48 3600 eyesore.

[dnights]

Well i have been lurking here for a while and decide that it might be good to post my build. i have been on other sites before and many might have seen this truck or one of the five that i have been working on. this build has been going on for almost two years now. last summer was the teardown and was finishing that up before i left because of work at another location.

so to explain the build a little. its a 1948 chevy 3600 that I bought while i was visiting my parents in Iowa. sorta titled, actually have issues with that. more a pain than anything. it started out as a present to my self as the ex wife told me i could never accomplish the build myself. well maybe she is right....not really. i have been upset and frustrated and been on the verge of selling it many times but i still have it so its time to keep going on it. the engine was originally stuck and i wanted to go to a v8 so i took it out. i even tried giving it away and noone was interested so it got scrapped. along with other parts of the truck that could not been repaired or with out spending a arm and a leg. already pulled the original rearend out and put a 70 chevelle rear with 3.73 gears in it. i have to finish putting that in. but here are the pictures. i will update as much as i can. this build will be busy in about two weeks and then it will die for about 6 months but it will start again.

[dnights]

more pics along with one of my helpers.

[99 to Life]

Hey, stick with it. Don't sell it. Unless you don't have the money to keep it going.

[dnights]

well while i was home, i finally got to see my blasted cab in person. just wish i had more time to do the stuff my self. as you can see the cab is pretty bad so i am in the process of finding a parts truck or donor cab or forking out quite a bit of money. i have two grain trucks with the same style cab but both have just as much damage as this one. so the search has begun to find a donor but the good part is i got to buy a new welder while i was on leave. manage to pull it out of the box and everything. didnt get to play around with it. that gets to happen in six months. in the mean time i get to start acquiring parts.

[99 to Life]

Hey trying to be optimistic here, but from what your cab is looking like, I have
seen wayyyy worse. That side cowl panel (that your fender bolts to) a replacement piece is about 100 bucks, the other side, I would fix up, depending on what you are trying to go for overall. The floor boards, heck mine was terrible on the passenger side, but I got it all secure with metal I had laying around. So I say you can make alot of these patches yourself. It is would be too easy to drop 500 or more on replacement parts and man that is a heavy chunk considering you can get a pretty solid cab for that. Well good luck either way.

[dnights]

here are a few more pics since i know everyone loves pics. As for the cab, i would try to repair it myself if i was home but i am currently deployed overseas so i took it to a highly reputable hot rod shop in my area. they were the ones that blasted it. its sitting in one of the corners in their huge shop waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. its been a very slow process and continues to be. i have a source for parts but i wont have my wife go there again because of the way she was treated and i am waiting to see if a craigslist find comes through. but once i get home, i will be doing everything myself again. i was just hoping while i was gone to have some things done so it would be easier for me to get to the drivable project stage.

[dnights]

I have been thinking long and hard on the direction of this truck. Looking through the different builds and came across 49ZR2's build. Like the way he built his and decided to go that route with my truck. There has not been any progress on the body work but I have been searching Craigslist for a while for a donor cab and stumbled across this 2000 s10 ZR2. My wife went and paid for it today. It has a seized engine that we are going to look into to see if its worth saving or to find a replacement engine. Once its running, it will be my daily until the swap is ready, then it will be hammer down time. I do want to thank

[OrrieG]

If all you need is the cab, look at big trucks of the same era. Usually the farmers stored them in the barn during winter so they were in better shape. Because of the tall tires and wheel, if sitting outside they are less likely to drop into the dirt and cause rusting. Plus you might need the bigger front fenders for your conversion.

[dnights]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

If all you need is the cab, look at big trucks of the same era. Usually the farmers stored them in the barn during winter so they were in better shape. Because of the tall tires and wheel, if sitting outside they are less likely to drop into the dirt and cause rusting. Plus you might need the bigger front fenders for your conversion.

My Father-in-Law actually has two grain trucks from the same era but if I use one of the cabs, he gets to drive it. That is what he tells me all the time plus one of them has sentimental value so I am going to redo it for him. He already drives my 81 Chevy longbed for the farm. He takes care of it since it use to be his truck. I do have a junkyard behind their place that has a handful of AD trucks, mostly 3600 and above. When I finally get home, I will look and see if he can give me a fair price on one. Also, a lot of the farmers in my area are still using their trucks or have already given them to the junkyard in town.

[dnights]

Well the S10 is finally home and in its resting place until I get back. Just looking into the issue of why the engine is seized. I have a few ideas for it but if they don't fix the issue then either swapping engines with a early 80's 305, rebuilding this one or getting a new one with warranty. Either way I need to do something to get it running so i can enjoy the s10 while doing body work.

Also any ideas on why the engine would be seized are greatly appreciated. Was told it ran rough when they bought it and they did a complete tune up. Then it ran great for about 2 weeks and started having issues again. The PO was told the timing chain jumped a tooth or sprocket (sounds odd to me) so they replaced that. Then the first time out after that it died but didn't make any unusual sounds. Now it doesn't start. They did think it was an electrical issue and they went through that and found no issues and the a/c doesnt work but not sure where the issue is on that.

[OrrieG]

Timing chain replacement not done correctly = bent valve(s) either from the original tooth skip or being off when reinstalled = no compression. Been there done that on a Mazda that I "saved time" by not pulling the bottom timing cover. Check compression and look at the valves while rotating the engine. If you are lucky might just be a simple valve replacement and it did not mess up the seat or piston.

[sixty8c10]

Hey, dnights, where are you deployed to? I am currently serving in Iraq, gathering parts to finish the project in my signature and start the next one. How much longer til you get back to Kansas?

[dnights]

Originally Posted by sixty8c10

Hey, dnights, where are you deployed to? I am currently serving in Iraq, gathering parts to finish the project in my signature and start the next one. How much longer til you get back to Kansas?

Currently in Kuwait but my first two tours were up north at Balad and Taji. We should be back in the next couple of months to Kansas. You know, have to be a little vague when it comes to going home.

[dnights]

Well, its been a while since I have posted but some plans have changed due to issues outside of my control. The ZR2 idea has been thrown out the window since I ended up needing a good reliable vehicle so it got a new engine put in it and its became my daily driver. I have to sell my house due to an upcoming move so that means the honey do list is long and the 48 has been halted to a point since I found a 3100 3 window. The plan is to use the good pieces from the two cabs and get patch panels that I need after the two are mated. Just trying to decide if I am going with the 5 window for the back or if I am going to do a big back window. Either way the plan right now is to focus on the frame and drivability of it first. Once I know it runs and moves then the focus will shift to doing body work. I will post pics of the 3100 as soon as I get it moved to a more workable area but out of everything that has happen I did get a new welder and I am learning and I already have my engine and transmission crossmembers to put in the truck. Just looking for a motor to throw in it.

[99 to Life]

Hey man, keep with it. It will come together. its amazing how long people work on a project for. Be patient and it will come together. send some pics

[dnights]

Well the move to Oklahoma was relatively smooth but now I have the issue of getting my truck down here from Kansas. The house is not even on the market yet due to some repairs that I was unable to finish why I was up there. The plus side out of all of it, is now I have a single car garage to work out of. Still hoping to get the truck down here in the next month or two and currently trying to track down Corvette C4 suspension for it. complete opposite of the 4x4 since the ZR2 is my daily now. Lately it seems like its been one road block after another but figure I should update anyways.

[Maximus]

I worked on my '55 for 9 years and just recently drove it up the street and back (no lights or i woulda gone further...) one of the coolest moments of my life. Keep on keepin' on!
Also, very cool that a 3600 was treated with the 5 window cab. fancy farm truck!