Couple questions about my 64 long stepside

[FAT TONY]

ok so ive recently gave up on my project truck mainly because i cant figure out what was wrong with the engine but today i drove it around the neighborhood and man ive got to say it did feel good, so ive decided to give it another try

First of all i got some new rims and tires for my truck but the studs seem to be to little and the lug nuts only catch a little bit of thread and others don't catch at all so i was trying to fix that to get it inspected but when i went to remove the brake drum it wouldn't come off the back ones came off with no problem but the front ones no matter how much i tried they just wouldn't budge, is there any thing special i have to do in order to remove it or what?

second the line between the sending unit and the actual fuel line is leaking is there a certain gasket that it is suppose to have?

third when i start the truck it sounds rough but after about five minutes it sounds pretty good, what could be the cause of that?

fourth the nuts that hold down the wood in the bed are square, is there some type of tool i could use to remove them?, i tried pliers but i think its to rusted to just use pliers and the bolts aren't damaged so i was hoping i could save them and not have to take a grinder to them for them to come off.

and number five , the reason i lost hope for my truck is the ticking sound that comes from the block, it comes and goes some times it sounds like a hollow knocking and others its more like a ticking, at first i thought it was the lifters that went bad so i bought some new ones but i didn't buy the new camshaft but im starting to think the problem might be in the crankshaft bearing but im no master mechanic so i really don't know, ive taken it to actual master mechanics and they weren't able to figure it out either, their only advise was to just rebuild the hole engine and not have to worry about it any more, my only problem is im still in high school and don't have a job, and im thinking it would take more than a couple hundred dollars (which i don't have) to rebuild an engine, its a 230 l6 im guessing since its a small engine it shouldn't be to hard to rebuild it myself but once again im no mechanic so i wouldn't want to mess something up

any advise will be helpful

[FAT TONY]

Any one?

[markeb01]

1. On the front brakes, I’m assuming you pulled the grease cap off the hub, the cotter pin, and then tried to slide the hub off the spindle. If they won’t come off after this, it’s almost always because the brake shoes are hung up in the drums. This is what happens when someone replaces the shoes without having the drums turned. If it’s done too many times, a large ridge develops on the back side of the drum because only the contact surface that meets the shoes is worn down, and the ridge develops behind the shoes because it doesn’t wear from brake operation, and wasn’t removed by turning the drums during the rebuild. Depending on how many times this has been done the ridge can become very tall and latches the drums in place. The only option is to back off the brake adjuster (the star wheel) until the shoes become a smaller diameter than the ridge. Then the drum will slide right off.

The worst example I’ve seen of this was a car that had worn the shoes down to the rivets. This wore deep “fins” into the braking surface of the drums. The owner just put new shoes on, and the old drums actually sliced matching razor sharp fins into the new shoes. These were so stuck together, after completely backing off the adjusters we had to take turns whacking the drums with a hammer to knock the shoes loose inside. Hopefully yours aren’t that bad.

2. The fuel lines should have compatible inverted flare fittings. These don’t need a gasket, they just need to be tightened completely. If they are rounded off so they can’t be tightened completely, or if the mating surfaces are damaged, they may require replacement. On a high school budget, if you don’t have the tools or technology to replace with identical parts, you can slide the fittings away from each other, and substitute a short piece of fuel line held in place with hose clamps.

3. Rough running on cold start could be just about anything. Fouled plugs, worn out plug wires, incorrect choke setting, inoperative or partially operating heat riser on the exhaust manifold, or too much bearing clearance somewhere in the engine. If you have an oil pressure gauge, keep an eye on that while the engine runs rough, and see if it’s because the pressure is low when it’s cold, and increases after warm up.

4. With rusty carriage bolts, the only method I’ve found to hold them in place is with Vise Grips, which will ruin the heads. They may not appear damaged cosmetically, but if they are rusty, they are in fact damaged and need to be replaced if they require removal. They can be cut off, ground off, or if you’re lucky sometimes they can be tightened up with an impact wrench and they’ll snap off right away if their stuck tight enough and super rusty.

5. The engine sounds are hard to diagnose without hearing them. Does the engine run decent oil pressure, or use a lot of oil? That might identify if bearings are worn or clearances in the pistons or heads are seriously worn.

I had a complete rebuild done on a 230 back in the 80’s and it always had a ticking/knocking sound in it. After much diagnosis the builder and a few others agreed it was most likely the aluminum aftermarket timing gear that had been installed. It was claimed they sometimes made that noise. I don’t know if that was true or not, but I hated the noise and gave the car to my sister-in-law. She drove that car for years and never had a problem with it. If it runs well, and there’s no budget to dig into the problem, you might get away with just using it as is for an extended period of time until you have other options. Good luck.

[chevy_man5]

The only one I can help with is the square bed bolts. If you look on my former step daughters build, from post #102 - #115 there is information there.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=427093&page=5


Good luck!!

[FAT TONY]

thank you for the reply, i will try to get the brake drum off again on saturday when i have more time with the method you mentioned, on the fuel leak i will tighten it more , should it still have thread showing?, ive noticed that when you tighten it till it stops there is still thread showing but i think when i bought the truck it came with an extra fuel line part i might try that if it still leaks i changed the spark plugs and wires about three months ago ive checked them a couple times and have had to clean them because they are black, i know that is a carburetor thing but ive already tried adjusting the air screw but haven't succeeded in fixing the problem, im probably not adjusting it right, with the bolts if i cant get them off i might just put a piece of plywood over the bed untill ive got enough money to actually start a restoration, and ass for the knocking its just noise and it might not even be harmful but just thinking about it is what makes me not like it because as soon as i hear the knocking only bad things com to mind once your driving you just tune it out but when you notice it its like mann i hope i dont break my engine for driving it while its ticking, nd like you said i might be able to just drive it with no problem , on saturday im going to go buy the gauges nd hook them up nd maybe an oil change to some thicker oil the oil it has rite now is 30w with two bottles of additive but that made no difference, back when i needed to adjust my lifters the oil would always spill every were but i noticed that it didnt squirt out like alot of people said it was suppose to i blew into the push rods to make sure they were clean and then i made sure they were straight but im not sure maybe it is the oil pump , i will keep you posted on how it goes and hope that you can provide future help

[FAT TONY]

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

The only one I can help with is the square bed bolts. If you look on my former step daughters build, from post #102 - #115 there is information there.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=427093&page=5


Good luck!!

thanks i will make sure to try this method, around how long do you think it will take for one person to do all bed bolts ?

[chevy_man5]

By yourself.... 6 months! LOL I don't know if it could be done that way by one person. Maybe if you busted out the wood as you went, but then you could just cut the bolts off between the wear strips and the cross supports. In the areas I couldn't get to from under the truck, or the ones that just spun even with the screwdriver on top, we busted out the wood with an old chisel, until I could get at it with a cut off wheel. Then just cut it off between the wear strip, or bedside, and the cross support underneath.

It took the two of us probably a solid 2 days. We were kind of fumbling though it and just making it up as we went. Some of the bolts are not really accessible with the bed on the frame, so if I did it again, I would pop the bed off first, then have some friends help tip it up on end. Then one person on each side, could wing through it much easier. We notched the heads of the bolts with a cutoff wheel, then she held them in place while I snapped them off from under the truck. It would be much easier not having to work around the frame.

Good luck!!!

[FAT TONY]

well i might just leave that alone for now its not like people are gonna be judging it in a show or something , i just want to get it fixed up as a daily driver for now and then move up to restoring it, ive been noticing that when i brake it goes to the right, is that me needing to bleed the brakes or could it be something else?, also i was wondering about the lighting, at night i had my light switch all the way up but noticed that only my headlights were on, then i went to the middle and only my parking lights were on, is there a setting where they are both on or is my wiring maybe wrong?

[1963c-10]

Your wiring is correct. The headlights/park light do not operate at the same time unless someone has messed with the wiring. When you pull the headlight switch out to the first notch, it will turn on your park lamps. When you pull it out to the 2nd, it will turn on the headlights and the park lamps will go off. You can adjust the dimmer on the interior light by turning the same switch to the left or right (it'll rotate).

[FAT TONY]

oh ok just thought it was strange, why is it made like that?, is it legal to drive at night with just parking lights? or just headlights

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by FAT TONY

oh ok just thought it was strange, why is it made like that?, is it legal to drive at night with just parking lights? or just headlights

Here’s a thread that explains how to wire your headlight switch to allow the parking lights to remain on while the headlights are illuminated:

http://www.6066gmcguy.org/parklamp6466.htm

I’m not aware of any law anywhere that requires the parking lights to be on with the headlights (on a vintage vehicle). When these trucks were new the concept of keeping the parking lights on with the headlights hadn’t yet been standardized on production vehicles.

In California it is illegal to drive day or night with just your parking lights on. Either the headlights must be on (with or without parking lights) or the parking lights must be off. Not sure why, it seems stupid but that’s the law. I’m not aware of this regulation in any other state. I knew a guy in the 1970's that was cited for this infraction.

Brakes pulling to one side is most likely the result of a leaking wheel cylinder. Fluid gets on the shoes and acts like a lubricant between the shoes and the drums. So the other side does the work and pulls to that side. It could also be bad shoe adjustments or a severely worn or out of round drum, but it’s not likely to be air in the lines. Brakes needing bleeding feel spongy, they don’t contribute significantly to pulling one way or the other. Brakes that have been abused by "riding the brakes" can also overheat the drums causing blue spots on the drums. These spots are harder than the undamaged braking surfaces and can cause pulling or pulsating during braking.

[Bradydz]

Not sure if it is the same reason, but all but one of my drums came off when I got my truck. For a long while, no matter what we tried, we could not get the left front drum to come off. I took it down to a tire shop to swap some tires on other rims, and while I was there, I asked one of the employees who was driving a C20. He pointed out that there are little rivet-like studs that hold the drum to the backing plate. He told me I would need to grind the head off of them (I believe there are three), and then knock them out. Sure enough, as soon as I did that, the drum popped right off. One of them actually put a slight dent in my rims, they stick out a good 1/8 of an inch.