I hear you! Some of us are too dang stubborn (or poor) (or both) to let someone else do the work. I, for one, do NOT have the money, but even if I did, I wouldn't have anyone's blood on my truck but mine. I understand that there are people that don't have the time, but DO have the money, and I'm happy that people love these trucks enough to keep them being brought back to life. I'm just thankful this site is here and people like Russ, Nate, Evan, Ken, etc. are doing such a great job of showing us and telling us what we need to do in order to get our trucks back into one piece and out on the road where they are supposed to be. Greg~ your truck sounds a lot like mine! I'd like to say I did it all myself, but in my case, if it weren't for this site~ Let's just say that there are some folks here that I am forever in their debt for the wealth of info that they have shared! That's a beautiful truck, Russ!
Well Yabbutt ; I try not to dwell on the poor thing As it happens , I enjoyed living in the Country on a Farm quite a bit and I rather like living in The Ghetto now ~ older homes , lots of trees and wonderful family value people with kids playing in the yards , folks walking on the sidewalks etc. best of all , NO DIRT Dooryard ~ You can keep yuppieville . My '49 is my private time machine ~ I get in and it wheezes to life and takes me back to 196?.....
6 Volt Starters Because it will spin the engine much faster running 12 volts through a 6 volt starter and since these old engines always start quickly , you needn't worry about damaging that heavy duty , solidly built 6 volt unit ~ once in every 25 years it may need cleaning , greasing and a set of brushes but that's it . The days of that trucks being driven hard and way out of tune , requiring 5 minutes of cranking every morning before clattering to life, are long over . Therefore , the 6 volt starter which is designed to handle twice the current (amperage) of the 12 volts , won't ever have the chance to overheat and fail.... That's why . I hope this helps
My sentiments exactly Paul - well said: [/QUOTE]I'd like to say I did it all myself, but in my case, if it weren't for this site~ Let's just say that there are some folks here that I am forever in their debt for the wealth of info that they have shared! That's a beautiful truck, Russ![/QUOTE]
Since my starter is crapped out, I am working on other things.....Discovering that my bed wood kit is too damn big is one. My wide boards are 7 1/2" instead of 7, and the skinny boards are 5 1/4" insted of 5. This means that none of the mounting holes in the sills or crossmembers will line up and the bed mounting bolts will be off center in the stainless bed strips. I am working with the vendor..who will not be named yet, to see what works out. Replaced the oil pressure guage. Step one, lay on your back and reach under dash to remove the 4- 3/8" nuts from the 4 corners of the guage.....be shure to disconnect the battery, as if you touch both poles of the ampmeter, your ratchet becomes a nifty arc welder. Carefully wiggle the guage down through the wiring harness NOT bending either metal line! You can see 2 of the corner mounts here. That is the ampmeter right above my thumb. Carefully pry out the 3 or 4 crimps around the edge of the bezel. I use a small flathead screwdriver. Remove bezel, glass and guage panel to reveal nekkid guages... Remove the oil line compression fitting from back of guage. Remove 2 small screws from the back of the offending guage, and the screws or the poles from the 2 surrounding guages to make it easier to remove. Every other guage has ears that reach behind the ones next door. Replace just the opposite of how it came out. When attaching the pressure line DO NOT tighten without a wrench on the square base of the guage....they do not like that and will make a nice puddle of oil in your guage cluster, as I found out on a previous build. Now begin swearing as you fit it back under the dash, around the offending wires, onto the studs, and get the nuts started....you know, the ones which like to lodge themselves in your ear canal or eyeball after you drop them the 3rd time. Tighten up and enjoy your new oil pressure guage. Quick tip: to make front marker lights stay on with the headlights, run this jumper between tail lights and front marker lights...The black wire between the top 2 left terminals....
Oil Pressure Gauge It is worth noting that I did this same upgrade too as I wanted to keep a weather eye on my full pressure oiling 235 . I discovered the " rebuilt " wasn't overly so as the gauge rarely makes 30 # much less the full 60 # and at idle , the needle is about .001" off the peg , just like in 1949 when it had a Dipper 6 Babbit pounder engine so you might as well leave the old 30 # gauge in there if you're running a 235/261 as then you'll at least show lots of pressure anytime the engine is over 1,000 RPM . These engines all use a high volume , low pressure oiling system so as long as there's some pressure , you're good to go , how much isn't really important . if there's oil coming out the weep holes in the rockers when you remove the oil cap and rev. the engine a bit , everything is fine , don't worry if it only shows 15 # going down the road , that's the nature of the beast . Use good quality Multi-Viscosity oils like 10W-30 and you'e be fine . Diesel rated oils (CH & CJ I *think*) are what you should be using and yes , 5W-30 is O.K. too as it gets up out of the pan fast and does a magnificent job of lubricating your old tech engine , be it new & tight or loosey-goosey rattly wheezy smokes-a-lot farm truck .
The engine builder reccommended breaking it in with Rotella 15/40, then using regular oil, He likes castrol, which is what I run. The rotella still has the zinc in it, nd I have some zinc additive for the first oil change. What is the difference in the diesel oil?
Diesel Rated Dino Oil it has the anti-scuffing additives needed to protect the cam and lifters . You'll be fine using Shell's Rotella . I like Chevron's Delo 400 , it's affordable and available everywhere , cheap as regular oils too . I'm sure all here know to never , EVER break in a new or rebuilt engine on synthetic oils ! it'll run fine yes but the piston rings will never fully seat and it'll be an oil user forevemore . If you place a magnet anywhere inside the engine (I use Magnetic Drain Plugs from www.magneticdrainplugs.com) it's catch all the SWARF that's still in there and help protrect the engine more .
Touching both poles of the ammeter does no harm. Touching either (or both) poles of the ammeter AND ground, your ratchet becomes a nifty arc welder.
Haha i was under the dash doing something and forgot to unhook the battery. Needless to say it scared me half to death, went and unhooked the batt, and all was good. A few sparks and a wiff of ozone and a bruised knuckle.
Headliner fit Russ, I recall that you had trouble with the first headliner you installed. Did the second source work out better? Did you slide the front section under the windshield rubber or just under the trim piece? Greg
I haven't gotten to replace it yet. It just slides behind the windshield trim. The front fit fairly well, the rear was the pain in the rear.
ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!! It actually cranked and ran, though not smoothly. A little tweaking and tuning should have her purring. I am off to Orlando for the week, and to see my uncle, who owns the truck. I wanted to be able to tell him it runs, and now I can. When I get back we'll put the front sheetmetal and radiator back on, then break it in. Finally.
Finally got time to work on it. replaced pedal pads, ventshades installed, re replaced headliner, fit better but still a pain in the rectal region. Organized parts, cleaned up workspace, prepped and painted sunvisor mounts and cab to runningboard seal retainers. Added some to punchlist, marked some off. We are in the homestretch now, stay tuned for updates.... Same bat time........same bat channel!
Here we go... Cab to running board seals.... consist of a retainer and rubber seals. Spread a little weatherstripping adhesive on both parts and press together. This helps to keep things located while you screw them to the truck. This is how they fit...I leave a little overhang on each side. Next drill the holes from the metal through the rubber, it will make it much easier to line up the screws. Mount the assembly above the body lip, hanging down into the space left between the body and running boards. Run screws up from the underside of cab. These can be installed without removing the running boards completely. Loosen the bolts on the underside of the running boards, slide the bolt heads out of their slots, then you can push the running board out of the ay enough to get to the screws. Start with the rear most bracket when re installing the bolts, just snug them enough so that they don't fall out of their slots, then work your way to the front. NOW POSITION YOUR RUNNING BOARDS and tighten all hardware. I have installed an Old Air hidden system, but don't like the vents below the dash. I have this system in my truck also and would like a floor outlet, especially in winter. Here is my solution. Mount the vent to a piece of aluminum angle, bolt to underside of dash, paint to match. What you see in the truck... from the bottom.... And behind the dash.... I then had to modify the glovebox to fit. I had to cut it down to 4" deep. Here is the mockup. I am going to staple it together, then I may fiberglass resin the back to give it some stability. I also had to drill out a broken bolt in the tailshaft, started removing the weatherstripping from the doors to re do them after the body shop tape ripped them apart.
So Then.... You're saying I should screw the running board splash seals ? . Nice work here , I wish I could do all this to my poor old work truck .
