Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[sgtusmc]

Wow Dan, The dash looks really great man.

[ChuckDriver]

That dash really looks great Dan!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Oh thank you guys. Coming from you with the kind of trucks you have the compliments mean a lot. It's just rattle can junk to make it presentable while I do all the mechanical stuff I want to get done. But i really so like the color combo. Surprising given the colors come
From two different companies.

I've got a lot more to do in the cab - more sanding, priming, painting. Putting door rubber, window tracks & anti ratyle strips. But also some minor rust repair - FINALLY buy a bottle & MIG gas later today. I'll be practicing (& hurting myself? Lol) starting this weekend.

First more major thing after that is getting the tank out of the cab following ChuckDriver's method. JJ, if you feel you'd "do it differently now" please tell me how?
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[bondobob]

Nice job and a nice choice of colors. Keep up the good work.

[ChuckDriver]

Dan, I don't think I would do it any way different. It works great and looks nice and tucked up from behind. But there are many ways that other have done it that look good too! The early mustang/cougar tank install looks very straight forward.

Keep up the good work!

[YahamaR1]

Very nice thread Dan..
Nice clean truck you have..
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[WIDESIDE72]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Okay, so I FINALLY got my truck back from the shop today. Man am I happy. It starts and runs great AND...the engine looks brand new because I had a new dual plane Edelbrock intake manifold installed as well as some new, old school finned valve covers and finned air cleaner. The truck needed a LOT of stuff since it had sat almost 20 years!

Valves adjusted
Distributor upgraded with Pertronix, new cap, wires, plugs
Generator rebuild
Fan shroud installed on rebuilt radiator (turned out it had NO T-stat!)
New mini starter
New battery & battery cable
Rear tranny mount
Choke cable, hmmm...I think there's more but that'll do it for now.

Pic's...cause I like pic's. Just for shiggles, I'll re-post a "Before" picture:

Fugly:



Not exactly "After" cause I've still got work to do, but you get it:

This one was before I put the new air cleaner on it:

My new fan shroud & rebuilt generator visible

Apologies for the blurry photo of my new mini starter:


New up? Stuff that DOESN'T cost money Well, at least stuff I already have the parts for: New rear bumper, door weatherstripping, paint the rear portion of the frame, and on and on....

I may have missed it...Where did youget the fan shroud???

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by WIDESIDE72

I may have missed it...Where did you get the fan shroud???

The Truck Shop in Orange, CA. I think I did mention it at some point before but here's the link:

http://www.truckandcarshop.com/trucks47_59/t47_066.html

Thanks for asking!

[Dan in Pasadena]

I haven't done anything to my truck in months, so I went to start her yesteray and though she usually fires right up, today she didn't want to. I opened the hood only to find friggin rats had gotten onto my intake and made a mess. Not only that but they peed on the clear finish on my valve covers and messed it up. Take a look at post #282 above for what she looked like before.

A quick spritz of starting fluid and she started right up, but will not idle.
I checked down the carb and it is clean as a whistle - fortunately. So I don't think the rats caused the idling problem. Any ideas on the sudden inability to idle? I dn;t want to but MAY have to pull the carb justto verify there's nothing small in there like a rat poop or something. Ideas anyone IF its not rat related but has been sitting for a couple months? Once started it would run if I kept my foot in it, but as soon as I let off she'd die. Then wouldn't start again without fluid.



After I cleaned up in there. You can see that even the cast intake finish is damaged a bit. I suppose that at some point I'll pull the valve covers, strip them and re-polish or strip and spray them with VHT Hi Temp.

[Daze57]

stinkin' rats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kim57]

Rats suck.
Kim

[Chevette]

Rats in Pasadena? I thought all the rats were is Sacramento. You can probably buff the valve covers back to new. The intake will likely need to be blasted (if you're going to be picky). Too bad, because you really had the engine looking good. Rats! Who'd a thunk?

[ChuckDriver]

Sorry Dan!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks guys. Yeah, this seriously sucks. The engine was the only thing on the truck that was starting to look good, lol.

I'm gonna put a snap trap in there when its parked and Maybe a tray of some poison too.

[Daze57]

hopefully no cats climb into the engine area with your traps set !

[_Ogre]

i'd check to see what else the rats chewed on. vac hoses, plug wires, etc..
if your running points, clean them up with a little sandpaper
but it sounds vacuum related

around here no rats, but we have killer squirrels
anything parked outside get stuffed full of black walnuts.
they chewed a hole in my cold air pipe, pulled all the paper out of the filter and then proceeded to fill everything with walnuts.
how my truck ran with all those nuts in there is beyond me; throttle body, air cleaner, cold air pipe and inner fender was full of nuts.
i didn't notice it until a nut rolled under the throttle cam and stuck the throttle wide open.
once a squirrel stashes nuts in there, he will go back and stash them again and again.
i could fill a truck bed with the nuts i've cleaned out under the hood



mowing my yard or even walking in the yard can be hazardous in the fall

[Russell Ashley]

Dan, just drive it more often. Lots more fun and doesn't give the rats time to take up residence.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ogre,
I will definitely have another, closer look with a flashlight in hand to make CERTAIN there's nothing chewed.

Russ,
You're EXACTLY right. The reason I wasn't driving it was becasue I took the door latches, door panels, window cranks, etc off in preparation or cleaning up, priming and painting. I did that, bought new door rubber, window felt and anti-rattle strips. Then I found more rust in the lower doors than I originially thought there was (naturall, right? I shoulda known better).

And because I haven't gone out and bought a bottle of Ar/Co2 (about $190 at my local Airgas supplier) nor .023 wire ($20-30) for my welder I guess I won't til January because of the holidays and a planned ski trip right after. But once that arrives I will be able to make the repairs.

I went out there Sat with the intention of pulling her out, cleaning her up, and doing some prep work - cutting rotted metal out, etc. But honstly, I just got pissed off and cleaned the rat crap & nuts and went inside and sulked!! Very adult, I know! I haven't given up. I'm in a lull but I can feel myself coming out of it and YOUR trucks and the encouragement (and teasing, lol) you give are the things that keep me going.
Thanks guys!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ok, I've done exactly "Jack" on the truck for months.

But Daylight Savings Time started today & I want to use her as my weekend driver/Home Depot runner so I got back to work today. I've had the hood latch & panel in front of the radiator off awhile. I hadn't reassembled cause I could see the front end was very dirty & loaded with surface rust (Yeah right!) Plus, the grill - one of my main attractions to the '55-'56's - looks nasty. I pulled the bumper, grill, under-apron today:


Grill is in overall good condition - no rust through - with "light" (for 58 years) surface rust on the backside. Options are a cheapo old Sears siphon sandblaster if I'm careful. OR I can try naval jelly or Ospho. Opinions? If Ospho, do I soak it in a bath of it for a few hours?


Backside:


Underside of Apron:


Incidentally, I intend to paint the backsides with either KBS or spray undercoating. All opinions appreciated. What have you guys done with yours? I've heard with KBS (or POR15) you WANT to put it over rust like that. I think I'd just wire brush it and paint. Whaddaya think?

[Kim57]

Those look pretty decent for their age.
POR-15 is supposed to go over rust so I guess you could knock the loose stuff off and paint it.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, that's what I've read too. It just kinda-sorta strikes me as half-assing it. Maybe I'll just try it and see. I DIDN'T buy KBS' pre tretment stuff thinking it was probably just a degreaser. Can anyone confirm that? Or does it have MAGICAL powers? lol.

[Rude Dude]

Dan get a big glass jar with white vinegar and put all your bolts, washers into the jar it will take a week or so but the rust will be gone. You can use Navel Jell on the big parts but remember it contains acid, another alternative is get a container that the parts fit into such as a kids plastic pool get molasses available at feed stores and mix one part to nine parts of water and submerge the parts. After it soaks a couple of days wash residue off this process is bio degradeable so you can pour it down the drain.

Molasses and water rust remover converter -...

[mark '87 930]

Those Rat bastards..

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by mark '87 930

Those Rat bastards..

GAWD, isn't that true!

Rudy, thanks for the tips. But I know how I am - impatient! I took the day off today cause its so nice out. In headed over to Home Depot to check out NJ, Ospho and Rustoleum's spray converter. Maybe I'll get several & compare!
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[Dan in Pasadena]

Rudy, Thanks. I put the miscellaneous rusty-as-hell bolts into a plastic ex-frosting container overnight (it held up well) and they came out clean as a whistle! I rinsed and dried them and the container, then put them back in the container and sprayed Gibbs oil in there liberally. I'll leave them in there until I reassemble it all.

Here's the backside of the grill (grille?) after the Rust Reformer dried 24 hrs and; even though you can't really tell, I sprayed the backside with Rustoleum Hammered Black. It hides minor imperfections and I'll spray the front with Rustoleum Chrome. If it looks cheesy I'll respray it in an off white - you guys tell me if it looks like ass. I want honest opinions. I've had pretty good results with their Brite Mettallic Aluminum before and was told the chrome is even better. We'll see.



Here's the Apron. I shot it in Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer (red oxide, sorry forgot to snap a picture) and immediately painted it Sage green in satin finish. These photos aren't all that accurate color-wise, but it IS a little more mint than I'd prefer. I was using Duplicolor Self Etching primer just for the green color cause EVERYbody's is gray or red oxide. But the green fades badly in the sun. So I thought I'd try this. Jury is out on the color.