1949 Chevy 3600......making it a daily driver!!

I must go excuse myself~ That just looks too damn hot! As always, GREAT photos!

 

Thanks!! Really excited about getting it done!!

 

That is how I had to notch the frame in the 53 Rusty truck to tuck the engine over to the passenger side.

 

Great progress Mike, keep up the good work.

 

Thanks......I sure will!!

 

Spent the last couple nights in the garage trying to get tings buttoned up.

Last night I got most of the wiring done.

I mounted the Lokar shifter. Looks I will need to buy the additional kit to ket the shifter a little further away from the seat. I have 3 people in the cab fairly often......the leg room can be an issue.

Today after work I crawled under 20+ mid 70's 2 x 4 chevy and gmc trucks looking for a driveshaft and yoke for my TH350. Found the yoke, but no driveshafts.

Also found a good donor for a long pump and alternator brackets!!



When I got home I cleaned everything up and gave it a rattle can facelift.



I mocked up my throttle linkage, along with bolted up the bracket for the TH350 kickdown cable. The cable itself is short. Not the housing, it reaches fine, but the physical cable seems to short even after adjusting it.

I assume they come in different lengths?



I am pretty happy with the linkage, although the pedal sure feels different than compared to the old 6 cyl carb. Pedal travel is minimal.....

 

Looking *VERY* Good !

I like to see progress and you're moving right along ~ keep it up .

 

Thank you!!

 

No ;

Thank YOU because you're providing another well documented Tutorial that more folks than you'll ever know , will look at and use to help them along .

 

Just giving back...........I have done a lot of learning on this site!!

 

Looking good! That Chevy orange looks great with the blue. Thanks for taking the time to document your build, it's an inspiration to all of us.

If I may make a suggestion.... Throw a rag or something over the carb. Makes me nervous having it open to the world like that.

You can make a nifty maintenance cover out of a piece of tupperware, I have one in my shop, fits like it was made for it.. with the wife's blessing of course.

 

Great advice. Typically I always keep it covered.....I just took it off for the picture.

 

WE HAVE A RUNNER!!!

Today was the day.....fired it up!!

Work has been a real bitch lately.....so time to work on Henry has been tough to come by. Slowly but surely, I was able to button it all up and do a test fire today.







Fired right up and we were able to time it and do some tuning on the carb.



Punch list items:

Exhaust
Driveshaft (need to locate a 64" long one)
Hook up Lokar shifter (waiting for forward mount kit)
Air filter spacer
bleed brakes
Breathers for valve covers



The stock valve covers have 7/8" holes. Any ideas on breathers for them?

 

Another solid day on the conversion.



Got my Lokar with Bell Crank kit all installed. Pretty slick set up. Happy with the install. Pumped it all fit through the stock floor hole.





Ordered a custom driveshaft on Thursday. It was supposed to be done on Friday at noon. Drove 85 miles to Fargo and the guy forgot to build it.......UGGHHH. Supposed to be done on Monday now.

 

Henry made it out of the garage tonight. Still waiting on a damn driveshaft though........guy promised it will be delivered tomorrow.



Exhaust is done after a couple redo's......still not 100% happy with it. Sounds good, but a bit loud for my taste. Probably cut in a crossover pipe to tone it down a bit.

http://kustomcreations.smugmug.com/Other/Old-Truck-Project/i-4X6C4Pv/A

Timing is too far advanced, I messed with it a little bit, but still pops a bit through the carb just off idle. Once I get it drivable I will have to run it down to my repair shop and have him time it and set the carb. Also running on a bit. Not sputtering, or dieseling....just running for 5 seconds after the key is turned off. ??????

Not getting any juice from my junkyard alternator. :-(. It is a three wire out of a 70's truck. Big red to battery, small brown to switched hot, white to nothing? Sound right?

 

I think the white (#2 small connector on alternator) wire needs to go through an idiot light in order to work.

 

http://bob_skelly.home.comcast.net/~bob_skelly/alternator_conversion/wiring_alternator1.html

Found the answer.

 

Well, today I was working through my punch list of stuff while waiting for the UPS man to deliver my driveshaft.

I got the alternator to charge which was awesome.

Next step was to investigate the starter and why it was occasionally making noise.

Digging in a little deeper....it appears I have made an error when I installed the flex plate.



View looking towards the transmission.



I am now trying to figure out if I can get enough room between the tranny and motor without pulling the motor. Hmmmm.

Any advice??

........and the damn driveshaft never showed up.......

 

Well, hopefully you got your drive shaft today? Wish I could tell you something that would help the tranny/motor problem you need to work out. Hopefully there is a way.
Good luck, and as always, GREAT photos!
Happy 4th!

 

Thanks for the updates Mike. I really enjoy seeing your progress through the photos, Thanks a million for doing that for us.
Enjoy the Holiday.