1950 Chevy Pickup Resurection

[Gary Lewis]

A few of you will remember that a few years ago I pulled a 1950 Chevy pickup out of a field with Big Blue - which is why I can post about this on the Bullnose Forum. My grandson just spotted it under the carport and was quite interested. In fact, he started washing it!

But after a bit he started asking questions about what it would take to get it running, and now we have a plan to attempt to fire it up when he is back this summer.

So today he scrubbed one side of the hood and that front fender, then used rubbing compound on it to get the mold out of the paint, then polishing compound, and then wax. What a huge difference.

After that we pulled 3 of the plugs and squirted PB Blaster in the cylinders, and since the other three plugs wouldn't come out, we sprayed them with PB Blaster as well.

So here's a few pics and a video to show what he did:

[Nothing Special]

I was going to chastise you for starting on another project before getting back to Dad's Truck.  But... grand kids.  I guess you get a pass!

[85lebaront2]

Kid's ambitious I'll give him that. Is the engine a 216 or 235? Either way it is probably a splash lube on the connecting rods and may have poured babbit bearings. Chevy didn't go 100% to inserts until 1954 as far as I remember.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, grandkids!  What they want, ....

I'm thinking we are going to take this very easy - beyond washing/rubbing/polishing/waxing, and my arm already hurts.  Supposedly they just parked it when the brakes went out.  But was there water in block when winter hit?  

We have a lot of checking to do.

[Gary Lewis]

Right, Bill.  216.5 and should be splash with babbit bearings.

[85lebaront2]

First car I remember my parents having was a 1948 Pontiac Silver Streak, Straight 8 and the first year Hydra-Matic for Pontiac. I can remember watching dad drill out a broken (corroded through) headbolt after using "permanent antifreeze" in it. This was probably 1953-54 while we were at Dahlgren VA before he traded it in on a 1953 Custom Imperial. I learned a few new and interesting words watching him. Imperial showed in some way how behind Chrysler was, it had the 331 Hemi, but a semi-automatic (tiptoe shift) transmission. It did have a torque converter though.

The Pontiac still had the foot pedal starter and an elaborate linkage system to make sure the shifter was in Neutral (park lock was by placing the shifter in R with the engine off (N D L R quadrant). You need to find a "Blue Flame" 235 and a Hydra-Matic for that 50 and make it restorod.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm hoping to put it back as it is/was.  If the engine will run then we'll see if the tranny is any good.  And even if the radiator leaks we can keep it topped up with a hose while testing the engine.

But then there are a few other things to do.  When I got it there were three different sizes of wheels on it.  So it now sits on jack stands.  And, as said, they said the brakes were "out", so we'll have to go through them.  And the wheel bearings.  Who knows if the rear axle will turn.

Not sure what we'll do about the electrical system.  I am sure the battery will be bad and as that's a 6v system and since everything I have is 12v I'd need a battery.  But a quick look says that's going to cost ~$150 and I'm not sure I want to spend that to find out if the engine runs.  So I'm wondering if a 12V starter might be cheaper and put a ballast on the coil.  Then if it runs well enough to continue reviving it we could convert it fully to 12V.

[grumpin]

Neat to see your grandson going at it!

[viven44]

All it takes is one spark to kindle that fire! I am hoping to inherit my father-in-laws 69 Chevy that he’s owned since new. The other grandson is not interested in vehicles but if he gets that spark I know his grandpa will let him have it…

Sounds like a fun project with the grandson!!

[Nothing Special]

Gary Lewis wrote

....  Not sure what we'll do about the electrical system.  I am sure the battery will be bad and as that's a 6v system and since everything I have is 12v I'd need a battery.  But a quick look says that's going to cost ~$150 and I'm not sure I want to spend that to find out if the engine runs.  So I'm wondering if a 12V starter might be cheaper and put a ballast on the coil.  Then if it runs well enough to continue reviving it we could convert it fully to 12V.

A 6V starter will live for a LONG time being fed 12V.  Some of the people on the old Jeep forum I'm on convert their Jeeps to 12V without ever changing the starter motor.  So I'd suggest a ballast on the coil, make sure the rest of the system is isolated and going for it with a 12V battery.  Don't crank the engine too long (let the starter cool a bit if the engine doesn't want to start).  And if you get to the "continue reviving" bit you can decide what to do longer term.

[salans7]

My personal opinion with this truck is that you and your grandson get it running, clean it up, and if he doesn't have an interest in helping restore it, sell it so you can focus on finishing up your dad's truck.

Side note, is your grand-daughter going to do the same for the Super Bee?

[Gary Lewis]

Bob - That is VERY welcome news!  That sure will make it easier and cheaper to find out if it will run.

My original thought was to put a 12V starter in from a 1955 or later vehicle with the 235 engine.  But this website says that Chevy threw a spanner in the works as they changed the flywheel tooth count at the same time as changing to a 12V starter.  So while both starters have 9 teeth, the diameters are 1" for the 168-toothed flywheel of the 235 engine and 1 1/8" for the 139-toothed flywheel of the 216 engine.

So that's obviously not going to work.  And a new 12V starter for a 139-toothed flywheel is something like $300.  I don't want to put that kind of money into it to just see if it will start, which makes using a 12V battery on the existing 6V starter a big win.  No starter OR battery to buy.  

But we still have a hurdle or two to jump before doing that.  I'm thinking:

Plugs: We have to get the 3 plugs out that are stuck w/o hurting the block.  Hopefully the PB Blaster will have penetrated the threads and today we can get them out and spray PB Blaster into the cylinders.

Cracks: A big question is if they left it sitting in the field with water in the engine and then it froze and cracked the block.  So we need to run the cooling system full of water to see if/where it comes out. And I think we are now just late enough in the year not to worry that it'll freeze before summer.

Turn Engine: I want to turn the engine over by hand, but not for a few days or weeks to let the PB Blaster do its thing in the cylinders.  This will prove that the engine isn't "locked up".

If the engine doesn't appear to be cracked and if we can eventually turn it over by hand then it'll be time to start restoring.  New plugs, points, ballast resistor, plug wires (there are only 3 currently), fresh oil, etc.  Then before trying to start it we should disconnect the generator & regulator - maybe just the whole electrical system save for the starter.

I'm thinking that I'll have all of those parts ready when Ian gets here this summer and we'll do that together.  

[Gary Lewis]

salans7 wrote

My personal opinion with this truck is that you and your grandson get it running, clean it up, and if he doesn't have an interest in helping restore it, sell it so you can focus on finishing up your dad's truck.

Side note, is your grand-daughter going to do the same for the Super Bee?

We don't think we will "restore" it.  More like clean it up, put a seat in it, change the lubes in the axle & tranny, go through the wheel bearings & brakes, and put tires and wheels on it.  Maybe after driving it we'll decide it needs tie rods, but my guess is that the whole front end is worn out, so that will be the point where we decide what/if to do.

If we wanted to continue on it'll need new glass as most of it is delaminating/turning milky at the edges.  And some is broken.  However it is all flat glass, no curves, so shouldn't cost all that much to replace.  And the bumpers are shedding chrome so we'd need to clean them up and paint them - which might be in keeping as there very little other chrome on the vehicle.

But the thing has PATINA!  So leave the body as is and put the mechanicals back to functional.

As for Isla, my granddaughter/his twin, there seems to be little interest in wrenching.  In fact, this afternoon while Ian and I work on the truck Isla and Janey are going somewhere else.  Last night they made Isla a pair of pants.  Today my be painting or ceramics.

[Nothing Special]

Gary Lewis wrote

....  If the engine doesn't appear to be cracked and if we can eventually turn it over by hand then it'll be time to start restoring.  New plugs, points, ballast resistor, plug wires (there are only 3 currently), fresh oil, etc.  Then before trying to start it we should disconnect the generator & regulator - maybe just the whole electrical system save for the starter....

Could having the generator dead-heading cause any issues?  I have no information that it might, I'm just asking.

And it's probably worth getting a 12V starter solenoid.

[Gary Lewis]

If the regulator is working it shouldn't cause a problem.  But we might be able to wire the headlights to it just in case.

And the 12v starter relay is a good idea.  I have several of those.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's going to be an adventure bringing this "French" truck back to life!  

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, it is going to be an adventure.  One the like of which Ian's not been on before.  

He's washing the DS hood and fender right now, but later we hope to get the rear three plugs out and spray those cylinders down.  Then fill the cooling system and .

But if all goes well he is going to learn about electrical systems (starter & relay, distributor/points/plugs/wires, battery, etc), oil, gas/carb/pump (we'll run a line into a gas can), bearings, brakes, you name it.  He's 11 1/2 now so maybe we can have it driveable after several visits?  Work on it for a few days & plan out the next thing to attack.  Then I'll gather the parts for that effort and we'll hit it again.  

[Nothing Special]

About the age I was when I started on my first vehicle rebuild.  I was around 10 when my dad bought a 1929 Model A Tudor sedan as a father/son project.  I had a go-kart since I was about 8, so he knew I would be into it.  And that's exactly how we did that project for a few years.  Decide the next thing to fix, putz on it for a few weeks, then spend a few months deciding what to attack next.  In between times he'd drive me around my paper route occasionally, or we'd go to Dairy Queen or something.  Eventually I got more serious than he was and it turned into my first frame-up rebuild.  You may be starting something here!

[Gary Lewis]

Well, Houston, we have a problem:

[mat in tn]

ls swap time