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

Had a damn good productive weekend. Buttoned up a ton of little things that needed to be addressed.

Got the rear fenders hung. I had built some metal brackets on the frame for the box mounts. I have the box bolted down in a couple spots just top hold it in place. Looks like I got it mounted about an inch to far forward. That will need to be moved in order to get the fenders to match the old rust lines.

I still have an air leak out of the tank that needs to be addressed. From the bags to the manual switches is good though. It will hold for days without loosing PSI.

Snagged a PS pump last night out of a donor. Hopefully that gets mounted tonight. I was investigating my rack last night and found a kinked factory line on the rack and pinion. Not sure how the hell that happened. Bent to far to repair. I tried reshaping and re flaring it......but it is now to short.

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Brakes are still a question. They work. Not really sure how to explain them. They seem spongy and week, but I know I do not have enough vacuum for the booster. I have a canister on the way. Hope that helps. Otherwise I will have to look in to an assist pump or go back to manual brakes.

Best part of the weekend.......back the bad boy out of the garage under his own power.

 
How SWEET is that? Thanks for the Vid! And thanks for picking up the slack in posting progress... I have so many irons in the fire right now I'd be hard pressed to toast a marshmallow!
 
I can laugh about it now....but last night was a comedy of issues.

I set out to get the interior wiring finished. Get the gauges back in, column hung. I had some misc gauge wiring to do.

The truck fought me every step of the way. A lot of it was my errors. I put the gauges in first and then tried to hang the column. I could not get my hands up underneath to spin the nuts on the column bolts.

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Finally I decided enough is enough and start the truck up to pull it back in the shop. I walk away and let it warm up for a minute and come back to oil all over the floor. Pulled the gauges back out. The oil pressure line looks good and is tight but leaks like crazy once the truck is started........another thing to add to the list!!

One positive is my 12 year old boy sealed up the bed wood with some boiled linseed oil. Turned out great!!

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Mike, you just never disappoint when it comes to photo progress that all us visual learners love seeing!!! So glad you are as far along as you are, even if you are now ridiculously behind my personal schedule for your progress on this truck. #cool#
 
Bust week. Work is slow so I took most of the week off. Got the bed bolted down. Cab bolted down permanent.

Put the front clip on after we clearanced the inner fenders.

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Fought with the brakes for a couple days before I discovered I had a bad prop valve. Contacted CPP and they said they would take care of me once I emailed them a receipt. Was hoping to get the truck down for a local car show tomorrow. No brakes means no pressure......hanging out in the shade......it is HOT.

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Okay~ Now I want an ice cold Hamms beer. (and tacos)
Man, you do photographs right! What an eye!
Here's to you rolling down the roads by next weekend, right?
 
I second ALL of that!
Never even heard of Hamm's beer, but I want a cold one too! And pass the tacos Zig!
And photographs? Yes sir, you certainly have an eye for them. If I can find Jamestown ND on the map when we take Penny cross country, would you be willing to snap some photos of the sister trucks together?
 
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Been tinkering on the truck as time allows. Got the under hood wiring all done and covered up. Hood is on and the front bumper as well.

Still have some gremlins to chase. Every once and awhile my fuel pressure drops to less than 3psi......last night it was at zero for an amount of time. Not long enough for the truck to shut off.....but I noticed it on the gauge. I am running a stock Mechanical Pump. Thinking either the pump is bad, or I have some junk plugging up the line in the stock tank.

I never got around to rebuilding my doors over the winter. The glass rattles like crazy.

Need to get some insulation and a rubber mat on the floor......this new exhaust is kind of loud.

Drove up the street last night, very slowly to at least snap a couple pictures. Nothing special, the lighting was horrible. I just wanted get a couple pictures out of the driveway. I did not even had time to give him a bath.........still bird **** on the hood from sitting up against the shed all winter......

Funny thing is I have never ridden in a truck with air bags. I think I had a notion in my head that it would ride like the truck was on clouds. No more rattles, just a nice smooth ride. Obviously it rides better than the old solid axle.......but the rattles and shakes are still there.

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Finally got a chance to put some miles on yesterday.

Put about 20 miles on the old guy without any drama. Lots of thumbs up around town.

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Like I said....no real drama. Still some punch list stuff to figure out.

Those of you who are following along on the 47-55 page on Facebook know all about this damn Danforth Crossmember. After spending some time chatting with Steve Szymanski, the owner of Industrial Chassis Inc it was pretty clear this may never work the way it is supposed to. With the current T Bird Rack I have a horrible turning radius, and no Ackerman Effect. Steve was amazing in the explanation of the theory behind the steering geometry and possible solutions. It was very clear he has a wealth of knowledge and was very willing to lend a hand with no monetary gain.

Possible solutions include finding a rack with more travel, but it is unlikely I will ever get the turning radius I am looking for. Ackerman will always be an issue. The best solution may be using an S-10 steering set up mated to a center steer rack and pinion set up. After some digging on the interweb I found the pictures below.

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This setup (Found on Killbillet) is a Intrepid rack on S-10 chassis.

The last straw would be to hack this thing off and install a M2 or a Dodge Dakota Crossmember from Industrial Chassis.
 
Ok
No post in a while hope you have some updates and pics of you and your truck at car shows and all the cruises this summer
 
THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT...
Who wouldn't want a HOT ROD, after these kinds of videos. Love it!
I clicked the like button about 18 times, but, it will only register once.

Man, I gotta get my truck runnin'.
Steve.
 
Still have punch list stuff to complete, but time and available cash flow are pretty slim right now. Been driving him when I can......

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Current Punch List

  • Pump Seal Leak on TH350
  • Nuisance Battery Drain
  • replace door latch on passenger side
  • 4 wheel alignment
  • steering radius
  • Interior (Floor and headliner)
  • 350 does not run as good as I think it should
  • rattles.........clanks.....bangs....
 
If you are worried about "rattles.......clanks......bangs" as well as door latches, consider replacing the latches with Altman latch kit. Search this site for "Altman" for more info. Best update I've done on my truck.
 
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