My C-30 w/Holmes wrecker adventure

[D.B]

That is one way to fix things. I also like rivet nuts and use them whenever I can. I have not seen the Handee Clamp or the handheld nibbler before. Those are some cool and interesting tools. Thanks for sharing photos of your work. We all like photos.

[jhe.1973]

Thanks Darrell for viewing and taking the time to respond! I've been impressed with several of your posts and the perspective you provide.

[jhe.1973]

Originally Posted by 54blackhornet

Jim your work ethic is commendable ! I can tell that you don’t do anything half you know what ! What’s your plan for the generator ? I have lived off grid for the last 32 years in Eastern Oregon. Your unit looks like it would power a small city. Thanks for sharing your skills, you should consider offering your services to the local trade school. Not many left that could teach the younger generation a thing or two…Jack

Hello Jack,

Thanks viewing this thread and for the nice words!

The generator is for a hoped for move to a more rural area where I will use it for a backup for a solar system that I also acquired.

Congratulations for living off grid for as long as you have. Before moving to Arizona we lived in the Appalachian mountains for 9 years and were going the self-sufficient route as much as possible.

Once out here in AZ I taught at a motorcycle school for a few rotations (mini semesters) and enjoyed the teaching aspect a lot. Unfortunately the detractors were right in that it was a diploma mill and not too concerned with education.

The genset I posted a picture of in #37 definitely could power a small city/town. Mine would easily power my entire shop cuz I'm a sole-proprietor. If I don't use my TIG welder on high it would probably work for that too. Just don't open the refrigerator and have the light come on!

[jhe.1973]

OOOOPS!

I forgot to include this photo when the wiring and switch was finished. It was just starting to get dark too:

[jhe.1973]

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to go back to continuing my explanation of how/why I spliced the frames halves as I did.

As some of you have surely seen, there is a lot of online advice on the "proper" way to splice frame members or even the entire frame.

One of the ways I've seen that I think looks really great when done well is like this example that I clipped out of a YouTube video:



I thought long and hard about doing it this way and I decided against it.

My primary objection has to do with why I-beams and channels are designed the way they are.

When a top load is placed on a horizontal member, or beam, (in this case frame rail) the beam is under compression on the top and tension on the bottom. Essentially there is no movement along the center line.

Manufacturing I-beams and channels with top and bottom flanges is what gives the most strength with the least amount of material.

The example shown will undoubtedly be strong enough for the job but I also wanted to avoid a possible problem in the long run.

The original frame had already gone through several 'repairs' due to frame flex and I was concerned about adding too much stiffness in too small an area. I didn't want the frame to start cracking near each end of the diamond shaped patch.

When I looked for the best place for my splice, I found a nice straight section along the side and under the cab. I was able to use the two pairs for holes that show up on each side of the splice as references for an accurately measured vertical scribe line on each frame:



I used an oxy/acetylene cutting torch to separate both frames, staying about 1/4 inch away from the appropriate side of the scribe line. Then using an angle grinder I ground just about to the line finishing with a large file. I can confidently say that the frame halves are likely within .005 inch of original. Way closer than required ....... but I'm anal ................



When I enlarged and brightened up the above photo I noticed that I had welded a 1/4 thick patch over the prior repairs (white outline) just to get by until I could get around to doing the frame splice. I had completely forgotten about this patch until today!

I had a couple of thick wall, wide flange steel channels that had been blanchard ground on the web side. These were clamped along the outside of both frame rails. I had picked these up at a scrapyard when we lived in West Virginia and have used them for all sorts of things through the years.

Did I mention that I'm a packrat? ........ Ooops! I digress.................

Using one come-a-long on each side I pulled the assembly together and vee ground the inside of the weld area first. When the inside welds were done, and the clamps removed I vee ground the outside seam to pick up the inside welds and remove any scale weld scale. This way I am sure that I have 100% penetration and maximum strength.

The top and bottom caps that I welded onto the flanges are just to take some of the shear loading off of the weld underneath.

One more point I would like to mention is that to use the steel channels that I described I had to remove the front cab mounts. Instead of re-riveting them, I used grade 8 bolts and made sure the the unthreaded part of the shank extends through the mount and into the frame. That's why there is so much thread sticking out from the bolts on the inside of the frame. This extra length has come in handy as I'll show in a later post when I had to relocate the parking brake cable anchor.

Thank y'all for all of the views and I hope to get back soon as we're once again helping with our granddaughter. Sooooo, I get to have more free time slots than when I'm at home.

[jhe.1973]

I forgot to mention that I came across a YouTube video a few months back where an engineer thoroughly debunks the idea that the 'correct' way to splice a vehicle chassis is with diagonal or stepped cuts. He uses plenty of math but also does a great job of explaining it all w/o the math:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtwDvFTfBn8

[CG]

Im only on a couple of forums and Ive seen that video posted several times. Every time it gets a lot of dislikes because they feel that is the incorrect way to do the frame no matter what the engineering says. Of course there are also a lot of folks that agree with the vid.

[jhe.1973]

Originally Posted by CG

Im only on a couple of forums and Ive seen that video posted several times. Every time it gets a lot of dislikes because they feel that is the incorrect way to do the frame no matter what the engineering says. Of course there are also a lot of folks that agree with the vid.

Hi CG,

Thanks for viewing and responding to this thread.

You note a common characteristic of the internet. It really doesn't seem to matter what is reported because there will always be another opinion(s), often the opposite.

I'm quite comfortable with the way I've chosen to splice my frame. Years later when I found the video I linked to, I felt it supported my decision.

[jhe.1973]

Hi Everyone,

Because I mentioned relocating the parking brake anchor I'll go into explaning that now.

This last year the truck was on jack stands for months as I rebuilt the brakes, redid the wiring and found 7,896 things that needed work!

While crawling under it in May I found this:



The parking brake cable guide was rubbing on the PTO shaft.

I knew about the groove to the left in the photo but I thought the shaft was a two piece that telescoped here. Since installing new brake shoes the guide was now in contact with the shaft.

It turned out that the deep groove in the shaft had been machined by the brake cable!! It may have been this way for as long as the wrecker body had been fitted and it was not a two piece shaft.



So, first order of business was to weld a couple of thick washers to the guide:



I chose this approach cuz we're on a VERY fixed income and I have to order, or chase out for, everything. At least that's my excuse ....... I'd rather not say I'm cheap!

Next I made this to move the cable up to one of the extended cab mount bolts and be out of the way:



Here it is now in the relaxed and applied positions:



It comfortably clears the PTO shaft now so it's only 7,895 things left to take care of ....... whew!

[D.B]

You never get to the end, there will always be something to do, fix or modify.

[jhe.1973]

Originally Posted by D.B

You never get to the end, there will always be something to do, fix or modify.

Yep, even when I first was getting into cars, motorcycles etc. over 60+ years ago the magazines at the time were saying that a hot rod was never finished ... they were right!!

[jhe.1973]

Hi Everyone,

Today I replaced an overflow tank for the radiator that had been installed on the right inner fender.

I thought I should ‘cuz upon close examination I was able to detect a possible leakage area:



Just kidding above!.......... I used a generic Doorman tank with its mount but I had to make something to fasten it to. I came up with this:



I have a lot of cold rolled sheet around .110 thick so that’s what I used.

Using the right top radiator mount I welded an adapter to the top of it. For things like this I make a template out of cardboard and transfer the shape to the metal.

Here is a trick I learned thru the years to make sure that when I take something in to the shop for welding I have the item in the correct location. The white arrow points to a line that is scribed across the mounting bracket and two small scribe lines are made when I have the bracket how I want it:



The two small tacks on the left were made to take the assembly back out for a trial before final welding. This method works great when making headers with pre-made bends as long as the two tubes to be joined are snug with each other. Two scribed lines across the joint is all that’s required.

I have to make new exhaust pipes for this truck so I’ll show this method again when I get to that project.

Here is the underside of the assembly:



And here is another view all finished:

[Sheepdip]

Ingenuity will always adapt and overcome!

[jhe.1973]

Hi Everyone,

A few weeks ago as part of my need to clear the backyard of some treasures I moved this trailer:



to our ‘Villa’ just outside of town. Sometimes I call it our ‘Chateau’ but most often it’s just a Villa. It’s actually in pretty rough condition but I need to make myself think that buying it was a good idea.



If anyone is interested, the day after doing this I posted a bit more at:
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...73345&page=207

Along the same lines of clearing stuff, this last Saturday I literally dragged out the column and swivel for a 1 ton X 10 foot jib crane that I hope to get installed at our new place:



Once out far enough I could hook it up for lifting:



Then lay it down to be ready for another trip to rest on the yellow trailer that’s now out there:



That's a roll-up door that will go to the other place in a few days, along with the jib crane.

[jhe.1973]

When posting above, I found a couple of photos that show another task made easier with a wrecker. When we moved to this house it had 4 large ‘planters’ built right up against the frame house:



I knew right away that they had to go cuz they would not allow ventilation to the siding and would cause rot. I removed the 8 inch blocks and found a 4 foot square X 1 foot thick footing under each one!

YIKES, Talk about overkill-!

I just had to dig down to get the wrecker’s hook on them and I could rotate each one sideways saving a bunch of digging. Lifting them with a 5 foot prybar I just need to get a chain under each one for lifting and driving them across the street to a 40 foot dumpster where a house was being torn down.

How it looked before I got the new siding on:



The old stuff was spongy from rot but it had not yet progressed to anything structural. WHEW!

[yuccales]

That old truck is a back saver for sure! You're darn lucky to have it! It would have made short work of moving my dredge bucket!

[jhe.1973]

Originally Posted by yuccales

That old truck is a back saver for sure! You're darn lucky to have it! It would have made short work of moving my dredge bucket!

Thanks for posting this shot !! I took the liberty of sharpening it a bit to see more detail:



It looks like you were pushing it on log rollers using your truck.

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

Ingenuity will always adapt and overcome!

Clever way to save your back.

Are you using it for lawn art, as a planter perhaps? It looks tempting to lift it with a sling/chains of some kind through the large holes, but might be too top heavy cuz of the amount of material in the bowl.

I'm feeling more and more lucky owning this wrecker as I'm seeing the responses and interest in this thread and on this forum in general.

For all the years I've owned it, it's been more of an appliance to me just doing tasks around here. The most I've driven it was the 212 miles for the move across the state to this house back in 2008.

Here it is just after arriving:



I'm getting somewhat enthused to drive it out in the open now! It's generated positive feedback from several people around town from only two days 'in the wild'.

[yuccales]

Originally Posted by jhe.1973

It looks like you were pushing it on log rollers. Are you using it for lawn art, as a planter perhaps?

Yep, the '69 was doing the pushing, not me! We use it as a fire pit. Gonna be tough to warp this one. Then there is the "sitting rock". That's another story.

[jhe.1973]

Originally Posted by yuccales

........... Then there is the "sitting rock". That's another story.

Gosh I like your taste in yard art!!

You think maybe we were twins separated at birth?



I have my own 'rock' story but with the old M-37 I had in Appalachia. In many ways I wish I would have been able to bring it with me to Arizona.

That's a hand cranked wrecker that I built on the bed and used for countless tasks such as this one to dig a drainage ditch:



Through the years I literally had to move tons of rocks with the old beast.

Once I got out here and set up my shop, I had to do anything to survive. I decided to look out for a wrecker. That's when this C-30 turned up kinda close by in a truck trading newspaper.

[yuccales]

Love those ol war wagons!

[jhe.1973]

Hi Everyone,

Last February when I started working on this truck to make it dependably roadworthy, one of the first things on the agenda was to install the power steering box and pump I obtained years ago from a Squarebody C20.

The brackets that came with it had been machined with a cutting torch so I’m pretty sure the setup was not original.



I decided to move the alternator to the passenger side of the engine to make more room for the pump. I picked up some brackets, water pump and bolts/studs from a couple of junkyard El Caminos.

The mounting bracket for the pump was not compatible with the driver’s side exhaust manifold so I had to fabricate something. This is as I was mocking it up:



Here is a view of what I was developing:



This is the bracket in the milling machine cutting the semi-circular slot for adjusting belt tension:



Finally these views show the bracket before final welding. I also made a dedicated spacer to replace the aluminum one w/washer and extra long bolt:



I am tickled with having power steering as our alley is only 17 feet wide. Maneuvering a double axle trailer into our yard takes quite a bit of back and forth fiddling. Now, I can even stand outside the truck and reach through the window to turn the wheels lock to lock with one finger!

This poses a problem in paradise!

The steering has such a large hydraulic assist that there is no road feel. Because of this it’s difficult to keep from wandering around a traffic lane while driving.

A friend said he had a Chevy truck with the same problem and his mechanic said it was just an adjustment and corrected it.

Is that true?

To my way of thinking, in order for that to be the case, the hydraulic pressure has to be adjustable.

Have any of you run into this situation? If so, what is the fix?

Thanks in advance for any help that may come my way!!!

[D.B]

Hey, that's a very good job on making the power steering pump bracket. Thanks for the pics and write up. Looking forward to more.

[Steeveedee]

The sector gear in the steering box is crowned so that it sits in tighter contact when the steering wheel is centered. There is an adjustment in the repair manual. If you don't have a manual, you can go here and download one for free. There are two- one for maintenance and one for overhaul.
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...ghlight=hatzie

[CG]

This thread has really opened my eyes up on all the uses of a wrecker. Previously I had only thought of them as being able to haul a vehicle around. Never even occurred to me that you could use them for anything else, and Im 65 years old ... You can teach an old dog new tricks =)