The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Drove the Bolt 330 miles today

Just around the block for some, lifetime journey for others, but today is the longest one day mileage for me in either of the bolts. it was about 165 each way. only had one minor issue and that was operator error, not the truck. Cruised around 43-48 most of the day, stayed right around 180'F all day and pressure remained good. It did cook off a little more of the exhaust manifold paint- It is a 216 painted the original grey- so is the header and intake so the ex header is turning a nice white-
I did notice the throttle sticking on the carb a little just after midpoint So I added a bottle of carb and injector cleaner and that took care of it for the most part. Probably need a little tune up on the carb. Last night I did get the right rear shackle changed out for a new one- much smoother ride now. fresh air heater leaves a little to be desired when you have a 40'F 30 mph cross wind blowing from driver's side to passenger side. but otherwise everything was fine. averaged about 16 mpg running 87 octane the entire trip. This would be the most mileage I would plan for in a cross country trip(which I am planing) Took about 8 hours total not counting stops. It was the 1/2 ton btw
Thought you might like to know.

cool! it was a nice day around here to do it too. i did a trip to central iowa about a month ago in my 70 with a 292. watched the oil and temp gauges like a hawk.

Good job, sounds like a good trip. The old stuff was built good, alittle bit of care and they will still get it done with no problems. I think you will be very impressed at how will they will do, I know I have always been impressed with the old iron. Good luck on your cross country trip, get some miles on her and get her dialled in. I bet it will do that trip just as well.

Sounds like you had an EXCELLANT ADVENTURE!

That sounds like a pretty cool trip. I originally had trouble with a sticky throttle and it turned out to be the acc pump sticking in the bore.

We hope to hear more about your travels!

Your making me jealous!

I can't wait for the day.............

That's exactly why we do this!

Keep us informed of any more adventures.

Jock

The Little Stovebolt that Could!! sounds great

Mike

One minor afternote- yesterday was the long drive, today, Flat front right tire. But that was when I got home from work, so Maybe it is just resting?

I think it deserves a rest! That is a great trip.

I took mine 200 miles in June 2008 but it was 107 degrees that so it was no fun at all... I'd love to take it on a out of state trip next.

Any suggestions now that you've gone 300+?

Well, the day after- Besides carrying a spare- maybe some of the green goo in the tubes ahead of time, just to catch any small stuff, But I carried enough oil for a change, a gallon of gear oil, an oil change pan, a gallon of coolant, a funnel, the usual tool kit with everything up to 1" in wrenches,

I will tell you that I planned for a break every 40 miles, on the way to see my customer, I was actually taking an assembly to a customer, and I decided to take the old truck, So I stuck to that on the way and did not have any issues, stop once an hour, walk around for a few minutes, bathroom, look over the truck(just visual)
On the way back- I went 50 miles the first leg, then 30 miles, then 90. I was ready to get out of the truck by the end of the day.

I carried a little battery powered radio, that helped(the dash radio I have is in the other truck) and I would also make sure you have a fully charged cell phone battery just in case. Oh I also carry a grease gun, spare fuel filter, and some leather gloves and rags. In the glovebox I have the shop and assembly manual, flashlight, and a tin of pipe tobacco and a pipe, matches.

If I changed anything It would be to carry a blanket Winter, if I brokedown,

I am also thinking of a slow moving vehicle triangle for the back of the truck- Had a lot of people that would just FLY up behind me in broad daylight and slam on the brakes.

Did I mention a radio would be good?

Yelostn78,
You may want to check with state laws before you post a slow moving vehicle triangle on your truck. Some states use a fixed mph, such as slower than 25 mph, to determine what vehicles can legally display the triangle.
Samantha

Good advice, Samantha. You must be traveling slower than 25 mph to use the
triangle on your vehicle in Kansas.

http://www.ksdot.org/burtrafficsaf/sns/Presentation/sharing.asp

Was this the 3600 or 3100. I'm jealous... you found such cherry trucks!

Kansas does state that it must be for 25 mph or slower, but numerous LEO(cops) have said that it is not a bad idea, especially for state and fed two lane hwy's. But I will probably just add some 40's-50's metal framed reflectors, just in case I run into deputy Fife.


It was the 3100 with the 216 and the column 3 speed
I wish the trucks were that cherry.
On both I went through the engines- fresh gaskets for the cylinder to head, head to rocker arm cover, oil pan, and soon I will put in new rear main seals. I also drained the trans fluids, (both were pretty clean) and flushed them with diesel, then allowed them to dry and refilled. Same with the rear end, But that was awhile back on the 3600, the 3100 it was in october of last year.

The 3100 is original- 55800+/- miles so I really just cleaned and repainted the engine and replaced the thriftmaster decal, the rest was in good shape, rebuilt the carb, new oil filter of course, new fuel filter under the tank. It has a carter accessory fuel filter mounted to the inlet of the carb, it has a sintered metal element that I back flushed with warm diesel fuel. Other than that, Oh, new right rear shackle the other day, It is stock.

The 3600(I have threads on both) I completely tore apart and serviced, painted everything, now I treated rust, but I did not do a show stopper paint job, just enough to keep it from rusting until I can afford the paintwork, I can handle the mechanical, but I am not a body work guy, and Kudos to those that are.
I drive them around town of course- but prefer the open road, I do not run them hard, I just cruise and watch my gauges, if the oil pressure is a little higher than normal, I know that I am a little low, if the temp runs a little higher, then I know My mix is off- usually to much water, not enough coolant, or it is a little low. The other most important thing, Is I expect them to break down, so if it does happen it is not the end of the world, and I make my plans with cushion in them in case something happens. It is great fun though- I bought a bunch of 1949 maps(since both of my trucks are 49, kansas if it is prior to 1950 you can leave them bone stock, single tail light, seat belts, etc) so I like to cruise as much as the original hwy's as possible and see what the truck owner's would have seen then. What is really fun is if you get an old gas station map, finding the stations marked on it in the little towns, in Kansas most of them are still standing, most abandoned, but still standing. Especially when they are some old off brand.(I like Skelly for example)
Well Off to drive around some more.
More later.

That is good road advice. Thanks. When I think back, my problem was I tried to go 100 miles without a break like I'm in my new car... Should have really thought about it before hand and tried to take an enjoyable slow drive. I'll folow your advice next time!

Bill

Yep a really good idea, following and old map like that. I would like to try that, dont know if it would work around here though, So Cal - L.A. area. But I think thats the way to do it though. I have done a couple 300+ mile trips in my COE, so far so good. Your way sounds much better though, I will try to plan better next time. Mt truck did fine, almost did not even get out a tool. Though I was amazed at how slow my progress was, kept looking at my watch thinking that cant be right :-)If I remember right it took us about 7 hours to do alittle more than 170 miles one way and yes I was ready to get out of the truck too!Curvy mountain roads, kept my speeds down for sure. I stopped maybe twice to stretch and was pretty intimidated, the truck handled it fine.

Yeah the COE's look a little top heavy, even with the engine and frame so low- I could see where you would want to go a little slower in the curvy stretches, You know I used to think man why did all these little towns have two or three little motels or hotels, when you drive the old truck long distance it makes a lot more sense, especially the way they laid out the old roads and hit every town, You stopped, regularly along the route to take a break, not smooth and fast and long distance like my current car.

Well I pulled my bad tire- The air escapes from around the valve stem, and I have not taken the tire off the rim yet, but it looks like a tubeless valve stem in a tube tire?
It is the kind that you pop through the tire and it holds itself to the rim, the front tires are old, well all the tires are, so I think I might check into fresh shoes and socks for the old truck There is a town close by that has a guy who sells cordovan tires, so I think I will get some highways for the front and rear, this baby isn't for gravel roads anymore!

We will see tomorrow- the other tires are holding air fine, so maybe I will keep them for potential spares or maybe just the one in the best shape- the truck still has the original spare mounted that came on the truck It looks a little ready for change- plus that will give me a chance to sandblast and paint the rim

I even pulled the valve stem and put in a new one first off, thinking maybe a worn stem(I could not find and puncture or nail) and the old stem was strange- never seen that type before- has a long center shaft that has about a 1 inch spring on it that protrudes into the stem rather than the modern conventional type.
SO we will see- I might just pop the beads on the tires and put fresh tubes in- and see how long they last- But I will still get the fresh spare though.

More details later.

So the tire that went flat,
the tube had been patched 7 times by the previous owner- I pulled the tire, popped the bead and pulled the tube out- It was ready to come out.
I tom the tire over to the local tire shop that handles the farm trucks and they put in the new tube in that tire- So now we are all good- (charged me $5)

So I picked up 4 more tubes, and I will pick up another new tire and have them refresh the rest of the tubes, and put the new tire on the spare rim. The rubber mounted to the spare is one of the original front tires from when the truck was new. So I will keep it after it is dismounted. BF Goodrich silver-tone or something like that- It has seen better days, but it's tube still holds 30 psi of air.

It looks like the previous owner bought new tires a few years back and reused the OLD tubes- I know the tubes last awhile- but I think the tubes are older than me.
So anyways, easy fix, I have had requests for more deliveries in the old truck from my customer- they love it.