1952 1 Ton Rebuild

[mechanixman]

While moving it, I realized something kind of funny.
This is the first time it's been on the road for at least 10 years.

[Denee007]

What is that white stuff on the ground? lol We don't get that here in Houston. It's 35 here and that's beyond my threshold to function! Hell, even 55 is too cold for me! During the cold spells (which are short lived) I spend time on organizing my garage. When really into making a mess of my shop, I HAVE to take time to put things away and make it nice so I can make better progress.

So, what's next?
dne'

[mechanixman]

Ha ha yeah..
The past week has been anything from -16 with windchill to a super warm 22 yesterday. I felt like I could have worn a t shirt while moving the truck.

Next on the list:
Winter break starts the 21st. That's when I hope to get a whole lot done at once.

-I got in contact with a paint shop who agreed to let me paint my cab during the off hours. We're hoping to start that the 23rd.
- with the cab out of the way during paint, I'm going to finally make the rear trans mount and rebuild the original cross member. I had to cut it because the t-5 sits lower than the original.
I remember either OrrieG, Mr.46chev, or Ogre mentioning that if there is no support there, the frame rails will buckle in on each other. and because the trans mount will be bolted ,not welded, I'll need to rebuild that cros member with a little more clearance.
- I doubt I'll be able to, but I'd like to see if I can finally machine those hubs before the end of the year.
-Remake my MC mount, it didn't the alignment weren't perfect and bolt holes were a tad too small
- Tear apart the motor and find the damn problem. There is some kind of tension in the rotating assembly that -couple with the resistance of the compression- prevents the motor from turning over. I need to figure that out. I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I have gotten that 327 to fire! It a couple times for about 10 sec (that was all the fuel i had in the carb)

[Denee007]

Keeps you on your toes doesn't it! I would lay in bed thinking I'd never fall asleep, but thinking about what I'd do the next day,week,month. I did most of my pre-builds while laying in bed!
Exciting to hear that engine fire I'm sure!
Keep up the great work!
dne'

[mechanixman]

So I picked up some new metal today.
8' X 1" X 2" and 1/8" thick: $27
2' X 6.5" X 3" 3/8" thick: $24

The crazy big piece (with writing on it) will be used to support the new trans cross member. The original plan was to take bar and bolt it to the bottom of the frame. But when i came up with that plan, I forgot about driveline phasing.
To get the motor and trans angled one degree back, the trans mount needs to be about 2 inches lower than the bottom of the frame. So that plus the 2"X2" tubing (I'm using as a cross member) adds up to the 4" clearance below the frame needed. That's were that big piece comes in. I'm going to make 4 inch tall U pieces that I'll weld to the bottom of the frame. Thus the 4" written on the metal. 2.75" is the width of the frame.

I hope that makes sense to everyone, if not, the pictures in the coming days should clear everything up.

The one by two will be used to recreate the original cross member. I'll get that measured out tomorrow.

[mechanixman]

Just before I left for winter break, I built a new master cylinder mount. I bolted it on, and everything seemed fine....till I put the cab back on.
It needs to be moved down about 2-3". I think I'm going to also bring it back about 6" so I can make an access panel under the seat.
I started looking at the frame, and realized I have no idea how I', going to route the exhaust on the driver side.
What are your guy's ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Nick

[mechanixman]

I finally got the motor and transmission mounted!
Dad and I decided to get a generator so we can use our 240 volt arc welder whenever we needed. We bought a generator that makes 3500 running watts. (it had a 240 volt outlet, and was cheap enough for us to completely pay with cabela's points)
We quickly found out that the welder actually need 5750 watts to run right, so we decided to run extension cord from the electric stove outlet to the garage. I spent the past couple days running to the hardware store and buying all parts to make a 240V extension cord.
Second picture shows what the new M/C mount mocked up. I'm planning on getting that finished tomorrow.

[mechanixman]

Well I managed to get a lot done since last year.
December 30th I went out and bought a new sbc. The ad said it was a 400ci from a 77 k20. Everything checked out while I was there, but once we got home, I cleaned off the casting numbers, and it turns out it was a 305.
No matter, it still came with a weiand street fighter intake and an edelbrock 1406 carb. I was pretty stoked while rebuilding the carb. about 30 min of prep, and this motor fired right up. So the plan is to get the truck running on this until I get the 327 running perfectly. I'm hoping that by the time that happens, it'll seem like a huge performance upgrade.
I also got a steering column off ebay, for $160 with shipping. It's a tilt 32" floor shift no key column. I'm pretty happy with it, though I think I'm going to re-engineer some of it. For instance, the tilt level spring seems to be mounted the wrong way. Which keeps the lever annoyingly close to the turn signal all the time. That, and I think I may turn some new levers at school. I like the idea of custom turn signal levers with knurling and all that good stuff. Other than that, very satisfied.

[mechanixman]

Today I went to oreilly's, determined to find a set or rotors I didn't need to modify to fit my hubs. After about 30 min of looking at four or five hubs, we decided to just go in back and open boxes till we found a rotor that fit. Managed to find this one after the third try.
Fit's perfectly. Now I need to get bigger studs, and make the caliper mount.

[mechanixman]

I went to a junkyard today, I found out they had this particular van, a 2007 3500 express. Now while most of the front clip was gone, the suspension was surprisingly still intact. I took some reference pictures to help me make my caliper brackets, then I pulled of the caliper and carrier. Dad and I decided that we wouldn't skimp with junkyard parts when it came to brakes, so we bought brand new calipers from the store. The problem was the caliper cost $40, and the core charge was another $40! So we bought these at $30 a set to save some cash on the core charge.

While mocking up the wheel with the new brake parts, I came to an ugly conclusion. The original steelies probably won't fit. It may work out, but i'm not holding my breath. Because of that, I paid $20 for the front wheels off of the van. That way, when it moves under it's own power, I won't have it standing on jack stands till I find a decent set of wheels. For some reason i don't think hub cap works with the wheel.

While trying to remove the calipers, I somehow managed to shear my 3/8 inch Craftsman ratchet. I couldn't believe it. i'm trying to decide whether I want to use the free exchange tool warranty, or frame and hang it.

[mechanixman]

yesterday I cleaned and painted the new rims real quick.
I drilled out, sand blasted, and painted the hubs today.
Tomorrow I'll press in the new studs and have everything put together to mock up the caliper.

[MARTINSR]

What ever happen with the radio mount? I don't know if I skipped a page or something but that was looking darn interesting and I would like to see how it came out.

I ran for years a stereo mounted behind the stock speaker grille. I welded the ash tray cover to the grille, then put hinges at the bottom of the grill and magnets at the top to hold it closed (yeah kinda hokey, I know). I used some sort of tray, I forget what, it may have been an old metal ice tray from a fridge, I forget. But I used an old tray that bolted to the back of the dash where the speaker went that held the stereo. You pulled on the ash tray handle for it to open, ran this for years, it worked well for me. But I really dig your drop down, makes more sense and I have a daily driver where that may just work (not an AD) and will take a look at that today.

Brian

[mechanixman]

That's great!
But about that mount. I haven't quite gotten around to it. I might have a bet amongst friends of whether or not I'll have it driving down the road by the end of april. So I've been focusing on the brakes steering and drivetrain. But I'll mock it up and take some pictures for you.

[MARTINSR]

There is a running joke with my brother and his friend whom I bought my truck from in 1974 where they were 18 or so working on it and my brother was trying to make it run putting the motor back together while his friend only cared about getting his new 8 track and speakers.

Yeah, stick with your goal to get it running, it's a good to have a goal. I wish I could get mine running this next December for the 40th anniversary of owning it, that would be so damn cool. But I am looking at driving it more like the 42nd or 43rd anniversary at best.

Brian

[mechanixman]

Ha ha yeah funny how kids my age tend to think the speakers are the most important part. People ask me about my "system" and I reply "Well it's got a pretty wicked exhaust note..." But I don't think they quite get it.
Yeah I actually hope to have it driving around in march, but April is the deadline for Official Driving, with insurance and registration.
I'm sorry to hear that. I found out doing that "Do one thing a day" really makes the project go by a lot quicker.

[MARTINSR]

Yep, my rule is five minutes a day. But the last few weeks it has been more like five minutes a week because of my work kicking my butt. This making a living crap gets in the way of all the fun stuff!

Here is a photo (though small, sorry) of my stereo sitting in the truck.



Brian

[MARTINSR]

Here is an interesting way I put a hidden stereo years ago in my '65 Buick. It's not in the car anymore so I am holding it up in place.







This worked well.

Brian

[mechanixman]

Got a little bit done since last post,
I had the drive shaft shortened, the original carrier bearing assembly didn't work for me, because with a slip yoke at the front, and a slip joint in the back half of the drive shaft, the bearing had the ability to move forward and backward enough to let the dust cover/protector to crash into the bearing support. The drive line man found this bearing that fit perfectly. All it needs is roughly a 1 inch spacer to make it fit like the original.
But for $250, I had the front half of the driveshaft shortened, both halves balanced together (It was balanced as one piece, thus those two yellow lines on each shaft), new carrier bearing, new U-joint, and basically had a new yoke made. And just to top it off, he blasted and painted the smaller shaft. He said he would've done both, but the bigger shaft didn't fit in the sandblaster.

I never quite laid out my plans for the toolbox on paper (figuratively speaking). So here it is!
Some of the features:
-The lid doesn't extend all the way to the back, because I don't want it hitting the cab as it's opening.
-The reason behind it being narrower at the bottom, is that it will fit between the frame rails. This will be for the battery and an on board air compressor.
-The lip around the edge is to make sure the elements stay on the outside of the box.
-Not in the picture, I'll have an air hose quick disconnect and a regulator on each side of the box.
I want the majority of this box to act as a trunk. Carrying tools when I need them, but on a long trip, also protect my luggage and keep it from the rain/snow. As for the air compressor, I'm going to run it to a tank or two under the bed, where that air will power air tools, and my horn.

[dmack91]

Just got my new Hot Rod mag in the mail and I see you made the "reader's projects" section. p.18

Congrats!

[mechanixman]

Thanks!
I haven't gotten mine yet.
Yeah!!

[mechanixman]

Just ran out and got a copy.
Well I'll be!

[mechanixman]

Started on the steering box mount.
I've got the bolt pattern down pat. My problem now seems to be getting the angle right so it matches up to the column. It seems like my problem here will be the pitman arm sticking out too far and the wheel possibly rubbing against it. At this point, with having to worry about both the exhaust manifold clearing and it sitting outside the frame too far, I'm starting to doubt that this steering box was a good idea. What have you guys done for steering?

[mechanixman]

Well I made a mount for the driveshaft, and that fits flawlessly.
Not too much on the brakes, still need ot measure out how far the calipers need to be.
I got this rack and pinion set up from a 4th gen camaro.
I plan on cutting it down, and mounting it to the straight axle. That way I'll have soo much more room in the engine bay.
Last friday, I picked up this workbench for $7, just got it pretty much set up in the garage, just have a few tools left to sort through.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by mechanixman

Just ran out and got a copy.
Well I'll be!

Very cool, you're a star!

Brian

[Mater/10]

Damn! Thats some awesome work you've done there bud! makes me wanna go tear into my truck and do everything right haha Awesome Progress! Subscribed!