57 3100 daily driver build

Are you having crank pulley issues on the front crossmember? What distributor are you using? My Ebrake is hooked up (but not properly adjusted), I had to do some bending/cutting on the arm leaving the front frame pivot because of the motor mounts. Its pretty tight but I think I can get it to adjust out and work.

FYI, I would keep your motor and tranny mount as low as possible. I got damn lucky in that my driveshaft comes real close to the crossmember just aft of the trans on full suspension compression. I didn't have the driveshaft made until late in the game (cab already mounted) so this took me by suprise. It wasn't until I saw GreenGrenade notching his crossmembers that I began to sweat...

 

I'm using the big GM HEI distributor. I'm going to relocate my E brake and make a bracket on the floor of the cab. My fitment issue is with the pulley and fan being to close to the cross member. I'm going to cut a section out of it and box it in for added clearance today

 

Nice pair! I like the license plate. Lucky to find that one.

 

Thanks! Yeah he was lucky to find it, I think thats why he keeps it inside the cab. Still looking for a 57 plate to run on mine....

 

I have a friend up here who has the best license plate karma. He has a '58 Impala convertible with a unique plate that I'm not sure that I can post here and his '67 Nickey El Camino has the numbers 67427, his dually is B00000P. He's big into 'Vettes and has been for decades - he just renewed the tabs on his trailer and got 435427. All I got was 055 for my '55 Chevy.

 

what are the stats on your buddies fleetside? power train, suspension and such. That's such a cool looking pair. They look like they were separated at birth

 

Trans is acting like a girl.....


Have driven it daily for almost 200 miles under 45mph going to work with the tranny fluid level good.

Have taken 2 short 3 mile jaunts on the freeway ~55 mph to work.Everything was working fine.

Just drove 20 miles going 58 mph (GPS) on the freeway and now tranny is slipping. Checked fluid level and it showed around 1 qt high. Drained the quart by pulling the dipstick tube.

Now the trans acts a little better but still slips significantly. In that I mean it slips off the line in both D, R, and L. Once its going it seems to go OK but taking off from a stop it is slipping.

I should also add I am running a B&M Megashifter that I have struggled with adjusting the cable. Can't seem to get the shifter to align on reverse, everything else seems to align notch wise. Also running the detent cable (which is not kicking down) and the vacuum line to the trans which is new. Old trans selonoid though.

Any ideas?

 

Hope your trans clutches didn't get saturated...not sure if that's even possible when you overfill as I'm sure there is baffling and some way of keeping the fluid from the clutches inside the trans. I've never really been an A/T guy, so I have no idea what I'm talking about...just thinking out loud. I know you can buy kits to adjust the crispness of shifting and the overlap between gears.

 

My th350 started to slip a little before i tore my truck down. I was beatin on it pretty good tho. Also developed a whine while shifting it manually. I really dont know what the deal was. I found a site that had a TON of info on trans rebuilds and components and a complet detailed process of tearing down an auto. Ill try and find it for you

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Had a friend look at the tranny. Said its probably just tired. I am contemplating going with a rebuilt TH200R4 for the overdrive. Would run me ~$900 all said and done. Or I can stick with a rebuild 350 for around $350. I have to say I am leaning toward the 200 for the OD.

On a side note, the other night while on the freeway if I tried to go faster than 60MPH the truck went into a death wobble. Was like the whole truck was coming apart but the steering wheel was not going crazy. I didn't have the balls to try and drive through it.

Anyone besides Jim seen this as I am sure he has pushed his trucks way past this limit.

 

Just curious, maybe swap to a manual. I know that involves sorting out a clutch etc etc. maybe worth it tho. Id think for around 500 - 600 you could have a good 4 or 5 speed. Just a thought. Cant help you on the death wobble

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A man after my own heart. Would love a manual, but not yet. .

 

the truck is looking good, I am glad you have it on the road. I wish it was nice enough out for me to take mine on the road, I am jealous of your nice weather down there right now!

 

Hell ya dude! The truck is looking good!

 

Thanks man, TH350 is being rebuilt today. Hoping to have it back on the road for this weekend.

Thanks Taylor, read about that shooting in your area yesterday, glad you are ok. You still down to throw some stripes on this thing?

 

your truck ended up with a perfect stance. Gotta love it!!!

 

Thanks Dubie! I just hope I can get this front suspension shaking sorted out. My shocks showed up today, really hoping to get the trans installed before this weekend.

 

did you use caster shims up front?

 

Sure did, 7 degree shims. Everything felt great below 60mph. It was bad enough above it that I didn't have the balls to try and drive through it. I have not replaced the tie rods myself but someone did at some time as they are not originals. They seem to be in good shape? Could be that I need to adjust the tie rods for toe in/out, right now they are slightly toed out.

 

could be play in the king pins, un-balanced tires, tie rod not adjusted properly. There really isn't to much to trouble shoot on these front ends. If everything was installed properly, it should run down the highway at just about any speed and still have control and comfort.

It could very well be your tie rods need adjusting

 

Just a thought. If the steering wheel isn't going crazy it might be the driveshaft. I had an issue with my OT six speed conversion and it had vibration that was so violent you couldn't hear.

If you can't figure it out with the front suspension try the driveshaft.

Good luck.


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Thanks for the thoughts. I will not eliminate the DS as a culprit BUT, it was just shortened and balanced at Phoenix Rack and Axle. Once I get it running I will drive it down and have them ride along to see what they think.

 

Ya it was crazy, I used to drive right where it happened every day for work during the summer.

Of course Im still down to lay down some lines on it! Just bring it over when its ready haha!

 

Don't know if you're running a manual trans or automatic, but if it's a manual you may have a flywheel issue. However, I'd be willing to bet it's a tire/wheel issue. An unbalanced tire or a bent wheel will do exactly what you described. Also, you may have a tire that is separating or is out of round. Bring it to a tire shop and have them rebalance the front tires and check for a bent wheel or lopsided tire.

 

As always, thanks for the ideas Buzz! I am running an Auto trans. These rims and tires are pretty elderly.

FYI, the Nitro Slammer shocks are the cats ass! Still need to install the rear shocks but the front is almost sorted.

You know when you find something loose that you thought you had already tightened up? I found that all 8 U bolt nuts for the front axle were only snug, not torqued down. Now that they are torqued down the vibration seems to have subsided, go figure.

 

If that's the case, here's my new concern; your front end is either out of alignment (which is essentially only toe - and should be NO MORE than 3/16 difference front to rear), you have a bad front hub bearing(s) or your king pins are in bad shape. Although, it could have simply been that your front end, loose and free to move around, was fighting against the weight of your truck and chattering under the stress.

Also, did you extend your centering pin all the way down through the shims? What I did was use a spacer that had an I.D. that the centering pin/bolt fit through but had an O.D. that fit snug inside the hole in the shims. I then ground the spacers at the same angle as the shims and ran the centering pin/bolt from the bottom up through the spacer / shim assembly and all the leafs and nutted it on top allowing enough length at the top so that the the pin/bolt was still sticking up above the "hat" that the U-bolts lay into.

With the wobble you felt I would definitely check that the head of your centering pin wasn't sheared off (and is still indexed in the hole in the top of the axle) and that your shims are laying flat and straight - not cockeyed.

 

While I am thinking of it does anybody have a spare passenger side door latch? If so lets make a deal.

 

I do. Do you want it in good shape?

 

Hopefully in better shape than the one I currently have. My current one is worn heavily on the rocker latch from the old striker plate which keeps it from locking tight in the second position. What condition is yours in, and thanks for the quick reply!

 

Anytime, it is used, but latched great before I replaced it with a repop (drivers needed to be replaced, so I bought both). Do you have a heater delete plate that doesn't have a hole in it? Even trade? I will have to dig through a box to get to it, but I know which one it is. You need anything else?