Kell's Two Cents - 1946 build

[gokellurself]

Originally Posted by joedoh

I ran for the hills when I saw how much work putting a windshield together was too, bought mine from bowtie bits completely assembled except the seal. props to you for assembling one yourself, I paid as fast as I could for the assembled unit.

dude it's so true, I try to save a dollar just to find out it would have been cheaper to go the right route the first time! can't count how many times in this build

[gokellurself]

alright fellas, I guess I have a partial update as I'm still kinda in the middle of things but hey, got a lot done today

So the cowl vent bracket had been so rusted it never budged. Think I pulled it 2 years ago and haven't touched it since, but as usual your mind kinda works on things over time so... I drilled out the rivets, stripped and sprayed it, got it a little lubed and reassembled. These parts have to move so I installed all the moving parts with nylon lock nuts just snug enough to allow smooth movement.











Sorry,it's always a pain getting under dash shots... but the vent works great. Very smooth and sturdy

I've been messing with the carb throttle bracket, got one ordered and wasn't quite sure if it was going to fit or not, but once it came it worked alright with just slight modification. I filed it out to clear the throttle brackets on the carb, sprayed it and got it on. I got the spring and throttle cable adjusted, trans kick down is right about where it should be but I'm still waiting on the little trans kick down knob in the mail.

Now the issue that I'm really having with it is that I don't have enough stroke in the gas pedal to get the full movement that I need. The 46 floor board is so steep that you lose a full range motion that is capable with the pedal base when mounted to something with less of an angle. I'm throwing ideas around about adding a base to raise the pedal away from the floor board and gain some range, so I'll have to report back on it.

[gokellurself]

Now, I've been mentally preparing myself to start wiring this dang thing and I finally cracked into it today. I think I have just about everything I need and I'm getting excited because once it's wired I'll be very very close to getting it fired up so I can start working out any other little kinks that are gonna come up.

As stated previously in this thread, I wanted to keep the truck as basic as possible when it came to electronic accessories. I did opt for an electric choke, for the sake of simplicity. I went with an electric radiator fan, and due to me using a tbi sbc and putting a carb on it the mechanical fuel pump wasn't an option, so I had to go with electronic fuel pump. But that's about it. So I went with the basic Route 9 wiring harness from American Autowire and it seems perfect for what I'm doing. It doesn't have a ton of excess features, but it's complete and plug and play enough to ease installation for even a first timer like myself.

So today I started with wiring the instrument panel. With it being a central piece I figured it would be a good warm up before getting the harness into the truck and really digging into it. I got an 8 pin weather proof connector from my local car audio shop because I wanted the whole instrument cluster to be removable with a single clip. I still have a little cleaning up to do but here's a photo of the gist of it. On one end of the plug I have ignition power and ground, then on the other end I have headlight switch power and ground, with gauge inputs filling up the middle. In the 8th slot I went ahead and included the tach wire, though I'm not currently running one, but either way in the future if I decide to or it will be there if I need to add something else.







Beyond that my dash is starting to look pretty complete! Things are coming together. Thanks guys, update coming this weekend

[paintman]

Kell, How does your throttle pedal feel with those 2 return springs hooked up? I had to take one off of mine so that I could press the pedal down. The pedal seemed to be way to stiff with both springs.

I'm not sure I am going to stay with that return spring setup. I may try the basic Holley bracket and spring.

[gokellurself]

Have you been able to find softer springs anywhere? so far the pedal feels pretty good, it's firm but real smooth. I want to get full pedal movement established before solidifying my thoughts on it, but I think it's gonna work. This is the second throttle bracket I've tried as the summit one I had didn't fit properly, so if pedal tension does prove too strong I'll probably try to seek out lighter springs before switching the bracket out

[joedoh]

my vent has a broken pivot bolt, thanks for the reminder.

interior is looking super sweet though!

[gokellurself]

Lord forgive me for what must be done to this original, perfect condition artifact of American vehicular history

[paintman]

Originally Posted by gokellurself

Lord forgive me for what must be done to this original, perfect condition artifact of American vehicular history

KELL, DON'T CUT THOSE INNERS UP!!!!!!!!!!! Have you seen what a good pair go for on eBay? If you want a pair to butcher up let me know.
I have a pair that have already been cut up so the control arms clear. I will give them to you.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by paintman

KELL, DON'T CUT THOSE INNERS UP!!!!!!!!!!! Have you seen what a good pair go for on eBay?

I bought out a dead project, only for the parts I needed and the rest was getting hauled off the next day, so deals were had. One thing I wanted but didnt have time to remove were these weird home made splash covers for the bottom of the engine, the exhaust went through one and they looked really cool, but again, no time.

fast forward a year and see a set on ebay described as original parts that "everyone took off". selling for unobtanium kind of money. sh*t.

[99 to Life]

I'm in on this build. I really really like this truck and what you are doing with it. I have a question too, back on post #55 p.3 where did you get that steering column saver? I have seen them bf but I never noticed one that was threaded like that.

[gokellurself]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

I'm in on this build. I really really like this truck and what you are doing with it. I have a question too, back on post #55 p.3 where did you get that steering column saver? I have seen them bf but I never noticed one that was threaded like that.

I believe it's a CPP column saver. What part specifically are your looking at? If you're referring to the part between the column saver and the collar it's not threaded actually it's just 2 washers and a thrust bearing in between. This part's typically hidden inside the column but we found it easier just to install it at the base of it instead

Hey I really appreciate the support, especially from you as I'm a big fan of that '51 of yours. Awesome truck

[gokellurself]

Hey guy's, so I've been working on the truck absolutely nonstop and haven't been able to catch up and give an update.

I'm trying to put my frustration into words without having to sound melodramatic, but seriously the brakes have been absolutely kicking my ass! SO frustrating. It took me about 4 days solid to get even any resistance in the pedal, but I'm glad to say I think I finally got it

I'm heading out of town now until Labor Day, so that Monday I should get another day on the truck and should know for sure where I'm at, and beyond that I can catch up with everything that I've been working on and give an update.

-HOWEVER-

The truck IS running! I did just a few adjustments, shot a quick vid, then shut it down and started messing with the brakes for what seemed like the worst stretch of my adult life... and now I just wanted to give you guys a quick update to hold it over as I'll be gone for the next week and a half. After just a few tweaks it actually fired up pretty nice. I'll mess with it more when I get back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkq1z...ature=youtu.be

Thanks for checking it out guys. Catch y'all Labor Day

[paintman]

So what was the fix on the brakes as all of us with an under cab power booster seem to have the same troubles??????????????????????

[gokellurself]

Damn this youtube embed. I tried taking the "s" out of http as this forum suggests but to no avail

I'll have to wait till labor day to really verify that I'm good to go but after having a very hard time bleeding the rear, I think the ultimate thing was the booster-mc gap. From what I measured it had nearly 1 5/16" to start with. I got a longer bolt and got it down to 1/4"

[rusty76]

I'm late to the party but man I'm digging your build.

[paintman]

Originally Posted by gokellurself

Damn this youtube embed. I tried taking the "s" out of http as this forum suggests but to no avail

I'll have to wait till labor day to really verify that I'm good to go but after having a very hard time bleeding the rear, I think the ultimate thing was the booster-mc gap. From what I measured it had nearly 1 5/16" to start with. I got a longer bolt and got it down to 1/4"

Please explain longer bolt, I'm not sure what you mean.

[gokellurself]

The adjustment bolt on the back of the booster rod, which activates the cylinder, was only like 3/4" in total length so I wasn't able to extend it out far enough to close the gap that I needed. I replaced it with a longer bolt in order to have it extend out farther. A photo would really go a long ways here, and who knows I might be doing it all wrong but I was really moving trying to wrap it up today and didn't snap any shots

[gokellurself]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I'm late to the party but man I'm digging your build.

Thanks man really appreciate it

[gokellurself]

Originally Posted by paintman

Please explain longer bolt, I'm not sure what you mean.

ok here we go. I changed out this little bolt with one about an inch longer. this way it extended into the rod solid but then stuck out about an inch as well. I put a new nut and a lock washer on it to lock it in place

guys please somebody let me know if I should not have done this for any reason. I was just trying to close the gap up


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[paintman]

Man I wish I had this picture 2 weeks ago when I was screwing with my booster. This bolt you are talking about, does it thread into the main rod that goes into the booster?
When I did my measurement I had about 8-9 mm gap between the rod and the piston. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to adjust the rod to take up the gap between the booster rod a the MC piston. I ended up shimming out the poston in the MC. Probably not the best solution but at least it made my pedal better.
Where did you find a longer bolt? I'm still not sure I understand what is going on in the pic. Is it a threaded rod within the larger rod?

[paintman]

Curious, do you know what size MC you have Cell? I was told to go bigger, but also hear a smaller 15/16 MC would work better. URGHHHHHHH!

[gokellurself]

Yeah so the "Hydraulic Push Rod" is what's going to activate the MC. The small bolt at the end of it even had a little lock nut on it, so it looked like it was there to provide adjustment. I pulled the bolt and it was just a standard 1/4-24 bolt, so I hit the hardware store and got a longer one. I couldn't find the exact same head so I just went with a Fabory phillips head.

What trips me out is that with my booster and MC coming together I figured it'd at least be pretty close, but it had about an 1 5/16" gap, just wayyy too big. With the new bolt I set it to about a 1/4" and it felt way better, but now I'm just doing some reading and found an article claiming .020" to be the right gap, so it sounds like I still have a ways to go. Hope that helps

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by gokellurself

Damn this youtube embed. I tried taking the "s" out of http as this forum suggests but to no avail

well, you have to take out the "s" AND delete the ampersand and everything after the ampersand that isnt part of the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkq1z58jbPg

1946 Chevy Pickup First Idle - YouTube

edit: sounds great!

[gokellurself]

Originally Posted by joedoh

well, you have to take out the "s" AND delete the ampersand and everything after the ampersand that isnt part of the link.

You're the man!

[99 to Life]

Did you bench bleed your MC? They call it bench bleed for a reason, as your MC pushrod won't push in as far as you can with it on the bench. You need to bleed all the air out of it and make sure you eliminate that issue first. as for pushrod length, to me it looks like your pedal is too close to the floor. I had a similar issue with a clutch on my 51'. It would bottom out bf the pushrod could go as far as it needed to. So maybe you can lengthen your pedal, should be easy to do. If you notice on stock pedals they stick up quite a bit off floor.