these out in 20 minutes this evening. I measured the input housing on the GM 89MM tranny I will be using and will take this housing and my bell housing to a machine shop to have my bell housing bored to accept the larger modern input housing. I was suprised to find that the Muncie M421 was attached to the bell housing with only two bolts inside the clutch housing. Of the other two bolts that point toward the front, one was missing and the other was just started about a turn.

I still need to get freeze plugs in my overhauled 261 and transfer the water pump, distributor, and intake manifold from the 235 to the 261. I may decide to get a Clifford manifold later to better utilize the split exhaust manifold I make a couple years ago.

I may just get this back on the road yet:)

finally had some time to get back to work on the boys 50. got the second cab stripe wires,gages, the works are out, ready for the the sand paper and blasting only 2 dents, and a few holes to fill were the top lights mounted. other then that this one is in good shape. the 1st one was mice heaven, was not much left of the top front.. till latter keep working everyone...mike j

Well, the weekend was slow, but in the week before, my 59 Fleetside 3200 did a lot of work. I took it to the equipment rental place to pick up and drop off a power dethatcher, and to the store to buy some shelving and cabinets for the garage. Regrettably, the truck was unable to dethatch the yard for me. Later on in the week, I assembled and installed all the storage stuff, so now I have room in the garage to work on the truck! I also ordered a boatload of parts, including new side and vent glass, about which I'm very excited.

Now it's time to go pull some ID numbers off the SM420 so I know which rebuild kit to buy.

My wife and I went to the DMV and surrendered the new plates we got from AAA last weekend so we could get the paperwork started to have our YOM commercial plates assigned to the truck. Now, we wait to hear from DMVs Sacramento Special Plates Unit. (Can you believe they have a whole unit to handle these specific tasks and it still takes them like a month of Sundays to process these requests?)

The truck was at the paint shop getting its final touch ups, so that was the extent of truck stuff this weekend.

I did get to spend Sunday with my dad to celebrate his 75th birthday, but I guess that part needs to go in the spoon!

I hope everyone has a good week!

What are you doing to or with your 'Bolt this weekend?

Report!

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I am finally in VERY deep into my long researched and many times before attempted emergency/parking brake cable and internal rear drum brake parts installation on my '65.

I am getting close... I hope.

So, what did you folks do to or with your 'Bolts?

-W

just rode it around the yard managed to get it stuck and had to pull it out. As dry as it's been up here figured no problem.

I drove The Coupe with a truck block to the barber shop, then to the post office...

then got home and found out something killed and ate one of my chickens... probably a hawk.

Cleaned up the 49 and went to a very small cruise in Lochbuie, CO. Great burgers and homemade potato chips. Met up with Jed from the Bolt & his family. Talked trucks, cars & misc. nonsense. All around good day.

Wrenching a little on the '67 C-10. Painted one of the wheels going on it, found out the paint and the original finish aren't compatible. Crap. Might look into a used blaster (got the room!). Got a new ignition switch and wired it up. Drove it about a mile yesterday to see what it might need and how it handled; definitely some work coming on it! Starts instantly! Front seat goes to the upholstery hack this week.

Worked on the '67 Dodge truck, too, did a little sanding on it and painted the step bumper.

Sat... Took the new 52 out to a neighborhood show. Wife drove the 46. Met Shipwright there, and enjoyed the afternoon with him and his son.

Sat. evening, went out to dinner with the in-laws, and missed a hellacious cruise night, out in Golden, CO. I'm told the estimates were in excess of 1,000 cars in attendance.

Sun. morning, met the local group for BS and McD's. Cruised the 52.

Overall, put about 150 miles on the new truck this weekend. A real good time.

Saturday I moved Jr's 57 panel body and dragged the blazer frame out in front of the garage. Sunday we cut the frame and added 7-1/2" to get the desired 114" wheelbase. Lots of welding... I am getting pretty good at verticals and overheads.

We also pulled the intake off of the 350 and cleaned / painted the oil pan. Jr. took lots of pictures to document this for his senior project.

I have been cutting the rusty metal out of my bed sides on my 46 1/2 ton, Finished the passenger side and found a load of body puuty on the wheel well covering a tear in the metal so I had to cut and weld that also. Passenger side is finished, now starting the drivers side. So far this is taking twice as long as I had expected. But I try and go into this with the thought plan times two and maybe I will be ahead of schedule.

Ed

I didn't get to play with either of mine because my dad put me to work tearing down the front end of his '59 car on Sunday. Fun just the same, though.

My job was to start disconnecting the electrical cables and motors for the retractable hardtop. What an amazing lesson that was!

It's a good thing I have a thick head of hair, because I pulled a good deal of it out this weekend with the '46 1/2 ton.

Since the '46 2 ton runs fine, I figured i'd just "borrow" parts to figure out what the 1/2 ton needed and didn't need.. well I ended up going and buying a new coil, points, and condenser last night.. my points spark is much greater than it was with the 2 ton's old coil.. but it still isn't starting.

Did manage to get the cab cleaned out, new gas tank in it, put a new carb on, and have the fuel system working A-OK.. and remounted the passenger front side tire on a fresh black rim so now all the rims match.

I'll fiddle with it some more today.

Saturday morning I got up early and installed a new fuel guage and a few floor (brake/clutch/gas pedal)seals in Dusty. Got everything done and took Grand Daughter (9) for about a 10 mile cruise--she said she sure enjoys riding in PaPa's old truck! Oh, and the speedo just rolled over 1,000 miles since the restoration!

My 48 is parked for an overhaul and new clutch. I have a 51 rolling chassis with a 216 and I started to get it ready to start and see if it runs. I took the battery and some of the other parts off of the 48 and got the 51 216 to turn over so I could check the compression. I got 3 of them done before the starter quit working. I am encouraged and hope I can use this engine while I work on one of my 235's. I may just fix the clutch and keep driving my tired engine, because I miss my truck.
Ralph

I have ebrakes! WOO HOO.

read all about it if you would like to:

http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1316491&an=0&page=0#1316491

Thanks to all who have replied to my posts, sent me emails, images, paper copies of diagrams, private messages and moral support for the past two years I have been trying to get this put together.

-W

I finally got my throttle linkage worked out. Iused the 1940 bell crank and made a link from that to the manifold linkage with 1/4 rod. I also finished the manifold to carb linkage with rod ends from McMaster Carr and Vintage Speed. I'll put up pictures soon as I can.

Bill Schickling

Replaced a leaky radiator cap and used the truck to haul the squash and pumpkins outta the garden. The tractor is at the painters for a repaint.

kids and pumpkins

Pulled the foot controls, steering column and cab glass. The cab is now stripped and awaiting completion of its new dolly.

I pulled my 53 apart. Striped to the frame and ready for a thorough cleaning and rust removal.
Lots of welding and grinding to do fo the next few months.

I spent much of the weekend finishing plans for a new workshop/storage building. I needed to get my plans done so I could apply for a building permit. Weather permiting, I hope to have my '42 inside this winter. The '59 Viking is running good and I hope to use it a lot while working on my new building. It has been very helpful so far hauling rock, and its 12' flatbed makes a great platform for trimming trees. Hopefully, it will also work as a makeshift rolling scaffold.
Any work on my bolts will have to wait at least until I get walls and a roof. Late winter, or maybe even spring is probably more realistic. Although, I do plan on trying to keep tuned in to the Stovebolt as much as possible.

I didn't do anything to my truck this weekend. It was my best friend's wife's birthday, and I was stuck in the kitchen.

However, on Thursday, I fired the ol' girl up and let 'er run for a half hour or so while I finally attached the Clevis to the brake handle.

And I squirted some breakaway on my brake lines and the lugs on my wheels. I even climbed under the truck and sprayed the parking brake pulleys.

On Friday I ordered some brake lines. (Finally)

That's pretty much it.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.

I spent my 4 day weekend turnin peoples apples into sacks of 20's - does involve one ol truck part tho, and I don't mean the tractor seat

Bill