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49 GMC Progress Report

Haven't posted since I moved to Show Low. My truck sat dormant for most of 2020 and 2021, but I'm starting to work the bugs out and drive it some.

Put in a new steering column that I built and a new 'accessory' Chevy car steering wheel from the same period.
New_Steering_Wheel.jpg

Got a lift last year and it sure helps keep the old bones off of the cold concrete. Sold all my MGs and the old Jag to focus on the truck.
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After 40 years of working under cars on jack-stands/ramps, it's a real treat to get under a car and be able to see. I laid on the floor (for about the last time, I hope) to take this picture
Underneath_the_491.jpg


The hydroboost I rebuilt and behaving pretty much like it is supposed to. I shortened the pedals a couple of inches and installed some boots to keep the drafts down
Pedal_gators.jpg


I spent some time this spring getting the Jag suspension in alignment with some fishing line, conduit, bungees and a fine ruler. My IRS was toed-out almost 2 degrees and it drives considerably better with decent thrust angles. The front end was good from when I built it. Running about 4-5 degrees of caster and wondering if I could use a couple more. They're going to pave the main road here and I don't know how much crown they'll put in it, so I probably wait a while to play with staggering the camber to keep it going down the road straight.
Alighnment.jpg


There's getting to be a nip in the air most mornings here, and my days of working in the garage are dwindling. Hoping to get the interior done enough to take it to the upholstery shop this fall.
 
As always awesome build steering wheel is a cool addition to the interior hopefully I will get one for my truck .
Great job Phil
Rob (latroca52)
 
Phil,
Thanks for the "inspiring" post! I may have the exact same lift- while I purchased it for "storage use", it saw 3 oil changes in 1 day not too long ago. I second the "not missing the jackstand days"! Bought an oil change "funnel on a bucket" for the oil changes. Talk about living the high life! Great to hear you are getting some DRIVE time. More pics when you can, please.
Mike
 
"More pics when you can, please." Remember, you asked for it!

Took the '49 to the upholsterer for an estimate today. Here we are parked in the front drive under the scrub oaks.

IMG_0985_1_Moment.jpg

Lots of fun to drive until the squealing starts from the motor - about to tear what's left of my hair out. I've replaced all the accessories and the belt, aligned the pulleys with a laser too - no change in the noise.

Filled it with gas for the first time since I moved to Show Low. The filler neck is under the license plate and the truck is low (and I'm old) so the towel in the bed is to knell-on to fill the tank
Under_the_Oak_Tree_2.jpg


A shot from the front.

Under_the_Oak_Tree.jpg

No bumper in back so I need to make sure those cell-phone impaired drivers see my brake lights. Install some LED lights in the bed rolls.
Extra_tail_lights.jpg


Bought these gas hood struts and installed them. It was only going to be a matter of time unit my elbow caught the prop rod and the hood came down on my head, so I thought I'd head it off..
Gas_Struts.jpg
 
SWEET ! .

Just for grins, take a cheapo can of hair spray under the hood and spray the pulley V's when it begins to squeal .

If the noise stops for even an instant you're on the right track .
 
Thanks for the nice words guys

Hairspray? The wife says she has some so I'm gonna try it

I've pretty much fired the parts cannon at this motor, and so far, no love. Here's everything I've replaced (with all new, not rebuilt, GM parts) .
  • Alternator
  • Power steering pump
  • Power steering pump pulley
  • Water pump
  • Idler
  • Tensioner
  • Continental serpentine belt
  • Rebuilt the Hydroboost and verified all my connections and hoses
I now have a pretty good supply of spares...........
Box_of_Parts.jpg


It seems that belt misalignment is the leading cause of squeal on serpentine drives - so says the guys that sell the alignment tool - go figure. But I bought one anyway. You know its good cuz its got a laser!

Gates_Lazer.jpg


Sure enough, the damper pulley was slightly misaligned with the power steering pump pulley -about 0.050" I'd say. Pushed the power steering pulley a little further onto the shaft. Here it is - the laser in action-

Laser_in_Action.jpg


This was my last hope! No bueno. I now have a $100 cat toy.

Nothing changes no matter what I do. The squealing starts when the motor is fully warmed up and the thermostat is open. It is worse at idle, but will often stop when I accelerate from a light. Once the motor is lightly loaded in cruise, it will start again. A few other observations-
  • Squeal is unchanged if I move the steering wheel left to right while standing still. Diverting flow to the Hydroboost by applying the brakes doesn't make any difference. Steering and brakes at the same time - no difference
  • Temp of the power steering fluid is about 160-170F which I think is OK
  • No evidence of foaming or suction leaks on the pump reservoir.
  • Unplugging my 20A SPAL fan to unload the alternator doesn't make any difference
  • Sprayed the serpentine belt with water - no change in the noise.
I'm stumped. Any input from the brain trust here is very appreciated.

On a more positive note, I did get my speedometer working. I have a factory speedometer that's driven with a stepper motor that uses a GPS signal.

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I was cleaning up the wiring under the dash and redid the ground for this thing just to make things look tidy, and it started to work! Small victory!
 
Wow ~ I've never heard of that <magic> GPS to speedo box, that's fantastic . that it works regardless of final drive ratio, tire circumference and so on makes it really, really out standing .

I'm stumped that the squeal never changes with loads, have you yet tried removing the serpentine belt then firing it up just to "Hail Mary" test it ? .

I once found a "rod knock" that way......

The Customer thought I was a genius, I was just at wit's end .
 
Nate -

Fairly early on, I let it idle in the garage for about 20 minutes until the squealing started and removed the belt as quickly as I could and restarted it - no noise! Didn't have the balls to drive it that way - no brakes, no power steering and no water pump. I guess that's a downside of these modern serpentine systems that have all the accessories on one belt.

You're scaring me with that rod knock story. And I am at wit's end.

The 'magic' Speedbox was the result of taking a T5 out of a V8 Camaro (cable drive speedometer) and putting a tailshaft housing out of an S10 (speed transducer speedometer) to get the shift lever in the right position on the floorboard in the cab. The tailshaft had a gear drive for a speedometer, but the housing had a spot for a transducer.

The revolutions/per mile of the Speedbox stepper motor can be adjusted to get the speedometer accurate. Using a speedometer app on the cell phone you can calibrate the speedometer
 
Wife brought this home and immediately thought of your truck because of the color
 

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Nice ! .

One of those discount places where they sell off the left overs from big chains routinely has a similar thing that's *much* closer in the upper cab, I look at it and decide I don't need it....

You wrote : " I’m not even close to get in the rattles squeak’s in my truck yet good luck"

This *instantly* took me back to a WWII Three Stooges bit where the Sergeant tells them to get the squeak out of the Captain's new car, the next thing you know the whole engine is scattered over the hanger floor and Layy says "well, that's the last of it and still, no squeak !" .
 
Folks always ask for help on forums like this, but you seldom hear back on how the problem was resolved.

So here goes...................

My squealing problem wasn't the belt or the accessories - it was an oil starved lifter. A local mechanic looked at it and said it sounded just like a lifter failing on a LS motor with the Displacement on Demand system - but my motor doesn't have that system. He then took the oil cap off of the motor, there was a whoosh of air and the squealing noise stopped! He said I'd hooked the catch can vent to the brake booster port and my crankcase was seeing manifold vacuum. That much vacuum in the crankcase causes oil control issues and the lifters the furthest from the pump were starved of oil. He said in the 100 miles or so I'd driven it I probably didn't do any damage. The fix was a new line from the catch can to upstream of the throttle body - about 50 cents in parts.

The maple trees leafed out here in northern AZ last week. Its the oak's turn is this week. The juniper pollination is almost over and it is in the 70s during the day. It is going to be a glorious summer to finally put some miles on my '49
 
THANK YOU for the update ! .

So often it's a small thing .

I once adjusted a full set of new hydraulic liters like the Dealer's foreman told me, they squealed and the car ran poorly, (I was about 16Y.O. and wanted to do it right) , then I backed them all off to barely zero lash, started the engine and warmed it up, adusted each one to no click and 1/4 turn more....

Boy was that a quiet and smooth running engine .

lesson learned : always ASK but if the advice sounds fishy or doesn't work try what you know .
 
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