51' 3100 build in PA New to Site

[99 to Life]

I originally had it moched up at 3.5" to the top of the bushing with the spacer on it. By the time I was done mounting it (PITA all by yourself) I ended up settling with 4" I believe.

I got 2" drop spindles in the front and 3" in the rear. I like the stance. As you can see I had to make a decent size tranny hump. But I actually like that cause I wanted to have that space there for some other stuff, which I will get close up pics on when it is all done. So with the off frame height guarantee you will need to make a tranny hump, if you are doing a 350 engine and whatever trans.

[papajohn51]

Hey there 99tolife,
Saw your post over on the hamb, s10 swap thread, I'm Novadude55 over there,,
Great job you're doing, with a lot of uphill struggle you seem to persevere and
get the job done,, very admirable, and you dont get crap like sometimes happen on the hamb... I am in the process of doin a swap with a 41 chevy on a 88 s10, I used a single cab shortbed, already have the frame extended and body and engine/trans mocked up,
I dont get to work on it as often as I like, but will get it done sooner or later,,
Great job to you..

[99 to Life]

Novadude55

Hey thanks for the compliments, that is what makes all this stuff even better. The positivity that amounts from it and the good people. I really enjoy that part of life. Anyway, I love this site and stovebolt but this one is just so much more laid back and informative, I love it. I don't get to crazy with the hamb I have been browsing a bit more on there though, but I totally can see some drama over there LOL.

anyway, yeah for my first build rolling in on ten months worth of weekends, I would say I am pretty fortunate with money and coming in at just the right times and the internet for most my research and my buddy teaching me some basic mechanics. Plus having a place to work on this stuff. Now next year I got to build a garage of my own (so there goes my money for another truck).

I am so close to being done, but really I can't even drive it, so now I got to
kind of lay off it pretty soon so I don't get too antsy. I would love to see your build page if or when you get it up. Please send me the link. Thanks again. I'll keep an eye out on the hamb for you too. Also you should get a build going on this site. The hamb just gets too overpopulated.

[papajohn51]

As you probably noticed, my response to you was my first post in this forum..
I never did do an intro, but I didnt notice a requirement to do so, so if i missed it let me know. Here is the link to the start of my project,,
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...=514965&page=3
I havent started my own thread yet, but I will when I get further in..
I admit that I am a slow worker when it comes to my hot rod project,
just got a lot goin on in my life right now,
I was able to mock up the motor/trans(sb chevy), and hang some ratty fenders(can I say the word ratty here?) I plan on smoothing everything out and painting it flat black and doin some pin striping..
Craig Judd lives in my town so hoping to get him to agree to do it,, not sure of the cost tho.

[99 to Life]

papajohn

well I am glad to get your first post, LOL and second. anyway, yeah you better get that profile done or they will give you the boot!! Yeah you can say ratty here. I personally like a little attitude and creativeness, so I think ratty or ratrod describe those well.

[99 to Life]

Dec 11th weekend.

I think I got my brakes bled pretty good so far. Fired it up and got some pedal which is a good sign. I just can't drive it yet cause A. there is too much snow in front of the garage and B. my clutch is still a POS. I am gonna try bleeding it more, but I have a new MC and slave on it. The line is old, but I am not sure that is the problem. I think I just need to bleed it a bunch more. But my (used) tranny just kind of feels weird. Like it won't go into gears when you run through them sometimes, namely 3rd. So I can only wonder how good this POS is. I don't like the shifting linkage though, seems like a lot of slop in it. Maybe hurst makes a short throw shifter that would fit on it.

Besides that, I got my tach hooked up. Also started on my seatbelts. 3point retractable. I had to mount the retracter to a piece of angle iron and mount that to my floor. Worked out just perfect. So now I got to do pass side and get carpeting done in the back and finalize my seat.

Lastly, something I really want to try for the gas gauge is this. I want to use the OG gauge but it is 30 ohms. The s-10 sending unit is 90ohms. So I wanted to make a new plate that would cover the s-10 tank opening. But have the 51' sending unit fit inside that plate. I would also have new fuel lines welded into the plate. So long and short the OG sending unit will mount to a plate that will fit directly into the s-10 tank, I will have my fuel lines mounted in the plate as well. I just have to talk to a couple friends that work in machine shops to see if I can get the plate milled out to spec. The OG sending unit is almost perfect depth to the bottom of the tank. If I can get this done. I am not guaranteeing it will be the most accurate "out of gas" reading ever, but I bet it will be close.

[xpickup]

99 to Life, My buddy works in a garage and I remember him saying that ones they have problems bleeding they would put in a tub on fluid and bleed them as a unit. The tanny in my K3500 acts supid when its cold maybe yours is like that. It seems beter once it gets some heat in it.

[99 to Life]

Jan 8th weekend,

Took a few weeks off cause of holidays and I been sick for two weeks. So going out in the freezing garage isn't helping much. I basically decided to
route my mufflers before the axle instead of after. A couple reasons being
it will be cheaper, I can have exhaust done rather than waiting, and it will give me more room past the axle for some ideas I have.

I decided to go with an aftermarket tank and sending unit. That way I can run my OG gauge which is 30 ohms. I figure the tank will be 250 and the sending unit is 34. So that will be my last big expense for a while. All I have to do is get my clutch situated, put the gas tank in, put running boards on and it is pretty much done. Once weather clears up a bit and I can take her back out, I can see what is up with this transmission.

[99 to Life]

Jan 18th weekend.

Well, it has been cold and I haven't had the engine running a lot. Past couple times, it has ran real bad. I think because of the cold. I tore the carb apart to check the floats and then readjusted the idle. She is running better now, but still blowing a crap load of exhaust. Let me know what you guys think, I am still learning these basics of tuning. Exhaust coming up in the engine bay is because the reducers at the end of the headers need tightened to the flex pipe, I need another person to help me tighten it, and I have no help right now, so it is loose.

Next weekend, I am hoping to have my new gas tank and sending unit so I can put the tank in and be done with that. Last thing I need to do/figured out was my clutch pedal was hitting the floor before the push rod could travel its full distance. You can see in the pic, the slave cylinder isn't fully extended (pedal is all the way to floor). So next weekend I am hoping to fix that issue, clutch is bleed good, it just isn't engaging enough. If I can iron that out, put the running boards and fenders back on and she is pretty much done. Got to hook up the ebrake still.

added some more insulation to the cab, got my pass seat belt in, and bolted my seat in for good.

YouTube - 1951 Chevy 350 engine .wmv

[99 to Life]

Where good meets the bad. Jan 23rd weekend.

So Bad news first. Had a main come off and puncture my oil pan. Engine has to come out and I have to put more money into this project. I now realized, when it was sucking gallons of gas (due to oversized carb and rear vacuum port got unplugged) Switched carbs, had it running good. Then after time thought it was from the cold, wouldn't run good. So long and short, I must have had a lot of gas get in the oil and I just didn't realized this, broke down the oil and now I have this setback. I got the bottom end used and didn't do anything but put a cam in it. So I am sure in due time, I would have had to replace something, but now when it is so close to being done.

FINALLY got my clutch figured out, after going through several used MC's and a used Slave, and bleeding this thing a million times, I realized my pedal was hitting the floor before it would engage enough. So I cut it and bolted it shorter, which is good, cause it is now level with my brake pedal. Now the clutch works fine.

Bought a brand new tank and sending unit (still having reading problems though). This was the last big task I had and I would be pretty much done. Well, now I got some more added time and money to put in and February is damn cold, so I got that to look forward to. When it rains it pours LOL

[99 to Life]

Jan 30th

Well, I only worked on disassembling for 2 hours on sunday. This thing is just about ready to yank out. Got to take hood off still, unbolt power steering and disconnect throttle. I'll take the carb n'at off after I get er out. I am hoping I don't have to take my pulleys off to get it out, cause there isn't much room till you hit the rad support. Rad is ready to come out, but I don't want to have to unbolt my rad support. My pulleys are 3 inches wide, so they have presented me with more problems than they were worth, several times. I think I might go with ram horns on the drivers side, I am no longer liking my headers and especially when I have to unbolt the steering to get them out.

So I am going to asses this block, hopefully I didn't ruin it. But I am looking for another bottom end,so once I get that. She should be back running in no time.

Minor set back folks. sorry for the delay

[99 to Life]

Feb 6th,

Well I got the engine out in a few hours sunday, right before the superbowl and yeah I am a steelers fan, so sunday sucked. Weather was beat, this is what I had to deal with. It was pretty tight getting this out, not looking forward to getting it back in.

So I lost a main on the thrust journal, got a broken piston skirt, some nics
here and there on the mains. So I am going to put this engine on the back burner and I am looking for a bottom end, actually might try and get some better heads too.

Stay tuned, hoping to be on the road in March though.

[flatbed51]

Man, that is terrible about your engine. Hope you get it going back forward soon, not much fun goin backwards.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

So long and short, I must have had a lot of gas get in the oil and I just didn't realized this, broke down the oil and now I have this setback. I got the bottom end used and didn't do anything but put a cam in it.

Usually gas in the oil will cause bearing failure but I would look closely at why the cap came off. Stripped bolt or threads in the block would be what I would look for. If that is the case, might be cheaper to get another short block and swap your cam, heads etc to it. You will have to pull the intake and at least one head to replace the piston anyway. Just a thought.

[99 to Life]

As ol Mike Ness says "taking two steps forward and four steps back, I am goin to the white house to paint it black" For me, meaning set backs are ok because I am learning alot from this. 1. Understanding gas in oil and signs of that. 2. I am going to splice all my wiring up a the firewall, so I can just unbolt the front clip and take it off in one piece. It will be faster and easier than trying to get this engine back in.

I picked up a 355 this weekend. Debating on my heads right now. I am looking for some cast 2.02 64cc. As the ones I have right now are my previous sets which are 1.72/1.5 60 cc vs the ones that came with the 355 which are 1.94 76cc.

I am not wasting my time with my block right now, because it would just be a lot of machine work and a crap shoot at this point. I would need new mains, a line bore, hoping my crank is not dinged up and or twisted. It doesn't seem as if I cracked the block, but that and maybe the rods are about all I would reuse. Though I am hoping the cam is still in good shape, because I might put it in this 355. So once I get the 355 up and running again and see how she does (compression test etc) I will decide if she will be the new heart for my truck. If not, I might just do a refresh on a standard block.

[99 to Life]

Feb 26th

So I put this 355 back together, only to find out the rear main seal is leaking, so I believe. I primed it and only got 35psi max, but got oil to the lifters, but
I am leaking out the back and it looks like above the pan.

Aside from this engine and or another I started working on some other things while I sit and await some money to come in. I ran hard fuel line instead of the
rubber hose. Feel safer with it. Started working on re routing wires under the hood, getting ready to pull this front clip off.

I would have had the clip off already, but I have no room to put it anywhere, so I have to wait till it gets nice out, so I can leave it outside.

Still hoping to be on the road by the end of March. Enough is enough already

[99 to Life]

March 31st

Dang it's been a month since I last posted. Well haven't had all my stars aligning this month. But I did make a start stand and picked up this greasy engine for a back up. The 355 is at my friends shop at the moment. I am going to freshen this one up and probably use the 355 if it all works out. If not I'll put this one in possibly.

I think I got my gas gauge figured out, as I needed to run a ground from the battery to the sender. I ran a test on the bench and it seemed to work.

I'll hopefully post some pics this weekend.

[52 Rat]

That main cap being broken was painful to look at! Now that is some carnage. Gotta love it!

[99 to Life]

April 2nd weekend

Worked on this Sat and Sunday. As I posted previously I picked up a 355 (the other orange engine) which I took to my buddies shop as I was having low oil pressure. So I cam up on a "running" engine on a trade. (also orange but greasy) Well I got a bit of the short end of the stick. As the quadrajunk was junk, valves on cylinder 1 was sticking, cam was whiped out, no compression on cylinder 1. But it ran 50 psi on start up. So I cleaned up this filthy greasy thing, which is also a 355. Now in black paint. I am putting new rings and cam in it next weekend. I have a brand new intake and gaskets going in it and some other things. So I should have this going and broken in this coming weekend. My other 355 should be diagnosed soon too. So I should have two good engines with proper accessories. Hoping to drop back in truck this month and be on the road.

Worked on my running board brackets and putting fenders on. I rigged up my ebrake this weekend, only to find out the one side popped out of place so I spent forever trying to get it back in, without taking apart the drum brakes, to no avail, so I'll try another day.

I need engine in and I should be off for some test drives and inspection this month. I hope to the high heavens, as I have said this a million times.

[99 to Life]

April 10th weekend,

More problems for me. I have two 355's. One my buddy found out the crank was turned and someone put standard bearings in it, plus he said the crank will need polished now. The other 355 that I wanted to have running this weekend has a broken piston, I assumed atleast rings but didn't expect that. So really all I need is a set of pistons for that and I can have it back together and running.

So I got my front clip off, to make installation easier.

Buttoned up some fuel line, but wasn't sure if running them here will work
or not because of the sway bar, not sure if it comes up that high if I hit a mad bump. Any advise will be appreciated. I was just going to run rubber hose to the fuel pump from this point. Also drilled and tapped my cap for the tank breather valve, as tanks inc didn't have a return line opening. So I used the breather valve for the return line and didn't want to drill the tank so here is what I came up with.

Got running boards on finally.

[xpickup]

99 to Life, The last sbc that needed rebuilt I got the parts from Northern Automotive. The whole rebuild kit was fairly priced. It came with all name brand parts except the gaskets and I upgraded to the Felpro for a little more. Hope you soon get it running.

Shannon

[99 to Life]

shannon,

thanks for the advise. I didn't want to spend a whole load of money when this first happened. Then I just caught two bad hands is all. But it will all work out, I'll have two rebuild engines when I am done. I like messing with them and learning about them, but I just wish I had a little better luck and had one of them going last weekend. That way I could just through it in, put the front clip on and drive it around and see how she handles.

[ejn74]

Great Build, Good luck with the engines!

[99 to Life]

April 15th weekend,

I guess some decent news. I had to drive 4 hours round trip to snag a set of pistons for this engine for this weekend. Ooowwchh. anyway put new rings and rod bearings in, and isky cam, fresh gaskets, new oil pump, new intake. Had a hell of a time with a bolt I busted off in the cam, I thought it was 35 ft lbs in my head, found the specs to be 20. Learned to just double check cause that ate up some time. Primed it up steady 50psi with two rotations, but didn't have enough time to get it on the start stand, so next weekend I am gonna fire it up. Run a compression test, and then hook up the radiator and let this run for a while and see how she does. Might just throw her in if all goes well. The cam has been previously broken in btw.

My other 355 is going to need some crank work, which my friend is helping me out with, so I am hoping to have that going too sooner than later.

ejn74 thanks for the comment. Hopefully next weekend I'll have some vid footage for you guys.

[jbclassix]

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