1962 Grumman Olson Project

[1963c-10]

Great progress so far....one cool old van

[UPNADM]

Finally got some time and motivation to work on the van.

Got the first coat of paint on the rest of the rear of the chassis and the got the 14 bolt hung into place.

Picked up a Turbo 350 today, will get it cleaned up and and ready to go in this week.

A few pics.

[UPNADM]

Nothing too exciting, but got the transmission cleaned up and painted...

[flashed]

Looks good ,plus every painted part is one less to do.

[UPNADM]

Got the brake pedal assembly on and new brake lines all the way around over the weekend.

Started the motor mounts today. Should hopefully have a small block sitting in the van by the weekend.

[Tx Firefighter]

I'd like to offer a warning on your engine and trans mounts.

The route you're taking is not sound in design. The front horseshoe mounts like you're using require a bellhousing type of trans mount. That's the way GM did them for a reason. Your big truck with that type engine mount has two big bellhousing mounts does it not ?

The span from the front engine mount to the trans mount on the TH350 is considered too long (by smarter engineers than I will ever be). The entire length of the powertrain combo puts a lot of stress on the aluminum transmission housing. Think of a long board and how it sags in the middle.

If you'll notice on factory GM vehicles with front engine mounts, there was found a bellhousing support of some kind. The shoe box 55-57 guys deal with this a lot when they swap auto trannys into their cars. An added concern in your configuration is that the front engine mounts being somewhat narrow distance apart allow the entire engine/trans combo to roll on it's centerline under torque. The wider spaced later type side mounts stop this from happening, or the bellhousing mounts stop it, one or the other, your choice.

As an example, here are links for auto trans conversion for a front mount GM cars. Notice they include bellhousing mounts that work with later auto trans swaps.

http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-tu...1955-1957.html

http://www.danchuk.com/ItemForm.aspx?Item=870

[Tx Firefighter]

Sorry, I suck at describing the issue. I tried a bunch of times to make the wording clearer as to what I'm trying to convey.

[83GMCK2500]

I thought you nailed your concern quite well...but then I am a semester from a Civil Engineering degree and I've had all manner of structure classes.

From the perspective of a beam simply supported at each end; what the physics shows is maximum shear stress at each end but maximum bending moment in the middle. Exactly what you're talking about with the long beam; in a long beam the bottom fibers are in extreme tension with the top fibers in compression. Translate to bellhousing, great tension on lower bolts and lower edge of housing.

[Tx Firefighter]

And how does it figure in that there are no bell housing to engine support fasteners on the lower half of the junction between the two ? The six bell housing bolts are only on the upper half of the assembly. Does that add even further to the issue ?

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

And how does it figure in that there are no bell housing to engine support fasteners on the lower half of the junction between the two ? The six bell housing bolts are only on the upper half of the assembly. Does that add even further to the issue ?

Near as I can figure, very much so. The easiest way to reduce the stress in a beam-type member due to bending is to make it taller. As you just pointed out the junction between the two is a fairly short distance vertically maybe, what, 9-10" top bolt to bottom bolts? Those bellhousing mounts you linked to make a great deal of sense.

[UPNADM]

Got the engine sitting into place.

I am in the process of fabricating a middle mount for the engine/transmission at the bell housing.

In the meantime, I will rely on the rear transmission mount.

I want to get everything into place, and figure out what I am going to need for a drive shaft.

Here are a few photos...

[83GMCK2500]

Oh that is a pretty engine & trans, it looks right at home in there. I'm sorry if you mentioned it earlier and I have forgotten, but what are your plans for this step van?

[UPNADM]

No real plans for the van other than a cruiser and a switch up from my yellow truck.

It will be fun to do some hot laps around my town in it.

[UPNADM]

Got some more work done on the van.

Bought some headers over the weekend, got them cleaned up and painted.

Been putting parts back onto the engine. Hope to have it fired up for the weekend.

[Spragg]

This Van is awesome. I want one.

[superduty_59]

Loved the C50! Box van is cool too! Would look great with a 12v in both. Not as cheap as a SBC but would be awesome. I think your son picked a good color. Keep up the great work!

[UPNADM]

About to get the van fired up.

I have this GM key switch I took out of a late 70's C50.

I should have likely paid more attention to where the wires went to.

Can anyone give any insight? I have my thoughts, but just looking if anyone knows for sure...

Thanks in advance.

[mrolds88]

Everything is looking good!! I cant recall where the wires go off the top of my head, but they should be the same as your yellow truck. Some switches had labels in the plastic under where the connector goes.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by UPNADM

About to get the van fired up.

I have this GM key switch I took out of a late 70's C50.

I should have likely paid more attention to where the wires went to.

Can anyone give any insight? I have my thoughts, but just looking if anyone knows for sure...

Thanks in advance.

You should be able to figure that out from your yellow truck. If I recall correctly... And that is a big if, the big red wire (#1) is power in and the equally big purple (#2?) the starter. Once you establish the power in you can jump the others from power one at at a time to establish what they do. One is to the distributor for ignition and one powers up the accessories (radio, instrument cluster, etc) if I were anywhere near any of my trucks I'd check for you but I won't be near them for another week.

-Richard

[McMurphy]

You can Sherlock this if you have a voltsmeter.

You can hook it up to your ignition switch wire by wire and deduce what function they provide...

Somethings are a certain given though, like the red 1 wire will be a constant hot right off the battery or a junction like I installed in my build.

One will be to your starter when the key is turned to start.

The orange wire (either 3 or 4, I cannot tell in the photo) should be ignition ON/Running.

Then one of those will be Aux.

I forget what the blue one, and your empty slot would be for, sorry....
I hope this helps.

[rambler]

subscribed.. for when the color starts, cool project!

[NONHOG]

Very cool build!
One question, what cleaner/process did you use on your transmission?
Looks great! I'm always concerned when scrubbing aluminum. Don't want anything leaching into it. Maybe I'm overthinking it?

Subscribed.

[UPNADM]

For the trans I sprayed gunk engine degreaser and followed it with some castrol super clean. Then powewashed it both times.

I then buffed it with a angle grinder and a wire wheel.

I then dropped the pan and changed the filter and gasket.

Masked the lines and speedo port and sprayed it.

[texastruckjunky]

I was with you on your C-50 build. I'm coming along for this one also.

[rkn463]

Progress?