Projects 1950 3100 Truck Project

Fixed my lap belt issue...perfect length now..

 

Done...next up is trying to tune this bitch....

 

How is that upper mount mounted. Top part of the shoulder belt.

 

Big rectangle plate with nut welded to it behind sheet metal. Fit perfect, didnt have to do anything other than drill a hole.

 

This weekend I got the base timing set at 13 degrees. Man what a difference. I couldnt get the total timing set as you need someone to work the gas but I am hesitant to mess with it as it runs so good now.

 

Did you make them or a purchase? Also I'm new to these trucks - is there another piece of separated sheet metal up in that corner.

 

Bought them. Some kits come with them but mine didnt. Kinda hard to explain but the back wall around the rear window has an inner panel that starts below the window and extends up to about the middle of the curve of the roof. that is where the headliner tucks in. The plate goes back behind that panel and then you bolt through the panel. You can do it a number of ways but that worked for me.

Wether or not seat belts in an old truck like ours do any good or not is another story. I used to justify not having them by saying it was just like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. But I just felt guilty driving it without them, and hey, if nothing else it keeps me from sliding across the bench in a hard turn.

 

So after 8 months of driving I finally figured out what the hell was making all the racket in the front end. I thought it was something in the suspension, when I couldnt find anything I thought it was loose body hardware or the fact that I didnt use any welting between the fender and the cab...last night I was under the truck and for whatever reason grabbed my exhaust pipe and it was loose as hell...same thing with the drive side pipe.

Turns out I didnt use lock nuts on the manifold collectors and they loosened up and the pipes were rattling. Tightened them up and took it for a drive and its like driving a new truck....95% of the rattling that was driving me crazy is gone....just little bits and pieces here and there now.

 

Ha ha - glad you found that rattle. Those kind of things are hard to find.
I'm going to install seat belts in mine also. Years ago I stripped an 80 Ford Courier pickup of everything before I junked it. Seat belts were included and I think they are going to work well for this purpose. But I'm bummed because it is supposed to rain all weekend, and I'm still working in the driveway.

I'm happy to see you're enjoying yours - you persevered through major work! Gives me hope with mine.

 

Thanks man....and yea...glad I put the belts in mine. Now I just have to remember to put them on. Usually get where I am going before I realize they arent on, then when I get back in i'm at my next spot and then again say DAMN....weird because its usually the first thing I do in my DD....

Anyway, nice progress on yours, it has been raining like crazy here too, I think we got something like 18 inches of rain in May and had rained good on and off all this month too. The rivers and lakes are beautiful though so I'll deal with it!

 

Got quite a bit done the last few weeks...

Got original wipers and linkage installed. Finally filled the hole in my dash with a wiper knob. Got a working vacuum motor in...just need to plumb up a vac line and see how it works.





Got the rubber floor mat and padding in..man what a difference. Looks good and is much quieter inside.

Went to the Fredricksburg swap meet this weekend and found a dr door for the truck. The one on there now was red and doesnt match the rest of the what used to be green truck. This one was on a green truck so itll match better till I decide on when to paint.





Had a coolant leak, spray onto the firewall on hard accel, found it squirting out of left side water pump to block gasket. Took a week to get back together and no more leak from there, but still have coolant on firewall...gotta figure that out.

Started collecting old family pics, going to make a collage of old pics for the headliner, that is going to be fun..

 

If you don't mind me asking, what's a fair price for one of these doors? Good shape, no rust, all the hardware?

 

He was asking 400 for the pair, just the shell. The drivers side is clean, no rot, the pass side as too but had a pretty good smash on the outer lower skin. I offered 150 for the dr side and he accepted. I see them all the time on ebay for +/- 200 but the shipping is what makes it a bad deal. So I jumped on it.

 

Thanks man. I have a friend who has some for sale, another who needs some, and neither of them know want they're worth, LMAO.

 

Found my leak. Radiator leaking at top dr side corner, hard accel it would spray out. Called up Champion, they set me a new radiator that I paid for and a return shipping label, put the old one in the box and shipped it back. Once they check it out and confirm what I saw they will refund me, lifetime warranty for the win...

 

Great, what are those Rads running, moooola wise.

 

$239 shipped....cant beat em as far as I can tell....all aluminum with a trans cooler and a lifetime warranty. Of course mine is leaking, but hopefully thats just a fluke.

 

Thank you- you went middle one 3 core? I'm running a pretty much stock 283.

 

Yep..with a 16in SPAL fan it stays at 185-190 no prob. It was high 90's the other day and it didnt budge...

 

So your just running the pulley off the water pump?

 

Electric fan on back side of radiator. Barely fit, like less than an 1/8 inch between the w/p pulley and fan.

 

Got the radiator in. So far so good..runs like a champ. Damn it's hot down here..103ish...but the truck stays 185 no problem..

 

so cool - lol...I got mine the other day...but I jump down the rabbit hole and pulled the motor...

 

Went on my first cruise this past weekend. End up with 15 cars/trucks and made the 100 mile trip with no problems.


However..it hasn't rained in about 2 months but of course a storm popped up and it rained about as hard as it possibly could across the best part of the cruise scenery wise.

Did I mention my wipers aren't hooked up yet...oh...and I don't have door windows? Oh yea that was nice. But hey at least I got that out of the way...my windshield was fogged up in no time (needed rainx) and so I was wiping it with my hand...

Water was coming in around the w/s seal since I hadnt sealed it yet and dripping all over my gas foot. Had to pull the floor mat out and dry the padding I had just put in, but no harm done otherwise.






Still a good time though and didn't get too wet as I was driving into it...

Had a stopover at the motorcycle museum in Vanderpool and then lunch at a cool little cafe in Utopia Texas. After that it was back home. Funny thing was I was the youngest guy in the group by about 30 yrs, but we still had a lot to talk about as we were all car guys and even a few ladys.

 

Your truck is the nicest vehicle in the whole pack, I luv your truck.....

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

Haha I dunno about that, but I'll take it, thanks!

 

I've always thot those 48-53 Chevy PU's were great looking. Seeing that pic of your truck next to that F1 made me realize just how great looking they are!

 

Love your truck, my grampa always drove 47 to 53 chevys and swore by them. One day I will have one that's looks as good as yours sir!!

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Thanks guys...been driving it like a madman. Think I finally got it all worked out. Now I can work on it at a slower pace till it's "done".

 

Way behind as usual, but man.....you can't catch a break! Glad you're staying persistent and keeping at it! Congrats on baby #2! Reminds you how long of a road it's been!