1950 Chevy Pickup Resurection

[ArdWrknTrk]

Stuff like that, liquid electrical tape, PVC pipe glue... etc
I just grease the threads, usually with Superlube or dielectric silicone because it doesn't stain.

[viven44]

I have been thinking that myself, just reading the back and forth between Gary and Bill and learning about forgotten technologies that I had no idea about.

I THINK the main reason these older Hotrods/restorations are in a slump is due to lack of know-how. I heard that the 30s-60s restorations were very popular maybe 20 years ago but not anymore.. I have wondered from time to time if Dentside/Bullnose knowledge will go with my generation... sad thought but there is some truth to it maybe.

Hard to predict what will happen. Gary and the other 'elders' have immortalized Bullnose knowledge via this website for the posterity.. so I know bullnoses are covered for the foreseeable future pending parts availability

[ArdWrknTrk]

Parts availability is already an issue, but when things like rings, pistons and bearing shells stop being made for lack of demand, Humpty Dumpty is gonna be in trouble.

Documentation isn't going to help....
Look at the SSME's that are being thrown away with Congress's latest space boondoggle.
And, do you think that the Saturn V stack doesn't have drawings & documentation?

Sure we have better now.
Composite hydrogen tanks and 3D printed combustion chambers rather than TIG welded tanks and furnace brazed retro cooling expansion nozzles.

SpaceX's Super Heavy has more than double the thrust of Saturn V, but once the manufacturing facilities and practical knowledge is gone, it's gone, just like buggy whips or whaling harpoons.

Who's going to knap me an axe head or spear point for tomorrow's hunt?

[viven44]

And then the camshaft/flat tappet lifter crisis which I think is going to be the end of DIY work on these engines , out of fear … how many times am I going to get lucky 🍀

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's what happens when you have M&A's by Capital Investment groups or other entities that know nothing and have no passion for anything but profit.

They go with the cheapest offshore vendor, fire everyone who raises alarm or points out the flaws.
It's happened with Comp, Holley, Prestolite, you name it.

Hell, just look at Boeing.
They completely lost all credibility when they moved to Chicago.

There are astronauts stranded on the space station, hundreds of passengers killed in Max8 crashes that were not only avoidable, but vigorously warned about by engineers that built the anti-stall system, but didn't write the software that override the pilots control inputs.

There's even the former QC officer who gave a deposition, but mysteriously 'un-alived' himself in Charleston the night before he was to testify about 787 production flaws.

[Gary Lewis]

We got the tires and wheels on the truck and got it into the shop yesterday, which was my goal for the 2 hours we had.

But that makes it sound easier that it was.  It rolls easily on the pavement, but not in the grass.  So we used Big Blue and his winch to move it in the yard from the back to the front of the shop.

And getting out out from under the car port and lined up between the shop and the fence was an issue as we had to make at least 5 full-lock moves - with no power steering for Ian, the driver, and only old-man motive power.

Today the plan is to remove the hood and whatever else needs to come off to get the old engine out, and then see if we can actually get it out.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Teamwork makes the dream work!

I'm responding, but I'm sure the two of you are quite busy!

Hope today is as productive as the last!  

[85lebaront2]

Ian sure looks pleased in the last picture.

[ckuske]

Making memories, this is awesome!

[Ford F834]

These are great pictures Gary, thanks for sharing! I’m pretty sure that one of the first vehicles I “worked on” was a truck similar to this 😅. I’m the guy on the fender 😉

[BigBrother-84]

Ford F834 wrote

I’m the guy on the fender

Thanks so much Jonathan and Gary for sharing these wonderful pictures and memories!

[85lebaront2]

I remember sitting on a fender like that while my dad worked on a broken off head bolt in our 1948 Pontiac Silver Streak straight 8 (I learned a few new and interesting words).

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, we are making memories. Some are better than others.

Today we got the hood off, the radiator & support out, the gimbal bearing cover removed, the transmission support disconnected, and the shop crane hooked up to the engine. Oh and the fuel line, electrical connections removed. Plus the starter linkage disconnected from the starter pedal.

But when doing the latter we found a bit of oddity, as shown below. Engineering at its best.

But at the end of the day we didn’t get the engine out. There is something holding it that we’ve not found - yet.

[Gary Lewis]

Got the engine out!  Man, was it a struggle!

The first pic shows Ian cutting the last thing holding the engine in - the vacuum line, probably to the wipers.  The next pic is proof we got it out.

But it wasn't as easy as I expected.  Even though we'd gotten most things loose/off yesterday there were still several today.  The exhaust pipe, the throttle linkage, the clutch linkage, and the gimbal bearing.  The latter was a particularly tough nut to crack.  I don't have a pipe wrench large enough to get the nut off the back of the bearing housing, the one that goes around the torque tube.  And my strap wrench wouldn't do the trick.  So I used a chisel in the serrations and walked it off.  Will need to dress the burrs, but it is still useable.

That got us to the "u-joints" inside the gimbal bearing.  There are two bearing caps and they are supposed to have two bolts each.  One had only one bolt and the other bolt wasn't tight.  The other cap had both bolts but neither were tight.  Luckily someone had put the keepers on and that kept the bolts in place.

Got the transmission off, but that was a challenge as the top two bolts go through the ears and into the bell housing.  But the bottom two bolts come through the bell housing into the transmission.  So the flywheel cover comes off and you peer up into the black abyss with the thing dangling on the shop crane .

That got us to the bell housing which has the same thing - top two bolts through the ears into the block, but the bottom two bolts are from inside into the block, and the head of the bolts is ~1/4" from the flywheel.  So obviously the pressure plate, clutch, and flywheel have to come off to get to those bolts.  

We quit for the day as we have the front chain wrapped around the crank pulley, so it'll have to be shifted so we can rotate the crank and get to the bolts on the pressure plate and then the flywheel.

[grumpin]

Great Job you guys!

Good for you, good for him!

[ratdude747]

Gimbal bearing? Didn't think this was a boat with a mercruiser

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure that's the right word, but I think it is.  The driveshaft is enclosed and at the end of the transmission there's a spherical chamber in which ride the u-joints.  And then a spherical piece attaches to that and to the "torque tube", as Chevy called the outside tube of the driveshaft assembly.

[BigBrother-84]

85lebaront2 wrote

II learned a few new and interesting words.

Not all mechanic words, I suppose!

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Got the engine out!  Man, was it a struggle!
[…]
But it wasn't as easy as I expected.  Even though we'd gotten most things loose/off yesterday there were still several today.

Congrats guys!
I suppose you’re taking good notes and pictures to remember how to put it back… fonctional.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Jeff. But no notes, although several pictures.

However it is pretty straightforward. There’s the throttle linkage, but it will probably need to be changed as the 216 gas what I think is a governor and the 235 doesn’t. And there’s the choke cable but the 235 has an automatic choke.

Anyway, it is all pretty simple.