Greetings all! Let me first say that this is my first post, but I have enjoyed reading all the posts and have learned allot. I am in the process of rebuilding the motor on my 55 and have a question about pulling it. I am already to pull the engine this coming weekend but, looking at the cross frame support it does not appear that I will be able to clear the transmission (4speed) over the cross beam support. I have pulled the transmission cover in order to get more room but it still looks tight. Should I go ahead and pull them together or do I need to drop the trans separately. Thanks for any advice you may be able to give. I am sure I will have many more question as I tackle this project this winter. Mike
Welcome and NICE TRUCK! Awesome truck, Mike! Tailgater will have someone that he can finally relate to! What engine do you have in it? 235? Having the luxury, (or curse) of having mine torn apart with no obstruction, I don't feel that I'm qualified to answer this question. With no fender, radiator, etc, mine slid in easily, tranny and all. Welcome aboard and I'm sure someone will come to your rescue!
It has the a 235. I went ahead and removed the front fenders and such.... so I have no obstructions. We have really long winters in Michigan so I figured I woud also have time to redo the front springs.
Lotta Work Wow ~ I guess you'll be busy this winter . I was going to tell you to drop the tranny but no matter now . It is easy to scrape all the paint off the firewall if you pull the engine & tranny as a unit .
Front fenders don't matter. It's just easier to get the engine out. Unless you pull the cab off, there is no way the 4-speed tranny will clear the cross member. I know. I tried to put the engine tranny assembly in my truck and got it halfway in place before I realized it wouldn't clear. Had to pull it out, disassemble the tranny from engine and do it all over again. Pull the trans, then pull the engine. Mine's a '55. also. Andy
Careful. The 4-speed is MONSTROUSLY heavy. You must use a lift in the cab to lower the trans to the floor. Easy to put the boom of an engine hoist into the open door of the cab on passenger side to lower the trans. 4-speed is oddly shaped on the bottom and doesn't fit on tranny jack well to jack into place from underneath. Mine slipped off the jack and fell onto my hand when I was installing it. Busted my finger and split it wide open...NOT FUN. really easy to install using the lift however. Please, be careful. VERY HEAVY unit. Andy
I brought home the engine jack today! I read your post about your finger...Ouch! I will keep you posted on my progress. Found out last night I am going to more then likely have to replace my flywheel. I thought it was my starter that was sticking...but much to my dismay I found large sections of the flywheel teeth gone! So I think that was the source of the screeching every few cranks of the engine.
Ring Gear Repair O.K. , depending on where you live , you may just need a $10.00 flywheel off any old junker 6 volt engine (you'll have to count the # of teeth as they're different between 6 and 12 volts) *OR* , look in your 'phone book under brake relining and give them a call , most friction shops can easily press off the old ring gear (it's a seperate part) then press on a brandy new one . If your truck has been converted to 12 volts , and cranks really fast , that's the reason (you still have the 6 volt starter) but not to worry ~ if it's a pedal starter it'll work forever no problems , if it's a key operated 6 volt starter running 12 volts through it , that's fine too , you just need to replace the 6 volt _solenoid_ with a 12 volt one to prevent the Bendix from slamming the flywheel's teeth ~ simple , eh ? . Don't allow them to grind the flywheel unless it's visably bad , the color stripes don't mean much so unless it's got a rough or warped surface , just scrub it squeaky clean with # 0000 steel wool and maybe some Jasco Metal Etch to dissolve the rust , then locate the TDC mark (a faint chevron or triangle stamped in) and drift a little bit of white paint into the mark to increase it's visability then fine the igition timing mark , a ball bearing pressed into a blind hole and draw a circle 'round it with white paint or a lumber crayon , you'll be glad you did when it's tune up time . If you must have the flywheel ground , be SURE to remove the clutch guide pins as the machine shop will either loose them or (worse) machine them flush with the face of the flywheel . Lastly , whilst it's apart , replacing the gland bushing in the crankshaft , will ensure smooth clutch operation for years and years.. It's a $5.00 part . I hope this helped .
All went well today, thanks for all the help! Got the tranny and engine out today. Now time to clean, clean, and clean.
O.K. , Now ; I see where you said you're going to rebuild your 1955 235 ? . It may or may not (I doubt so) have shims underneath the main bearing caps so look carefully for them as you take it apart ~ they'll need to go back in the same place . All the bearing caps in the entire engine should have matching marks or numbers stamped into thier sides , look for them before you take any bearing apart and pay special attention to which way the rods are assembled onto the crankshaft too . Head bolts are special too , one will be wasp waisted and provides an oil passage for the critical top end oiling . Might I be so bold as to ask why you're rebuilding this engine ? If it just had low power & maybe smoked a bit , I'd resist the temptaion to tear it all the way down as much time , effort and serious amounts of $ will be wasted when all it needs is a simple overhaul to ready it for another 35 years of daily service.....
Nate, I should have said rebuild. I have had the truck for a few months and it runs good...though she can me a bear to start. I wanted to pull it for two reasons one) replace all the gaskets she leaks every fluid she has in her. Two) clean it all up, its got many years of gunk built up on it and its an ugly orange. I want to bring it back to its original color. I also would like to take the head off and have a machine shop replace valve guides and ensure all else is good. Before pulling the engine I did a compression test and all were within 10 psi of factory spec with the exception of the #5 it was down to about 90 psi. So, I would like to find out the cause of that. My goal is to have it back on the road by the summer so I am being careful on how big of a bite I am taking.
Great ! Since only the head is coming off , consider throwing $1,500.00 or so into it if you can possibly afford it as this will ensure it runs not only longer (years longer) but will run cooler and more economically , plus the power and smoothness will improve drastically if you have the machine shop smooth out the exhaust ports (only !) and match port the head to the manifold , plus unshroud the valve guide bosses and do a three angle valve job whilst they're in there and polish and mach (" C.C. ") all the combustion chambers too ~ this will ensure proper breathing of your 235 and allow it to produce MORE POWER for less effort & fuel so it's a win-win deal . DO NOT allow then to automatically plane the cylinder head's sealing surface ! have them check it for warpage while you watch (it's interesting & educational & takes but a moment) , if it has less than .002" warp , don't plane it as you DON'T want to increase the compression ratio ! . As long as the engine is out , consider replacing the freeze plugs with brass ones , they'll last forever and when the rear ones are out , you can dig in the recesses of the water jacket and scrape out all the rust silty crap . you can even fill the water jacket with Phosphoric Acid to clean to to As - New condition but you *MUST* rinse it really well afterwards . If I had the diagram , I'd say drill some steam relief holes in both the block and the head but their location in the head is tricky so maybe not .
