49 GMC Five Window

[8man]

Very nice!

[e015475]

Another status report on my '49GMC.................

The truck is out of my shop and now has a parking spot in the garage. I have probably 120 miles on it now (I say 'probably', and I'll explain in a minute)

After replacing the PS pump, my truck continues to squeal. It is quiet for the first couple of miles then it starts squealing at low RPMS. After it is fully warmed up for a while, it stops. At this point, I'm just going to drive it till something fails as I'm tired of screwing with it.

Putting windlace in the cab quieted things down considerably. I went to Home Depot and bought some of the liquid wax they use to pull wire through conduit to lubricate the rubber and it worked like a charm. For me it worked best to slide the two vertical sections into the channel and poke the top in with a dull screwdriver. Took about 2 hours to do.

My GPS speedometer drive came on the UPS truck from Speedhut and I took the truck to a local speedometer shop to have a custom cable made.

The speedometer worked great for about 1/4 mile then the Speedbox blew a fuse. The tech at Speedhut suggested the cable was too tight or binding, so I put another fuse in and removed the cable - it still blew the fuse. Back to Speedhut, and that's the reason I don't know how many miles I've driven so far.

I've never been able to get the 'deluxe' stainless trim around the windshield to fit properly and have had the windshield in and out a couple of times with no improvement. I took it to a local glass shop that does classic cars, and they explained that the reproduction stainless trim has the spline on the back in the wrong place. They dug into their bag of tricks and trimmed the glass a little, trimmed the spline on the back of the trim a little, put some relief in the center bar where it meets the other trim and filled a small gap with some black sealer. Any one of these things by themselves wouldn't have worked, but together they produced an acceptable, if not perfect, result. Cost me $100 to have the windshield removed and reset - money well spent

Here's where the stainless trim meets the center bar, and if you look closely you can see where it has been relieved to fit better


Wrapped up my center AC vent project and installed it. Here is the assembly that sits behind the speaker grill and registers on the lip of the opening


Here it is installed in the dash


I don't know what I'm going to do for a sound system in my truck, but in all likelihood it'll be run off of my phone and I won't have a head unit. I built this dummy radio face to fill the holes in the dash. I bought all the pieces from Jim Carter and their catalog says the radio bezels are the original color, but that redish color looks weird to me. Any experts that know if this color is correct?



Here's the dash with most of the trim installed.



Door seals are next on the agenda and I need to get my gas gauge working properly. Need to start thinking about my AC if I'm going to drive it this summer.

Until the next report,

Phil

[oldman3]

Phil, nice update and truck is looking great...Jim

[mongocanfly]

the more I see it , the more I like your color combos

[8man]

Looks good.

[twinshadows]

Hey Phil . . . Great Build ; really good info & pictures , thank you for your time about your 49 build.
And, you're not completely alone : "my Wart " . . .

# 1 - - SpeedBox GPS



# 2 - - on my 69 Nova , using my GMC w/c T 5 .
Running my stock dash Nova mech. speedo .



later , jim
Chino Valley, AZ .

[twinshadows]

sorry - - - - - That's a BIG wart …………………………. jim

[twinshadows]

ok - ok - those pic's are way big - - - - They work great over on my
'StevesNovaSite' . So , clue-me-in . . . I will 're-size' them , going forward …………. just, what is a good "size" . . . and, Thank you ………..

Then, for my fuel gauge (too make it read correctly , I have this :

https://shop.classicinstruments.com/sn34

too use / adjust my S/W aftermarket gas gauge . My S/W gas gauge 'does work' ; but reads in-correctly (This , I do not have installed, yet) .

later , jim

[e015475]

I resize most of the pictures I post to around 1000 pixels in the longest dimension.

Usually it is '888' or '999' or '1111' because I'm to lazy to type '1000'

Did you try your GPS wart in different locations before you settled on the cowl location in your picture?

[jweb]

I didn't like the GPS antenna that goes with the Speedhut so I used the Dakota Digital ECD-100 for my speedometer. It's a little difficult to get dialed in but once you do it works great.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dak-ecd-100-1

[twinshadows]

Originally Posted by e015475

Did you try your GPS wart in different locations before you settled on the cowl location in your picture?

Good question . . . No, but, now I think I may move-it around ,
Thank you .
I did check my 'mph' with a phone app = maybe two mph off (my dash speedo is 50 yrs old). Then, I checked my 'odometer reading' = correct.
And , that's just hooked-up with that GPS antenna (VSS sensor is-not even wired-in).
Phil . . go over too Dakota Digital - - & look at theirs = cheaper . . . if it will work for you . . . FYI .

jim
and, thanks the 'pixels' info.

Ok , now - - - just wire it up with the VSS switch - - - would you still need the "wart" ? ?

[twinshadows]

^^^^^^^^^
Phil , did you get that last "line" .

I think you may just wire in the "S-Box" to the VSS sensor , and not use the GPS ant. (either / or ). Then, I don't have 'cruise control' . . so, for me those are just xtra wires. I just screwed in the ant & moved on (the S-10 doesn't have a GPS ; does it). Just needs too have a signal , (if hard wired) , which comes from the VSS.



Thanks again , for all your doing on your Build .
Do you ever get up-to Prescott . . ? . ……. jim

[e015475]

The Dakota Digital unit is $299 and the Speedbox is $320.

I don't have any transmission pulse or VSS so I'd need the GPS driver for the Dakota unit for another $99

The Speedbox seems to be the way to go for my circumstances - if it works. I'm 0 for 1 so far.

If I had VSS I'd have bought the Dakota unit

[twinshadows]

Hi . . . I'm not trying too butt-in here , but . . . I also found this (after I had bought the 'SpeedBox' ) .
This company "mods the T 5 tailhousing (with VSS ) back to a cable drive , for newer electric type T 5's . Good info ; going forward …. too late for me.

http://t56cablespeedometer.com/t5-ca...ve-conversion/

So, this takes the newer VSS type & converts back to a cable - drive style.

jim

[e015475]

Jeez, I thought I'd researched this pretty hard a couple years ago trying to find a way to get a cable or pulse with a T5 Camaro tail-shaft with a S10 tail-housing. That cable drive conversion looks tits - if only I'd known; that would have been the way to go. Mechanical is the way to go - much better than a bunch of electrons jumping around. Can't trust em.

All I found was a bunch of Rube Goldberg contraptions that used a worm clamp to put a S-10 cable drive on a Camaro tail-shaft and use a cable drive S10 housing. The attachment method was iffy and mechanical tail-housings for the S10 were hard to find.

I also recognized that the T5 wasn't optimum for the LS motor. I'm an old coot and hard launches and drag races are behind me, but the next owner may want a T500/600 or T56 and I really needed a pulse output rather than a mechanical drive for an upgraded 5/6 speed to handle the LS torque.

Last time I was in Prescott it took me 4 hours to drive there with the traffic. You couldn't throw a dead cat without hitting a damned traffic circle. I bought my truck from a guy named Guffy Brown who has a restaurant somewhere near Prescott and always thought it might be fun to drive it up there and show it to him. He'd get a kick out of it, and I know I would. Maybe this fall when all this isolation nonsense lifts I'll wander up there. I'll give you a call when I head up that way.

[twinshadows]

Originally Posted by e015475

Jeez, I thought I'd researched this pretty hard a couple years ago trying to find a way to get a cable or pulse with a T5 Camaro tail-shaft with a S10 tail-housing. That cable drive conversion looks tits - if only I'd known; that would have been the way to go. Mechanical is the way to go - much better than a bunch of electrons jumping around. Can't trust em.

My feelings too . . . . I understand, completely. And, I also looked very hard , thus finding the SpeedBox ($ 355.00 for me). It does work , and just another 'bump' for my Nova …… nobody see's mine.
But for your "caddy" ( meant in the best WAY ) …. your correct a "wart".
Still, great info , down th' road . . . . Thanks for listening , jim

[28TudorAZ]

Such a beautiful truck. Great job.

[e015475]

Thanks for the compliment!

I think it is parked for the summer and I'll wait for the cooler fall weather to finish up the interior and work out some bugs. Drove it last month to shag parts for one of the other cars and the hydraulic clutch wasn't releasing like it should. The thought of pulling the transmission in this heat isn't appealing and the shop is full of bondo/primer dust from painting another car.

Stay cool. Stay safe.

[e015475]

It's been awhile since my last post.

My clutch issues last year were easily resolved - the return spring fell off the clutch linkage and wouldn't let the master fill with enough volume to acutate the hydraulic throw-out bearing.

We sold our house in Phoenix last winter and the '49 went into storage for about 6 months while we prepped the house for sale and relocated to Show Low Arizona.

Before I parked the 49 in its storage locker, I drove it down to the gas station to fill the tank with gas. I noticed a slight 'hickup' of the drive home, so I drove it up and down the street and it quit altogether about 100 yards from the house. I'd already started packing my shop so I called a tow truck to take it to the storage locker. It acts like it is starving for fuel. Almost a year later, I'm in the new place and the shop is squared away enough so I can start working on it again. Ordered a Power Probe III to start diagosing the pumps.

The new shop is alot smaller than what I had in town, so I ordered a lift to see if I couldn't utilize the space a little better.



Hoping the new lift keeps me off of the ground and allows me to keep active in the hobby for a few more years



Lots of little details to take care of now that I can easily access the underside of the truck



In the first couple hundred miles of driving, the power steering pump was making a lot of noise despite having bled it multiple times. Just before I put it away for the move, the power steering stopped working altogether like the control valve was stuck. After I get it to run, straightening this out is the next project.

I've never been happy with the airbag suspension ride quality - way too harsh. I've connvinced myself that the spring rate of the SLAM bags on the front are about 2X what the steel spring was. Adding a half-gallon 'ping' tank would get the volume back up and the spring rate in the neighborhood of where it needs to be. Going to experiment this summer with ping tanks and shocks and see if I can get it to ride better.

[twinshadows]

Hi Phil . . .

glad to see you back around . . . . "those pesky little bugs" ,
keep popping up .
Your Truck is still 'looking good' ; even over on the "east - side" .
We went over & looked in the - - Show Low / Taylor area - - when
we were house shopping . . . . about, 12 yrs ago . . . . then , Diana
really liked Chino Valley .
I went (last Friday) , to my 1st "cruise night" here local . . . . . .
in over a year (just staying home . . not wanting too 'catch th' bug') .

Glad too see you Posting - again

jim

[e015475]

We looked east of the 10 in the Prescott valley, in Payson, Heber-Overgard and Show Low out west. Even briefly considered a place on the Little Colorado near the New Mexico border

There's a more 'car friendly' culture in the Prescott valley where you are, but Show Low is a reasonable compromise for temp/altitude, driving time to Phoenix and car culture.

We're just damned glad to have side-stepped another Phoenix summer and shed the albatross of a home we had down there.

Big car show here this fall "Run to the Pines" - hoping to be able to drive the '49 to the show in September

[youngrodder]

The truck looks great. It always takes some time to de bug. I'm trying to find as many issues as possible before I remove the Suburban from thy work stands. It's a pain to get it up there to work on it but its nice to be able to get under it.

On the air suspension, a couple of PSI either direction (+ or -) can make a very noticeable change in ride quality. Play with letting out a lb. or two and see how it feels. I was amazed at the difference it made. I had drove my truck for years without trying this myself.

Marc

[e015475]

Thanks for the airbag advice - I've never run them before and its all new to me. I tried various ride heights/pressures but couldn't tell much difference.

It takes about 110 psi of air to get my front end off the stops, and from what I hear, most airbag installations run 50-60 psi (my rear suspension comes off the stops at about 55 psi)

I took a tape measure to the front suspension, and for every inch my front wheels move the air bag moves about half that, so it is pretty highly leveraged. I convinced myself with some back of the envelope calculations that the spring rate of an airbag was about 2x of a factory spring in my suspension. About the only way I can change the rate is increase the bag volume at my ride height. I could do that by putting a deeper 'hat' in the bottom spring pan or a auxilary tank above the airbag.

If it gets too klugey I can always go back to springs I guess. After having my kidneys beat out of me for the last 30 years in pickups, I was aiming for something more plush.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by e015475

Thanks for the airbag advice - I've never run them before and its all new to me. I tried various ride heights/pressures but couldn't tell much difference.

It takes about 110 psi of air to get my front end off the stops, and from what I hear, most airbag installations run 50-60 psi (my rear suspension comes off the stops at about 55 psi)

I took a tape measure to the front suspension, and for every inch my front wheels move the air bag moves about half that, so it is pretty highly leveraged. I convinced myself with some back of the envelope calculations that the spring rate of an airbag was about 2x of a factory spring in my suspension. About the only way I can change the rate is increase the bag volume at my ride height. I could do that by putting a deeper 'hat' in the bottom spring pan or a auxilary tank above the airbag.

If it gets too klugey I can always go back to springs I guess. After having my kidneys beat out of me for the last 30 years in pickups, I was aiming for something more plush.

The rear PSI sounds about right. It will also require less for the rear due to less weight distributed. I ran 90 PSI in the front and 60 PSI in the rear. My kit was a Ridetech made for a G-Body frame with 2 compressors and 2 - 5 gallon storage tanks.

Marc

[e015475]

Well it has been six months since I posted last, so it is time for an update. Too cold to work out in the shop, so here goes.......

Tried to get my truck aligned at the local alignment shop and they declined, saying their equipment wouldn't get past the fenders, so I did it myself

I built a 'box' around the truck using fishing line and conduit. I match-drilled 1/16" holes in the conduit to string the fishing line through. I lashed the conduit to the posts on my lift, but you could do it with jack-stands or cinder blocks too

[IMG][/IMG]

Took about an hour to make sure the truck was square and even in its fishing line and conduit box. I measured from the fishing line to the machined face where the hubcap mounts first to make sure it was even side to side, then measured at the rim lip. The rear wheels were splayed out about 3/16" (positive toe) and the fronts needed a little more toe-in.

[IMG][/IMG]

Had to use a needle to get the fishing line through the 1/16" hole in the conduit

[IMG][/IMG]

The IRS needed .010 shims and all I could find was .025 so I made some out of brass stock

[IMG][/IMG]

I couldn't cut the round hole with a scissors, so I mad this jig out of paint sticks and scrap wood-

[IMG][/IMG]

The shims go under the bolts that hold the inner fulcrum for the LCA - wish I'd have paid more attention when I rebuilt this. I distinctly remember removing the factory shims and thinking "I wonder what these are for?" Back together and safety wired-

[IMG][/IMG]

Next job this winter in the shop is to get my bear-claws working right. After I put all the seals in the door I can't overcome all the friction in the linkage I designed and built - worked great with no seals. The Altman kit side-steps this whole issue with a direct connection of the door handle to the bear-claw, so I bought an Altman kit and I'm going to replace mine with theirs.

I'd like to have a key-fob to lock/unlock my doors. I saw this deadbolt setup at the local cars and coffee - said it worked well and I might do the same thing

[IMG][/IMG]

Between the air bag suspension, electric parking brake and electric bolt-locks, I'd be pretty vulnerable to a dead battery. The guy at the car show had this set-up in his engine bay - I might do this too

[IMG][/IMG]

All the auctions are going on in the valley this month and I've seen Advance Design trucks go across the blocks from $50k to over $200K. For most of the year I like to badmouth Craig Jackson for having made our classic trucks the object of speculation and putting them out reach of a lot of hobbyists, but then I'm impressed in January when I see how much they get for them - go figure

Sold all my project cars last September. I have a couple of nickels to rub together for something new, but I think I'm going to concentrate on finishing the '49. .

Here's the MG TD and TF on their way to Austin Texas. I'd completed all the metal work and had them through a couple blockings, but I just don't want to paint anymore. They shipped on an open trailer and it didn't rain, but it sure as hell would have if I hadn't sealed them up tight with tarps.

[IMG][/IMG]