Wamego: 1949 GMC 150

[RDrancher]

Hmmm, must be the same engineer that designed the shackle bolt placement on my Burb. Removal requires boring a hole in the spare tire well. Yeah, he's not my friend.

I like your hubcap choice, but either one would look great. GMC sure had some cool scripts back in the day.

[OutlawDrifter]

The red on red will look sharp. I almost went with artillery wheels on the '49. If you used the Belltech drop leafs, they have a very nice ride. And the blue in red will be the bee's knees!

While I agree the bolt being put in that direction is a pain, I believe it was done for safety measures, that way if the nut ever falls off, you don't have to worry about the spring coming loose.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

While I agree the bolt being put in that direction is a pain, I believe it was done for safety measures, that way if the nut ever falls off, you don't have to worry about the spring coming loose.

well maybe, but there are 5 other bolts that would totally just fall right out.


gotta love fed ex shipping, I just checked the spindles tracking number and they went from amarillo, to okc, to KANSAS CITY. so they drove right past my place 230 miles north. sheesh.

everything else is due saturday or monday, so I should get some stuff knocked out. also wavering on slate blue, thinking maybe a stone grey over oxide red primer now.

[OutlawDrifter]

Stick with the blue, it will make a nice contrast with the blood red interior.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Stick with the blue, it will make a nice contrast with the blood red interior.

I waffle. part of me thinks the blue will be great, part of me thinks the grey in satin will just look like primer. I like that putty color kindigit put on that impala, maybe thats why I like the grey. what scares me about the blue is the body is not going to be perfect.

spindles are said to deliver tomorrow and sunday is full on body prep day, I have two helpers coming to wire brush and lightly de-dent "de"-body. so today after dinner I did spindle prep. guys who have taken an s10 apart, look at what a rare sight this is.

IMG_0790 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the drivers side I only lost the speed clips on the lower arm. nothing needed cut off or chopped up. I have taken apart about 15 s10s and thats a literal first for me. makes it easy to strip the rest.

IMG_0791 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0789 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

just need the lower arm bolts out. the uppers werent as bad as I thought but with the amount of drop I am planning and the front tire size I think having everything new is the right idea. steering parts are all new, still have shiny cotter pins!

I ran out of gas with the late start, so I got the rear u-bolts tight. the rear is down about 2 inches, it will drop more with some weight, I like it already but it will probably need a 2 inch block because I am planning on a 285/40/20 rear tire. we will see, I really want a mean stance on this one. second picture is the original tire height for comparison.

IMG_0786 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0775 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I talked about this in the S10 swap a little but here it is again. if you are using a long bed s10 and you move the drivetrain back to where the tranny and distributor are just right off the firewall, the trans will be almost exactly 9 inches further back than the factory s10 location. (you wont move the MOUNTS for a V8 back 9 inches, but the trans will effectively be back 9 inches) so a longbed driveshaft is ~63" but with the new trans position you will need a ~53" driveshaft (picture is a little close but its the rear yoke with a tape on the front yoke) yes I know that is 10" but also remember the rear end will arc forward the more you lower it, most guys who lower s10s will shorten the driveshaft 1"

IMG_0787 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


you can shorten a one piece longbed driveshaft, or shorten a two piece ext cab or early longbed driveshaft, it will cost about $125. or you can just grab a RCSB one piece. I got this one on craigslist for $10.

IMG_0788 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

so thats done too now. I took off the oil cooler lines, I would have kept them because they dont seem to be leaking like usual, but the fan will hit them so off they go. I also pounded out the last of the dents in the inner fender, yippie skippy.

IMG_0760 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

tomorrow is front frame cleaning and painting/new suspension/new rotors bearings seals/new springs and spindles, then the big sand prep on sunday.

[RDrancher]

I'll admit that you had me scratching my head for more than a minute with "RCSB" (even checked the acronym thread), but (thick headed as I am) I finally figured it out. Even so, it's only fair that I give just little payback, so here it is. About 15 years ago the CPS in my FPS went out and left me stranded just North of Doodah. To complicate the matter I was hauling a 4-horse GN at the time. The towing bill to town was horrendous.

Have a wonderful day.

[8man]

Ok, I'm still the FNG on this lingo. What is RCSB? I have 2 85 S10 long beds and am going to need driveshafts.

[joedoh]

haha RD, fair enough! 8man I will watch my acronyms too. (btw doodah is a local term, if you were from here you would call it doodah too)


Regular Cab Short Bed! its the short 108" wheelbase s10, RCLB is a 118" wheelbase long bed, ECSB is a 123" wheelbase Extended Cab Short Bed with the longest driveshaft. it makes sense that a 10" shorter wheelbase will have a 10" shorter driveshaft, all the added length is in the middle.

[8man]

Thank you, that is one more acronym to add to my vocabulary.

[66K20]

I'm loving this build. Subscribed to the finale! But I am curious to know why you choose Wamego as the build name.

[joedoh]

I used to give weirdo name names, booger, fenix, hannah. I think it might be more fun to use weirdo town names, and kansas has a bunch.

I think I chose wamego because it reminds me of my friend percy, when he saw my isuzu amigo for the first time and said "its an I'm a go, like I'm a go over here, I'm a go over there"

I have been making progress, I will update soon!

[joedoh]

so friday I was ready to pull the lowers and reinstall everything when my middle daughter called, her car was overheating and the dealer said it would be 11k to fix. considering the car only cost 8k, I was a little apprehensive about their sporty quote. had the car towd to the house and, it seems that telling her to check the oil, check the coolant, once a week at least, and to change the oil every 5k, went in one ear and out the other. the motor ran out of oil and started overheating, and ran out of coolant. at least its clean and dry now to throw away. /sarcasm

so we need a 1.6 NA mini cooper engine and 6 spd, or a whole mini cooper. I looked at two replacements already. this is her money and her time, she learned a very hard lesson already when I told her to pick up a serpentine belt so we could fix it (her and I, not me alone) and she ignored it till it snapped. it cost ~$500 +the tow at the dealer because I refused to fix it AFTER it was broken. same deal now, I will only swap this engine if she helps. this lesson will cost her ~4k. seems like it might be cheaper to listen to dad but hey, no one learns to sail on glass.

then I tried to pull the lowers. one bolt on each side refused to come loose. after beating on it for a day and chopping the lower arm on the drivers side to get to the bolt with a cutoff wheel, I stopped at homer derpot for a carbide sawzall blade and did the second bolt in a couple minutes.

IMG_0822 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
55641533960__9EC519D9-395E-447E-BD4A-6C0497B7B30C.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0825.JPG by Joe Doh, on Flickr

painted the parts I couldnt get to after assembly

IMG_0826 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0827 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

but I still had two chopped bolts. turns out they are M14x2 in the front and M12x1.75 in the rear, 10.9 strength. fastenal had the smaller ones, but not the larger. I tried the salvage yard and the guy actually said "what makes you think anything I have sitting in the muck is going to be better than what you have?" good point. so I tried a dealer. computer showed a pair of each in stock 50 miles away, so I buzzed out not believing my luck. turns out they were special order parts that had been picked up but not removed from inventory. crap.

I called the first dealer back and gently admonished (may or may not be what actually happened) him for leading me astray, he felt so bad he overnighted the bolts from dearborn. I picked them up and finally assembled the front end, well partly. the paint is drying on the sway bar and I have to assemble the new rotors.

IMG_0838 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0839 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the monotube shocks I ordered arent here yet, so I took a break and started fitting patch panels to the rusty cab corners.

IMG_0836 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

beeps is in full time school now so I have every day minus the day joerb to work.

oh the hired help I had planned for sunday did not bother to come, normally dry kansas rained all dang day. really felt like western pa, overcast drizzle and 75 degrees

[RDrancher]

Tough love for the daughter and the bolts. Sometimes it's the only way.

[Palf70Step]

[8man]

Agreed with the two above.

Moving on the truck. Since I'm stuck in body panel replacement pergatory, can't wait to see you get that done.

[OutlawDrifter]

Daughters are an interesting sort! I have 2 driving, and its very comical & frustrating at the same time. Daughter #2 is better about reporting issues and getting it fixed. Daughter #1, who is now at college, just turns the radio up louder(which in her case is baffling in itself, considering I can hear her music, in the house, when she pulls into our driveway!). I'm just as firm, and they have learned to heed my warnings and requests!

[joedoh]

she isnt a trouble child, in fact she is a lot like me, except the mechanical stuff. she found out early that mom would take her side when I tried to make her fix stuff, so now she just buys her way out of mechanical trouble. I tell her I hope she always can. I sure cant. she admits fault and asks for help, which is more than I can say for most of her generation.


buttoned up the front, he is low. really low, remember that the running boards hang under the frame about an inch. no chevy lean (cut a 1/4 coil on the passenger side, not the first rodeo for this cowboy) and the only parts I reused were the end links, because they were almost brand new. no cotter pins or grease zerks yet (again, rodeo veteran) but enough to roll. needs some camber shims, pretty positive right now.

IMG_0850 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0851 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

[rusty76]

I made my stepson change the oil in the car. Anytime I had to work on it I had him help out. But when he decided to take off to his grandmothers on his dads side of the family and overheated the car he had to pay to have it fixed. He called me said the car was overheating but instead of parking it drove it thirty miles with his dad in the car. That cost him unfortunately and his dad had to provide him a ride to school for once. Hard lesson but I bet you this he’ll pay attention to that gauge again.

[RDrancher]

My three daughters are out on their own and doing pretty well. My 22 year old stepson works for me full time, running equipment and learning the family business. He also takes care of all my vehicle and equipment maintenance and works around our property. I've told him that he has to be my "mini-me", and be able to do anything from a toilet changeout to rebuilding a hydraulic cylinder. He's doing pretty well so far and I'm happy about that...He's my only chance at retirement!

[joedoh]

sounds like there might be more good kids out there who learn lessons than I alluded to earlier. hope you get to retire RD. rusty, that is probably how this is working out too. people who think parenting is over at 18, I will say I WISH.

not much progress, I got the drivers kick panel welded up and its amazing how strong it feels now with all the interconnected pieces. but I did want to update:

I ordered monotube shocks because of their superior ride and anti-fade characteristics. I found a deal and got them for LESS than I normally pay for twin tube monroes at the local parts store. but monotubes dont take being bottomed out like some twins do. I am lowered with a 3" coil and a 4" leaf, so shorter shocks were on the to-do. the problem is, that even lowered shocks from belltech are the same length as the factory shocks. I looked on an application guide on the monroe site and figured out that a-body cars used shorter shocks with the same mounting configuration, so I ordered some KYB monotube.

on the front you can see the body is the same length as a factory ZQ8 bilstien, but it compresses smaller (see how the rod is longer? it goes in further by about an inch and a half) and has more effective travel. sweet

IMG_0863 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

for the rear they are REALLY hard to compress so all I could compare it to while taking a picture was a blown non-gas-charged rear shock, but it compresses about two extra inches more than the stock shock also.

IMG_0862 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


so, great. two more inches in the rear and an inch and a half in the front. should ride nice.

[joedoh]

I got the passenger squirrel home welded up. this whole side would flex by almost an inch when you opened the door from the just the drag in the hinges and the firewall would flex if you pushed on the cab. now I have to be careful shutting the door, before it was sagged and wouldnt latch. it latches now with just a breath (and I dont have any door handles), so I think its going to be ok. the parts all tie to each other, outer to inner, outer and inner to hinge pocket, outer inner and hinge pocket to kick panel. I like little things like this.

IMG_0876 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


got a welding blanket at cardboard freight and covered the gas tank to do the cab corners.

IMG_0891 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

used the trick of clamping them on the cab in the right spot and cutting both sides with the cutoff wheel
IMG_0892 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

inner too.

IMG_0893 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the drivers side was a bumtangle, lots of blowthrough. but got it done. drilled holes in the outer to spot weld to the inner so its all strong and great now too.
IMG_0894 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

passenger side same again.

IMG_0901 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

no blowthroughs, musta had enough practice on the other side. if you look back at older pictures, the back wall on this side was REALLY destroyed, but taking the damage out was easy with my sledge dollies.

IMG_0902 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

just gotta grind them, seam seal the insides patches front and rear, and build 4 more inconsequential patches for the outer skin to hinge pocket and outer skin fender mounts.

while I was screwing off inside, the hired help was making the neighbors mad. 5 hours with two angle grinders and stainless cup wheels. good progress though! look at that PPE discipline too.

IMG_0890 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0897 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0898 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

can I sweep this up and melt it in acetone to spray again?

IMG_0896 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

more clean parts

IMG_0900 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0903 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0905 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0906 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


just a couple metal patches and some de-denting with my sledge dollies and I think a nice waxy red satin will be applied. they started on the cab and second door, but it was quitting time (dinner ready) so I will do it when I am ready. not much paint on that so woop woop.

tomorrow I will assemble the front clip again with my 'new' fenders and get it mocked up.

[Old57]

Looks like the hired help made some good progress! I actually had some time today that I could've been getting something done on my truck, but ended up watching movies with the wife. It was nice to relax for once, but I also feel like I should've went out and bled brakes, hooked up power steering lines, etc.

[joedoh]

yeah its my adopted son Johnny and he brought a friend. he dated my oldest daughter about 4 years ago and just kind of.. stuck. shes in arizona, has been for 4 years and I still talk to him about every week or so.

for hiring them I figured out how much I DIDNT want to be the one doing it, put a dollar amount on it, and paid them that.


speaking of kids, I solved the other daughters car problem. I didnt have the time to insert a motor swap in everything I have going on, so I assigned a dollar amount to THAT too and she bought a slightly older but supercharged cooper. its fun on a bun, I picked it up about 130 miles away and have been jacking around in it just to shake it down. some detonation in 3rd gear accel turned out to be 87 octane, 91 fixed it. has some foibles but its in nice shape.

IMG_0885 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I will put the green one in the backyard and wait till I find a whole wrecked one or at least a cheap drivetrain. maybe LS swap?

[oldman3]

Nice update, and work done...Jim

[Palf70Step]

Good progress made for sure.