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

It never ends, Jerry.

...and ain't it great.

Yesterday I picked up a radio head for a late 30s radio that I will use to turn on and off the modern stereo in the glove box.

I installed the Lokar shifter and then modified my wiring harness. Now I have to figure out how to make it all fit and still look good. Going to mount the engine control module abouve the steering wheel along with 4 relays and 7 fuses for the 5.3.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae90/scrambler45/100_1668_zps7d7bed16.jpg

Bedrail Headaches:
After sanding over the urethane and bringing the redwood back to original I put the first coat back on last night and then this afternoon sanded with 320 grit and put on the 2nd coat. Tomorrow I'll ruff up with the 320 and put on the 3rd coat. Then Tuesday night I'll flip them over and start on the other side. When I finish with the side rails I'll take care of the side posts. Hopefully I'll be finished by Saturday.

Got the old generator pulled and getting ready to put in the alternator to convert to 12 volts. Was able to get 3 of 4 of the nuts off of the speedo before getting frustrated and calling it a day. Big hands and arms don't fit too well in small places. Fought another battle to try and get the key cylinder out to replace it. It's still winning that fight every time we go at it....But I will win the war...

Atta boy, bring out the cannons!

After a bit of a search for a brass 1/4" FNTP to 3/8" hose barb, I finally got the entire fuel system replaced!

Pt.1 - http://rustyfiftyone.com/2012/09/21/f-the-haystack-the-needle-has-been-found/
Pt.2 - http://rustyfiftyone.com/2012/09/22/tanked/

Had a good weekend on the '59. First got the brake pedal assembly and master cylinder mounted.
http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...view&current=mastercylinder92412.jpg

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...action=view&current=masterc92412.jpg

Then I got the steering column in

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...view&current=steeringcolumn92412.jpg

And then recruited the family to help get the windshield in

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...ion=view&current=windshield92412.jpg

OK for my '59 project, NEW Window Glass and Glass Setting Tape is on the way! WOOP WOOP! HOLLA!
I also ordered the set of barrel nuts and screws for the lower window channel assemblies and sanded the assemblies to bare metal and painted them.
I have my lower window seals at the aready... now I'm anxiously awaiting arrival of those parts.
I still need to install my door weatherstripping in the meanwhile. I picked up the adhesive for that, yesterday after work.
Getting these doors completed will be a major victory for me.
Jerry

My son came home early yesterday from football practice so I enlisted his help in getting the visor mounted.

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/.../?action=view&current=visor92612.jpg

My new door window glasses and setting tape arrived yesterday for my '59.
I was really hoping for the best but preparing for the worst as I've heard and read that installing the glass can be a bear of a project.
It actually took me about an hour to do both windows completely.
They really look great in my newly painted frames!
I'm about ready to install them into the doors... Hopefully, this weekend.
Jerry

Ordered my windshield rubber! I found some front spindle bolts from Paul, and looked at it. 1936 wrecker

Went down to where she's stored...cleaned her out again. Took couple hundred pics, scraped off as much crap and gunk off the engine & underside as i could. Next week Im out there, Im gonna pressure wash the engine, and clean & drain the fluids..see if I can get her to fire up.

Finally finished the bedrails, pics below.
Finished

Well, I got the exhaust done on the '62 yesterday. Now it's street legal again after 5 years of sitting in the side yard.

I took it out for a spin and it died on the freeway. Towed it home last night and got started working on it this morning. Ten minutes into the job, I found the problem. The condensor wire and the coil wire had come off where they tie together at the points. Fixed that, then took the wife out for beakfast. Before we had gone 2 miles, it died again, same issue. Fixed it again and it died a second time before we could get back to the house.

Now I'm frustrated with it. so we leave it at the house and go back out to get the breakfast we wanted. I got to thinking about it while we were out. I seemed to remember there used to be a small screw that held those wires to the points, not just the breaker spring holding pressure on them. So I removed the plastice insulator, drilled it for a 6-32 screw and reinstalled everything using a fiber washer to insulat the nut from the breaker plate.

Now it runs fine. I was able to put about 35 miles on it today taking my daughter to work with no ignition issues.

Now I just need to solve the overheating problem. Might need to get a new radiator. The old 235 radiator probably isn't big enough for the 327. Well, one issue at a time.

Ain't it fun.

On my '59 doors, since the window regulators, vent window assemblies and door windows were a monster task to remove, I expected assembly to REALLY be a job.
I didn't have a reference on steps for assembly but after a few tries, I got it down! The passenger door is done and I'm very pleased with it. The driver door is next and now that I know the pattern, it should be a breeze!
Jerry

New wheel cylinders and seals on the 1940 WB 1-1/2 Ton. Man those rear seals were tough to get out! Also working on installing the missing center grille baffle to the back side of the grille and upper baffle.

Thanks to the work I did to the '62 over the weekend, I was able to drive it in to work today and show off the truck everyone has heard me talking about. Now they don't have to just look at pictures any more. This is the first time it's been here in over 5 years. Most of the people here don't remember it coming in before.

I installed mud flaps and a dealer emblem from the original dealer that sold this truck when it was new. The dealer has been out of business many years.
I found the dealers nephew and he had these items.

emblem

mud flaps

Well done bedrails.

It was a great weekend for working on the truck. We got the electric wiper motor and new arms installed.

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...?action=view&current=wipers92812.jpg

The back window and trim in

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...ion=view&current=backwindow10112.jpg

The new steering linkage fabricated (glad I have a buddy with a machine shop)

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...iew&current=steeringlinkage10112.jpg

The inner fenders mounted

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...n=view&current=innerfenders92912.jpg

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...=view&current=innerfendersB92812.jpg

and last night we finished the mega mat sound deadening

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...ction=view&current=megamatA10212.jpg

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...ction=view&current=megamatB10212.jpg

John,
Your progress reminds me of my own through the past 6 years. Your attention to the right details will serve your project well.

I finished the drivers side oversized(.020) king pin on my 36 wrecker,came out nice! I used the spindle bolts from a 39 and they were 1/2 instead of 7/16,much stronger than what i had.Just had to drill out all the holes and it was a great fix, now to do the other side.

Got my '52 back from medial blaster. Lots of raw metal trying to re-rust. Got the frame epoxy primed and finish painted. Now starting to get the suspension/axles out from under it to start rebuilding of those items. Nice to see the frame free of rust and painted. Will start priming cab, fenders, bed, running boards, etc. tonight.

Next night...got the cab in primer. Lots of pin holes and sheet metal to repair. Next up, rear fenders, cab sides, hood, and running boards.

Third night (well afternoon/early evening before dark): Got the hood halves, seat springs, seat frame, bed sides, running boards, and one side of door epoxy primed before running out of primer...bummer. Still have rear fenders and second side of doors to go...

I completed the doors project for the '59. WHEW!
I'm all pumped up over that victory.
Besides the doors, the next big problem area of this truck rebuild that's been heavy on my mind is the front fenders... so that's next.
I can totally DO this!

Jerry

Two weekends ago, with the new fuel system in and everything running great, my girlfriend and I hit the final Chuck-a-Burger Drive-In cruise night of the summer. On the way there the steering mast bearing fell apart. Finally got it all pulled apart last weekend. New one should be delivered today and I hope to have it installed tonight!

http://rustyfiftyone.com/2012/10/04/mastbearingectomy/

is that screw rubbing the shaft?
...pic...
might be what caused your mast bearing to fail?

Good eye dad.

Wrong carpet arrived so while waiting for the replacement we installed 2 /12 inch drop spindles and new disc brakes.

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...n=view&current=dropspindles10812.jpg

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/...ion=view&current=disckbrake10812.jpg

No, those are the column shift collar screws and they're close but they don't hit. They're also an inch or two further down the column than the bottom of the mast jacket and actually stopped the bearing assembly and spring from sliding further down.

What I believe happened was that the material between the jacket and bearing assembly deteriorated and the tension of the spring pushed the bearing portion out of the jacket over time.

Even after having my tranny in the burb reworked to prevent it, it still occasionally jumped out of 3rd gear. The rebuilder told me it must be in the linkage or the pilot bushing. Now I didn't give much credence to the pilot bushing theory because GMCs use a pilot bearing. And I knew the shifter was going all the way into 3rd. But after it jumped out 4 times in 300 miles this weekend I decided to take one more look last night. I pulled the floor cover and started studying.

I found that when it was fully engaged into 3rd, the shift rod was fouling hard against the 1st-reverse rod. Jiggling the 1st reverse rod would kick the 3rd lever out of it's lock detent. Of course when that happens on the road it's only a matter of time before it jumps out of gear.

I tweeked the 2nd-3rd arm to allow clearance. I haven't test driven it yet but I feel confident I've solved that problem.

Then I moved to the hood latch. I had trouble opening the hood at a car show Saturday. It has been hard to open for a while and I put white grease on it recently but it hardly helped. Last night, after struggling to open the hood again, I pulled the latch to try to fix it. I couldn't find anything obviously wrong with it except it has years of dust caked into the grease on the underside. Rather than clean it up I installed a cleaned and painted latch I had in my swap meet inventory. It opens like a new one now.

When we were in Kansas City my Suburban started an annoying metal to metal squeak. We traced it to the driver's door. But I could not find any signs of metal to metal in the door jamb or on the door. Yesterday I finally figured it out. The screws holding the bottom of the window track were missing and the rack was rubbing inside the door. Of course I had to pull the door panel to fix it. While I was in there I fixed another problem.

I had previously put a locking button in the driver's door handle but it quit locking. So I pulled that out. I discovered the keeper that holds the springs in had broken, one end of it was bent up, keeping the springs from pushing the pins into position. So while I had it out I re-pinned it to work with the ignition key. I didn't like the idea of having a separate key anyhow. I installed new springs as required and a new keeper.

I think we're now ready for the Lone Star Loop 1000 mile trip coming up in a couple of weeks.

ok
I'm a floor shift guy
the screw looked long in the pic, like it would rub the shaft.

my bad

The screw you're looking at in that pic is not original and is actually a tad longer than the other one which is original but it doesn't hit the mast.

My thought was that the screw was rubbing against the steering shaft not the bearing mast.
and the shaft was applying side pressure on your bearing mast causing it to fail.

Hadn't thought of that... I planed on replacing both screws eventually anyway, perhaps I'll make a stop by Ace Hardware on the way home tonight.

I got a 1947 dump bed home from Montana!

Just realized, what you're calling the steering shaft, I'm calling the steering mast. Either way, there are no rub marks on the pole that connects the steering wheel to the steering box.

The way I was understanding it ... Column > Mast Jacket > Mast Bearing > Mast/Shaft

Cletis,
Great horde of information here for little squeaky irritating problems many of us suffer with.