1949 Chevy 3600 into a daily driver

[Coach529]

Solid weekend in the garage.....despite other responsibilities!!



Swapped out my junkyard alternator for a new rebuilt......now we are charging.

Chased down a noisy vacuum leak.

Bolted on the hood and front bumper.....looks much better.

Every errand this weekend ended up being a mini cruise session.......took the LONG route everywhere!! :-)

I think my battery is junk......I cannot get it to take more than 12VDC even after sitting for 12hours on a trickle charger......last winter was tough on it.

Motor pulls good off the bottom, but needs some tuning in the midrange. Should pull harder I think. Really please overall though. Runs awesome......so happy!!

Ended the weekend with a long cruise with my oldest and youngest......good times!!

[99 to Life]

sssaaaaaawwweeettt. I'v lately made a pact to drive my 51' friday-monday when I'm with the truck, rain or shine. Its a great feeling. Getting so caught up in other builds and life its easy to back burner the rig.

congrats man, that tuning part is a catch 22. real fun figuring out your engine and what it wants, not fun not getting it right. I'd get a vacuum gauge man, really will tell you the most. Make sure your balancer is true TDC with your tab. Run piston up till it stops, mark your balancer, run it other way till it stops, mark balancer, split the two marks and thats your true TDC on your balancer.
don't always assume marks are right till you check. Play with the timing a little and if you know your cam specs that will help out.

Tune carb when your warmed up.

[whitels1]

On my K10 project I'm going to try your CLR / carnuba wax and see how it works out. I love the look of your truck.

[Coach529]

Still tinkering and cruising daily.

Spent some time at the local repair shop. My timing was right on, but I had the vacuum line to my HEI on the wrong port on my carb, so I had no vacuum advance except at high rpm. That woke it up.......runs like a scalded cat now!!

[99 to Life]

nice man, little tuning that turns out for the better is great. Not sure if you run a carb spacer, but I find the 1" phenolic spacer helps out alot with heatsoak and to keep the fuel a little cooler, esp with an aluminum intake. I also insulate all my fuel line in the engine bay.

If you know what cam you have, you can really dial in the timing. at anyrate, pop and plug your vac advance rev it up to 3-3500 rpm and see where your
marks are at, if you have a timing tape. Really helps to know you all in timing
vs just setting it at initial timing. if your guy hasn't done that already. if you don't have timing tape you can use a preset style timing gun.

[nvrdone]

Glad to hear yours runs like a scalded cat. The sbc sure makes a difference. After 30 years with mine, I still have fun smoking the ricers

[Coach529]

[NEWFISHER]

Mike, what are you doing for mirror heads?

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

Mike, what are you doing for mirror heads?

I need to hit the junkyard and find a head that is properly aged and get a mirror cut.

[NEWFISHER]

I have some new rectangular ones if you cant find what you are looking for. Maybe set them out behind the new shop and pee on them for a month?

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

I have some new rectangular ones if you cant find what you are looking for. Maybe set them out behind the new shop and pee on them for a month?

I am actually hoping to find some small rounds ones.

[sqrlnts]

Originally Posted by Coach529

I am actually hoping to find some small rounds ones.

Those will be a little harder to pee on and be careful, objects in mirror are closer than they appear.....

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by sqrlnts

Those will be a little harder to pee on and be careful, objects in mirror are closer than they appear.....

Bawahahaha!

Its always fun to come back from camping and check in at the water cooler.

[Coach529]

So I have some miles on the old guy now. Runs like a champ.

I think I need another set of wheels with some cheap tires on them. The wide whites are taking a beating!! I taught my oldest son the better points of a smokey burnout today...........turns out my 3.43 rear end is limited slip.

Next step is going through the suspension. Front springs are sagging and I am sure all the shackles and bolts are shot. Lots of rattles and rough ride. Probably going to lose some of the low stance, but it will be worth it for a little better ride.

Then start tracking down rattles and cab noise.......

I will also be looking for a little better gearing for the highway. I do not have a tach, but I am guessing I am pulling 3K at 65 right now. Would like to drop that a bit.

Speedo is off about 15mph at 65mph. Need to fix that........

If I could do the whole conversion again about all I would do differently is change from hugger headers to ram horns to make fitment a bit easier. Other than that......the whole experience was pretty painless!!

Thanks for all the input......made it all pretty easy for a newbie!!

[NEWFISHER]

700r4 for the win!

Finding out the rear is limited slip without pulling the cover...priceless

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

700r4 for the win!

Finding out the rear is limited slip without pulling the cover...priceless

Needless to say, the parallel long dark black marks on the asphalt were impressive!!

[Coach529]

Walked right past my company truck and hoped in Henry for my 15 mile commute to work.

Henry's step brother "Gene" was here too!!



Gene is a baddass '49 GMC owned by a coworker. Sweet build done about the same time as Henry!!

383 stroker, tubed with narrowed 9", over the frame headers..........dream build list!!





Cool thing is "Gene" is also a Family truck It was Casey's Grampa's truck.

Both trucks live 4 blocks apart!!

[99 to Life]

thats some darn cool history and patina there. I wish I could get a hold of that, a family heirloom of any sort. So by the looks, gene runs down the track. any info on that? was planning on taking my 49' I'm working on to the strip once its done, just to see what she'll do.

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

thats some darn cool history and patina there. I wish I could get a hold of that, a family heirloom of any sort. So by the looks, gene runs down the track. any info on that? was planning on taking my 49' I'm working on to the strip once its done, just to see what she'll do.

It is primarily a cruiser........not sure if it has even made an official trip down the strip.

[dubie]

Nice to see you've got Henry back together and are now out enjoying it. I know once we put our 56 back together there were ALOT of squeaks, chirps. clunks etc in the cab. Once you change out your old spring, you'll notice a big difference. I went with mono leafs but if I had to do it all over, I'd get some Posie super sliders. You lose about 3/4" of ride height but you can run a taller tire and you're going to want all the side wall you can get.
Are you running the stock seat? I find the spring in the seat base are an added suspension perk in a dropped axle truck

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by dubie

Nice to see you've got Henry back together and are now out enjoying it. I know once we put our 56 back together there were ALOT of squeaks, chirps. clunks etc in the cab. Once you change out your old spring, you'll notice a big difference. I went with mono leafs but if I had to do it all over, I'd get some Posie super sliders. You lose about 3/4" of ride height but you can run a taller tire and you're going to want all the side wall you can get.
Are you running the stock seat? I find the spring in the seat base are an added suspension perk in a dropped axle truck

Yes, running a stock seat.

[Coach529]

Nothing new to post.

Got the timing dialed. Somehow it was very retarded. Set perfect now. Runs even better now. Carb is dialed in as well.



Lost of little stuff to do, but I am enjoying driving it to much. If I go more than a couple days without at least a short cruise I get crabby!!

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by Coach529

Lost of little stuff to do, but I am enjoying driving it to much. If I go more than a couple days without at least a short cruise I get crabby!!

Ah the good life!

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by NEWFISHER

Ah the good life!

Exactly!!

[49Fireman]

Coach. I'm sure this was covered long ago during the original build but what center caps and lugs are you using on your cragars? I like yours better than the spider caps and the spiders would cost around $160