Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dug224]

Originally Posted by bobinbc

Congrats on getting your registration done, plate looks good on there!

Thanks! Long time coming but finally made it!

[dug224]

Got the shrader valves installed. The air pressure held overnight so I took it for a quick spin in the neighborhood. The truck is now 2.5" lower in the back and the tag does not drag. Real pleased with the final results.

[mongocanfly]

Looks sweet...stance is great!..

[dug224]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looks sweet...stance is great!..

Thanks! What I love about this solution (other than the low cost) is that it is infinitely adjustable.

[dug224]

Experiencing a bit of 4L60E transmission slip. Trans only has 60k on it. My transmission guy told me to start by installing a $20 Corvette servo. He actually told me to start with a mass air flow sensor due to codes he read. Since I had no idea where the one I had came from, I invested a new one and it cleared up the codes. The Corvette servo dramatically helped the 1st to 2nd gear shift, however, 2nd to 3rd still slipped pretty badly. He's coming to visit on Tuesday.

While I was test driving, I swung into a recycling place and had them weigh the truck with me in it and with a full tank of gas. The total weight of exactly 4,000 lbs seems a little suspicious but I say close enough. At approx 300 hp stock, the 5.3 gives me a power to weight ratio of 0.075. I was surprised to see that the front to back weight split was as close as it is.

Front axle = 2,160 lbs
Rear axle = 1,840 lbs
Total = 4,000 lbs

Corvette Servo Kit

[dug224]

Fast running out of the little stuff to do. Still waiting on my wiper kit, front struts and upper and lower ball joints.

Installed the 5.3L badge in the grill. Riveted a small bracket to the back of the grill and installed the badge via the 2 sided tape it came with.



Installed the finish cap on top of the radiator. Cleaned up the top of the radiator nicely. I need to reroute the radiator filler neck one day to get it in a more discrete location.

[ChuckDriver]

Truck is looking great, time to put some miles on her!

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Truck is looking great, time to put some miles on her!

Thanks and I agree!! Last big hurdle to overcome to make it a daily driver is the transmission. One of my favorite things in life is when someone says they are going to do something and the actually do it when they said they would. Donnie the transmission guy showed up last night to work his magic. He's been at this game for 35 + years and makes it sound and look a lot easier than it is. Still no damage evident. He left for his shop with a bucket full of transmission parts. He will continue to assess for damage and also do some upgrades via springs and larger holes. Goal is to make it a little more aggressive where the shifts can be felt but stay short of making it so harsh that I hit the back of my head on the back glass.

[dug224]

It's now my daily driver.....transmission is now 100%. While I was waiting for Donnie the transmission guy to return to finish up, I replace upper and lower ball joints, front strut assemblies, sway bar links front and back and painted misc. suspension stuff. Tightened up the suspension nicely. Also bolted in rear axle snubbers from an Isuzu Rodeo ($2) to replace the junkie press fit snubbers that GM used. Mounted them on the bottom plate rather than the top.

I ordered one of those universal windshield wiper kits in early May off of eBay. The guy never shipped it which gave me time to read more about them. From what I can tell, they are not that great and we get a lot of rain here. Ended up getting my money back and I've decided to attempt to adapt the factory Trailblazer (or some other late model unit) to the '59. I happen to have a Trailblazer unit in my garage so I'll experiment with it. Meanwhile, I put RAIN-X on the windshield in case I get caught in the rain.

[Bean Counter]

Originally Posted by dug224

I happen to have a Trailblazer unit in my garage so I'll experiment with it. Meanwhile, I put RAIN-X on the windshield in case I get caught in the rain.
Attachment 1912948
Attachment 1912949

If the Trailblazer unit doesn't work out, you may want to check out Newport Engineering https://newportwipers.com/product/19...k/#wiper-motor . I haven't used them (yet) but I've seen several guys on the ChevyTalk forum who have used them on 53-54 Sedans and have been very pleased.

I've been following this build for a LONG time and love getting the updates. Looking forward to see what you do next on the old girl.

[dsraven]

Dug,
I haven't gotten that far yet on my envoy swap but I plan to use the stock envoy unit as well. will modify the motor to fit the application. that way I can use the envoy switch and have pulse etc. from the factory switch and also easily find another motor if needed later, no waiting for a whizzie aftermarket modified unit that is a one off. not saying there is anything wrong with the aftermarket one of a kind units, just saying, years down the road a stock envoy motor will still be available likely,if required. I am trying to keep that trend through my build so I can source a part from a local vendor if required when on a road trip.
keep the updates coming, it keeps me and others interested in our builds. maybe I will have time to work on mine after the summer "break" holiday time.
nice job on your truck, it looks great.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Dug,
I haven't gotten that far yet on my envoy swap but I plan to use the stock envoy unit as well. will modify the motor to fit the application. that way I can use the envoy switch and have pulse etc. from the factory switch and also easily find another motor if needed later, no waiting for a whizzie aftermarket modified unit that is a one off. not saying there is anything wrong with the aftermarket one of a kind units, just saying, years down the road a stock envoy motor will still be available likely,if required. I am trying to keep that trend through my build so I can source a part from a local vendor if required when on a road trip.
keep the updates coming, it keeps me and others interested in our builds. maybe I will have time to work on mine after the summer "break" holiday time.
nice job on your truck, it looks great.

I agree with your approach entirely. Challenges include using the '59 factory closure cowl hardware, adapting the late model splined end (part the wiper arm slides over) to '59 shaft and creating mounting points for the assembly. I believe I'll buy a Rivnut gun or at least some rivnuts. Pretty tight under the dash so mounting points will be a challenge to create. Should have done this project with cab tilted on its' firewall. Thanks for all the help over the years. dug

[dug224]

Logged in 60 shakedown miles yesterday. Black cab, big glass and no insulation makes riding around here in the humid south a little toasty with heat from both the sun and the engine. I'll definitely move cab insulation up on the To Do list followed closely by A/C. Transmission shifting nicely.

Had a slight temporary loss of power twice coming out of heavy braking thru a turn. Clears right up. Not sure what it could be so I loosened the gas cap. Haven't had the problem since I did that. I'll tighten cap again and repeat to confirm. This truck is very hard to fill with gas so I figured I may be causing a problem due to lack of vent. May need to add one.

Got a really cool high quality key chain for father's day. It came off of Etsy which I am entirely unfamiliar with. The guys name is Bob Sadowski and he is known as "TailLightGuy". Also on eBay as "Tail Light Taxidermy" where he sells his tail light art.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Bean Counter

If the Trailblazer unit doesn't work out, you may want to check out Newport Engineering

https://newportwipers.com/product/19...k/#wiper-motor .

I haven't used them (yet) but I've seen several guys on the ChevyTalk forum who have used them on 53-54 Sedans and have been very pleased.

I've been following this build for a LONG time and love getting the updates. Looking forward to see what you do next on the old girl.

Thanks for following along. That looks like a durable unit. My problems is that all my linkage is shot including the splined ends. In keeping with the budget build mentality I'll enhance my fabrication abilities by pounding my way through re-purposing the late model unit for essentially $0.00 material cost. To replace all the old stuff adds up to a pretty big cost which I may have to buy anyway if I fail.

[mongocanfly]

Cool keychain dug !!!.....rainx will do wonders...I've got rainx washer fluid in my truck and rarely even turn the wipers on...
My gas tank only had the vented cap...I was worried about the venting problems as well..so I added a vent line to my tank...

[dug224]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Cool keychain dug !!!.....rainx will do wonders...I've got rainx washer fluid in my truck and rarely even turn the wipers on...
My gas tank only had the vented cap...I was worried about the venting problems as well..so I added a vent line to my tank...

Drove the truck this morning about 5 miles to pickup some fresh gulf shrimp. Tightened the cap before I left. Minor loss of power on the way back. Feels like I'm proving my point. Verdict still out. I'll do some studying to determine where the vent should go but it seems as though it ought to go just downstream of the where I mounted the gas filler cap (that has a rubber seal).

[mongocanfly]

Is your cap a vented cap?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Is your cap a vented cap?

Definitely not. It has a nice tight rubber O-ring. I was reading info on the Trailblazer and found out that the factory gas cap has an integral vent. Also, the factory venting and pressure stuff down at the tank may not be operational. I may have inadvertently taken it out when I followed the LS un-pinning routine. I do have a few wires to still connect so maybe some of that will come to life if/when I get to it. I suspect most of the hot rods that use the LS are not using late model gas tanks with associated late model plumbing. I'll probably start by adding a small vent under the fender just below my filler neck. Not sure what I'm looking for but I suspect somebody makes one. Do you remember what you used and where you installed it? thanks

[mongocanfly]

My 81 had the vent on the sending unit...all it is, is a extra barb with 4in hose and breather cap..similar to one of those axle vents...on the IH all it had is a vented cap,but I was worried about kickback when filling with gas ,so I added a vent tube with rollover protection next to the sender..I'm gonna run a hose about 3-4ft long and I've got a vent cap for it as well

[dug224]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

My 81 had the vent on the sending unit...all it is, is a extra barb with 4in hose and breather cap..similar to one of those axle vents...on the IH all it had is a vented cap,but I was worried about kickback when filling with gas ,so I added a vent tube with rollover protection next to the sender..I'm gonna run a hose about 3-4ft long and I've got a vent cap for it as well

Nice unit. Thanks for the input. I've pretty much confirmed that my problem is lack of vent. I'll be looking into your approach soon.

[dsraven]

the trailblazer/envoy fuel tank has several high spots in it and comes with a vent at each of those spots. you coild repurpose the stock canister those connect to or you could simply tie them all together into a single,larger, vent tube with some sort of filter on the end to stop dirt/debris from getting in. pretty easy to hook up the stock system if you want to re-use it so the system vents like it was designed. easy to do it the other way as well just keep the end of the vent tube higher than the tank so it doesn't purge raw fuel out after a fill on a hot day and then start to siphon fuel once the purge has started the siphon process. take the vent line up high then turn it down to keep moisture out and place a vent cap on the end, like found on a large truck differential or the like. some come with a short u shaped hose which could work on the end of the line to keep moisture out.

https://www.raneystruckparts.com/fre...r-kit-kit2902/

[dsraven]

another option is to use a fuel filter on the end of the vent hose. a small engine fuel filter would prolly work with the open end pointing down. some guys will use these on the axles of 4x4 trucks and hide the filter behind a tail light or somewhere like that where it stays reasonably dry and splash/car wash spray free.

[dsraven]

also, without a proper vent, those high spots in the tank will likely not fill when you fill the tank. they need to vent air out to let fuel in and let air in to let fuel pump out to the engine.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

the trailblazer/envoy fuel tank has several high spots in it and comes with a vent at each of those spots. you coild repurpose the stock canister those connect to or you could simply tie them all together into a single,larger, vent tube with some sort of filter on the end to stop dirt/debris from getting in. pretty easy to hook up the stock system if you want to re-use it so the system vents like it was designed. easy to do it the other way as well just keep the end of the vent tube higher than the tank so it doesn't purge raw fuel out after a fill on a hot day and then start to siphon fuel once the purge has started the siphon process. take the vent line up high then turn it down to keep moisture out and place a vent cap on the end, like found on a large truck differential or the like. some come with a short u shaped hose which could work on the end of the line to keep moisture out.

https://www.raneystruckparts.com/fre...r-kit-kit2902/

I'll take a stab and understanding and then using the stock unit since I can get to it if I get the truck high enough. That Freightliner part is nice and definitely fits my low budget build philosophy!!. thanks

[dug224]

Oooops! Hauling the family in the bed to the pool and did not anticipate the change in bed elevation. Straightened it out best I could. The bends give it that antique used look.