Customs finishing off my 38 chevee project

window glass rubbers arrived.seemed like quality rubbers from classy chevy .pulled the drivers door and filled the bottom door skin seam with tiger seal seam sealer.excellent stuff.used some masking tape to keep the drainage open either side.the two screw threads to hold the door panel in the lockrail were in poor condition.drilled and tapped 2 aluminum blocks and araldited in situ.no welding no burnt paint.the 3 middle threads in the bottom of the door cill are stripped.so they will get the aluminum block treatment tomorrow.nearly there with the door repairs for now..purchased 2 door latches with the helper springs.i had the springs seperate but couldnt find information on how to fit the springs i have attached picture of the spring in case anyone is in the same predicament.second pic shows the reinforcment and the threaded blocks in the lockrail

 

had a close call last week.while walking under the back of the truck i discovered some loose bolts on the leaf spring.rubbers were gone.got some suitable rubbers cut for the job.drilled the heads of the mounting bolts and lockwired them this time around.had a little refresh on utube.took no chances and loctited them as well.something id been meaning to do with a while.done now!

 

hi keith27T .

 

Anymore exciting updates? Cruising pics?

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

hi nick ,not a whole lot going on!its over the pit for maintainance.replacing the wheel bearings ,dont have too much mind for it.

 

I understand. Keep up the good work. It is looking great!

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

replacing the wheel bearings is the perfect oppertunity to replace the old rotors with new ones.old are pitted and worn down by 2.6mm compared to the new ones. most of the wear is on the inside of the old rotor on the drivers side .

 

Check to make sure the caliper slide is lubricated.

 

thanx wayne they are 4 pot and i replaced the originals years ago rotors are original id say with high miles.rear end is 50 years old .

 

AFTER A LONG WAIT ROTORS ARRIVED.PRICE WAS REASONABLE BUT SHIPPING WAS AS MUCH AGAIN.heavy items they are.came with new ceramic pads and new pins for the calipers.so far so good.ive rebuilt the drivers side hub with new bearings spacer shim ,seals and grease.calipers were replaced years back and redid the lines.new leaf spring also.set the bearings at 2 thou preload .tolerance is 1-8 thou. 2 sounded good to me.shims seem to be hardened so i got to the correct preload by rubbing the spacer on a sheet of 240 wet and dry taped to a pane of glass i had cut to the size of the sheet of sandpaper and taped it to the glass.shims came in 6 thou increments.after lubing the sandpaper with wd 40 it didnt take long to remove a few thou from the spacer.marked the spacer into thirds and rotated regular to ensure i kept it even.the pass side should go quicker.ive a few tools made up to press the bearings on instead of going to a press.thanks mick.spindle needs to be tightened to 100 ft /lbs.i held the spindle in the wheel while i torqued things up.hot rod girl stood on the tyre to get the final torque on it.its been v hot here for a few weeks 30C.way too hot for me to do any work.however the worse seems to be over hope to get the pass side done next week.with all the play i had in the rear bearing had a 4 wheel steer situation going on.this job should tighten things up.anyway the trucks improving all the time so im not complaining yet.c

 

stock the rotors were riveted to the spindles.by the time i got it the rivets had been drilled out and the rotor was loose when the wheel was removed.holes in the spindle for the rivets were3/8".i tapped out for m10 countersunk bolts and c/sunk the rotors for the bolts worked out great.tough job drilling and tapping under a red hot roof,with not a puff of wind and the flies bloody flies.

 

drivers side reassembly going well.weather stayed cooler .good to be back at the truck.

 

Absolutely! Glad you are back after it.

 

good to be back bud tomorrows another day.plenty more to do this evening i modified a bracket holding a brake union so i could remove the brake line without disconnecting it,but i dont want to be redoing this again.bleeding the rear lines will be a pita.

 

encountered an issue today went to the tyre shop to get some tyres changed around.had a set of 255x60 on black rims and 235/60 on creme rims.ive been having an issue on local roads that with the 255/60 on local roads im not getting into overdrive regular .with the 235/60 s on im getting into top regular and its a more pleasant drive.235 s are lowering the overall gearing just a tad.anyway had the tyres changed over the guy in the shop a sound interested polish guy commented that my wheels were running loose on the rims .when i got home i looked into it .measuring up with a verniers i concluded the acorn nuts were bottoming out marginally on the wheel studs before the wheels were properly tight.the cap on the acorn was quite thick/strong and didnt push out of the nut.anyway 50 year od wheel nuts had a build up of grease and fine dust in the acorn nut just enough to stop it tightening properly.cut the top off the first acorn to reveal a hard paste in the acorn.im in the process of cutting the tops off the acorns and chasing the threads.might be able to get the nuts cleaned up on a lathe shortly these nuts dont grow on trees over here so ill have to make the best of the situation.rally caps cover the nuts up so all will still be good.like i said its getting better all the time so im not complaining

 

Glad you caught that issue. That could have been really bad. Cheers!

 

cut the tops from all the acorn nuts only 4 were full of that paste.looks like the acorns wernt tapped to the bottom of the hole all the way.the bigger problem was the studs running out of thread.should be fine for now.nice cool day pulled the pass trailing arm.covered the paint with tinfoil worked great.no fluid spilt.need to touch up the arm with POR15 though just a small section.gently straightened out the french locks with an alloy block can use again.they are overkill since ill be locktighting the studs as well.this time around to aid reassembly and to prevent scratching the paint ill be making a stand to bolt on instead of the wheel .wont take long .

 

got lucky scored a small tin of POR15 reasonably local shop..(4us ounce,113.6 ml ).small tin but a little goes a long way more than enough to touch up and coat the trailing arm

 

second hub going smooth so far.pulled the hub and cleaned out the old grease,knocked out the old bearings.pushed in the new shells .trial run with the biggest shim was way too loose third attempt gave 4" play with the mock up tool and nut hand tight.torqued to 100ft/lbs reduced it to just under 2".as good as it gets really.bearings just lubed with wd40 and no seals fitted.need 2 , 3/8 unc bolts to pull the bearing from the spindle.roll on tomorrow.

 

didnt have any luck in my quest for 2/ 3 inch x 3/8 unc bolts fully threaded for my pullers could only get bolts with circa 1 1/4 of thread had to cut threads back.they did the job and will be carefully packed away for future use.

 

pass side completed.just as well she had other plans for the table!!!,like eating at it.
back assembling tomorrow,followed by a tidy up.
got the wheel nut tapers trued.good as new thanks again to mick o.

 

during reassembly yesterday i discovered the root of the problem i had with the shackles working loose the bolts provided with the transverse spring werent correct the shank was too short for the bracket.the 7/16 bolt had the threaded part passing through the shackle,was able to move slightly.over time the bolt wore the 7/16 hole some a 7/16 hole that a 3/8 bit could pass through..couldnt get 3/8 bolts with the correct length shank without ordering ARP bolts however i could get high tensile m10 bolts with the correct length shank for my application..so i drilled the shackle and the heads for lockwire and drilled the threaded end for a split pin.thats the best thing about not rushing reassembly ,gives you a chance to diagnose the problem.its not allways obvious till u spot it.should be able to finish reassembly tomorrow every thing will be lockwired split pinned and thread locked ,locknuts used lockwashers etc where necessary.mobile and ready for PAT the local welder to put some weld on the shackle overkill is the name of the game.push it out of the garage for a big tidy up.see who i can get to help bleeding the brakes. PS theres a good chance ill go for ARP stainless high tensile bolts next time im ordering,love the quality of those fasteners.esp the bolts with reduced hex and washer built in to the heads.apply some antiseize and forget about corosion under the truck (of the bolts)

 

Good news. Glad you caught that issue. Please post more pictures as you are out and about. I'd love to see them. Cheers! Nick

 

will do nick

 

thought id finish reassembly today.didnt though nearly there .then bleed the brakes.

 

finished up reassenbly today.f***kin sick of it.droped it to the ground.must fire it up tomorrow and move it outside for a look.made some adjustments to the spring .must check the cambers.and bleed the brakes.all easy jobs but take time.

 

heres a picture of the bottom of a chevy truck door.shows the lip where the skin turns up i filled this with a thin bead of seam sealer ,leaving the corner unsealed so condensation or water could find the way back out

 

moved along today tried to bleed the brakes using a vacuum tool.went from having no brakes to just about able to stop outside the house.tried to bleed the front.improved some but theres still air in there.went for a small spin up to a buddys house.they were improving on the way back home.with new rotors at the back and reusing allmost new pads its taking a few miles to bed in the rear brakes.freshened the ends of the vacuum hoses and will attempt to bleed the system again tomorrow.ill be fitting a new vacuum hose to the servo too.new rotors in stock to upgrade the rotors to 11" up front ordered the corresponding brackets today.wont see them for a few weeks.coming all the way from california.once home i pulled a loppers from the garage.on the way into my house the trees are getting a little overgrown along the route.trimmed anything likley to scratch the cab.tossed the small branches into the bed probably the first little job the 38 had done in a long time this millenium anyways.things are looking up.

 

visited my friend dave the other day.German Shepherd breeder.we picked a pup from the latest litter.we both agreed on the pick of the litter.ill be collecting him on sat.a birthday present to myself .would you believe it i stumbled on my last top dog SETZER s bloodline by chance .gave me a name but no precise address.mentioned it to another shepherd person and she knew the breeder.so ill be taking another trip to track the guy down.be great to know where that line is even with another guardian on the way.things are looking up.

 

bled with the vacuum bleeder again.it must be doing something.the brakes have improved again.needs to be finished the traditional way.went for a spin to charge the battery up.lovely day here first time i wound out the screen without getting wet or frozen.excellent ventilation this time round.things are getting better