Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

"vintage air has a great rep for customer service"

That hasn't been my experience.

Bought a new condenser for my '49 GMC. Doesn't fit. Fits a Chevy, but not a GMC.

Called them several times this week. All I got was "We're busy and we'll call you back"

The parts house I bought it from called them for me. After 4 or 5 days, VA responded and said the kit for the GMC and the Chevy are the same. They offered to send me a set of universal condenser brackets and suggested I could modify them to fit my GMC.

Don't answer the phone? 4-5 days to respond? $325 for a truck-specific condenser and dryer and I have to fab the brackets?

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Lucky enough Speedway Motors dose offer great service and they are doing all the leg work to make it right. VA has a good reputation, but if they are gonna send out junk, that reflects bad on them.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

yep, send it back. call and talk to the guy, if possible, and you could email some pics. then see what they will do for you. should look like new if it is new. if not it is prolly a return from somebody els's project.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I decided to work on dropping the driveline loop in my center crossmember to make room for my Gear Vendors Overdrive 2 1/2 inches. definitely not a 5 min job! Now to powder coat the center section and grind the welds then prime and repaint the frame.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

The powder coating is done!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Very nice work!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

that sucks! my last experience with VA was through summit, they changed the model number of a mini system I bought once before but the description and pictures were the same. when I got it there was no defrost outlets. I told summit the pictures and description were wrong, they basically said "huh, youre right. we drop ship from VA" and closed my case. they still havent changed the pictures or description.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks MiraclePieCo !

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I noted some marginal exhaust manifold threads in my rebuilt head so I installed a helicoil. Otherwise, since it was raining and my garage is too crowded to work inside, I was stuck doing nothing. Tomorrow's forecast is for more rain so I'll probably just work on my carburetor which, despite being brand new, is leaking.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

X2. I had a corrosion problem with a $30 pipe/fitting after buying and entire system for the truck. The guy started out nice enough, but when I requested a replacement the line went dead. He refused to communicate. I'll go to Southern Rods the next time.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Nice pix too. Love the flying sparks!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

beasty, nice job on the loop drop. you will be happier with it now.
on to the next job

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks DransportGarage and dsraven , I got everything painted, turned the frame around, put the motor transmission overdrive unit in place then started putting the removable cross member piece back in!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Right on!

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

True, now back to blocking out my hood, I hate block sanding!!!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

You'll be ready for the Power Tour and Drag Week soon!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Moved all the fittings from my old (cracked) intake over to my new intake: temp sender, heater outlet plug, brake vacuum plug, thermostat, carb studs, etc. That's the most I can do on my workbench; still waiting for the rain to subside so I can actually install the head on the engine.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Darn Rain.... when I get my truck painted and running we need to get together just for ****s and giggles!

really soon I hope!!!

Thanks Brian!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

You're getting close! Congrats for not chucking it all. There's time for that later! :haha:

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks so much for your support gentlemen! The encouragement I've gotten on this forum has been invaluable.

It's a deal. Let's meet in the middle somewhere - say the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum at Brooks?


I got the head installed and torqued down today. Tomorrow will be intake installation.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

started up the truck yesterday just to let it run a little since its been so cold. it fired as it should without hesitation and quickly went in to its higher fast idle to war up. it sounded so good I HAD to drive it a little. so a quick relaxed drive around the neighborhood. im really pleased that the carb is tuned well enough that even cold it drives well without hesitation or stumbling. every now and then im proud of my truck.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

...as we all should be. We, as builders, have done things mere mortals don't even dream of. I am sure our trucks are proud of us as well.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Eloquent!

Sometimes I look at my truck and imagine how it must feel to have sat in stasis for 20-some years and now be alive again because of my efforts. A reinCARnation, you might say!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Sounds good!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I am working on my brothers 39 Ford dash, so nothing to speak of on the truck. I did go dig out the steering box so I could see if the passenger car pitman arm fits on the box? It's about three inches shorter and would seem to work perfect on a 3" dropped axle! Could this be the holy grail of this mod on these trucks?

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm back from Florida, struggling with how to run a sewing machine, trying to find the right thread, needle, stitch spacing, tension, etc. so I can have a chance at reupholstering this steering wheel. Making progress though. Pictures coming once I have something to aim the camera at.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm envious both of your ability to sew a steering wheel and your trip to Florida!

I installed my intake manifold today. Tomorrow will probably drop in the distributor and do a static valve adjustment. No pics, this is all standard SBC procedures.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm picking up my Leaf springs and hangers along with the cab and the rest of the body panels from the blaster. Everything is in primer and will all be in one place to start the reassembly. Starting with the rear end and brake rebuild and then on to the drive train placements.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Most commercial sewing machines use a size 92 thread. You can find several colors here https://www.thethreadexchange.com/

As far as stitch spacing, longer stitches are better on leather. If there too close it will basically cut through the leather.

Unfortunately I have never made a steering wheel cover. I think the hard part may be stitching it on the wheel . You would probably want to use a leather punch like this
https://www.harborfreight.com/leathe...caAnZIEALw_wcB

Then stitch with a much heavier thread like 270. Which is available from the link above.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks for the tips and encouragement, jweb & DD. I made the loop this morning and I'm pleased so far with this relatively easy part. The right side of the first pic shows my machine-stitched seam. I used something called "extra strong nylon Upholstery Thread" made by "Coats & Clark". Bought it at Walmart, so it should be good. :confused: "ART-AD64-18" was the only number on it other than the SKU. My wife said it was thicker than what she would normally use on her household machine. and I couldn't break it with my hands. I showed it to a lady at Joann Fabrics and she said "that's good stuff." I wish I would have read your post first. I would have used a longer stitch length. I'll probably scrap this first attempt, so I can do that on the second try! (...or third, or fourth...)

The hand stitching will be done with thicker "Bonded #277 Nylon...for Upholstery Outdoor Leather Canvas Bag". It's what the YouTube video said to use. For those who are crazy enough to try this, here's the link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonded-277-...item3cd27ca6e1

I made the gang punch in the third picture so I'd be able to get even spacing. I'll break that down to a two-hole punch for the curves. I'm going to try following that with an awl, but if that's not a big enough hole I'll get a HF leather punch.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

That's neat stuff Bob, thanks for posting it.

Brian

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

^^^ We're way above my pay grade here!

I performed static valve adjustment, installed distributor, exhaust manifold, spark plugs and dipstick. Ran out of daylight.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

MPC, you're getting so close to firing it up...Jim

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm starting to realize that! At the pace I'm working I thought it would never happen! My bad back limits my work time, but also my discouragement with having to tear down the truck after it was already on the road. I enjoy building cars, but I HATE repairing them.

Today I re-installed the fan, the alternator and some wiring. Tomorrow will be trying to track down my carb leak before installation.
Thanks again for your support and encouragement!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

MPC, I've been through the same things, once it's back running, you will forget all the bad stuff...Jim

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Many of us have this aversion. I have it so bad that, when I finished my '55 sedan in 1982, the radio didn't work. To this day, the radio does not work. My GTO factory gauges have the same disease (but the under-dash aftermarket gauges work).

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Wasn't it you who had the deer collision shortly after getting your truck on the road?

1982? Yeah, that's pretty bad but I have you beat: I once sold car because the alternator light stayed on...:lol:

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

You win!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Yes I did hit a deer, but the truck had been on the road about 13 yrs. It took a lot longer getting it back on the road than it should have, but I had health problems that side lined me for almost 7 months...Jim

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Made some garage art from the old painted grille...

https://youtu.be/lWSdzjhIWBI