Dear Fellow 'Bolters:
Been hanging onto a dream for 13 years. I bought a 1952 GMC in Arco, Idaho. Pig bones and mangy dogs running around. Guy looked grateful for the C-note. Two years ago, I finally found a complete GMC 270 for it on EBay. It came out of a rotten crate from the back of a warehouse near Detroit. It had a rebuild tag on it from 1959, and an engine number that starts with AGR. There was another bidder, a guy from Belgium who restores old Army vehicles. He says that this thing was intended for an armored car called a Weasel. Four big rubber tires and a turret. Well, it had a Hydramatic hung on it; I just got the motor plus the bellhousing and flexplate. The crank has eight bolts, but an early big GMC 4-bolt flywheel slips on just fine, another Ebay purchase. Just have to drill four holes that line up. It has enormous double row pullies on it, a water pump with curved cast iron pipes that point back toward the bellhousing. But most oddly, it has a HUGE cast iron two-piece oil pan. the very bottom is a small square tin cover. There is a bypass fitting on the side of the iron pan that routes ALL the oil to an external filter. Too bad it sits on the axle when I put the engine into my GMC frame. So, I found a fairly good GMC pan from a fellow Stovebolter. So...my plan is to take this thing apart in stages and see what needs rebuilding. It has honey-colored clean oil in the pan, but a light coat of rust inside the tin oil pan. Probably get the head redone, since the valve springs have sat loaded for 45 years. Maybe get the exhaust seats done for unleaded. Anybody interested in hearing any more?
Quinn Fatherley
