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Hot Rods 58-59 Chevy Truck Start

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by geoking, Jan 10, 2015.

  1. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    You are too funny. I am stuck in wait mode! I can build the front end to set up ride height in about an hour. Other than that......I am waiting on the engine, tranny, motor mounts, rear cross member, Ford 9 inch rear end , rear leaf springs and the replacement pins/shackles, PLUS Borgeson steering pieces and the column shift steering wheel.
    CPP has been nice but overly SLOW for no good reason. The rear end takes Currie 3-4 weeks! Borgeson shipped the same day. AWESOME!!! TCI shipped fast and had great Tech support over a question on degree tolerances. LMC truck has a call center manned by telephone operators with NO knowledge or experience to answer questions. They have promised a 3 day turn around to my question on leaf spring bushings. The factory ones were threaded. POSIES?
    I duno. smile
    I am trying to get the chassis fabrication done to get it pulled and to be blasted and painted while I get the engine and tranny built. PLUS the body work done.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  2. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    We have all heard of a 20 footer car. How about my 348 being a 10 footer paint job? She looks great...until you realize that someone sprayed her in Chevy orange without so much as washing off a little bit of the grease first. OMG, I pulled head bolts and spent a couple of hours getting through half of them from a degrease, wire brush and then running a 7/16-14 die to clean up the threads. I have a lot more grunt work to do before taking the short block to Rob for a rebuild.
    A new head bolt set is $94 + shipping and these just need a little lovin ! smile.
    I confirmed my 700r4 case is ready for me to pick up. OH boy,... all I have to do to enable welding in the motor mounts is to get my ride height correct. Then I can set up my motor angle at 3 degrees and tie down the tranny cross member. Its going to be a busy weekend coming up.
     

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  3. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    When we put the Mustang II cross member in, we had the chassis at a dead level zero degrees and the cross member tilted back at 2.5 degrees. I assembled A arms last night and threw on some tires that I had left over from the 48 coupe project. The chassis is aggressively raked forward and I will fix with the following two items.
    1. A taller front tire. the 215 x 65's are 26 inches tall. I will put 255 x 70's on as they are 29 inches tall and will net 1.5 inches in front end ride height
    2. I ordered a set of 3 inch lowering leaf springs for the rear . I started the removal of the old springs last night and will complete removal tonight. I will have the new springs in Saturday morning and be able to evaluate where she stands???

    I am anticipating that I will be able to maintain a slight rake forward and have good clearance in the front. ( Will advise this weekend!)

    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  4. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    As committed, springs out tonight. I had to use the plasma to cut the U bolts off as they were solid rust and certainly not worth the effort to save. The new 3 inch drop springs with new U bolts are laying in the floor for tomorrow's effort. smile. I am going to have to stop and clean up before pressing on.
    Regards,
    George
     

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  5. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    With the new rear leaf spring installation completed, I was able to drop the back of the truck 3 inches. Next up this morning was attaching the 700r4 empty tranny housing to the 348. I slipped it in between the frame rails to see how it would look. No stopping at that point! Several hours later, the mounts have been welded in, the tranny cross member has been installed , the tube tack welded and then the whole thing pulled out for welding on the work bench. I also added a 2x4 1/8 inch wall thickness cross member in front of the radiator core support mounts. It seemed like it needed it after taking out the factory cross member.

    Put a fork in me, I am done for the day! A big thanks to Brent for welding for me again.

    Next up is to install the rack and steering column to enable the steering linkage fab and install.

    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Feb 2, 2015
  6. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    As an afterthought, please see the below picture of the factory REAR leaf springs vs. the 3 inch drop springs. They are both 2 inches wide. The new ones were taped together for shipping. Can you say heavy? smile. I am not a fan of the el-cheapo banding used to hold the first three leaves together. I will either have to source some "U" clamps or make a set from stainless.
    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Feb 8, 2015
  7. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    The nice thing about doing a simple rebuild with minimal changes is that the fabrication projects are fun. Please see the attached picture of the lower steering column swivel mounting plate. I am removing the factory "3 on the tree" column and replacing with a tilt, column shifter for a 700r4. Most of this effort along with the linkage down to the rack should be wrapped up this weekend.
    Regards,
    George
     

    Attached Files:

  8. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I mocked up the steering using 3/4 wooden dowel rod. ( a 4 ft stick is only 3 dollars) PLUS, It's a whole lot easier to cut and sand on wood than stainless double "d" shaft. smile. After that I fabricated a bracket to hold the bearing at the center joint. I couldn't make a straight shot as the shaft would have blocked access to the exhaust pipe. I had to pull over the steering shaft to the drivers frame rail to get clearance for the exhaust out of the factory center dump casting.
    With the steering effort completed, I loaded up the "W" motor and hauled it over to Blue Oval Performance for Rob to rebuild her. As a side note: He wasn't there and I unloaded the block via brain power. I.E. I found wood pallets and built stair steps from my tail gate to the ground. I man handled the block and slowly moved it down my make shift steps. Argh, my back was sore the next morning. grin.
    It took a while to complete cleaning up and refinishing the head bolts. After degreasing, I soaked them in rust remover overnight and then used gun blueing (acid bath) to refinish them. They are all oiled up now and good as new!
    The big negative for the weekend was that a 33" steering column is way too long. I packed it up and and will be sending back for a 30" unit. I can still lower it past the firewall another inch as well, which will allow a total of 4" less at my waistline ! The 15 " aftermarket Impala style steering wheel will also help to have room between me and the steering wheel. I am trying to get 6-8 inches minimum.
    It's very tight and there just isn't room to move the seat back. So....the steering wheel has to move forward.

    NEXT UP: I am ready to pull the cab and send the chassis to the sand blaster.

    Regards,
    George
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 8, 2015
  9. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    After the realization that my new column is too long, I spent some time measuring and thinking about it. I spoke to the folks at CPP who state that they always sell a 33" unit for 55-59 Chevy trucks. It's just too long on the dash side and there isn't but about an inch left on the firewall side before I hit the exhaust manifold. My guess is that the size of the "W" motor is the issue. . While shortening the column is going to fix my issue in the cab, it will not fix my concern with column shift linkage interfering with the brake pedal arm under the toe board. The fix is to move the booster and dual master from the frame to the firewall. This will get rid of the brake pedal being underneath and hanging it inside the cab will avoid the linkage interference issues. Well, that's the plan!

    I found this link on line : http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/1104clt-cpp-firewall-mount-brake-booster-master/ and decided to take this route to get the pedal and column shift linkage out of each others way. The article was very informative and having the opportunity to see how someone else did it first, is very helpful. A big thank you to the folks for sharing!

    After dinner last night, I eased out to the shop and used my cut off wheel to take out the majority of the factory column support bracket. (see below picture). It bolts at the dash and is spot welded in 10 locations to the firewall / cowl. The fellow in the article drilled his spot welds out and left 10 holes to weld up. No thanks! While I also have that same spot weld drill/ cutter in my tool box, I am not up for creating additional work. As such, I searched and found this demo of spot weld removal. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how to remove spot welds&FORM=VIRE7#view=detail&mid=376F6AC4E0F765B6B3B4376F6AC4E0F765B6B3B4

    I like the fact I do not have to worry about destroying the panel beneath the part that I am removing. As this doesn't harm my remaining sheet metal , I will not have to weld up any holes. smile. As such, I have ordered a new spot weld cutter for under 20 dollars and will wait for it to arrive Thursday. As a side note, the Mrs. has already started to tease me about how "your projects always seem to get more complicated as you go". funny,...but oh so true!

    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Feb 10, 2015
  10. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    348 Build Update... The block is now cooking in the machine shop tank. Rob and I have had an initial review of the desired build specs. Smooth, with no lope and quiet as a church mouse is the goal.
    The 1965 truck motor came with 7.5:1 compression ratio and 220 Horse Power. We will use 11:1 pistons in the truck block with passenger car heads to yield approximately 10 1/4 : 1 compression. An upgrade of the intake and a little more carburetor will get us some more ponies without sacrificing manners. I'm going to guess that we will net at least a 20% gain to somewhere in the 265 Horse range. We will run her in on the dyno and I will report back the results.

    Folks are achieving 300-350 HP but we aren't adding a big cam, we are not upgrading heads and we will still be using the smaller passenger 2" exhaust manifolds. Since we are not doing anything special , I don't see too much more improvement. Making anymore effort to have a lot of horse power that isn't required for the easy everyday driver will be a waste of money and reduce fuel economy.

    This is my 3rd attempt to build a 348 in the last two years. The first block was cracked, the second one needed two sleeves and hopefully this one is a good builder!
    The cylinders have a very minor ridge and there isn't any pitting. This particular block was at the end of production and Chevrolet had made all of the production improvements before this. As such, I am hopeful that we will be good to go this time. I spent a lot of time learning about early HEMI's and now I am going through the same learning curve on the "W" motors. I know...there is no substitute for a standard small block. I just want to do this.

    There is an absolute cult following for "W" motors and I have been able to garner lots of knowledge from these folks. Parts are readily available and not too expensive. Reproduction dual snorkel air cleaners from Show Cars, aftermarket accessory systems from Alan Grove and good internals make it easy to come up with a clean "somewhat factory look" while enjoying the reliability of more modern alternator, AC and power steering systems.

    Regards,
    George
     
  11. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    My spot weld cutter showed up and I cut the spot welds out that were holding in the remaining two legs of the steering column support bracket. I have a friend bringing over a 2.5" die set so we can put the needed hole in for the brake booster on the firewall. The hydraulic cutter is so much easier than a hole saw. smile.
    Regards,
    George
     

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  12. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I had a good weekend in the shop playing with the 58'.
    ( I was looking forward to cutting the holes for the new firewall brake booster . While I had the instructions from on line , the booster only shipped Friday and I decided to wait to have the part in hand before I got ahead of myself and made a mistake.)
    As such, I spent Saturday tackling the removal of the sound deadener installed by the previous owner. He had stuck it on top of the floor without FIRST properly preparing the surface. I.E. getting rid of the rust and sealing to prevent new rust. It looked like it has been painted with a rust converter that didn't stick. After 6 hours of plain old fashioned pulling and scraping, I was able to remove it all. Progress picture attached.

    I pulled the windshield and rear window . Both were original and NOT safety glass so will be going to the garbage can. I pulled the heater and blower assemblies that will be being replaced with a new aftermarket kit with A/C. (59ApacheGail is the proud new owner of the OE heater.)

    My wife and I went to the big box store and loaded up the wood and hardware needed for me to make a up a cab stand with wheels. I hadn't forgotten table saw safety and got her all done without losing any fingers. smile.

    With the stand completed, I pulled the mount bolts, put a strap on her and lifted the cab up off the frame. I rolled the frame out from under the cab, then rolled the new wood stand under the cab and lowered the cab back down. The front fit nicely but I had to back up and remove a gas tank line to prevent it from riding on the wood cross member.

    4 more rivets had to be cut out to remove the factory brake mount on the frame rail. Sounds simple,....OVER AN HOUR! It is now cleaned up and I have just a little more to do with removing brake lines and the spare tire carrier parts before the frame will finally be ready for sand blasting and paint. As we have snow this morning, it will be a few days before I will be willing to take my CLEAN trailer out and make the trip to Blast Tek.



    Regards,
    George



     

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    Last edited: Feb 24, 2015
  13. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    Just Rear Ends is shipping my Ford 9" with 3.5 ratio and 11" drum brakes tomorrow. The bolt pattern to match the front hubs is 5 on 4.5" spacing and a POSI as well. I am very excited. While it is a bolt in to a standard 55-59 Chevy truck, I am betting on needing shims to get my pinion angle correct. Just a minor 2-4 degrees. I will not know for sure until I get her all loaded up. smile.
     
  14. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I finished stripping the chassis down to bare rails and cross members last night. I loaded it up in my trailer to make the short drive to the Sand Blaster this morning. As I did not want to take off from work, Pete was nice to volunteer and drive my truck and trailer for me to drop off the frame, THANK YOU PETE!

    My new rear end was dropped off at the dock yesterday and I brought her home. I will work on the firewall brake booster installation this weekend.

    Rob has started ordering parts for the W build.

    Life is good!

    regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Feb 20, 2015
  15. I am hoping he meant 283 I am not sure how long that 3 speed OD will hold up behind a 383 as from what I recall they were normally a 6 cylinder option.

    Sounds like a fun project.
     
  16. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    Porknbeaner, It actually turned out to be a 348 W motor.

    I finished up the hole drilling for the firewall booster and got it in this weekend for a trial fit and moved on to heating and scraping undercoat as I haven't had a chance to meet up with the dry ice blasting fellow.

    I am looking forward to having the frame back from being sand blasted so that I can make a roller out of her and get the body up to Custom Auto in the next couple of weeks.
    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Feb 22, 2015
  17. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    NEED HELP... what do you call the rubber floor mat anchors that are the posts you attach the floor mount to?
    I need a couple of them and have not been able to find them. They are steel studs and are attached to the floor by rolling the eyelets on the firewall side.
    Thanks,
    George
     
  18. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I can now advise that it is a nail head shoulder rivet!
     
  19. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I have not been able to find the floor studs/ rivets anywhere so I am probably going to have them made. A real bummer as it's suich a simple part and millions were made for production.
    ANY IDEA"S ON WHERE TO FIND THEM??????
     
  20. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    One of my first calls.. no luck at Jim Carters. I will try KCMONGO and advise. thanks
     
  21. If you don't get him pretty quick drop me a note, I'll find him for ya.
     
  22. 59Apachegail
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,504

    59Apachegail
    Member
    from New York



    I am really glad that heater didn't make the trash pile. It looks like I will be able to bolt it in and run it. Thanks Geo!


    Thanks Geo!
     
  23. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    you will need to order up a new seal for the heater to the air intake. It's square and fits the duct.
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2015
  24. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I have tried every rivet manufacturer and given up any hope of finding these replacement shoulder rivets for the attachment of the factory floor mats. As such, I have removed a good one from my toe board ( sad) and asked a local machinist to copy
    it for me. I am having him make 10 so that I can practice the rivet forming on a sample piece of sheet metal BEFORE adding to the truck. Such is life,. while not a big deal, I want to do it correctly.
    BlastTech still hasn't gotten to sandblasting my chassis for me as they have been backed up due to bad weather.
    My good friend and neighbor "Brian" that owns a Maaco body shop, dropped by with some epoxy paint last night . I will shoot the rear end, leaf springs and front suspension at home while I wait on the chassis. I hope to get to this in the next week.
    I am concerned with the epoxy paint fumes so also ordered a good respirator for the task.
    Next Up: I will be punching circle blanks to weld into firewall holes over the weekend.

    Last but not least, Rob at Blue Oval Performance has ordered my forged pistons, rings, bearings etc., etc. , in an effort to get the parts headed towards us while he machines the block.
    Very Slow progress right now. sigh.

    Regards,
    George
     
  25. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    I have been looking for a 1958 V8 Hood Emblem. If any of you have a nice one that you would let go of? While I don't have to have this, as I have both 6 cylinder as well a 59 hood emblem. I just think it's cool. Please PM me if you have one?
     
  26. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    Here's my friend Brian ( Maaco Shop Owner) with the trucks frame I picked up from Blast Tech Saturday morning.. It WAS painted black and now waiting to be assmbled.
    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Mar 24, 2015
  27. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

    A little good news, a little bad news , and a just plain update as well. :) First of all , I tried to retire in the fall of 2012 and agreed to stay with my employer until we sold our home. Good news after 2.5 years, we have a buyer and are under contract. Bad news, I am loading up the shop and don't have any opportunity to work on the truck for months to come.
    So what's the story?... I have decided to have Rex and team at the old Custom Auto build the truck. There's a new name of the shop with it's new ownership. The new name will be announced some time in April with the shops new branding effort. I love dealing with the same guys and the name doesn't make much difference to me at all.

    Rex and Josh came down Friday and helped me out by turning her back into a roller. We pushed it and all its parts into my trailer for my delivery to Loveland this coming Saturday. Thank you Guys.

    Amongst all the moving effort, I have been working with two shops to get the 348 built for the project. I sent the heads to RandR Speed Shop in Huntsville , AL where a friend of mine does their headwork. I did this because I have a shop credit that I need to use and this just made sense. The heads will go back to Rob at Blue Oval Performance to be added at the end of the build. I ran some parts by Saturday and was lucky enough to see my 348 block in the CNC milling center. .030 over was more than enough to clean up the bores. The decking effort is today before line boring for both cam and crank. All of the cylinder bores were in the correct location with the exception of one that was .006 out in one direction and .004 out in the other direction. That is really good for a block machined in 1965 without the luxury of today's milling centers. The .030 re-bore was centered in the correct location on this cylinder and she came out very nice. See below picture of my block after being bored .030 and waiting to be decked.

    As a side note, please notice the small crescent relief in each cylinder wall. This block is out of a 1965 truck and only had 7.5 to 1 compression ratio. It's lowered compression was created by relieving the cylinder with the material removal. ( I.E. The crescent shape)

    Regards,
    George
     

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    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
  28. geoking
    Joined: Nov 12, 2008
    Posts: 717

    geoking
    Member

     

    Attached Files:

  29. 59Apachegail
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,504

    59Apachegail
    Member
    from New York

    Geo is a class act, sent me some parts and refused to take shipping. Definitely a nice guy.
     

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