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49 GMC Progress Report

Some progress to report.

Running boards are on.............. the passenger side rear fender had a rust repair around the bolt holes to the running board, so I still need to drill the holes for the fender to attach to the board.
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Wyatt was over and made the repro bumper apron fit pretty good. Embarrassed to admit I'd installed the bumper irons one inside the frame rail and the other outside the frame rail and once he'd figured out what I'd done things started to come together. Still going to have to cut at least on of the brackets off the repo part to get to the final fit. Bought some repo headlight buckets - same story; they fit the body fine, but there's no clips to hold the trim ring on so I'll have to modify them.
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Slipped the rebuilt instruments into the dash to see how they're going to look. The cluster bezel was crimped so tight that just handling the cluster cracked the glass - I had an extra so I replaced the bezel and the glass and installed it in the truck. The speedometer glass fell out when I took it out of the box to install it in the dash - the bezel wasn't crimped to the housing at all. Luckily it didn't break, and I put it back together and crimped it correctly. So I'm 2 for 2 on gauges so far. I know, I know..... stop your bitching and be grateful you can even get parts for this old truck. Here's the gauges............
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Best wishes to everyone for a great 2018

Phil
 
Slowed down by kids and cars - seems like I'm the go-to family mechanic. One of the girls has been so busy with work and school she forgot to change the timing belt but now she's back on the road. Didn't bend any valves but it wouldn't get past about 60% on a leak-down test, so off with the head and down to the machine shop.
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Back on working on the bear claw latches for the doors. Replaced all the home-made clevises with miniature rod ends to take up some of the slop in the linkage
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Working on the door relay mechanism now so the door opens when you pull the handle back and locks when you push the handle forward. Also took the repo door handles apart and bushed them so the handle wouldn't rotate on the spherical joint as you pulled down the outside lever to open the door. Everything is pretty tight and you can open the door with one finger now

For the locks on the outside, I'm going to have to rely on a solenoid to actuate the lock lever on the bear-claw. I should be able to open the truck with either the key fob or the lock on the passenger door. Here's the way I plan to actuate the door locks with the key - two micro-switches actuated by the factory passenger door lock.

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Here's the door skin side of the mechanism

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Will have a cable backup in the wheel-well somewhere in case the battery is dead or the mechanism jams.

Phil
 
B035AAF8-D237-4D54-BAA6-4E43A6CF402C.jpeg
Thanks, Bill. I like how it also shows the “straight from the gun to you” paint job.
Man, with these iPhones you can really zoom in on a photo! (I guess the same is true with a laptop.)
Anyway, the front is okay, the other end is another story!
 
Back from Kauai so I guess it is time to start working of car projects again.

First order of business is to clean the shop and see if I can find my car keys- they've been missing almost two months now. I can see the tops of my workbenches now, but so far, no keys.

The Hydroboost brake booster I'd mounted under the cab floor was very close to the headers. so I made a bracket to move the master and the Hydroboost back about fifteen inches. Here's the new frame rail bracket ready to TIG together - note the very 'state of the art' CAD (cardboard aided design) prototype held together with blue painter's tape in the background. The linkage here is just the two ends of the shaft and there's a 12" rod to remote actuate the brakes. Tried to get some good pictures from underneath the truck, but no luck. I took about 4" out of the arc of the brake pedal to get it a little closer to the floor and a little more room for my big feet down there. Bought a Chinese gas pedal that actuates the cable for the throttle that I hope to disguise with a factory pedal cover - will post some pics.
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Welded up a spritzed with chassis black
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I left the clutch master on the pedal assembly

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When I had the brake booster mounted up on the pedal assembly, I had essentially the same pedal ratio as stock, and my fear was that it'd have too high a ratio and the brakes would be twitchy. I cut the arm off the stock pedal and re-welded it to get the recommended ratio. The only problem now is that to fill the reservoir I need to remove the seat base to get to it. Oh well.

I ordered an aluminum radiator for my truck last Thanksgiving, and this finally arrived in early March. The invoice said it was for a GMC, but the configuration was clearly Chevy and I sent it back. Another month later, another radiator arrived, this time with a GMC gooseneck filler and rounded top tank, but with Chevy mounting flanges again! Sent it back too and asked for the money back. Looking for a good source for the GMC radiator if anybody knows one.

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Had enough of working on the house and kid's cars and I'm vacationed out, so I'm going to work at Wyatt's place a couple of days a week working on the truck and MG till I can't stand the heat this summer. Next order of business is to paint the Cadillac steering wheel for the truck so I can send it out to be leather wrapped and get going on the truck interior.

That's about it. Damn, I wish I knew where my keys were.
 
Sorry to hear about the runaround you had with the radiator, but I sure am glad to hear (especially SEE) your back to work creating cool stuff for that awesome G of yours!
I can’t wait to see the interior all finished.
 
The interior is going to be tricky. The wife thinks she's the final word in how the interior is going to look, but she mostly knows what she doesn't like and isn't very helpful in telling me what she wants, except to say she really likes the tan interior in her daily driver.

I had the seat done at one time and ended up selling it on CL - have to start over
 
e015475 said:
The wife thinks she's the final word in how the interior is going to look, but she mostly knows what she doesn't like and isn't very helpful in telling me what she wants, except to say she really likes the tan interior in her daily driver.
Click to expand...
I think they all come programmed like that...

Steve.
 
Have not updated for a while on this blog, so here goes............

Steering column is in. Turn signals and horn are all working now. Lower column support fabricated as well as a seal bezel. All it needs now is a little filler work on the pot metal parts and some paint. Looking for a Cadillac emblem for the center of the horn ring.
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Hydroboost is installed remote........moved it about 15" back - it was too close to the header collector.
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Emergency brake cable from Control Cables installed.......
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Shortened pedal throws to be compatible with hydroboost and clutch master travels and gives considerable room for legs in cab. Corrected pedal ratio to work with hydroboost. Moved pads to keep my size 13s from getting tangled up down there. New throttle linkage on firewall - couldn't find enough space under floor to hide it.
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There's an S10 shifter on my T5 from a V8 Camaro. Took it apart and modified it to accept an aftermarket shift lever and factory knob. Boot is from a VW bug (the old one)
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Added fittings to the water pump to hard line the heater hoses
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Installed a reservoir for the power steering pump
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Finally got all my doors working correctly with the aftermarket bear claws. Replaced all the pivot clevis joints with heim joints to take out as much slop in the handle as I could. I think I reported this before, but it has been a lot of fiddling to get this thing to work right.
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Found a home for the coils down on the front cross member. Was going to mount them in the cab, but they're water proof and this truck isn't going to see much weather in AZ, so...... (looks like the powder coater missed a spot on the frame - will have to touch up.)
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Took the Chinese billet aluminum fuel rails off and replaced with a regular GM fuel spider. New o-ring style gaskets under manifold and valve covers to see if I can keep vacuum leaks to a minimum
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New radiator is in (US Radiator). Going to make stainless radiator hoses and use silicon couplers. The orange thing is just a mock up
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The engine harness is ready for a trial fit. PCM and fuse/relay block is in the cab. I isolated each sensor wire run and will bring them back together in a loom and hide as much of it as I can in the engine bay.
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Made a fan shroud mold using some MDF, some styrofoam and aluminum. I stretched an old t shirt over it and covered it with epoxy resin. There's a 1900 CFM Spal fan (left at the house by my son who was going to use it in one of his projects a while back)
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Now that I have the shape, I'll put a couple of layers of fiberglass mat on the back side where you won't see it. The front will get a skim coat of bondo and be painted. My son has a vacuum bag setup that I'm going to use when I do the mat. Once the fiberglass mat is installed and cured I can cut the hole for the fan with a router.
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Made this adapter to get the gauge temp bulb into the LS block. Popped out the core plug at the back of the engine. Keeps the capillary tube out of the engine bay.
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That's about it. Seems like the last 20% of the project takes 80% of the time. Stainless window trim for the doors is out being polished, and when that gets back I can start putting the glass in the doors

Phil
 
Oh yeah,

The Vintage Air condenser kit for my truck doesn't fit. Off to Wyatt's today to bend up a new one on his finger brake
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Pushed it outside the other day to clean the shop, so here's a reminder of what it looks like. It is a little dirty. It is at the max 'up' on the airbags here. It'll ride about 2-3" lower than this - about a coke can to the bottom of the running boards
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Thank you for the kind words.

I've built a lot of cars over the years, but I've lavished the most attention on this build. Maybe it's the retirement thing where I have more time to focus on projects.

I keep telling myself this is the last one, but we will see.

Again, thanks!

Phil
 
Good job Phil ! .

Thanx for sharing the details .

I hope that U.S. Radiator is O.K., in the late1970's some jerkhoff kids took it over and nearly ran the place bankrupt .
 
Don't know quite where to start, so here goes.........

Nate - finding a decent radiator for the GMC has been kind of a challenge. Seems like everyone wants you to cram a Chevy radiator in there. This one from US Radiator wasn't perfect - the holes are mis-drilled and the drain valve is facing forward so you can't open the petcock unless you have hands about the size of a four year old's to reach through the grill. But it seems to be the best bang for the buck with the least number of things wrong with it in a field of suppliers who are a little flakey.

Other topics...........

The wife complains about my '49 project as not being 'original'. Every time I buy some trinket for it she asks if it is an original part.

I've already told you about the seat that didn't pass muster, and I sold it and am fixing up an original (although that may have had more to do with my color choice)

She's commented several times that the wheels are 'too modern', so just for fun I had someone over on the HAMB do a photoshop of my truck with wide whitewalls and baby moons. It is hard to admit, but she might be right. LaTroca has already weighed in, but I'd welcome anybody else's comments too. Here is the photoshop............

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2nd Topic,

It was a pretty nice day today, so I took a trip down to Casa Grande to visit a junkyard that I'd read in Hemmings had some old cars and trucks in it. I'm still missing a few pieces of trim that I thought I had but can't find (Go figure, this project has been dragging on for more than four years now) and wanted to check it out. To say that they had 'some' old cars and trucks was quite an understatement - they had about 40 acres. The name of the place is Desert Valley Auto Parts.

My old Jag XJ6 is running OK, so I took a road trip to Casa Grande - about 40 miles from here. The old Jag.........(which has the same suspension as my '49, and if it rides like this car, I'm going to be over the moon)..............
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Here is a few fotos at Desert Valley's wrecking yard-

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Looks snakey. I asked if they had any snakes and he said no. Said they had lots of cats and a few foxes and they rarely saw snakes. I was surprised - I usually dispatch 2-3 a year in my yard at home
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It rained a little last week here and these weeds/plants popped up all over the place. Smells kind of minty. I'm itchy and sneezy now.
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My general sense was that I'd gotten there 20 years too late. But there's still a lot to salvage.
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A big-n with duallies
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Lot's of doors and fenders
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A soldier course of hoods. Grills stacked up all over the place too
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Looks a little haphazard, but most looked salvageable
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There was a couple of these too. And a COE.
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Wandered around the yard for a couple of hours looking at AD trucks. Cheap entertainment. I found a half dozen parts that I needed to complete my truck and got prices. He had quite a few old Cadillacs too and I need a horn ring emblem for my steering wheel but no luck. Anything that's plastic and in the AZ sun for 60 years is just powder now, so I'll figure out how to make a 'reasonable facsimile' (science-project alert) . He had a few old Cadillac hearses too, and it was interesting to see how they were built.

It isn't cheap, but the prices weren't exorbitant either, at something less than a repo part costs for the few I checked. I'm going to make one more search for lost parts in the shop and garage then go back and get what I need for the truck.
 
Wide whites! The colors/paint scheme are perfect with the wide whites!
The others look okay, so then it comes down to “okay” vs “perfect”.
But as soooo many others on here have said, “It’s your ride, so...”
Man, this Spring Break I have GOT to get to the junkyard and buy my fenders and tailgate!
Those photos got me all worked up!
Speaking of which, your build photos are amazing!
Just one more time, why is it that the engine is set back like that?
Wide Whites!
 
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