1949 Chevy 3600 into a daily driver

[Coach529]

This is posted on a couple other forums as well......sorry if it is redundant!!

1949 Chevy 3600.

It has been in a family for at least 40 years. My Dad bought it for me 30 years ago and it has sat in a couple different barns or storage sheds since. I must be going through a midlife crisis at 38 years of age because I all of a sudden have a real urge to get this useable!!

Goals:

100% dependable daily driver for errands and picking up/ dropping off kids, etc.

100 mile trips at a comfortable speed is a must.

As stock as practical

Low









Supposedly it ran when it was parked, but time has erased alot of good info. I do know it is missing the stock 6V generator and fan belt.

More later!!

[Coach529]

So we had issues pretty much as soon as the truck came off the trailer. The passenger side rear tire was not turning. A little investigation found the brake show material had fallen off the shoe.





After we got it rolled into place we pulled the plugs and turne the motor over by hand. Everything seemed fine. I was scared the motor would be stuc from years of sitting idle. The battery was shot, so I hooked up new battery and we attempted to spin the motor over. Despite our attemps we could not to get the motor to spin over with the starter. The starter was suspect and would need to come off.

The headlights did work though!!

[Coach529]

The starter was pulled, cleaned up and benched tested. Despite it's age, it tested fine on the bench and cleaned up fine.





With the help of my 8 year old son Ryder, we started cleaning up the interior to see what we were up against. Mouse poop and rust......always abundant in old iron!!





The worst of the cancer is on the floor of the drivers side!!

[Coach529]

Some place there is a really upset mouse. A 2-1/2 gallon bucket of corn above the headliner.....



Got the starter mounted back up and made sure the motor turned over with it. All good!!

I had a open Saturday, but I had to watch my son and a friend of his. Instead of trying to watch them and making numeous trips to the parts store trying to get this thing to run I chose to spend the day working on the exterior of the truck.

I had read a couple articles on surface rust removal using CLR and either scotchbrite or steel wool. I decided to give it a try. I started with the hood.



Unreal difference.......I proceeded to scuff the whole truck with the CLR and the green scotchbrite pads. Surface rust disapeared, and a nice satin finish remained.

After I scuffed the whole truck I washed it twice with simple green and water and a stiff brush, thoroughly rinsing!!

After that the whole truck recieved a healthy coat of Carnuba Wax.

[Coach529]

It lives....after 30 years of being quiet it belched and coughed to life. Came to life with very little cranking.

Had a little drama when I found a pool of oil underneath. Turned out to be deteriated lines to and from external oil filter housing. Picked up some fittings at the parts store and a chunk of fuel line and patched that up.

Runs fairly strong and on all 6 cylinders but only when I feed it fuel. The fuel pump seems to not be working.

I do not know the condition of the inside of the fuel tank so I took the fitting apart below the tank and added a piece of fuel line into a gas can. I assumed the pump would pull from their.

I order a new fuel pump and a water pump as it is worn out an leaking horrible.

Tonight I installed a new fuel pump I purchased from the local Napa.



After I got it mounted up I blew compressed air through the fuel lines to verify they were clear. I then rigged up my temp fuel source and verified I had fuel at the pump. I buttoned up all the lines and turned it over until it started. Fired up relatively easy and idled for about a minute then died. It did this repeatedly.

I am not too concerned, I did not open up the carb at all, nor did I look at the points, plug, plug wires or the coil. All those issues will be addressed shortly.

I picked up a used 10SI alternator from a buddy so can start my 12v conversion asap.

You should have saw the look on my 8 year olds eyes when I fired it up from the cab......soo awesome!!

[Coach529]

Not much to report lately.

I put a carb kit in the greezy ol W1.





Definately runs and starts better. Still having an issue with it flooding itself out......or starving itself. It just get to the point that is coughs and bogs and dies. If I pump it a couple times it usually starts right back up.

Other than idle adjustment and float adjustment, is there anything else to change on these carbs short of changing jets?

[Coach529]

Short day of work on the truck.

Ordered new radiator hoses and a water pump gasket since I could not find them locally.

Installed a filter like Nate suggested. tried to start the truck to warm it up to change the oil. It would not run worth a crap. Looked at the clear filter....no fuel.

Pulled the line apart between the pump and carb and pushed air threw it. Not a problem.

Had my son help me and did the same on the line from the tank to the pump. Blocked almost completely. We cut the line by the pump and rigged up a temp tank under the hood. Problem solved. Should have listened to you guys about replacing the line.

Do I buy a prebent replacement, or bend my own?

Solved (sorta) my starter pedal problem. I tapped two thick washers to the button on the starter, no it works every time. I do not see an adjustment to make the lever closer to the button. Might just weld a bead on the lever and call it good.

Lastly got the truck up on blocks to take a look at the brakes. They look in pretty good shape. Amazingly all the drum screws came out easily.

[Coach529]

Tried to remove the cap on the master cylinder today.....apparently someone else did at some time with no success.



I could not get it to budge......looks like a new master cylinder is needed!!

[Coach529]

Well winter is fast approaching on the plains and I am rushing to gt this ol truck mobil. I only have a small garage and my wife and I do custom furniture and refinishing as a side gig, so space is at a premium.

My main goal was to get it mobil and safe to move from it's parking space and into the garage, if I have time want to work on it over the winter.

We have alreay have had a couple shots of cold weather and snow, but overall it has been an awesome fall.



Yesterday with the help of a couple friends we were able to get the brakes bled and functional.

Feeling pretty pumped. It is a runner...... I can now sit back and save some $$$ during the winter and try to decide the best build direction for me. I am looking forward to pulling it into the garage on the weekends and tinkering!!

[Coach529]

As a side gig my wife and I build custom furniture and do some refinishing.

Even though it is the wrong era......I though you guys might like to see this. 1961 GMC tailgate made into a bench.

[Coach529]

Still tinkering.....a little here and a little there.

We have plates and I have submitted for insurance.....should be back from underwritting in a week or so.



12v conversion is complete. All bulbs have been replaced and functional except the blinkers. The sockets are shot and I am thinking the relay is as well.

[Coach529]

Not much forward progress lately. The weather and other activities has slowed the project.

I got the tank back from the radiator shop. Clean as a whistle and ready to install. I bought a new level sensor as well.

Spent a little bit of time on Friday cleaning up behind the seat and prepping for the tank to be installed.



I am covering the back wall and floor with Peel & Seal as a cheap alternative to Dynamat.



I bit the bullet and ordered a front disc brake conversion kit this past weekend. Speedway had a "Free Freight" Black Friday sale that I took advanatage of.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Deluxe-Disc-...ickup,4622.html

[Coach529]

Brake kit came today!!

[_Ogre]

the clr wash job is amazing
your truck looks good to go

[chev3600]

Cool truck! And really nice shape too. Looks like you're going at it strong. I really like your photography, especially the one with the headlights on.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

the clr wash job is amazing
your truck looks good to go

Thanks. Yea I was amazed at the difference a couple hours of elbow grease made.

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by chev3600

Cool truck! And really nice shape too. Looks like you're going at it strong. I really like your photography, especially the one with the headlights on.
Posted via Mobile Device

Photography is one of my main hobbies.....

http://www.kustomcreations.smugmug.com/

[pinecrest]

Well this was sure fun to read! Great truck! Keep it up. I saw on your smugmug that you were playing with some PS- are you planning to monkey with the suspension (you mentioned that you want to go "low") and wheels? The body looks great.

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by pinecrest

Well this was sure fun to read! Great truck! Keep it up. I saw on your smugmug that you were playing with some PS- are you planning to monkey with the suspension (you mentioned that you want to go "low") and wheels? The body looks great.

The plan right now is for a 4" SID's drop axle and axle flip in the rear. Eventually power steering.

Steel wheels (not sure of color), Wide White Walls an stock hub caps is the plan

[Coach529]

Just realized this is in the wrong area......should be in the builds.

Mods can you move it?

[wood1]

WOW!! What a great looking original truck. Very hard to find this solid and not all scabbed together and cut up. Nice job on the clean up also, but it still looked good before..
So you are changing to a 5 lug wheel?? There are alot more choices then for wheels. O.E.M. or Steelie/Smoothies and caps. Check out Wheelsmith thewheelsmith.net they have a nice selection and are good to deal with.
Thing will look killer dropped too!!
I'll be watching this one, love the originality of it...

[Billett]

That thing is beautiful! keep the pics coming!

[Coach529]

Thanks guys!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Love you truck, Coach.

It embarasses me that I have made so little progress in a lot longer time than you've had yours. But its good to see so it motivates me.

I KEEP DEBATING if I want to use a dropped axle & power steering, or if I want to go with IFS?
i Can't wait to see yours and hear what Sid says about avoiding bump steer with the 4" drop? PLEASE detail the work. BTW, I already have the same disc brake conversion kit but haven't installed it because I have no vacuum to run a booster. Maybe I'll go manual, dual master cylinder - if you do! lol.

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Love you truck, Coach.

It embarasses me that I have made so little progress in a lot longer time than you've had yours. But its good to see so it motivates me.

I KEEP DEBATING if I want to use a dropped axle & power steering, or if I want to go with IFS?
i Can't wait to see yours and hear what Sid says about avoiding bump steer with the 4" drop? PLEASE detail the work. BTW, I already have the same disc brake conversion kit but haven't installed it because I have no vacuum to run a booster. Maybe I'll go manual, dual master cylinder - if you do! lol.

Thanks for the compliments. I have never been a car guy, so this is all really new to me. I am having a blast so far.

I debated between the IFS and drop axle quite a bit. My long term goal is IFS on bags, but I cannot justify the $$$ right now. I would likely go with a Fatman set up. The SID's axles seem to hold there value somewhat, so I should be able to sell it when the time comes.

I am ordering my dual master cylinder today.

http://www.performanceonline.com/194...t-Disc-Brakes/