1949 Chevy 3100 Build Thread

[Flysocal]

Not sure how much the truck will weigh but I'm pretty sure it will be less than a Silverado!

Painter picked up cab and front end sheet metal. I still need to do the metal work on bed get it all welded together as one unit. Need to figure out fuel filler (blazer tube on order). Slowly finalizing the accessory drive. Ordered a newer style truck water pump to get the spout pointing a better direction. Got my PS pulley pressed on. Built a mounting bracket for trick flow catch can. Belt on back order. Ordered a bunch of AN fittings for fuel system. Going to tap water pump for AN heater fittings. The painter wants the chassis in 2 months so I want to have as much done as possible. Hopefully everything except electrical.

[e015475]

Looking very nice!

I didn't get near as much done to the chassis as I should have before I took it to the painter. Now I'm going to have to install all my brake/clutch/fuel lines from underneath the truck instead of standing on my feet. Oh well.

Can you tell me what power steering pump you have on your truck? I have a truck Saginaw TC pump that I was going to put a remote reservoir on, but yours seems to be a much cleaner solution.

Phil

[Flysocal]

Yeah I hear ya. Paint is instant gratification so I don't blame you. For me, paint means the end of metalwork so it's a big milestone. There will be plenty to do and things I forgot but I'm trying as best I can. My PS pump is the stock Silverado part number. Fits fine but will need to bend return line since it close to inner fender.

[Flysocal]

Starting to work on plumbing. Going with fragola 6an wherever I can. Very nice quality so far. Fittings clipped right on fuel rails. Transmission cooler fittings, radiator, gas tank, going to tap water pump for NPT to 6an. Bought vintage air fittings for sanden compressor. Cut throttle body nipples and sealed up with JB weld. Plugged EGR and EVAP with nice billet pieces off eBay. Next will be to buy some hose and get fuel system sorted.

[Kansas T]

Those throttle body nipples are just pressed in. I pulled mine out with vise grips and left the open hole. It doesn't go anywhere.

[Flysocal]

Originally Posted by Kansas T

Those throttle body nipples are just pressed in. I pulled mine out with vise grips and left the open hole. It doesn't go anywhere.

Thanks man. Sometimes the obvious eludes me. Got a Newer truck water pump. Same belt spacing so one would think the water pump would be the same depth. Turns out the snout sticks out a bit further maybe 5/16" and pulley sticks out just enough to cause me problems. So I'm trying to work through this problem with a thinner fan and shroud.

[mongocanfly]

You'd think they'd be the same but I guess the factory wadnt worried about clearance..you must be real close if that's causing problems...
I'm not looking forward to it but I'm going to do a recessed firewall on mine just for this reason
On my throttle I just stuck a couple of vacuum line caps on those fittings..when intalled you can't see em anyway on mine
On the egr intake holes I just drove freeze plugs in mine and painted em black..can't see those either with the engine covers on it

[Flysocal]

Yeah man it's really tight in there. I could have moved Engine back a couple inches with a recessed firewall. Another good option would have been corvette accessories with inner fender mods. I was stuck on the original firewall and inner fenders. Literally everything is going under the dash so I'm sure I will be happy with a bit of extra space there. This is my third water pump. Moved radiator forward twice. I will make it work.

[mongocanfly]

I don't know for sure about how much room I need for mine to fit..I've got a ls3 from a camaro and compared to my lq9 it a very compact engine package..if I do have to do the firewall it'll only be what it needs and nothing more... I've seen 4 and 6 in recesses and I'm trying to avoid that much if possible..plus I hate messing up my factory look firewall..

[mongocanfly]

I don't know for sure about how much room I need for mine to fit..I've got a ls3 from a camaro and compared to my lq9 it a very compact engine package..if I do have to do the firewall it'll only be what it needs and nothing more... I've seen 4 and 6 in recesses and I'm trying to avoid that much if possible..plus I hate messing up my factory look firewall..

[Flysocal]

Yes I think if you go with corvette spacing life will be much easier between that and the radiator. If I had to do it over, I would just buy the Holley corvette and modify my inner fenders which have tons of room anyway. My radiator which I bought a long time ago has a passenger side IN. With corvette water pump center would be better. It's a big puzzle and when you buy a piece, it tends to steer you in a certain direction.

Here's what my powers steering plumbing looks like:

[mongocanfly]

My ls3 water pump outlet is on drivers side..inlet on pass side...I know what your talking about..you can get committed to do something a certain way and its hard to change your way of thinking sometimes

[dug224]

Enjoyed the exchange between you and mongocanfly on the cold air intake. Although mine seems to run well, I'm still not happy with directly attaching my air filter to the MAF to the throttle body so I continue to study other options. Nice build.

[Flysocal]

Got the radiator fan spacing sorted. Went with a 16" spal fan. Only 2.5" thick made in Italy much better quality than the fan that came with my superior radiator. 1610 CFM not gonna move much air but I suspect it will be enough since it's a stock 5.3 and i won't be towing a boat. There is room for a thicker fan if necessary spal sells a bunch of 16s with bigger motors that move more air. Same fan dimensions though so I'm not sure how much difference the bigger fan motors really make. Put a couple of spal flaps kinda cool they open when on the freeway and close with suction if the fan is doing the work.

[mongocanfly]

Looks like you've git a fair amount of clearance between wpump and fan now..

[joedoh]

haha those powersteering lines are perfect! I would have a 7" service loop in there, just for my own sanity removing or replacing

[Flysocal]

Originally Posted by joedoh

haha those powersteering lines are perfect! I would have a 7" service loop in there, just for my own sanity removing or replacing

Exactly. I didn't want to modify the pump tube because if the pump needs to be replaced some day it's much easier to plug and play.

Spent half the day today on my back fabricating my filler tube. Started with a stock GM part number Dorman filler tube for a 2000 blazer. Got rid of everything except where it bolts to the filler door housing which is also from a blazer. Took some fancy cutting to get to fit right. Was a good exercise in removing and installing wheel which was an easy task. Good tire to fender clearance. Next project is welding the bed together, then some plumbing before the chassis is off to the painter.

[solidaxel]

Where are you placing your vent for the filler?

[Flysocal]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

Where are you placing your vent for the filler?

The original filler had a vent line. I figured since the tank has a dedicated vent with a special copper check valve, I would just route that to the frame rail. Did I overlook something?

[Flysocal]

No Limit tank instructions say run a vent attach to frame rail. Kit included a rollover check valve, cool but probably won't do much since I removed the plastic float out of the filler tube (I think it was for rollover protection or to stop fueling when tank is full at the pump). With this dedicated vent, do I need a vent at the filler tube?

[mongocanfly]

I might be wrong but I think the filler tube itself needs vented to keep it from vapor locking when your filling up..I don't think the tank vent is big enough..

[solidaxel]

Well we found out when we went to fill the tank the first time!
The incoming fuel needs to displace (Burp) as much vapor/air as the gas pumps out!
Of course it was all over the fender and me !!!
You may want to look for options now that you are in this area
I think it should be at least 1/2 hose "some ware" above the fuel level

[Flysocal]

Solid, do you have a picture of your setup?

[solidaxel]

I did not take any pic as it was after the fact, but I do remember working under the rear fender . We added it along side the filler tube, and it came all the way up to top, but it was up higher than the gas pump filler nozzle, if that makes sense!
This is all I could find and it is not very helpful

[kameltoes2015]

What kind of hose are you thinking of using with the Fragola fittings on the transmission