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

Been busy in the wood shop....too busy and it is taking away from work on Henry.

Oh well......such is life I guess.

I did manage to complete my shift knob last night. It is a 200cc piston and it a bit big but feels really good.

Might try to find a 125 or 144 piston.

 

I'm loving it! I'll keep my original, but that is cool! And, as always, GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY. (More calendar fodder!)

 

Thank you!!

 

Shift Knobs

Back in the day , piston shift knobs were the thing to have , as I was a Honda mechanic , I always had plenty of 50 CC pistons from dead Honda Tiddlers.....

I should sold them but I'd give 'em away to anyone who wanted them as I prefer the stock knobs .


I'm quite sure the DR ATV (AKA : Beatrice Cycle) has plenty of brandy new shiny ones for '66 Honda C100 or CT90's , about $35 NIB IIRC .

 

I have been riding motocross for over 20 years......plenty of pistons around!!

 

Got Henry on all fours and off the jack stands this week.





I love the stance.....but it may be too low.

I picked up some scabs rims and tires at the salvage yard. Way too wide rims, and too big of a tire. They rub pretty bad past 1/2 lock.



Took some measurements tonight off the wheel mounting surface.

5-3/8" from the wheel mounting surface to the tie rod ends
6-1/2" from the wheel mounting surface to the inside curl of the fender.

Hopefully my tires will not rub. Will be running 15" x 6", zero offset, 3-1/2" backspacing rims with 215/75-15 tires.

My shocks showed up too. The budget is tight........compromises had to be made. No Bilsteins. Midrange KYB's had to do!!

 

Henry's old HO72 is out........heavy bugger.



New rear end mock up tomorrow!!!

 

Today was an adventure that is for sure.

Out goal today was to get the rear end cut out of the donor and get it mocked up in Henry, and hopefully get it down on the ground for a peak. Lofty goal maybe......but achievable. so I thought!!

The donor:



18 degrees and a 20 mph wind means you work fast. Less than 45 minutes later the rear end was in the pickup, paid for and we were headed home!!. Good help is awesome!! The Scrap yard guys were generous today, $75.00 for the rear end and I can use the rims for mock up if I bring them back!!



When we got home the train came off the tracks. Somehow I had missed it before, but the stock 3600 shackles and mounts were shot.





No what?? We headed back to the scrap yard, pushed for time with a noon closing looming. Not sure what direction to go we looked around. There are two 3600 series trucks onsite....but both were in the same shape as mine.

Next option, find a usable truck and steal the leaves, mounts and shackles. We located a mid 80's S-10, and had the man flip it on it's side. Quick work with an impact and a torch, as well as $40 lighter in the wallet we were back on the road.



Once home I leveled the truck front to back and marked the centering pin of the existing spring pack. Then we stripped the old shackle mounts with a skinny wheel, a BFH and a punch. Some cussing, swinging and more cussing the frame is stripped!!





The S-10 spring packs are longer. Stock 3600 leaf packs were about 45" eye to eye. The S-10's are 52". This means the rear running board mount will have to be modified. No big deal, but another step.

Now the big question. Outboard springs or not?

The stock outboard leaf to leaf width of the 3600 was about 41-1/2 center to center.

The stock frame rails are 33" center to center.

Would it be possible to mount my new leaf packs under the frame or would that be too narrow?

 

I have a 3600 frame that I'm not using. I will check the condition of whatever parts you need, if you're interested.

Damon

 

I really appreciate the offer Damon, but I am pretty committed to using the S-10 springs and mounts at this point.

 

Great Post

Im a newbie and just wanted to say This is a great tread. The Pics and info you guys are posting are great. I also have a 3600 under construction. Hope to read more.

 

At this point, look into a 4 link......can be had for about $250.

 

Ps

Has anybody lowered the rear end of their 3/4 ton buy flipping and swapping the rear spring perches? (Is this the right place to ask that question?. I don't want to be hijacking any bodies thread, Im just a little new at this posting stuff and dont know thread Etiquette.)

 

Supposedly swapping the rear mount from the front with the front mount for the rear will give you around 2", but I cannot verify this from experience.

 

Great Idea!!!!! I'm heading out to check this out.

 

That was a thought....but I have not seen a kit that cheap. link??

 

Busy day in the garage after Church and a nice long run to clear my head.

With the help of a couple friends and a little bit of treated lumber we were able to get the rear suspension on the drivers side somewhat mocked up.





The S-10 springs have more arc to begin with then my 3600 springs, but also settle a lot more under the weight of the truck. Understandable. Trying to figure out ride height has been a really tricky math problem. Guessing on how much the truck will sag with the bed weight....tire heights, etc etc!!

We did enough today to know what we need for a front mount, which will be 4" x 4" x 1/8" square tube. Should look just like the 4" x 4" wood block in the pictures. I will bolt it to the frame, box the tubing and do a final weld to the frame. Probably overkill........but I want it to be solid and last another 60+ years.

The rear mounts are the question mark that I do not want to make a call on until I get rims and tires all the way around and some weight above the axle.

 

Yeah I went out to truck to measure the front and rear spring perches and their placement. And it looks like they are the same size and same placement.

But hey since I pulled the bed off yesterday I got motivated to cut off all the hanging brackets that weren't used, ....plus wire brushed and wash the frame to make it a little more fun to work on.

 

Besides bad grammer I sent two pics of the rear spring perches.

Here is the front spring perch.



Lets do this One more time.