1942 Chevrolet Flatbed that ate My Brain

[docrock]

So it turns out the heads were good so I had them cleaned and valves ground. The guy says these are low mile heads. Nice. Turns out they were replaced. Also the block had no wear. And its a 880 block with roller cam. The trans is a turbo 400. No Vortec heads but ok ones

[docrock]

So I detailed the motor a bit and put the cab back on the frame. Here is a cool tip. If you have a 70 Chevy steering box and you put a serpentine belt motor in it, with power steering you have a metric to sae fitting problem. Sure you can buy a hose with a fitting or adapters but why? Take the one inch nut off the back of the steering pump and replace it with your old one inch pump nut and now the hose fits. I love Chevy Trucks.

[docrock]

And now you are all caught up. So where is my brain going on this? I cant get around the tall adapters to the chassis to use the S10 chassis. I got in a wreck with a truck that had a body lift and it fell apart. So I am on a course to make a flatbed again. Or maybe a custom bed or a service bed? Just saw this the other day

[docrock]

The 70 chassis works it already is modified to fit the 42 front clip, and now with TBI it will be as reliable as my work truck. Trying today to finish installing motor mounts then the starter. We will see.

[Kermitt47]

Wow, you have been have too much fun with these old trucks!

[docrock]

Originally Posted by Kermitt47

Wow, you have been have too much fun with these old trucks!

No doubt. and this doesnt include all the other cars. 49 Merc woodie, 49 Ford woodie, 50 Ford woodie, 31 Ford woodie, 65 Chevy Truck, 53 Chevy Truck, and the 50 Studebaker Truck. Fortunately I am only working on the 49 Merc Woodie and this 42 right now. I want to drive this thing and be done with it.

[docrock]

Todays progress is... motor mounts finished. Starter is in. I rearranged the power steering hoses and put the radiator and core support in.

[docrock]

Ok now my next problem. While the cab was sitting in the shop on a dolly I was working on the 49 Olds Woodie. I finally got it to start after a long engine and trans rebuild. All assembled, radiator in, wires all complete, 6 volt system with a new Optima. Put a little gas in the NOS 2 barrel carb and it fires off. Launches across the shop and runs into my cab and my Tig welder. Wow what ride that was. If you don't know these cars don't have park. They have neutral and you use a parking brake. Well i was surprised that I wasnt quite adjusted on my brake handle. So the damage was minimal. One welding cart destroyed welder is fine. Cab has a few more dings but the big problem is the rods from the cab to the radiator support. Those are noodles now. So my question is, what is the measurement from the fire wall to the radiator support and the I will make new ones

[docrock]

Off to the Oriellys to get 21660 upper hose for the radiator. Since the neck goes straight up on the 89 TBI intake and is 1 1/2 like a stock 42 it should work perfect. The lower I had laying around and went right on. Seems like I should have these already since this was together before. I am hoping that giving myself structure and writing down what I am doing is going to push me harder.

[docrock]

By the way, I really want to paint this truck but I want to get all my structure work figured out again. This truck was originally dark blue and that looks awesome

[Rickysnickers]

Lots of good work. Keep it up and thanks for all the photos!

[docrock]

Thanks Rickey
This pic is when the Green 42 was sitting on the 70 chassis and this 42 was sitting on the original chassis. Ugh my brain

[CG]

Now my brain is "ate" lol. You got a lot of balls in the air with all of those cool projects!

[docrock]

Originally Posted by CG

Now my brain is "ate" lol. You got a lot of balls in the air with all of those cool projects!

No doubt. Thanks for looking.
Todays work is the upper radiator hose was a perfect fit so that is done. I cant do the headers until the bung and O2 sensor come, hopefully tomorrow. I figured out the hood is 35 inches so I think I am going to delete the old v rod and make some brackets off the front of the support, we will see. Started thinking about gas tanks and fuel lines. I threw the old tank in but not stoked sitting on the gas tank. started reading posts on this forum about different ideas. I like the 69 Blazer idea. Tank behind the axle. Had a few tanks laying around not liking. Managed to finish sand the Merc hood so maybe next week it gets paint. I have spent 2 months sanding, hamering, and filling a "straight hood" Thats it for today

[docrock]

more tanks

[docrock]

Merc Hood final sand

[docrock]

Got the O2 sensor and bung on Sunday. Got it welded in. Now headers are in. BTW I am not the greatest welder, so I weld hotter put more material and grind it smooth. I really need to practice more with my TIG welder, but my new Yes welding helmet works good. I also filled the holes on the front hinge support for the hood

[docrock]

Got some paint on the 49 Merc hood. It didn't flow very well today. Maybe to much humidity. Put on 4 coats of acrylic enamel, so in a month I can cut and buff it. I have been going crazy over the gas tank issue. I know i am not putting it under the seat. I like between the frame rails and in the rear. I dont have the money to buy a new tank. I really like the way the Blazer tank fits but, that is 250 bucks. A friend a while back, gave me a new gas tank for a 73 74 El Camino. I didn't think I would ever use it but, it will have to work. I looked at some pics on here of guys using similar tanks but moving the cross members. I dont know how well that works if you ever had a load in it as the spring perch is near the cross member to keep it straight. So I figured I would just clearance the cross member and see how that works. It looks like it fits so I will start making the brackets to hold the tank up to the frame. I have rubber insulator for between the frame and tank. Small problem is the filler is between the spring and the frame, but it is near the perch so it should never touch.

[docrock]

I have been working on fuel lines for a month after work. The tank is installed under the frame rails. In the pic you can see it has a top suction type fuel outlets. I installed high pressure fuel line to the filter about 18 inches away, then a high pressure fuel pump. The fuel pump is inside the frame rail and higher then the tank. The fuel line then turns to steel line all the way to the TBI. Is this going to work? I dont know how i can get the fuel pump lower then without mounting the fuel pump under the frame rail and four feet away.

[docrock]

The pump is Walbro GSL 392. Turns out its a push type. So now I need to redesign my pump and fuel line locations

[docrock]

Removed the other tank

[docrock]

Cut old braces out

[docrock]

Installing a 1987 to 1994 GM van gas tankAttachment 2406850

[docrock]

Cut a little out of the frame for the fill tube

[docrock]

no metal is touching the tank. I used fender welting to isolate the straps and top braces