1949 Chevy 3100 Build Thread

[mongocanfly]

Looking good...love those split bumper cars...

[ChuckDriver]

Cool build!

[Flysocal]

Thanks for the comments. I didn't start this build thread to stroke myself. I really like positive criticism. I'm learning as I go so please don't hesitate to comment or provide suggestions.

Continuing with the Cab theme. Been working on doors. The plan is to run Altman bear claws. With a 80-90s vintage keyed lock on each door. Would also like to figure out a way to lock the doors from the inside the same way as stock. Still thinking this stuff through. In the meantime I ordered glass from Classic Truck Glass. They have a frameless kit for 47-51 I ordered it in smoke.

[Flysocal]

Repaired a bung on the hood. Installed it to check fit. Gaps are a bit big but the hood/spring/hinges function as they should. I didn't spend much time making adjustments so I'm confident I can get it tighter with a little massaging.

[GreasyLikeaBurger]

trucks coming together nicely. I remember seeing someones post on here about modifying the Altman latch to lock from the inside. I will see if I saved the page or not.

[Flysocal]

Originally Posted by GreasyLikeaBurger

trucks coming together nicely. I remember seeing someones post on here about modifying the Altman latch to lock from the inside. I will see if I saved the page or not.

That would be helpful thank you

[kustombrad]

Very nice!

[Flysocal]

Started on Altman door latches. Mocked it up but couldn't get too far since I'm waiting on handles.

[Flysocal]

Spent way too much time trying to make newer style keyed door locks work. After a couple of attempts I decided to graft repop to new using JB weld. I hope it's strong enough!

[Flysocal]

Right side door latch went together easily. Driver side giving me problems. After hours of adjusting I realized it wasn't me it was the door latch. The pawl wasn't machined properly it was binding on the post causing door to not open and close smoothly. Trique confirmed they had a bad batch of pawls and I needed to grind it down. What a royal pain! This kit is going to work out but its far from a bolt on kit. Repop door handles need some grinding to fit not sure about original handles. Got the exterior locks working nicely. These are a 90s vintage GM lock with keys to match my ignition. Both sides are done now I need to figure out how to make locks work from the inside.

[Flysocal]

User UK 51 had success making Altman door latches lock from the inside here is the thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=520589 I tried this with no success. Having the doors lock from the outside make it more complicated and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Here is a pic of a truck with Impala tail lights in the roll pan that I'm using for inspiration.

[Flysocal]

I'm going to run a similar setup. I purchased a 65 Impala trunk lid and grafted the tail light mounts into my roll pan. I don't have the tail lights yet but plan to get led lights from United pacific and mount them upside down. The outer lights will be turn/stop/drive. The inner lights will be backup. Picked up mockup lights off eBay and glad I did. They have some wierd angles on them!

[Flysocal]

Retuned the United pacific led tail lights to summit. They were cheap Chinese junk. Ordered licensed gm tail lights also Chinese made unfortunately but fit much better. The cutout is for a hidden trailer hitch behind the flip up plate.

[Tikal48]

Good job on the tail lights. These look great! I've spent months trying to decide on what tail lights I wanted to use. Sadly there is not a lot of choices for aftermarket tail lights out there. I wanted something glass, but what I found did not work with where I wanted to mount them. So I bought Chinese also. . . LOL

[Advanced Design]

Great work on the tail lights! Getting the mounts from a deck lid was a good idea.

[PurdueSD]

Interested to see where this goes! Keep it up!

[STOCKISH]

AWESOME!! Looks killer

[HUSSEY]

I was never a big fan of roll pans but now I think I am. Adding the classic tail lights with some chrome trim really makes it look right for this era of truck. Nice work, it's going to look great!

[Flysocal]

Frame is back in garage. Cab bolted to frame. Man it feels good just having the cab on frame feels like progress. Scotts ifs crossmember welded in place it fit really nice. Spent some time on the rack and pinion. Rubber bushings left me scratching my head. They seemed too long but after some research the long side is compressed by the big washer and bolt and it mushrooms. Not intuitive at all!

I've been thinking about using polyurethane bushing throughout but I think I will stick with rubber because it should offer more vibration absorption. This will be a daily driver after all.

Starting to box the frame. Engine mount area is done. Tranny mount area tacked up. I don't want to get carried away with boxing until I figure out how everything bolts to the frame. Used weldable nuts for running board brackets and plan to do the same for anything that bolts to the frame.

Next project will be engine/tyranny mounting. My 5.3 is just jonesing to get mounted but I'm waiting for corvette crank pulley and water pump so I get adequate spacing between radiator, power rack and engine accessories. with any luck I won't need tranny tunnel.

[Flysocal]

[Flysocal]

The engine and tranny are now between the frame rails. Mounts aren't welded just getting clearance issues sorted. It's definitely tight need a tranny tunnel but looks like everything will work out fine. Block huggers fit. There is room for the steering shaft although it's gonna be fun figuring out all the u joints because it's not a direct hit to the steering column. Crank pulley is about an inch from the steering rack. Sure feels good to have the engine between the rails

[Flysocal]

Any suggestions on steering linkage appreciated. My rack is 36 spline I believe so I'm thinking of using borgeson u joint with 36 spline to 1DD thinking of going with their vibration isolator joint at the rack. Run 1DD shaft under engine mount and headers then up just aft of headers.

[solidaxel]

FWIW I used rubber bushings on the rack and had a bit of PS fluid leak and now the rack bushings are junk !

[joedoh]

borgeson is great stuff!

I am not a steering expert but is there a way to mount the spine side at the rack with a straight union and length of DD then just run two ujoints, one at the end of the DD and another at the column? seems to me that eveyone uses a center support and three u joints.

[oldman3]

joedoh, on my rack set-up I have a u-joint and the rack, then DD the a u-joint at the column, will try to get pics tomorrow. Each set-up is different, depending on headers column, etc...Jim