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

Surface Prep

A Mechanic buddy of mine who is overwhelmed by his love of air tools , recently showed me the neatest thing for his die grinder :

It's a 3" (more or less) RUBBER disc that chucks in and removes the old , rocj hard gaskets then polishes the steel , cast iron or alloy surface clean and shiny but cannot gouge the metal .

I'm not really sure how the darn thing works but it's like <magic> when you see it in use .

SAFETY REMINDER : always , ALWAYS wear eye protection when using rotating power tools ! your regular eyeglasses DON'T WORK ! . I have permanent steel chips in my right eye because ONE TIME I decided to forgo the safety glasses over my eyeglasses.... Harbor Freight Etc. all sell inexpe$ive safety eyeware , you can buy used at the thrift or pawn shop and carefully clean up the old filthy & scratched lenses / face shield if you're cheap like me .

 

Nate,

are you talking about this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Scotch-Brite...t=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item35a69dab3d

I was also wondering, if this works as advertised

 

No worries Nate....I am a safety nazi. Safety glasses all the time, and hearing protection when needed.

 

Nominations are open

Ladies and Gentlemen, I move that we make Coach head of the newly formed Calendar Committee. Do I hear a Second?

(no discussion is necessary as his pictures speak for themselves)

 

I second this notion!

 

I would gladly donate some full res photo's!!

 

Not much headway lately. Just collecting parts and saving cash.

Got my dual master cylinder with prop valve, new water pump gasket and some new spark plug wires.

Sid called, my axle is done and steering and pitman arms are modified. Decided to just send him my spindles and have him install new bushings and line bore everything with new king pins. It will arrive ready to bolt on!!

 

Who did you get your mc through? I now see how these bolt up at least.

 

I got it from Performance Online.

 

Rubber Cleaner Disc Thing-A-Ma-Jig

Yes and yes it does .

I had to stand there and have it flick my clean shirt with mung before I'd believe it either .

As I don't have a decent air compressor , I've not yet bothered to get one ,one of these days I'll (maybe) find an electric die grinder and use that .

Maybe .

Those DANG PICTURES ! I took photography classes and was O.K. in the darkroom but I never got the hand of taking decent pix else I'll overflow this site with them , you alls would flip if you saw all the cool old stuff I find and know about .

C'est La Vie .

 

Got a couple hours of precious garage time today.

Water pump is back on with a new gasket. :metal:

I bought a new 12V heater fan motor from Classic Parts. Not impressed. Bolts did not line up so I was forced to redrill for them. Diameter is dfferent so the rubber gasket on the firewall does not fit tight.

Installed a new 12V fan switch as well.



All works great!!

The defrost/ heat cable is seized up. That is tomorrow's task.....one of them anyway.

 

Heater Fun (or not)

Progress is always good ! .

The only thing separating a 6 or 12 volt fan switch , is the tiny light bulb underneath the knob.... do take the time to ensure it's got the correct 12 volt bulb in there , it'll make you smile when it glows softly as you drive it home late at night and will amaze the rare person who notices it .

The Bowden Cables , carefully wire brush the exterior then soak it a few days in your favorite penetrant before making it move , then use a Motocycle cable lubricator to force lube into the cable so it's nice and easy to pull and push .

I like to cover the steel Bowden with heat shrink tubing once it's all de rusted .

I , personally , always pull the center fully out so I can clean it 100 % before hand polishing it BUT , getting it to go back in is often extremely patience testing ! I use Duck Bill Pliers to remove the worst of the end bends before re assembly then you can feel it as you gently work it back in , when you feel the bent up tip catching , you must figure out which way to gently flex the Bowden so it'll go past that point another 1/2" before catching again....

I mean , why wa$te $12 on a perfect re pop heater cable that goes right in and works perfectly and has no cracks on the faded knob when I can spend a day or three fooling with a rusty old bent to crap one with my dogs in the back yard.....

KnowhutImean ? .

 

I noticed the nice glow of the switch...nice little touch.

Well......I guess I will learn patience cause I pulled the center out of the bowden cable. Outside is pretty straight so I am hoping i will go back together pretty easy.

 

Well I am either extremely gifted....or damn lucky. I will gladly take either.

Cable went in easy as pie. As I pushed in the inner cable I would spin the outer casing. Went in wthout a swear word. Lubed it up and it works great!!

 

OK......a little more progress.

Behind and under the seat scrubbed, etched and painted with KBS coatings, satin black. The stuff seems pretty easy to use. Not to foul of a odor even in a small area. Prep was the toughest part. 62 years of dirt and some surface rust is what I started with.

A wire wheel on a grinder would have been quicker.......but would have made a hell of a dusty mess in the garage. Decided to use a really stiff bristle brush and some hoat soapy water, rinse and repeat until clean. A wet dry vac was used for clean up.







While I was at it the back wall and doors were scrubbed since I have decided to leave the inside the way it is. My wife and I went back and forth on whether or not to paint the interior........we decided the current paint/ wear/ rust combination was too cool to cover up. Patina Rules!!



Before I scrubbed the doors the weather stripping was pulled and a wire wheeled the glue away. All ready for new stuff.



Next on the agenda was the Mouse Toilet. I needed to strip the seat cover off the lower seat. Yuck!! 30+ years of heavy mouse activity was tough on it!!



Proper PPE was used.



After a little cutting and swearing the cover was stripped and disposed of properly. Ready for my homemade mexican blanket seat cover!!



Next step the heater hoses were installed.



Done for another day!!

 

Great progress. I really enjoy following your build thread especially with your pictures.

 

Loving the updates here, too! Keep them coming.

Damon

 

I managed a couple hours today while the kids were playing with all their new toys!!

I put some cheap hush matt like material to the area I painted and installed the tank and hooked up the fill line and vent. I need to run some new fuel line to the fuel pump and it will be ready to add fuel.



I also put the hush matt type material under the complete seat and started build a sub box. Every hot rod needs a good stereo right?? Not sure how good it is going to be.......time will tell. Probably go the Walmart route. Midrange deck, a couple 6 x 9's behind the seat. Qty 2 5" speakers in the dash and the sub under the seat.



A little more trimming to get it to sit better on the floor. Then sand, paint and fasten in place!!

 

That oughta vibrate the butt~ Man, those kids must have l-o-v-e-d their presents!