Not sure what year Chevy/GMC changed from the spoke type wheels to what you have. I think your truck originally had spoke type wheels and the AD series starting in '47 had the kind of wheels you have. But I'm mostly a Ford guy, so that change may not have coincided with the body style change in '47. I have a pair of '33-'34 Ford 17" wire wheels that are not usable because they have rust penetration around the valve stem and on the rim where the tire bead seats. I use one to roll up my air hose and one to roll up electrical cords.
The 16's are '39-'48 pass. and '39-'53 1/2 ton standard equipment. Chevrolet always had several optional wheels as well.
Production of the 46 style truck overlapped the new 47 Advance Design trucks by a few months. Many were manufactured in calendar year 1947, and thus are called by some 47 First Series.
I took a break messing with bicycles today to dig a little deeper into the truck engine. Plugs came out without a fight. Disty is pretty clean, I removed the cap to get the mud dobber nests out of each port. Can’t read the writing on the starter and can’t find any writing on the generator to confirm 12volts Carburetor looks pretty clean, choke moves but throttle seems to be stuck, pretty sure it’s a linkage/pedal issue. Anyone know what this orange tag on the carb is for? Valve /rocker cover off. Yummy. Started turning the fan and made maybe a single rotation, it gets a little tight, but I guess that can be expected. I sprayed PB Blaster on everything and in the spark plug holes to encourage some movement later. Then it started raining.
you are going to need to modify the firewall to be able to get the hood to latch if you are going use the 39 front on the 47 cab. the firewall sticks out an extra 1 1/2 inches farther than the firewall on a 39-40. you can use the 39 or 40 grille/radiator support with the 39 fenders and hood.
Thanks, didn’t know this. I have a 38? radiator support on the way with the sheetmetal. Once I mount that I can work on mounting the fenders and then see where the hood falls.
I haven’t posted in a long time but I’ve been taking advantage of the pandemic caused bicycle shortage to be refurbishing old bicycles to sell to make money for the truck project. I decided to not worry with the generator and buy a 1 wire alternator for the truck, it’s on the way. I pulled the starter today and now I know why it is foot operated. Since this truck has a newer 235 but the original transmission I’m wondering if this is an original starter? If this is the original starter and it’s 6v and possibly reverse polarity, can I run it on 12v negative ground?
Good looking truck. I would try to start the engine before buying much for it, or taking it apart further. Mix acetone and auto trans fluid, dribble it in the spark plug holes. This is about the best penetrating oil there is. Turn it over by hand, then spin it with the starter. If you are able to check compression its a good indicator. New plugs, check wires with a multimeter before buying new ones. Clean and set points. See if you have spark. Get spark. Get carb throttle blade freed up, spray it down with carb cleaner, set up a gravity feed tank, to try to start it. Lawnmower gas tanks are easy to hang for a test start. Dont hang it over the carb in case you have a backfire. Change the oil. See if it will start, run, or drive. Might change your plans depending on what you find, or before you buy too many parts. It was parked for a reason, see if you can figure out why. Same thing with bikes, do you remove the derailleur and replace it, or test and adjust it first.
From what I understand you can run the 6v starter with 12 volts. That is what I am doing with mine, and I am going on 3 years with no problems. It may actually give you more cranking power. My truck also has a 235 (numbers show it as a 56-62 year engine) that had already replaced the original 216 when I acquired it.
Yes you can run twelve volts to that six volt starter, 15 years a daily driver only vehicle with that combination.
I guess I skipped some info, weeks and weeks ago I pulled the rocker cover, removed spark plugs, and sprayed the valve train with PB Blaster as well as in each cylinder through spark plug holes for good measure. I then turned the engine over by hand slowly and visually watched rockers move as well as the distributor. A couple weeks later I used a funnel to pour transmission fluid into each spark plug hole to sit. Yesterday after pulling the starter and bench testing it I turned over the engine by hand again, it’s gives resistance but it’s smooth. I also visually saw the crank flywheel moving through he starter hole. I stopped yesterday because I had questions about the starter and all of you have answered that, thank you.
I have to get plugs for it and don’t know what plugs to buy, can someone suggest? Also, I already bought an oil filter but wondering what oil to run, I always ran 10w-40 in all my older stuff, should I do different?
I know a little about why it was parked. This truck was bought as a parts truck over 25 years ago by my neighbor’s father. After he and his son pulled some body parts for their other early 47 pickup they covered it with a tarp and let it sit as it had served it’s purpose. Based on the condition I got it in I can only imagine that someone swapped in the 235 to make this a project, never got it running and let it sit until they sold it. When I got it the shifter was removed and sitting in the seat, the inside of the transmission was open, though the cab was dry there was plenty of debris and dead bugs visible in the gears (which I saw moving while we winched it from the shed). I’m wondering how to flush the trans. Maybe fill it with kerosene and let it sit a while and then drain and fill with 80w-90 gear oil?
You will want straight 30 wt. oil. I use a hotter plug as advised by Tom Langdon as I have an HEI distributor. Plugs are common, NAPA will have them, they aren’t exotic.
Makes sense. Sounds like youre on track, see if it will run, the 235 may be good or a lump. It could change your course of action. Good thread, keep the details coming.
With the DELCO starters and generators, a BLACK label is 6 volts, a RED label is 12 volts. Change the gear oil out in that transmission and run it. I have no experience with transmission flushing, I rebuild mine. The head you have on that 235 is an '848', that's the last three digits of the raised embossed number hard by the carburetor. That is a desirable higher compression head. I would wager your 235 is a 1956. My 235 1956 has over 115 k miles and was a dd/only vehicle for 17 years. That engine will take you anywhere you want to go.
Plugs AC Delco R45 or Champion J6 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...tovebolt-surprise-proper-spark-plugs.1072787/ Oil, straight 30 wt or 10W30 Ive flushed manual transmissions in machinery with diesel, blown them out with air, it worked fine. Make sure you can get it all out a drain plug. You said there was leaves etc in it.
Nice truck and a great start to work with. I would bet that if you took off the distributor cap, took some aerosol brake cleaner and blew out the points, rotor and inside of the cap, put on the plug wires and primed it with some gas down the carb, it would fire right up. The good stuff that I see and always look for, is that they kept an air cleaner on it, installed a fuel filter as well as oil filter. I have a 235" in a '54 truck for over 25yrs now with no problems ever. Simple to work on, easy to figure out. Gas, spark, go...
I finally cleaned off the casting numbers enough to decipher the engine as what appears to be a 1960, and I think I read the 235 went through 1962, so in my mind, newer could be better.
Since last time I posted on here I’ve gathered more parts in preparation to get the engine going. All I need now is a battery and a day dedicated to work on it. Today I started trying to fit the 38 doghouse/radiator support so I can see what it’s going to take to use the 39 hood and fenders.
Now I need you guys to help me find a part! This is my passenger side: This is my driver side, see anything missing? This truck didn’t have the shock mount/bump stop or u-bolts when I bought it. I can find u-bolts online but I cannot find the shock mount/bump stop upper and lower. Let me know if anyone knows of any. I picked up a decent set of knee action shocks and will be using them.
Some radiator shops (Yes, they still exist, especially for big trucks) offer boiling out gas tanks. You may have to ask around. I had the tank for a Ferguson tractor done, and they also sloshed it with sealer. The cost effectiveness beats the price of a new one and it works just fine. Otherwise you will be plagued with stopped up fuel lines, filters and carburetor. Just sayin'.
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