Thanks guys! Been digging in the engine(s)... did I mention that the truck came with a free 235? The PO said that the fellow he got it from said it was a Blue Flame 6, "but it's all locked up". Well, it IS a BF6 (casting#3835911) and it turns over nicely The 261, on the other hand, is not fairing so well. Got the cam out and the bearings look pretty bad and the cam lobes aren't great. I can replace them, but the more I dig, the more the oil-starvation issues crop up... did I mention that Dad REMOVED the baffles from the oil pan to save wieght? He realized his mistake after the first hard acceleration and quickly pulled the engine as soon as could, but NOT before his car-destroying brother dorve it for a month. On a happier note, Brad and Stevie are coming over to help make some space in the garage, so that I can get more done on the '56: the '28 Chevy speedster project is getting tucked away until the '56 becomes a daily driver and my OT '70 Nova is heading out. Sad to see it go, but it's going for good reasons; the money will help keep my folks in their house a little longer and it'll get replaced with a family treasure in the future (that's a whole OTHER story )!
Larry, Did you paint the grille/bumper on Franke, or did he come that way? I'm REALLY liking the color combo... NOT that I want to create a "Franke Jr", but would like to match the colors as close as I can!
Small, but fun/encouraging update- I've been looking for a "spare tire" fender and bracket, but having no luck, and to top it off, I missed Brad54's July swap meet. Brad, however (being a great freind), is always keeping his eye out for me. Turns out a local fellow pulled in with a '55-'57 with the fender I want, so Brad started to chat... long story short, he's been looking for a regular fender and wants to trade! Soooo, the fender needed to come off today! I spent an hour making a clutch head bit from an old Black & Decker multi-tool bit- LOOKS great, but couldn't reach both the clutch head and the nut, soooo... A nice 3/8 drill bit did the trick- fender is off and ready to trade
Man, what a great truck. And then Dad gives up some sweet goodies, you are on a roll bro. Congrats on the cool ride. ~sololobo~
And, while this is VERY late- Stevie has been the bigeest helper on this project, hands down. MANY thanks, sir!
FINALLY AN UPDATE!!! Things have been crazy-busy here at the Yankee ranch, and some "unforeseens" have gotten in the way of getting much further on the truck, but this past Christmas break and the past few days, especially, have been VERY good! Here's the breakdown- 1) The engine/trans/driveshaft are out of the truck so that it's ready to receive the 78 Z28 subframe ( I need to look at the 350 and the 235 to see which will be cheaper to get running) 2) Found a good front bumper in SC (fun yard-crawl trip with Brad54) 3) Have a line on 3 '59 passenger car dashes... ONE of them will find it's way into the truck But I do have some good/bad issues to deal with- The bad- the drain area for the cowl vent is rotted out on both sides. That'll need to be addressed quickly The good- I need choose between a pair of bumper guards (that will get stripped and painted to match the bumper) OR this FACTORY brush guard that Brad and I found today (mine's a little grungier than this pic) !!!
GEEZ, it's been 9 months since my last post... between my new job, having the kitchen flood 3 times, etc, life's been a little crazy! BUT, here's the update: - traded the stepside bed for a CLEAN '58 fleetside bed - found a nice set of 15X7 Ansen Sprints - disassembled the doghouse to prep for the '78 clip - got the truck to Brad54's last night (MANY thanks to Brad, Stevie G, and "Shrimp" John) I finally have a fall break (am teaching at my son's middle school in Barrow County), so Brad and I will clip the front end, and flip the rear (if there's time), then get it back to my house so that I can start going through the cab and chassis to get it road-worthy!
Joe, It's been sitting gingerly in my driveway since Saturday- with all this rain I haven't had the chance to get any pics!!! Suffice to say, it's quite a bit lower with the clip- it used to be as tall as me (6'6")... now the top of the cab is at my shoulder, and I need to flip the rear, but I'm REALLY happy with the outcome
I know the feeling I have been waiting on this wet stuff to clear out as well. So I can get out and work on my project. Looking forward to more updates. When you finish I might get with you and come by and get a in person look at the old girl.
Are you sure the brush guard is a factory piece? Hurst made similar guards too. The VW ones have Hurst stamped into them
Doug, It's in the Chevrolet Accessories catalogue- may be aftermarket, but it was offered by Chevrolet. It probably won't wind up on the truck... the thing weighs a TON! Larry, me too
Small and rather unhappy update: - I knew there were some rust issues and a bit of damage, so I spent the afternoon removing some of the rear window trim and popping off some putty, and it looks like some major "putty sculpting" was performed on the passenger rear corner. Here's what I found:
Here is the damage to the rear panel- something must have flown forward in the bed at some point... AND I found a crack in the windshield that wasn't there before. I'm guessing it came from our "storm of Biblical proportions" we suffered this past winter
Luckily, I may be able to cut some sheet metal out of a truck in a local yard- just not sure if the metal is the same under big and little window trucks.
Good news/bad news... Picked up a 3rd Gen Camaro rear at the yard, BUT the 57 LCF that had been there got crushed- NOT happy.
Okay, we'll call today's post "tarred and feathered"... With Easter rehearsals out of the way and the end of school 3 weeks away, I finally got a chance to fuss with the truck a little more. Got the seat out and pulled the mat, then wire-brushed and vacuumed the cab. Have a little more patching to do on the floors/toe boards than I thought, but all in all, it's not too bad It does look like the front of the floor is bowed down, almost like something really heavy was set on the hood for a long period of time... will do a little measuring, etc to double check.
Now, what does this have to do with tar? Well, I knew that the bottom front corners of the cab were bad, so I pulled the fenders to get at them better. both sides were CAKED with tar- could have been factory, but when you look at the farm repair to the driver's side (that was UNDER the tar), I think that someone tried to stop the tinworms with a generous helping of goop (the pile on the driveway is just a little sample) ! Looks like I'll be having some fun with the doors this summer
Late Spring update- Brad54 and I made a run to South Carolina to find some parts for his projects and my '56. Brad made out pretty well, and I did find a 4 speed trans hump for $25, but when it came to getting a donor for the rear of the cab (mine has some bad dents and rot), every cab was either "too nice to cut" or one that the yard would have to cut to the tune of $200-$250... So I stopped by the local honey hole today and for $60 got a good big window cab rear and inner window trim! Hopefully my summer job will come through, so that I can get the chassis cleaned up and rebuilt, and get the cab straight before school starts back at the end of July
Geez, my last post was in May and now it's mid October! Mrs. Yankee will finish her Master's in December (she's student teaching in my building, which has been a lot of fun)- hoping that she can find a position or even a long term sub, the little yanks are ALL in scouts, and I've been building up the middle school band program (have about 1/3 of the student body in band) and helping out the new high school band director with the marching band, so time has been almost non-existent, but: missed a good-running 261 at Brad54's last swap meet, but the seller may have another found a mouse nest today that filled the area between the roof eyebrow and the steel headliner panel by poking my finger through the steel headliner over the driver's side... not happy, but I can probably cut a replacement from the local honey hole came up with some "neat "little ideas", like a possible trim idea for the bed- more on those later Lastly, I may have found a temporary home for Dad's Dodge so that I can bring the cab into the garage and start repairs over the winter- we'll see how that goes
The Jalopy Journal
