1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Looking Sharp. That's a nice proportional lift for that truck. Any thoughts on slightly larger diameter tires?

Thank you! In all reality, there is zero lift on the front and 2.5" in the back, to get the rake back the way it should be. The height is just the difference between the Dodge frame and the Chevy frame. I had to build the cab mounts 7" tall, above the dip in the middle of the Dodge frame to keep the bed floor at stock depth, because the Dodge frame arches up over the axle. The Chevy frame is pretty much flat front to back.

As it sits, the rockers are at the top of my knees, (23" above the ground). The top of the cab is just about 7' give or take an inch.

The tires are 32" tall (235/85R16). I was going for tall and skinny, like the original NAPCO trucks. If I go taller, they get wider and stick out past the fenders.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I got a bit more done this week now that all the lights work like they should. First off, I took the sander to the rear cab wall, floor, and firewall to get a good scuff in before i coated them with POR-15. I don't want any more possibility of rust issues, so after welding shut all of the unneeded holes in the cab floor, I cleaned it all up and laid on the POR-15. It set up well and looks like a good base coat. Down the road, I'll scuff the POR-15 and apply Lizard Skin for thermal and sound barriers and then probably some Fat Mat to finish it out before carpet.

I also cleaned up the driver's seat, as it had some dust, dirt and stains. I hosed it off and scrubbed it down to get most of the filth off. Once it dried back out, I put it back in the cab and then used upholstery cleaner on the seat bottom to finish it out. I'll do the same with the passenger seat on the next hot, dry day so the seat doesn't mildew.

Also, I got some industrial magnets and mounted one to hold the fuel filler door shut. It works perfectly.

-Joe

[gigamanx]

Looks sharp! How much did you get on yourself trying to paint in there haha. Did you do behind the dash?

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Looks sharp! How much did you get on yourself trying to paint in there haha. Did you do behind the dash?

I did well at keeping it off me, but I hit the can a touch too hard with the mixer, and now I have a pancake-sized patch on my driveway slab that will never rust. 😂

I got the firewall up to the bottom side of the dash and most of the underside of the dash is coated as well. It’s coated well enough that I’m not worried about anything inside rusting through in my lifetime.

-Joe

[Old57]

Looking good!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Old57

Looking good!

Thank you!

Two weeks ago I recorded another YouTube update that encompasses a lot of the little things I’ve been getting done.

https://youtu.be/rmHkPueKQ6U

In addition, I cleaned up the current seats. Ethyl is really looking the best she ever has and will be going to the Pauls Valley Brickfest at the end of this month.



-Joe

[joedoh]

it looks really good, way to see it through!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

it looks really good, way to see it through!

Thank you Joe. There is still much more to do, but Kim and I both like where we've managed to be with Ethyl so far.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I was digging around in my shed this morning, looking for my inner door panels and I stumbled across more than I expected. I didn't find the panels I was looking for, but I found two other sets, two extra sets of the lower hinge covers, and a hood emblem that I didn't realize I had. These are in addition to the copper and brass manual transmission radiator that I'm not using anymore. I think I might need to clean out my shed properly. Lord only knows what other parts I have stashed away out there.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I installed the door panels this afternoon. They still need a good cleaning and some fresh paint, but they fit nicely.

I also cleaned up the hood ornament and installed it. 0000 steel wool and WD-40 cleaned it up nicely.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Well, here is another video update for anyone with a half hour to kill. Lol! Enjoy.



https://youtu.be/adW0BxO2Iz0

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I got a bunch of little stuff done the past few weeks. One item was the door and window handles. For years, I had generic GM handles, like were found in Dad's 1960s-1970s Oldsmobiles. The sort of worked, but didn't fit well and eventually stripped out on the splines. I picked up some correct handles in OKC and fixed that issue.

I also finally installed a transfer case shift knob and I found a center console that works well between the seats.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

The console has a "locking" compartment, but a determined child could have it open in a minute or less. Also, the console needed a base of sorts to make the armrest usable. I figured 8" tall, above the mounting ribs for the seat would be a nice fit, so I began building myself a lock box out of leftover 10 gauge steel from the bed floor. The end result is a solid, albeit heavy, locking compartment that is 8" tall, 8" wide, and 21" deep. The base bolts to the cab floor and security hardware holds the top porting to the base. I haven't built the door yet, but when it is done, it will be like a small safe inside the cab.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

The new console bolts to the top of the lock box, providing an arm rest and a secure compartment inside the cab.

When done, I'm going to add some USB charging ports for convenience.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I took Ethyl to the Pauls Valley Brickfest over the weekend. She didn't get any love from the judges in the "Unfinished" class, but the spectators liked her. There were a few folks who recognized that something was different underneath, which made it worthwhile to me. I didn't drive her down there, since I don't trust the unknown transmission. She rode the trailer and then drove around the block. Next year, she'll go on her own.

One advantage was Ethyl's paint. When the rain came through, I only had to wipe down her chrome.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

A few weeks ago, I found some film pictures of Ethyl from near the very beginning, when she was still on the original, uncut Chevy frame. They were taken around 1999 or 2000.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Yesterday I got my Heinz 57 assortment of gauges working. I tapped into the feed wires from the 1996 Dodge Ram wire harness and was able to hook up the Autometer gauges and indicator lights.

https://youtu.be/l0A6LI0gAMM

-Joe

[Second Series]

The gauge hook up looks pretty straight forward, thanks for showing. I have been researching how to do that for my build. Your truck build inspires me.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

Well, here is another video update for anyone with a half hour to kill. Lol! Enjoy.



https://youtu.be/adW0BxO2Iz0

-Joe

I watched it and forgot to let you know I had a half hour haha.


I bet looking at the beginning pictures again is bittersweet, I always like to see how far it has come anyway.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Second Series

The gauge hook up looks pretty straight forward, thanks for showing. I have been researching how to do that for my build. Your truck build inspires me.

I'm happy to help. For my gauges, I ran a single keyed 12v power and a single ground and then used T-Tap splices to connect them to the individual gauges. The keyed 12v power was from the Dodge wire harness and is getting power through the fuse panel for the instrument cluster, however you could use any keyed 12v power source and add an inline fuse.

With the T-Taps, I just ran short individual jumpers to the gauges. The only other issue is matching your sending units to your gauges. The 1994-1997 Dodge Ram 1500 fuel level sending unit in nearly compatible with a GM 0-90 Ohm fuel gauge, so no need to make another hole in my gas tank for a separate fuel level sender, (Chrysler used a 5-83 Ohm sender, or something close to that. I forget the exact numbers, but close enough to work).

The only gauge I needed to run a separate wire for was the water temperature sender. The 1994-1997 Dodge had two temp sensors on the intake manifold, one for the computer to adjust fuel trim and one for the dash cluster. Both of these senders were smaller in diameter than the sending unit that came with the Autometer temperature gauge and the Dodge sender for the cluster wasn't compatible with the Autometer gauge. I could have drilled out and tapped the intake manifold where Chrysler installed the sender for their gauge and used the Dodge wiring, but since I already had an adapter with the correct port for the Autometer sender, it was the easy answer.

I'm split on the oil pressure gauge. The mismatched gauge is mechanical, however, I installed a t-fitting a the back of the motor to allow for the electric sending unit (Dodge) as well as an additional port for a mechanical gauge. Autometer offers both types of gauge in the Arctic White style with the mechanical gauge being about $13 more than the electric unit. While the electric unit will save a little money and will wire right in, the mechanical unit will never lie. There is no sender to go bad and in the event of impending engine failure, you can see there is a problem long before it becomes terminal, if you know what you are seeing. Fluctuations in pressure can indicate bearing wear, necessity for oil change, etc.

True story...years ago I had a Dodge Power Wagon that I equipped with a mechanical oil pressure gauge. At highway speed, oil pressure was a constant 60 psi unless it was getting to be time to change the oil. One night between Phoenix and Yuma, AZ, I noticed my oil pressure had dropped significantly (30 psi at 3000 rpm). I was still in the 10 psi per 1000 rule, so I was sure I wasn't doing damage. Later on during the trip, pressure went right back to normal. At first I though my mind was playing tricks on me and that I was just tired. It was very early in the morning and I have been up most of the night.

I kept an eye on things and saw no other indication of a problem. Occasionally, it would drop to 30 psi in the blink of an eye and just as quickly, it went back to normal. I continued driving this truck for months like this with absolutely no other indication that anything was wrong. Oil changes were normal, no signs of metal debris and no unusual noises. Then one afternoon, I was pulling a very heavy steel trailer and was trying to merge onto the interstate. I accelerated hard, much harder than normal and all of the sudden I lost power. I pushed in the clutch, the engine died immediately and I coasted to a stop.

I got a tow back to base, pulled the engine and removed the oil pan. The crankshaft had broken and separated at the counter balance weight. The break wasn't a clean break, it was angled and when I accelerated with the load the two pieces pushed against each other and began to wedge into the main bearing web. The crank had broken many months earlier, but when cruising at light loads, it would separate just a bit, causing the loss of oil pressure that I would randomly see. In the end, I replaced the crank, bearings and one connecting rod that was damaged when things tried to wedge.

The gauge was trying to tell me there was a problem. I just didn't know what I was seeing and didn't take the time to investigate further. Had it let go at higher speed, it could have been the entire block and a bunch of bent valves as well.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

I watched it and forgot to let you know I had a half hour haha.


I bet looking at the beginning pictures again is bittersweet, I always like to see how far it has come anyway.

Joe, I have to admit it, a 30 minute video is a bit much. From now on, I'm going to try to keep things to no more than 15 minutes. If it is more involved, I will break it down into segments.

Finding those old pictures really was bittersweet. I remember where this project was going in the early days and the two other trucks I had started with before Ethyl came along. My first 1957 was a 3800 with no bed and a rear cab wall that had clearly been the victim of lots of farm use. The metal work was beyond my skill set and nobody was making replacement rear cab walls back then. For that matter, the only replacement fenders were fiberglass.. The best you could get was a patch panel.

Later on, I found a GMC cab to use as a donor, and swapped in the Chevrolet dashboard from the first truck. It wasn't until I went to put a bed on that I realized the 3800 had been a cab and chassis and that the frame was much longer (by two feet) than the 89" bed that came with the GMC. Of course, by this time, I had spent an Arizona summer sand blasting and repainting the 3800 frame. My front yard looked like White Sands, NM.

My biggest regret is that I don't have pictures of any of this.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

As to the mismatched gauges, I've settled on a Speedhut GPS based speedometer. It is very similar to the Arctic White Autometer gauges that I have, close enough that it won't be immediately noticeable, and has some features that I like that Autometer doesn't offer.

My center dash is garbage, so I'm going to put in a replacement panel and will mount a matching 2 1/16" tach and clock in that part of the dash, since they won't fit in my five gauge cluster.

Also, the parts came in to finish the door on my lock box. New flat hinge and a barrel keyed lock, (once I'm done repairing our water main, that is...).

[Purcell69]

With winter here in Oklahoma, things with Ethyl have been on the back burner for a while. As I have said before, I don't have a shop to work out of, so I am at the will of the weather and available daylight. Sure, I could run an extension cord and drop light, but when the sun goes down, the temperature drops like a rock. For me, it is really hard to get motivated to work on anything in the winter months when I get home from work, knowing I have 90 minutes or so of daylight left. If the weather is decent, I can do a little on my days off, but the past three weeks, the nice weather has been on the weekends, and the winter storms, (cold, drizzly, rain-soaked days), just have naturally aligned with my days off.

I had been targeting getting Ethyl out on this year's Hot Rod Power Tour, but it doesn't seem like that plan is going to fall in place. Kim won't be up to traveling like that unless something happens for her in the next few weeks and there are no consultations on the horizon for her, so I need to be looking ahead to 2021 I guess.

Still, in the effort of making the 2020 tour happen, we picked up a rebuilt 1996 46RE automatic transmission that is compatible with the OBD-II wire harness Ethyl is running. I also scored a 1996 PCM to match up with the transmission, so all the parts will be the same vintage before long. Once the new trans is in, I am going to get another rear driveshaft built to the correct length, as the current one is a bit too short for my liking. I'll also have a new front shaft built, 3" longer than stock to accommodate moving the engine and transmission back in the chassis 3".

Yesterday, we received about 5" of snow at the house, more than we have seen locally in the past few years. As a result, I took Ethyl out into the pasture for some "snownuts". I overlooked the new mud terrain tires Ethyl now wears, and dug down through the snow to damp earth in no time at all. Given we have had 5" of rain in the last 10 days of January, the new tires were actually quite useful.

https://youtu.be/aZPvwn0ddYs

I need to take a look at the throttle linkage. There is some sort of binding that causes the throttle to stop about 1/2 way. For the pasture, this was fine, albeit a tad annoying. On the few occasions I was able to push past the bind, that engine jumped to life with Ethyl's new non-stock cam. I just didn't push it, as I was afraid the throttle might stick open...and nobody wants to see that happen.

-Joe

[joedoh]

HAHAHAHAthat video was hilarious.

nice to get an update!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

HAHAHAHAthat video was hilarious.

nice to get an update!

Thanks Joe! I was having a blast out there. It's been a few years since we got a decent snow, which just happened to coincide with my days-off. I got to go play before it all melted.

I think I have a plan for the craptastic mess that is the center of my dashboard. I really wasn't looking to put a modern sound system in Ethyl, but we picked up a 2001 Grand Cherokee in November and I installed a Kenwood media player in it. I really like the touch screen and Apple CarPlay is handy, especially with the Maps navigation app.

The media player is a Kenwood DMX7706S. There is no CD/DVD in it, so the unit is only about 4" deep. This will leave plenty of room for the wiper motor and AC ducting behind the dash. The dashboard either needs patched or I install something like this. I'm starting to warm up to this.

-Joe