project 39

[61_FL_Apache]

Nice work!

[CSHADES]

i have been putting off ordering a radiator for the 39 because it needs to be custom because of the nailheads lower hose location. or so i thought. after thinking about it i decided there was no real reason i couldnt use a premade one for sbc 39-40 truck. i would just have to do some fab work on getting the lower hose from one side to the other. so saturday morning after the new radiator came i proceeded to install it. the first problem i had was it sat way to high in the saddle. i pulled it back out and drilled some new mounting holes up about 2 inches which dropped the rad right where i wanted it to be. i ran into town and bent some exhaust tube for upper and lower hoses. the upper worked out great but the lower would not cooperate the direction i needed it to go on the radiator end. i needed 2 90 degree bends close together. i played around a bit with it and came up with the idea of some mandrel bent ss tubing that i can cut and weld in the direction i want. so i ordered them and should have them by this weekend. i did have to trim the lower baffle to make the radiator fit, so i will have some finish work to do on it. i ordered the a/c condensor so i can fit that. i also decided i would get a mandrel bent top hose instead of using the one i bent so it looks cleaner. yes i am going to paint the radiator black when i am finished with the mock up.

[Rickysnickers]

Nicely done.

[CSHADES]

got the tubing and a/c condenser ups late yesterday. hopefully get them mounted this weekend and work on rear cover. i need to finish rear cover and weatherstripping before december so i can drop off rear hinges to the chrome guy when he is done with the hood hinge and upper grille trim. i have been looking for a new windsheild frame but it appears with the supply chain issue that is not going to be possible unless somebody here has an idea where i can get one. i do have one of those repop aluminum ones that was made a while back. i need to chop it to fit my cab.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by CSHADES

so i received the "chrome" hood hinge friday last week. number 1 it is not chrome but a low grade of stainless i assume, it is magnetic but has that stainless grain look. it really doesnt fit anything correctly. 2 the holes do not line up which it did say in the description, 3 the ends do not fit into the hood ornament or the rear holder. i started cutting and bending it to fit and then decided i had enough of it for now. i am going to use the original gm hinge and have it chromed. i will just this one on the 40 that i am going to put together to sell. 39-40 original hinges are hard to come by being the are usually broken on the ends. the one that is on the truck now is a combo of the 40 hinge and a cut down 46 hinge. it fits and works so i will use it.

I've been reading through this thread, and admiring all the great work you are doing. 30 years ago, I did some stuff, but not nearly as nice. Going to be a cool rig when you are done. If that SS is magnetic, it is 400 series and it will rust because of the lower chromium content. 300 series SS is non-magnetic. I'd also like to plug a site I am a member of-

https://www.allmetalshaping.com/index.php

If there is anything anyone would want to know about forming metal, they should check it out. There is some absolutely amazing stuff done there. Your work would be a welcome addition! My handle over there is DarkLightning. All I've posted so far was a copper shape I made many years ago.

[CSHADES]

worked on the lower hose tube. cut and welded. cobbled up a way to pressure test and sanded welds. just have to clean up and paint.fits good behind rack. just have to make some mounting brackets. the upper hose was easy, the one end was already correct length so i just had to trim one end.

[CSHADES]

worked on the lower hose tube mounts this weekend. i will have to pull them off finish weld and paint them.i bought some really nice clamps to mount it but i figured until i am ready to make it permanent i would just use hose clamps. i worked on the condenser mounts in front of the radiator. i needed to mount the condenser backwards because i wouldn't have enough room for running the ac lines through the side of the radiator support. i will make some proper brackets from the condenser to the mount on the truck but i had to see where everything is going to fit first. i ordered some vintage air u bend lines and some pre made bottom exit lines. i will see what works the best. i still need to make a mount for the trans cooler in front of all of this. this little stuff takes longer than the big stuff. it is like piling 10lbs in a 5lb bag.

[CSHADES]

worked on fitting the condenser more this last sunday. i didnt like the way it was sitting and the look of the holey brackets that were supplied with the condenser.i bent some new brackets from 18 gauge sheetmetal. i also bought some premade lines for the condenser that exit on the bottom which hopefully gets me where i need to be. i will work on mounting the trans cooler and making up the a/c hoses this weekend.

[CSHADES]

got the condenser and trans cooler brackets made and fitted. ran the condenser lines and hoses to a bulkhead on the radiator support. i had made the trans lines previously but after the radiator install i wasnt happy with them. i also had to rethink the trans cooler lines. the trans cooler was a left over new part from a caravan. of course the trans lines are 5/16 at the trans and the cooler had 3/8 lines. there also wasnt enough line on the cooler just to make new flared ends so i had to make new 3/8 lines for the cooler. the cooler uses a push connect style with an o-ring. i seem to always fight with making push connect ends but after a couple of tries i finally got a pair that looked good. came up with a adapter to hook the 5/16 and 3/8 lines together with no hoses. now i just need to finish up the mounts drill and tap. then finish running a/c hoses and have those crimped. i also ordered the cruise control for it this morning so i get that fitted around the a/c components. like i said before 10lbs of stuff in a 5lb bag.

[Kermitt47]

Nice job with the “packaging”. You have to make the most of the limited space under the hood on these early trucks.

[CSHADES]

i still have to trim the baffle and stuff it in

[CSHADES]

got home early on friday so i decided i should work on the 39 while i had time.
i finished up the trans lines from the trans to the cooler. on saturday i decided i should figure out where the cruise unit and the a/c accumulator were going to go. like i have talked about before there is such a limited space to put things you really have to plan it out. on the 40 i put the cruise on the passenger side lower firewall but i didnt really like it there and i need to put the accumulator in the same place. i ended up mounting the cruise unit on the left inner fender so it is hidden in plain sight.

[CSHADES]

after working on the a/c and cruise i decided it was time to break down and do the box cover and the back edge of the box. i have been fighting with the gap and fitment on this part since i started doing the cover project. i decided on sunday that it was time to just go at it and do it. so i cut the last 3 inches of cover off and cut the top of the box edge so i could work both of them to get the gap i wanted. i bent new pieces for both panels, tacked the cover piece in place and then started installing the top of the box. i screwed it together and added the chevrolet script to it. so i will start cutting and welding on it. i will figure out the corners after i get this part tacked in.

[CSHADES]

well today i just happened to go on ebay at lunch. i always look for a new windshield frame kit when i get on there. today one popped up and i bought it so that part is now secured. hopefully i dont wreck it when i chop it. i will say i had to pay about double of what they were 2 years ago but whatever you have to grab them when they are available right? if i decide to use the aluminum one instead i still have a customer that needs one so i wont be out anything.

[CSHADES]

worked on the back of the box this weekend. cut everything cut and welded. made the corner pices which was a real fun project. i think it came out pretty good. a lot of welding and grinding. pulled the box off so i can get the weather strip channels made and installed. i am a bit claustrophobic so crawling in to the box with the cover on is not really a fun thing for me. once the channels are in i am going to mount the box on the rotisserie do all of the welding, grinding and finishing. i want to get it in primer before i pull it back off.

[CSHADES]

worked on building the weatherstrip channels and temp mounting them with screws. the shrinker/stretcher worked pretty good but it is hard on the hands. i need to buy the stand to use foot power to run it. got the channels on the front and side in then crawled in through the front to figure out what needed for a channel in the rear. i will have to tweak them a bit more and i also am going to put in some adjustable hood bumper/stops to control how hard the strips are getting smashed.

[CSHADES]

worked on some of the small things saturday that i needed to get done on the bed before i removed the cover and put it on the rotisserie. got them done and mounted on the spinner so it is easier to finish the welds and other misc things.
Sunday i decided before doing anything else i was going to get the shop at least back to a small disaster from the major one that it has become. i did spend some time measuring and eyeballing the windshield area for chopping of the frame. i spent a little time on the mount for the switch panel that will go in the glove box.

[CSHADES]

worked on the heater and a/c hoses monday. got everything made up to have crimped except i was short 2 fittings which i grabbed this morning. i went on tuesday afternoon and picked up the top grille trim and the hood hinge from the chrome shop. took the bed cover hinges and dropped them off. it was quite the trip, i only go over there about once a year and it is in the boondocks where the gps always sends me in the wrong direction and it did this time. i finally got there at 3:32 and they close at 3:30. luckily 1 guy hadnt left yet. it is about a 2 hour ride over there so i would not be happy with having to turn around and go back again today. i think all i have left to chrome is the windshield frame but i havcent chopped it yet so that will happen hopefully in the next few weekends.

[CSHADES]

made up the final hose for the a/c last night when i got home. of course i forgot to bring home the paint pen to mark all of the fitting/hose directions so i will do that and get them off to be crimped.

[Rickysnickers]

Looking good

[Steeveedee]

Indeed, that is nice work. Is that a 401? That Star Wars air cleaner housing is a valuable piece.

[CSHADES]

yes the motor is a 401 buick but the air cleaner is a repop caddy that i added a off set base to move away from the front. i glad you guys are liking this project. i was looking at the a/c hoses and and had a thought about the a/c compressor belt and adjustments. i went to put the belt on and when i was moving the compressor it was forcing the hoses to bend the inner fender where the 2 ports come through so i ended up making a couple of different hoses for the compressor. it wasnt a big deal because i didnt have anything crimped yet. last night i marked all of the hoses/ends with paint marker and removed them for crimping. the big thing i worked on for the weekend was chopping the windshield frame. if you have read the last few posts you know that i did find a new windshield frame kit and bought it. it a bit more money than i had planned on but what can you do? i was a bit hesitant about cutting it so i decided to start with one that was a bit crusty and if it didnt work i wasnt out anything but if it did work i would repeat the process. it actually cut nice and went back together nice. so i decided on sunday to repeat the process on the new one after talking to my uncle that is going to TIG weld it for me. the chrome guys perfer that it is tigged. the cut and tacking it back together went well but when i stuck it in the opening it really wasnt well. so i spent most of the day monday tweaking and modifying the frame, hinges and the opening. i needed to get the thing welded this week so i can get a glass pattern made and the frame over to the chrome guy in hopes i have it back in april.

[CSHADES]

worked on the windshield frame over the weekend. i got it back from my uncle who tig welded for me. i still wasnt completely happy with the way it fit in the opening so i did a bit more bending and tweaking with the frame and the hinges and got it where i wanted it. i then shortened the center divider bar. the aftermarket one is aluminum instead of the stock stainless. we tried to shorten the stainless one but it is such a small gauge that it would not allow welding. i also made patterns for the windshield glass. i took the frame to the chrome shop on tuesday so hopefully i will see it back in april.

[CSHADES]

worked on the doors this weekend. i want to get everything done that has to do with the glass so i can get the patterns off to the glass cutter soon. the drivers door i had started a while back but i wasnt happy with the fit so i ended up recutting and tacking it together so i could work on the top of the doors. i forgot my camera at work so i took these with my phone. i will take some of the passenger door and post them later. i think the doors are going to work out well. right now the doors are tacked to the body so i wasnt fighting everything at once. so i will cut the tacks and open the doors next to put the inside bracing together and make patterns for glass. one of the things i am going to do different from the last truck is to eliminate the rubber strip that seals the body to the glass and instead use the fuzzy type guide.

[CSHADES]

took a couple of pics of the passenger door last night. it looks pretty good, have to work on the top part a bit more to get body lines correct. i am looking forward to having the extra 6 inches of leg room in this one. hopefully get most of both doors welded up this weekend and make some patterns for the glass and get that shipped off. i am going to put the drip rails back on as well i have enough pieces to get that done. that is why i recommend saving all of the bits that come off.