Wamego: 1949 GMC 150

[Lmuelly]

Looks great! Merry Christmas! Now maybe I can get back on mine! I'm inspired!

[joedoh]

thanks for all the merry wishes, christmas is my favorite holiday aside from the 4th of july, so I was really happy to have the truck in the yard.

I thought I took more pictures, but the following is all I have, it was all asses and elbows in the shop for a couple days. last time I needed to adjust the hinge, I found that the top hinge was level but the bottom hinge had a tilt to it. I persuaded it back into place with a big length of pipe, and it all fit

IMG_2674 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2673 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I debated waiting on the window channel replacement, one reason was the cracked glass, I would need to take it back out to replace it. but I wanted the stainless trim on the door, and that is literally the last thing to come out, it goes

remove inner window trim
remove screws in window frame (drill them out is more likely because the clutch heads dont want to budge after almost 70 years)
turn window sideways in frame and lift out
remove screws in channel and remove channel
remove old dried wiper from outer side of glass. it will be hard and a pain, best way I found is to use a 1/8" drill bit in a cordless, and hold it at 45 degrees, it will chew up the old rubber and let you remove it.

IMG_2679 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
if you are changing to stainless like me, remove outer window trim, there may be a couple additional screws in behind the channel. if you arent changing the outside trim, then just leave the trim installed.

IMG_2675 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


then install is reverse. a few tips.

install the new channel by using the old channel as a length guide to trim the new. this is important because way down in the bottom of the door, there are little clips that hold the bottoms of the channel, so make sure it slides into the clips. and instead of trying to get the screws in the right spot or drilling new holes, I use a dab of fuse-it at the top and sides.
install the new wiper. this is the hardest part, because the channel is roughly a C but the wiper rubber is a T. so you have to put the long side of the T in the C, then use a flat bladed screwdriver to tap the short side of the T in. a mm at a time. it sucks, tap tap tap. tap tap tap.

IMG_2681 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

you put the channel in first because the wiper is longer than it needs to be too, and you dont know the right size till the channel is in.

turn the window front side down at a 45 degree angle and slip it in the new channel. once you have both sides in the channel, use your big boy muscles and rotate the window to straight. its not impossible, it will feel like it doesnt want to go but if you do it the way I say, with the window starting at 45 degrees and the front side down, it will turn and pop and its in.
if you had to drill out the screws like I did, its pretty easy to replace them with new screws and then I always drill an 1/8 hole through the frame and the regulator and put one extra screw in, in case all the machine screws fall out

IMG_2682 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the new window felts come with new inside wiper pieces that are stapled to the inner trims. I dont even mess with staples, I grind the old staples off with a flap disc and fuse-it the new felts.

so funny story, I was really humping to get things done and sure enough I got both sides "done" and noticed the new wiper for the passenger side still on the hood, after everything was assembled. it was 11pm sunday, surely no one would miss.... ah crud I know what I have to do. I took it all apart and put it in, quietly, tap tap tap. tap tap tap. tap tap tap.

christmas eve I woke up early and bled the brakes, changed out the headllight bulbs (half were green tinted), hooked up the parking lights, and rolled him into the yard.

IMG_2690 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

my wife thought it needed more lights, on Christmas eve everything was already 66% off, so I hooked it up with a couple LED light sets and even some LED spotlights

IMG_2742.HEIC by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0749 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

whats left? most of the interior seals and headliner, the two hubcaps are just double side taped on haha. rear window and bumpers, wipers and mirrors. gauges. *sigh*.

but it was a big hit! a lot of our guests took pictures in the yard with it. and my photographer neice wants to borrow it for some santa shoots.

[Old57]

Nice work on the big push to get it ready for X-Mas. It's looking pretty cool! You'll have it done pretty quick.

[oldman3]

That was a lot of work joe, but it sure looks good. And the lights really set it off...Jim

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Joe! Definitely sets off the front of the house!

[8man]

Thanks for the write up Joe. The truck is looking good.

[Desert1957]

Love the Christmas display on the yard, Awesome!

[OutlawDrifter]

Bang up job!

[oldman3]

Joe, like the new avatar, looks great...Jim

[joedoh]

thanks jim, I need to get motivated again haha

[joedoh]

holidays over, time for a spot of work.


bumpers! I have a very nice 1947 GMC bumper in the back yard but I am holding out hope I find the one guy who needs it instead of using it on a truck. they are scooped, like a car bumper for that 1.5 year period only. This truck came with a bumper, but he had removed it in the field for some reason, and torched off the splash pan. even still, it worked alright to build some brackets and pop it on.

I thought about tucking it in, but it looks a little flat.
IMG_2790 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

so I pulled it out and made it part of the truck.

IMG_2789 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2796 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I think I will make a splash shield, its installed in the right spot but looks low to the grille because the piece is missing.

the rear bumper was a little more work. I havent done one since the 47 GMC years ago but I had a spare 46 front bumper and its more flat than the 47-53, so I thought it might look good on the back. I wanted it just low enough to put the plate under the tailgate.

IMG_2797 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


bumper brackets are spring steel, which I dont have, but I figured some 11ga would be springy enough to take a tiny hit without crumpling. I made some cardboard templates and cut some steel, then bent them up to match the template.

IMG_2798 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2799 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

to facilitate the work I just tacked them to the frame, in case they needed to move in or out or up or down, instead of bolting them on more permanently.

IMG_2801 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2802 (1) by Joe Doh, on Flickr

looking good so far, now for the outside bolts.

IMG_2803 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2805 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I cut 1/2" holes in the outside brackets and plug welded them

IMG_2807 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

worked out nice! evenly matched to the taillights. the bumper has a little bend in it from probably being towed by a chain but it looks fine to me.

IMG_2804 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2808 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I will pick up some carriage bolts for the blade and the big bolts for the frame tomorrow.

[Advanced Design]

Some nice work on the brackets right there!

[oldman3]

Looks good...Jim

[Brads49]

Love the truck! Nice work!

[joedoh]

thanks!

this is my busy time of year, new budgets means new projects and I am always hooked up right on the first working day of the year. this is the same company that tried to hire me and move me northwest last year. it was tempting for the money but I like my life, staying with the beeps all day, two to three contracts a year, a couple trucks to keep my hands busy. luckily they still love my work and continue to hire me contract. but that means I have less time for trucks.

I didnt like that empty hole doing nothing in the rear bumper (that is a 46 front bumper) so I filled it with a quick popped license plate holder on the plasma cutter.



I stopped by bowtie bits for my two backordered hubcaps and picked up a splash pan too. I was going to build one but time isnt on my side. I trimmed it and made new brackets




this... was a giant pain in the poker. the farmer took the bumper off for unknown reasons and torched out the rivets that hold the pieces together, so lining everything up with an... experienced... bumper was fun on a bun. you can see I liked it so much, I put the frame brackets on the wrong side of the bumper brackets and got to do it again.

but it all worked out, it doesnt look like a silly gaping hole any more.



incidentally, I had to make new brackets because the ones I already made and welded on were an inch too far in.


maybe some interior work tomorrow. contract doesnt start till the 14th but I always spend some time a week prior doing schedules and teleconference. I hope they dont need any solidworks, my work machine has been giving me fits.

[oldman3]

joe, looks good...Jim

[Palf70Step]

Very nice work!

[8man]

Good work.

[rusty76]

Truck is really coming along nicely.

[joedoh]

thanks all!

not a lot of progress, unfortunately. trying to make doug's thing but too many irons or candles or pokers or goats whatever the overtasked metaphor is.

the rear window gasket I got didnt fit the pinch, we had it in once and the window just fell out, not enough contact. I stopped and got some gasket material from the local shop and they didnt have the lock strip, saying the one I have should fit, but it doesnt.

56928959521__F157D243-CD70-4313-ABEC-9F9C3EC452AD by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I also worked on the gauges, the con2r set is very deep. originally neither would fit, the speedo didnt clear the defroster and the tach didnt even come close to clearing the dash brace or the wiper motor.

IMG_2855 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2856 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

after some.. modifications.. that I will go into privately if someone wants to know, they both finally fit.

IMG_2870 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2873 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

they are wired and everything checks out except the speedo so far. really pretty but like most really pretty things, a bit of extra effort is required to keep them happy.

speaking of happy, I forgot to turn off the shop heater one night and woke the boys up taking a nap in the truck

IMG_2852 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

you can see how ridiculously deep the tach is in that picture too, its upside down closest to the camera.

got the blower trimmed and installed. havent tested yet because the battery is out.

IMG_2857 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_2858 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

funny thing about that, I needed to trim the blower motor from the extra ac box I had. I replaced the rad a while back and when I finished the blower mod I noticed a weird rad leak. turns out I had just tilted the ac box a little when walking past the truck and dumped ac oil on the truck. I was loosing my marbles there for a second.

IMG_2875 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I am shooting to have the headliner done tomorrow, then the column back in (had to take it all apart for the gauges. no rest for the wicked)

no word on travel. have some other things working right now so gotta split time.

[oldman3]

joe, gauges look good, your right, it seem that even if it's a little change, something is in the way...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Yeah it’s a bummer you won’t make it. Should be a good time.
Nice work getting the ginormously deep gauges to fit. The tach must have vacuum tubes in it.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice work getting the ginormously deep gauges to fit. The tach must have vacuum tubes in it.

it was all dead air! the speedo has a pcb in it but the tach was an extra 2 inches of nothing. I am guessing they use the same rear cover on both gauges for efficiency, but since they are 3D printed it would actually be more efficient to make the smaller cover (less material, less time)

[8man]

Lots of work, but worth it because the gauges look great.

[joedoh]

still tied up. doing more work than I normally do on the contract, I think they may be miffed I turned them down last year.

tested the illumination and the turn signals.



started making the vent/defrost attachement, I took the old ducts and cut the bottom of them off where they mate to the HVAC




I picked up the defrost hose at bowtie bits while I was out, for the vents, I dont know, maybe something in the radio hole.

mounted the blower. remember that this usually goes underhood on an s10, I ported the airflow through the firewall and this fit with just a small heat gun application for that actuator. tested it and it blows out the vents like a streetcorner preacher (thats a lot of air!)