Projects 1948 F1 rattle can rebuild

Took the truck on a few laps around the block last night. Ran it through all the gears. 1st gear seems kinda noisey.

Forgot to check fluids in the trans and rear end while I was putting the truck back together. I'm checking fluids tonight and hopefully go for a longer cruise.

Been a long time since I've driven a non-syncro'd 1st gear trans. Gonna take a little while to get used to completely stopping before engaging 1st gear. If the truck is a 'keeper' I have a T5 transmission stashed that I might install.

At first it kept starving for gas so I blew out the fuel line and then there was no problem. Inside the tank looks very nice from what I could see. Yea, it's got a fuel filter, actually 2 of them. The 1st one is cleanable so I'll keep an eye on that.

I was happy to find out the radiator didn't leak. When filling it the 1st time last week I thought it was leaking but must have been out of the overflow.

Did figure out the windshield wiper motor has a big vacuum leak and had to disconnect it for now. I should have tested that thing while the dash was all apart.... DAMNIT!

 

drove the truck on a 55mph, 7 mile round trip friday.

it's gonna need a gear change or an overdrive
at 55 it's revved pretty good, won't be freeway friendly
it did drive very nice though and didn't have rattles

I drive it the 3-1/2 miles out without a hitch
then the truck sat for a few hours

went to start it and gas is flowing out the carb vent
I pull the float bowl and screwed with the needle/seat

float level looked OK...
reassemble, try starting, big time flooding out

OK, something stuck in there...
disassemble again, float is cracked and full of gas

a friend helping me drives a few miles home for parts
brings back two crusty 1904 Holley 'core carbs'

reassemble with 'new' float... now float bowl leaking
disassemble again, add a 2nd petrified bowl gasket

fired right up and purred the 3-1/2 miles home

looks like I have charging system issues too
gonna swap another alternator from the parts stash

old heater hose outlet in the new water pump drips
gotta pull the pump I just installed to change the outlet

 

Congrats on the first drive. Those are always fun and nerve racking! My first drives are always close to home with someone at the end of a phone if needed....Glad you just had small problems.

 

Man, you made that ol' truck look great. Given any thought to how many rattle cans it would take to paint the whole truck??? If I had your talent and that truck, I'd try it. Great thread.

 

I dig the tool box! Get the rubbing compound out and rattle can "polish" that sucker up!

 

Yep, that's the plan I use, especially the maiden voyage.

For the old beater it is, the paint is OK for me.

Here's a rattle can job on a hollow Corvette we use for a sign at work. It took 15 cans of red and 2 black.

 

Oh yea, drove it to work today and the freeze plug behind the flywheel started leaking big time.

At least I hope there's a freeze plug back there.

 

Ouch I hope so too. Thats why I took the engine out of my buick 12 years ago its still out

 

I started this thread a couple days ago to find out about freeze plug location.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=617442

Got this info:


I'm probably gonna start pulling the motor tomorrow night. New brass freeze plugs in every orfice.

Tonight I'm doing some garage rearranging. I've been storing a complete SBC & T350 for my son, for oh... 8 years! It's outta here. Now my compressor and welder will have a new home, out of my way.

 

I love this post, although it makes me feel guilty for not working on my trucks.

 

got the motor pulled over the weekend.




Here's the problem.
Will be replacing all the frost plugs with brass.




It needs a clutch too so I'll get that installed.
This should keep me busy for a couple days anyways.

 

Love your truck,and that tool box iis cooool man!

 

Been doing things for other family members this week and haven't had 'truck' time.

Last night I drilled out and tapped the exhaust manifold to tailpipe bolts since they both snapped off during the engine removal. Somehow I had the studs and brass nuts in my parts stash.


Also ordered a new clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing. Mac's had a great price. I'll pick up the new freeze plugs from my local parts store this week.

Hopefully I'll be bolting stuff back together this weekend.

 

Still waiting on parts....
Maybe they got caught in the hurricane.

Can't sit around and watch TV so I'm switching windshields in my 2 trucks. I discovered some tech to help pulling glass without cutting the rubber.

I posted it here:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6926248#post6926248

I used these thin aluminum tabs I had, but anything similar will work. One guy on that thread said he used popsicle sticks.












~Mark

 

LowKat, I'm VERY impressed by your project. Nice, nice work man!

Can we hear a bit more about your rattle can methods? How are you stripping small parts? Wire wheeling (as I do) sanding, or chemical stripper? Using primer? You've mentioned both Krylon and Rustoleum, any preference?

I apologize for the questions but I'm doing a similar job on my '55 Chevy truck. Bit by bit man, PLEASE keep the pictured and info coming

 

Oops, sorry for duplicate post

 

Loving this build! Great work!!

 

I'm interested in any tech tips you can share in this area as well.

-W

 

http://www.chromeit.us/

SInce you mention getting ambitious and trying to polish up this (kickass) aluminum case, I thought I'd post this link. I just happened on it and thought of your trunk

 

Worked on one of Mrs. LowKat's projects over the weekend BUT... my engine is ready to go back in. Hopefully I'll get on that tomorrow evening.

Had a couple small setbacks.

The pipe coming out for the temp sender adapter needed replaced which was rusted in. Broke it off, drill, redrill, redrill again, pick out the pieces.

New (rebuilt) water pump had a crack at the heater hose outlet. New one will be here tomorrow.

Got the new clutch and pressure plate installed and plugged the transmission in, tightened the bolts up, then noticed the new throwout bearing still sitting on the workbench. Lucky for me the engine was still on the cherry picker.

Good news is I got a step closer to a T5 transmission install which I'll try to have done for next summer. I have the Chevy S10 trans and I just got the 1948-52 heavy duty 4sp bellhousing that bolts to my 1952 only OHV6 bellhousing adapter. I still need the aftermarket Ford bell to Chevy T5 adapter and the sleeve for the input shaft. Then I'll just need some cut, grind and weld ambition.

I strip small stuff on an 8" Harbor Freight bench grinder with a wire wheel on each end. Fine and coarse, I use coarse the most.

Big things like the running boards, used a 4" high speed grinder with a knotted coarse wire wheel and/or wire cup. After wire wheeling, I hand sand everything with 220 aluminum oxide paper so the paint will bite.

Rustoleum is better quality paint but Krylon has the best fan spray pattern for larger areas and is easier to apply. The new Krylon nozzles are adjustable 90 degrees from vertical too. I don't use primer, just more paint.

1st coat of paint I just 'dust' it and try to cover but with very minimal paint. If you look very close, the finish is a bunch of tiny spots. I do this from about 16" to 18" away. Let it dry for a minute or two.

2nd coat, get a little closer, like 12" away. This coat is a little heavier but still won't cover. Let that dry like before.

3rd coat will now try to completely cover in wet paint, but as thin as possible. I'm usually about 8" away now and moving fairly fast. Let that dry for a few minutes but needs to still be kinda tacky for the next coat.

4th coat, lay it on as thick as possible without runs. Let that dry 30-40 minutes or even overnight. Then give it at least a couple more real wet coats letting them completely dry between. I usually put on 4 coats of color, so 7 coats total.

The key to a good finish is prep and making a spray "road map" to plan where you're going. I spray around the edges or openings first then go for the main body.

Paint the entire length of the panel in one long stroke. Overlap each stroke 1/2 way or more over the previous one. The object is, always be spraying over wet paint on one end of your 'fan' pattern without letting the wet paint flash dry before the next stroke is applied. If it dries too long or you don't overlap enough, you get dry stripes.

The ideal paint job would cover the object in one stroke and the entire surface would dry at the same rate.

Whatever your product looks like when it's wet, is what it will look like when it's dry. Sometimes the angle of the light is critical for seeing the coverage as it's being applied.

Most people don't use enough paint and put on too much, too soon. You need a good base so the thick coats have something to 'bite' to.

I'm going to try polishing a spot on the inside first, That thing might have some space-age military coating that won't come off easy.

 

Thanks LowKat. Lots of good info. I already do most of what you do but not 7 coats, more like 4-5.

Have you tried Rustoleum hammertone black? It looks fantastic on frames cause it tends to hide small imperfections. I saw it on another guy's '46 Chevy truck when I had mine. I thought it was powdercoating! More coats makes it REALLY look great.

 

Love this build! It just gets better and better!

 

I'll have to agree. Like I said before, I've never seen such a cool truck that's painted with spray cans. And plus this is one of my favorite truck body styles

 

what kind of spray paint are you using

 

Got the motor back in last night. Still waiting on a new water pump to replace the defective one I just bought. I'll finish hooking stuff up tonight. Should be on the road again Friday night.

 

Got it driving again. (and the new Mac's throwout bearing squeals like a stuck pig)

The truck has 4.27 rear gears so the motor is really wound up at cruise speed. I'm collecting parts and saving money to install a T5 trans.

Well, until then I decided to put a taller rear tire on it to help the gearing. I like the 52-56 F100 wheels that are on it now and the tires too, so I decided to leave them mounted up for later and swap something different on it.

I had some 1957-1964 steel wheels. Two of them are 5-1/2" wide and two are 6" wide. Got them cleaned up and rattle-canned the same dark blue as the interior of the truck. The color is actually Navy Blue and darker than the photo shows. The camera flash washed the color out.




I also had a set of "driver" 1955 Ford car hubcaps I bought at the Portland swap meet last april for $5.




Last night I sanded some junkyard tires to make wide whites for it.
Rears are 235/75/15, fronts are 215/70/15.
I should get them mounted and on the truck tonight.
I'll post a photo after mounting.

 

I love the junk-yard wide whites!

 

Awesome build thread! Thanks for taking the time to document it all. I love the Rattle Can Rebuild... it's my new favorite! Nice work.

 

AWESOME BUILD! - Mayor

 

lots of good tips LowKat, thanks for the paint stripping steps and the truskes on the bench grinder (i did a well da! of course, not sure why it had not occured to me)