1950 Chevy Pickup Resurection

[Gary Lewis]

Good explanation, Bill.  Thanks.

Ian - In addition to what Bill said, a flywheel is used with a manual transmission while a flex plate is used with an automatic transmission.  So this engine originally had an automatic transmission behind it.  But our pickup has a manual transmission, like Big Blue has, so we need to have a flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate.  If you want to read up on that you might like this page: Your Clutch System – Clutch Disc vs Pressure Plate vs Flywheel vs Clutch Kit.

We are going to need to replace the flex plate with a flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate as we have the manual transmission.  I'll see if the engine in cousin Kirk's shop has a good setup that we can buy, but we may want to buy a new kit.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, minor problem.  Rock Auto nor O'Reilly's lists a flywheel for the 1955 235.  So I called DeWayne at Skiatook Auto Parts and none of his stuff lists one.  But he can get a new ring gear, so if the 216 flywheel is the same diameter maybe I could replace the ring gear.

But, the guy in my home town that came up with the 235 that is seized said I can have the flywheel, clutch, et al off of it if it is any good.  So I've sent a note to my nephew and maybe he can pull it off and see if it is any good.

Also, I need space in front of the pickup under the carport, but that is where the Super Bee is setting.  So Steve/FoxFord33 and I are going to pull the trailer out, which is next to both vehicles, back it up to the Bee, and winch it on.  Then put the trailer back in its spot and I'll have plenty of room in front of the pickup.  I'll back my new truck up to that spot and use the shop crane to lift the 235 out of the bed and put it on skates.

But all of that hinges on getting Big Blue going again, so I need to finish the sub-woofer install and button everything up.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

A speaker is keeping the truck from running???  

I'm sure you'll find parts for that French truck, and you'll be ready for Ian when he gets back from Honduras. (Honduras, Belize, Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica aref all beautiful places with beautiful people (at least they were 30, 40 & 50 years ago)

[Gary Lewis]

Big Blue is apart to rewire such that the AFR meter comes on when the engine starts, not when the key comes on. So the dash is apart as is the PS PDB. But those things need to be apart to wire the subwoofer, so the timing was good. However, things have happened that have prevented me from working on it, so it is dragging out.

As for those countries, you skipped the country between Honduras and Costa Rica - Nicaragua. The twins lived there long enough to consider it home at one point. But yes, they are beautiful.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I didn't skip it.
I know it well.
But Ortega has become the same damn villain that CIA installed when they assassinated the democratically elected president. (I keep going back to the Clash and their song Sandinsta)

[Ian McCloud]

Thank you for the explanation Pop-pop. I am excited to learn more about how to drive manual transmission.
Be careful moving the Super-bee.

[Gary Lewis]

You are most welcome, buddy. I will be careful moving the Bee, but you’uns be careful on your trip. And, have fun!

[AmericanSavage]

Hey Gary,

What was the interest in the truck from grandson…I mean, does it have anything to do with modern cars, older cars cooler? I am interested in the rationale.  

I read and wrote about last year, Crawford’s books, and also his Why we Drive…And then there’s the excellent Junkyards, Gearheads, and Rust book, which I highly recommend.  

 I am interested in such reasons as it kinda goes along with my job, or is a topic of interest.

[Gary Lewis]

I wish I could answer that, but only Ian can.  I'll tag him, but he leaves tomorrow on a mission trip to Honduras, so we may not get an answer soon.

[Nothing Special]

I can't answer for young people either, but on the trip I just took to Utah I had two different people tell me that an early Bronco was their daughter's dream car.  One of the guys was in his 40s, the other in his 30s, so these aren't very old daughters!

It seems to be like music:  "I was around when all the good bands were playing"

[AmericanSavage]

Gary Lewis wrote

I wish I could answer that, but only Ian can.  I'll tag him, but he leaves tomorrow on a mission trip to Honduras, so we may not get an answer soon.

Thanks Gary.  It is one of my personal intrigues and I like to know what the younger generations are thinking.

[AmericanSavage]

Nothing Special wrote

I can't answer for young people either, but on the trip I just took to Utah I had two different people tell me that an early Bronco was their daughter's dream car.  One of the guys was in his 40s, the other in his 30s, so these aren't very old daughters!

It seems to be like music:  "I was around when all the good bands were playing"

I suspect there is something cultural going on—new cars drive themselves almost, and people like to feel in control of their own destination, so to speak.  Crawford wrote about this a bit in Why We Drive.  I tend to agree.  One of the reasons I like older motorcycles, and cars is because you FEEL the road—are more aware of what you are doing, etc.  Ok enough from me…I like the thread Gary.  Will be following.

[Gary Lewis]

Hey Ian, welcome home from camp!  Can't wait for y'all to get here next week.  (It is 6 days, but who's counting?  

Got something today to make our time together a bit cooler.  Don't tell your father as he will be jealous, but we have 4 new wheels and tires, as well as 24 new lug nuts, as shown below.  And, we have an engine.

But now we need to plan our time.  I can do some of this before you get here or you can help me do it when you get here.  You tell me on each item, please.

Installing tires & wheels: Easy to do but it might be a good experience for you.  Could take an hour.

Moving the truck into the shop: Once the tires and wheels are on we will put it down on the ground with a jack, roll it back and turn as we go back so it is next to the fence.  Then we will either push it by hand if it is easy or use Big Blue's winch to pull it along the shop and then into the shop.

Pull the hood &?: The only way we can get the engine out is to out least pull the hood and maybe the grille and radiator.  We will see.

Pull old engine: We will use the shop crane to life the engine, not your sister, out of the truck. But first we'll have to unbolt everything.  Much easier to do that in the shop where it is cool and the tools are to-hand.  And we will have to decide if we

Install new engine: Depending on how we pull the old engine we may have to remove the transmission from it and attach it to the new engine.  And I know we will have to install the clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate from the old engine to the new one.  Plus the front engine mount comes off the old engine and bolts to the new one.  And the bolts are as old as I am.

If we get all that done let's roll it out of the shop, stick a hose in the radiator for water, put a gas line in a portable gas tank, hook it up to Big Blue's batteries, and crank it over to see if it'll run.  

[1986F150Six]

A blessed grandson!

[85lebaront2]

Gary, one item to keep in mind on that truck, being a torque tube driveline, if the engine and transmission are removed you will need to support the front of the torque tube in order to move the truck. If it is the same as the 1947 sedan and 1948 convertible dad had, the axle won't shift around like a pre 49 Ford, it just needs the front supported.

You will also want to look at the slip joint and torque ball for pitting as it will leak 90 wt. around any worn or pitted areas.

You would have gotten a charge out of how we swapped the engine from the 1947 into the 1948 frame. Dad built a wooden A-frame that sat on the front bumper of our 1953 Custom Imperial (331 Hemi powered), two nice wire rope cables back to a pair of 2X4s across the top of the rear door window openings. He padded the 2X4s so they wouldn't damage the paint (mom would have killed him). Once they were positioned, he ran both rear windows up against the 2X4s so they couldn't move. I was 14 or 15 at the time so I was entrusted with the rented differential hoist (different size upper chain wheels so it shortened the loop by one or two links each full revolution). As I hauled on the hoist and the load came on. the Imperial assumed a prayer position, it bottomed the front suspension!

We had the two Chevys side by side, one on the grass and the other on the drive. The "green hornet" (1947 car) was on the grass as we only had 4 wheels and tires, the soon the be "red bomb" was on blocks in the driveway. Dad positioned the Imperial, put it in Neutral (M6 semi-automatic) and set the hand brake. then got out and we hoisted the 1947 216 and it's 3 speed (already disconnected from the torque tube and drained) out. Dad got back in the Imperial and slowly backed up while I tended the Chevy powertrain, lined it up and stopped, put the Imperial back in neutral and set the brake. We lowered the engine down and changed all 5 mounts, two small fronts, transmission and torque mounts (outriggers on the clutch housing). Once that was done, dad restarted the Imperial and slowly edged toward the 1948 convertible, once he had the powertrain far enough in, it was pull on the hoist time again to lower it enough to pass in through the opening where the removable floor section went. Got it all set in and he had me start putting the nuts on the mounts while he unrigged the hoist and A-frame from the Imperial.

After we started assemling the convertible he found a "minor" problem. The Chevrolet cars had a vacuum assisted shifter that by the mid 50s had turned into a large vacuum leak. There was an eliminator kit dad had installed on the "green hornet" but it wouldn't clear the X-frame on the convertible (the vacuum assist was to give a short but easy shifter throw) keeping in mind that a number of cars had early automatic or semi automatic transmissions by 1947, and some even had self shifting manuals (Hudson Drive-Master, Packard Electric Hand, Chrysler semi-automatic started first with a fluid coupling in 1939 and in 1941 an actual automatic upshift if you lifted your foot on the gas pedal). I suggested dad pin the movable part of the shift lever (part that worked the vacuum valve) and it would just become a short throw shifter. He did.

[Gary Lewis]

Bill - Yes this has a torque tube, and it has been since 1965 that I've dealt with one of those.  The dune buggy we built in high school out of a 37 Chevy had one of those.

And it had the vacuum-assisted shifting.  What a piece of junk!  We had to do something similar to what you did to bypass that thing.

But fortunately we have a shop crane and won't need to use an Imperial.  Ian is pretty good with the shop crane and has taken both his sister and his mother to the ceiling with it before, so I know we can get the engine out.

Anyway, thanks for the tip.  We will check out the slip joint and torque ball.  

[Ian McCloud]

Can’t wait to see you too! Four new tires, as well as an engine, sounds like a lot of learning and work. I do not know how to put new tires on, but it sounds like a great experience. I would like to do it with you.
If we put the tires on, it seems like the next step is moving the truck. I know it is a big step, so I want to help you move it. Pulling the hood seems like a smaller task that you know how to do. Maybe you could do that in the next few days, and it makes it easier to pull the engine out. When we move the truck into the shop, it seems that the next step is to pull the engine and put the new one in. Pulling the engine and putting the new one in sounds like a multi person job, so I will help you do it. Once I help you with all of that, we can see if it starts up!  

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, Buddy, there's a lot to learn.  We can do it together.

I got started today 'cause we need the 2015 truck to pick people up at the airport, and if they have luggage we might want to have the bed free.  So I moved some wheels for another pickup out of the bed and then got the engine out.  There are a couple of pics below to show that.  It is now in the shop on skates and we can roll it around easily.

But I'll start checking out Ugly Green to see what needs to be done to get the hood, grille, and radiator out so it'll be easier to get the engine out.  

[85lebaront2]

Decent looking 235. I see it does have the Powerglide drive plate, but the flywheel swap should be easy. Clean the front face as the timing marks are there. If I remember correctly there is a BB in the face at TDC 1-6, and a triangle slightly before it. There will be a window in the front of the bell housing with a pointer to use for timing.

One more item, do not panic about the distributor, it will probably wobble when the engine is running. The 235 block was a truck engine only until the Powerglide introduction. It was pressed into car service as the 216 + original one speed (low was stricly manual, like a Dynaflow) Powerglide made the cars absolute slugs. In 1953, two things came together to push Chevrolet to automate a 1-2 shift in the Powerglide. The Corvette was only built with a Powerglide in 1953 and 1954, Due to a fire destroying the Hydramatic plant, Pontiac had to use the Powerglide instead of the 4 speed Hydramatic (Cadillac got Dynaflows, outside customers were told, no units available, all production went to Oldsmobile).

The distributor rotates in the block, to allow the external vacuum advance to work. Carburetors, the 1947 probably has a Carter WA or WO series, the newer engine will have a Rochester B or BC depending on orginal application.

[Ian McCloud]

Yes, I do love older cars, because I think older cars are better. You cannot get the powerful feel of the engine, how it almost seems alive, in a modern car. When you start a modern car, you can barely tell it started, nor can you fell the acceleration. Being in an old car, you can hear, as well as feel, the sounds of the car. You can hear the engine starting, with the e-eee-ee sound, and the rumble of the engine. In a new car, you would barely know it’s on, except for the annoying electric, ding-ding-ding, as the car reminds you that it has turned on. As you drive a new car, you cannot feel the engine surging forward, only alarms and beeps when you back up, giving the impression that the car is in control, not you. The bland, exterior of the car is flimsy and thin. You will never find a new car with tail fins, shiny Crome, or an interesting design. As for the interior of new cars, you will find fake plastic leather, and scratchy fabric. Also, new cars need to be bought every 15 to 20 years. They do not last, and are not built to. They are made to last until the newer version is build. Old cars are from an era where not everything was plastic, and the exception was that you could fix it again and again, by yourself. That is why I like older cars.