52 Project

[tobins 52 gmc]

Loving it man ,your dad looks like he is having fun . Marry Christmas from Canada

[pgf545]

Well the going has been slow but steady!!! I finally got the brake lines run today but still have to finish clamping them to the frame and bleeding the brakes. Who knows how much longer this truck will take. I am hoping to get the motor fired up soon and then maybe we can at least let my dad drive it down the driveway under its own power. I still need to figure out the water hoses but I think I have a good idea of what I want to do. Thanks for the support on my drug out project.

Bernie

[tobins 52 gmc]

all good man

[pgf545]

Thank you guys very much! This thing started out to be a very simple build that we were just going to install the MII front and spray some paint. It has spiraled out of control to this. It has been fun and hopefully soon we will at least get it to move and stop under its own power. I bleed the brakes today and some other minor stuff done. I won't be able to work on it for a few weeks so maybe Memorial weekend I can get some stuff done. Thanks for viewing my build thread and someday there will be a payoff!!!

Bernie

[pgf545]

We finally got far enough along to fire up the motor today!!! I did the final brake bleed, hooked up the convertor, hooked up the power and made some noise. It still needs some tuning and lots of other minor details....Like figuring out the radiator hoses, mounting the fenders and hooking up the power steering, etc. I was really happy that we didn't have any leaks or major problems. It fired in about a half turn which caught my brother off guard. I did a quick video on my phone but I can't get to load. I will post it if I can figure it out. Good day everyone.

Bernie

[pgf545]

I couldn't get the video to load so here's a link to the YouTube clip. Sorry about the poor quality, this is the first time I have tried to video a running motor and well I guess I suck at it. lol Also never mind all the junk in the cab, it seems to be a catch all during the assembly. We did clean it out yesterday afternoon after I did the video. Enjoy

http://youtu.be/GJz-PKp1OpI

Bernie

[1948GMC]

Any finished pictures I love it!!!!!!!!

[pgf545]

No we haven't finished it yet, I quit putting a time table cause I keep missing my self imposed deadlines...lol. I hope to get it drivable in the next few weeks so at least dad can drive it up and down the driveway. I try to post pictures when we do something exciting. Here lately its been boring tedious stuff.

Bernie

[tobins 52 gmc]

I hear ya

[pgf545]

I finally got all the power steering lines run. I thought I had all the leaks fixed but I was down there yesterday and there was a big puddle under the truck. It appears to be leaking around one of the fittings, looks like maybe I didn't get it assembled good. I will look at it this weekend and see if that is indeed where it is leaking. I still need to put some hose hangers to keep them from flopping I will probably do that this weekend also. I have some stuff to do to the race car also so I guess it will depend on how much time I have to spend on it.

Bernie

[solidaxel]

A great location for the P S filler, is it going to be in the way of the inner fender brace?
Do you really need tha tpressure reducer for your rack and pinion?

[pgf545]

Thanks Solidaxel, yes it's behind the brace. The rack said it needed a pressure reducer. I wanted to go with a replacement fitting but dad wanted to be able to adjust it to get the feel he wants.

Bernie

[pgf545]

Finally after working on this thing for what feels like forever we actually drove it today!!! First time in over 30 years that it has moved under its own power. Now if I can just get all the rest of the stuff done. My dad was excited and I am not sure if you can see in the video but he was beaming that big smile.

Here are a couple of short videos that I shot on my phone today, my brother had his GoPro going also but I will wait until he downloads it to see if I am going to post it also. Enjoy

http://youtu.be/TnOtM18OBM8

http://youtu.be/ufRhNWF-9v0


Bernie

[rgunlock]

Congratulations!!! Looks and sounds great!

[CAL 58 GMC]

Sounds great Bernie! I love the smile on your Dad's face, that's priceless!!!

[ChuckDriver]

Congrats!!

[pgf545]

Thanks Guys, the front fenders are painted they just need to be cut and buffed. Then I have some stuff to do on the bed and it can be painted along with respraying the doors. The biggest thing is going to be finishing the hood. I am not sure how much longer because I am going to be busy for the next couple of months. Hopefully I can squeeze some time in there to get some work done. Thanks again for the encouragement.

Bernie

[pgf545]

Test Video, I am trying to test posting a video direct lets see how this works

First drive - YouTube

[pgf545]

Well that seems much better! Now that I have it figured out from now on I will know how to post them. This concludes the test.

Thanks for your patience, Bernie

[51Chevy3100]

Between last night and tonight I read your entire thread, very impressive! I'm starting on my 1st truck build and may want to check out the truck in person sometime instead of bombarding your thread with questions when I have them. We're both in League City. Hope to see this truck on the local streets soon!

[pgf545]

Thanks, If you have any questions let me know. League City isn't that big...lol

Bernie

[1948GMC]

Sorry I am new to this but how did you get or make the links for the steering from the column to the rack? I am installing my ifs this weekend with the stock column and I am 15 and don't have much experiance thanks.

[pgf545]

Originally Posted by 1948GMC

Sorry I am new to this but how did you get or make the links for the steering from the column to the rack? I am installing my ifs this weekend with the stock column and I am 15 and don't have much experiance thanks.

Hi bud, I am impressed that you are tackling this project at 15!!! That's awesome. Sorry I missed your post this weekend, we used u-joints that we got from Borgeson http://www.borgeson.com/ We probably bought them through Summit or Jegs. We also used used an Ididit http://www.ididitinc.com/ steering column so I am not sure about using a stock column. I think you are probably going to have to do some fab work because the way the stock column attaches to the factory steering box. Hope this helps and keep asking questions, there are some very knowledgeable people on this site.

Bernie

[1948GMC]

Thanks

[fisherman420]

Great build so far!! If I wasn't working so much I could get some hours in on my 50 instead of looking at everyone else's progress. Hoping to have mine in the roller stage by Christmas