The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Got another one: a 1952 6400 with a 161" wheelbase.

Hi all;
Well,I acquired another truck. My '54 GMC 350 is waiting on brake parts;I'm going to convert it to a dual reservoir master cylinder with a power brake booster,but will have to get an adjustable proportioning valve. While I was waiting for another check,I negotiated a deal on a '52 6400 with a 161" wheelbase. It's gonna need a LOT of work,but it's a dump bed,so it'll work out okay financially,I think. Since this is still a little tentative I'm not going all out on it,but I do have some questions.
1--What engine would this have had originally? It looks like a 216,but I thought Chevy had gone to the 235 by '52.
2--Did the '52 Two ton have roller bearings in the front hubs,or ball bearings?
3--how common are the U-joints in this beast? It feels like it'll need all new ones.
4--The parking brake drum on this appears to be stamped steel-what are the chances of finding a cast one that's a little "rounder"? The E brake was all the brakes it had getting it out to storage,and it developed a pretty major shudder at anything over about 10 mph whenever I used it,and I noticed it had a pretty odd wear pattern,like it was bent.
5--The last two of these trucks I've had,I couldn't get the cowl vents to open more than an inch. The linkage worked freely,but they just wouldn't open. How do I adjust it,and how can I tell if the linkage is bent? Are there any diagrams that show measurements of the parts so I can measure the angles or something?
So far here's what I've discovered:
The engine's locked up;the seller says it ran 4 years ago,and has been under a closed hood with air filter on.
The clutch seems to move when the pedal's pushed,but I couldn't put it in gear when the truck was moving. I found a used but still relatively good clutch disc under the seat.
ALL the windshield wiper parts except the transmissions are gone.
Something is stuck in the dipstick tube about 2" down from the top. I didn't find a dipstick,but I probably have one that will work.
The driveline for the hydraulic pump is gone,except for the slip yoke at the pump. I'm going to start from scratch on this. It'll be about 94" long I think,and can be a one piece with slip yoke since there's very little movement from transmission to pump.
It has aftermarket turn signals wired up,the turn signal switch is one with a self-cancel wheel on it. This switch was off the column and just hung over the top of the column,leading me to wonder if there's a wiring problem or if the owner just needed the clamp for something else.
Both door glasses are very hard to roll up or down,and the window channels seem very loose.
NO rust in the floors OR cab corners!!
Time to get some sleep-I have to drive to Reno in about 5 hours to sell some scrap and bring another Harley back.
Speed

235 engine was in all '47-'53 6000 series trucks. The 216 was in nothing larger than the 4000 series.

Sounds like mud daubers,or other pesty insects found a place to get into the engine and make a mess of things. I had a mouse nest between the clutch-disc/pressure-plate,that made a mess of things,as well. Urine "froze" the parts together. Doesn't take long for critters to play havoc with "our" treasures. May need to pull the pan,to inspect your "bottom-end",but it sounds like a complete rebuild,or engine/tranny swap.

Spanky;
That's what I thought I remembered reading-thanks for confirming. Apparently it's a babbit-pounder;the oil pressure gauge only goes to 30 pounds. If I end up having to go into the engine for anything more than superficial work I'll probably retro it to a full pressure bottom end and inserts,and do the full flow oil filter conversion. I'm still kinda hoping to jigger the rings free and see if it'll actually run,though.
Willy;
It occurred to me that a mud dauber sealed the dipstick hole,but whatever's in there feels a little more "solid" than that. The rst of the engine appears to be properly sealed up,but I suspect you're right about the clutch etc.
My tentative plan for freeing the engine is to dose the cylinders heavily with ATF,let it soak for a few days,chain the bumper of my BroncWorth to the front bumper of the truck and rock it back and forth in gear until it starts to turn. Then I'll hook up my battery and crank it with the plugs out until I'm sure there's no tight spots or metal/metal interference. Then I'll put new plugs in it,file and adjust the points,give it fresh gas,pressure feed the carb with about 3# of air and make sure the float works. (Might take the carb off to see if it has crud in it that needs to be removed.) Of course,this is all subject to change.
I began pricing a drive shaft for the PTO;the first estimate is just under $500.00!!! There's one more shop in town that I want to check,see what the parts I need would cost,I guess I can build one easily enough. Is there a "typical" shaft diameter for these PTO pumps and drives? Sounds like a 2 piece shaft with a slip yoke and carrier bearing is pretty much mandatory for a 94" total length. I do have some odds-n-ends of PTO drive parts,so I'll dig 'em out and see what will work for this thing.

Speed

Speed,if you have a tractor /ag-supply store handy,they should have everything in-house,for your p.t.o. All the shafts that I've seen are square rod,(about 2").. You may be able to find a shaft that length,or maybe a little longer,and cut to length. Don't forget to "safety-wire" the "U" joints. They will slide off the shaft(s),if you don't. I've used baling wire on the old '72 C-30 tow truck,and the '69 C-65 roll-back,and had no problems. I had a 245 flathead Studebaker engine,('48), go "south" on me,about 5-years ago. P.O. knew the exhaust manifold was cracked,(2"hole),and didn't replace it. It RAN that previous November,and it ran well. I bought the 2-tonner that following February,and tried to start it. The engine was froze,due to condensation,from the hole in the manifold. I pulled the head,and the only affected piston was #5. I used ATF,Marvel,Diesel,brake fluid,and P.B. blaster,and tried breaking that engine "free" for 5-years!! I used a pry-bar,on the flywheel,as well as dis-connecting the drive-shaft,from the diff.I'd use the driveshaft as a huge breaker-bar,but the clutch would slip,before the engine would turn. I used a 2X4,and a 5 lb. mallet,to no avail. I never heard of Kroil,at the time,but that's what I'd recommend. We even tried to "pop" the clutch,at 15-20 m.p.h.,and that piston wouldn't budge. Sold the engine for scrap. Hope you have WAY better luck with yours!

That sounds like a plan. I'm thinking that I could spot weld one yoke to keep everything located. Leaving the other end loose would serve as a form of slip yoke. (I remembered I have an electric/hydraulic pump and ram that was used for a dump pick-up bed on a show truck,so I could probably use that if I had to.) I really don't know what's gonna happen with the engine;until I get the brake conversion done on my '54 2 Ton I won't have room to work on the other truck. On THAT,I'm now thinking,I've been driving the truck,loaded and empty,with a non-functional HydroVac for the past year,so I could go ahead and install the new master cylinder without the booster,then,when I have a booster for it,since I'd be moving the master cylinder closer to where the brake lines tie in,I won't even have to replace the lines. I'll only have to re-drill the bracket for the booster's bolt pattern. Since my M/C is for disc front brakes,I need an adjustable proportioning valve to tune back the pressure to the front brakes;I found one at Summit for about $38.00,so that's also on my list of parts needed. Well-maybe payday....
Speed

Okay-the '54 has brakes again,and I like the set up. When we got it put together and bled the system it had good solid pedal. I drove it around a while and re-adjusted the push rod once and all was fine. The truck was parked for a week or so,and when I drove it,the pedal was soft but still firmed up about 2 inches off the floor. My guess is I have a leaky wheel cylinder on the rear somewhere. Two pumps of the pedal got all my brakes back. I decided the weather was good to replace the borrowed electric fuel pump I'd been running on for the last 6 months. I'd bought a rotary vane electric pump and an adjustable pressure regulator with a gauge off eBay. I got it all installed,turned the key,flipped the fuel pump switch-silence. I noticed the battery voltage dropped from 12.5 to 9.5. I left the pump on and slid under the truck,and loosened the pump's end plate bolts about an eighth of a turn. The pump ran. I got out from under the truck and shut off the pump. The gauge was showing a solid 17 pounds of fuel pressure! I decided to see if the truck could run with that much pressure. When I hit the starter the engine turned a little,locked and the drive kicked out. I knew what the problem was. I cranked the engine with the key off. It blew gasoline all over the right side of the engine and my neighbor's garage. (10 feet away) I adjusted the fuel pressure to about 6 pounds,thought I had the truck ready to drive and called it a day. Next morning I jumped into the truck to go move a couple of vehicles for a friend,and-no fuel pump. I did the "loosen the end plate bolts 1/8 turn" ritual again and the pump ran for about 5 seconds and died again. The pump was temperature-sensitive. Wouldn't work in temperature colder than 10 degrees! Had to use the BroncWorth to load an SUV onto the car trailer and tow it back to town,unload it,move the trailer and park it and drive to Ryndon to push a 2-1/2 ton service truck about 4 miles to my friend's house. Next day I bought a cheap electric fuel pump from NAPA and installed it on the '54. It makes 6 pounds of fuel pressure,the truck starts easily even at -16 and runs fine.
LOW TECH RULES!!!
Speed

You might want to adjust fuel pressure a little lower.

Another option if there is rust in a cyl. is to clean it well w/ solvent, then alcohol, pour coca cola in and let it sit for a while, the phosphoric acid in coke eats rust.