Socal-Stovebolt

Pusher fan installed

2011-08-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a picture of the fan fully installed. But it came out very nicely. I painted the horizontal brackets gloss black and riveted them to the radiator. The fan sits about 5/8 from the radiator core(and it's centered). I'm very pleased with the install. Drivetrain wise all I am waiting for to tune this think up and drive it is the exhaust. Im helping my grandma move this weekend. But next weekend I am borrowing a buddy's welder and doing it up. Once its running I'll be able to tell if this fan is going to get the job done. As much as I would rather have a mechanical fan there is a piece of the is happy that its not there. Ive seen some blades come loose on jeeps and reek havoc on hoods and fenders. I don't want to think what a fan blade would do to a person.

Looks like a truck again

2011-08-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

FIRE!

2011-08-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Just about wet my pants working on the truck today. I had just finished setting my static timing and I was testing to see if I was getting spark. I had one spark plug out and grounded to the frame. When I hit my push start button the engine fired right up. With no coolant, not exhaust, and running on five cylinders blowing out the sixth spark plug hole. Running a bit rich flames were shooting out the exhaust manifold. The only thing I could think to do is throw my hand over the carb which stalled it. I cant wait to get this thing put together. And to let it run for more than a few frightening seconds.

Pusher fan.

2011-08-15T20:55:00.001-07:00

I just sent some money to the-fan-man.com. I've got a 16" pusher fan coming my way. I really would have preferred a mechanical fan but after test-fitting the radiator I saw that the mechanical fan will not fit without some serious modification of the core support. I can leave the radiator in the stock location if I mount an electric fan on the front of the radiator. Still I will only have about 2 1/2" of clearance from water pump to radiator. Just enough to make belt changes and water pump maintenance livable. Hopefully this and my throttle parts will be here for the weekend. I've got some minor stuff like my trans crossmember and static timing to do while I wait for parts.

Throtle

2011-08-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

After playing with my linkage for some hours I gave up. I ordered a Lokar pedal and cable. It will be easier but much more expensive. So, ill wait on the mailman.

Throttle linkage

2011-08-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get a spark of an idea and I cannot concentrate on anything else till I work it out. I just had to sketch out an idea for a cable throttle for the pickup. It's actually a linkage from the accelerator pedal to one side of a bell-crank. On the side of the bell-crank is a cable that pulls my throttle. It's certainly not a new idea but I hadn't envisioned a way it would work in my application. The sketch on the bottom left is my final(at the moment) sketch. Now to translate this to metal.

Paint booth

2011-07-03T14:05:00.001-07:00

This is the dog kennel/paint booth.

Alternator bracket done.

2011-07-03T13:59:00.001-07:00

Done at last. I swear, the things I expect to take an hour take a day, and the things I expect to take a day take an hour. At least I can mark this one off the list.

"Drillpress"

2011-07-03T08:06:00.001-07:00

Drilling thru half inch steel with my "drillpress".

Alternator bracket MarkII

2011-07-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

After I screwed up my last bracket by letting my drill bit walk I started over. My welder is still dead so I used a friends. This time I was smart enough to drill a pilot hole so everything is lining up well. I've got to egg out one of the mounting holes 1/32" this morning so I can get it mounted up. Then I can find a v-belt that will fit. At the very least I should have my alternator mounted today.

Vacation is over back to work.

2011-06-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

Me and the wife spent a couple of days on Catalina Island. It was a good time to get away from the truck. I was having a little trouble staying motivated. I get to the point I can't see past the little problems long enough to make any progress. I've got to walk away for a day or to when that happens. Cleaning up the garage helps too. My only intention today was to go clean up the garage. I didn't clean much before ideas started popping into my head. I think I have figured out how I an going to set up my throttle now. I'm going to use a cable. Would have liked to have figured out a linkage instead. But I have faith that my cable will perform nicely. I am going to fab up some brackets so I can keep my stock pedal. Today I also got my choke and fuel lines done. I've got my glass bowl fuel filter in. Looks good. Wish I had taken a picture to share. The fuel filter I have is not unique in its form. You can order then at any parts store. But my is "distressed". It's got probably 40 years of wear on it that you can't really fake. I like the patina. I like that back then parts didn't get thrown away. Instead they were rebuilt. Hardly anything on newer cars is fixed. It's just replaced. My other progress of the day was my clutch pivot. Ups brought me the correct ball and spring. So now there is nothing keeping me from getting my transmission in. Still looking forward to starting her up. All these little things make a big difference though. I like to let ideas ferment a day or two before I start building anything custom. For example, as I was typing this I just realized a great place to put my throttle return spring. I was planning on attaching it directly to my carb because that's the common method. But I wasn't happy with the size spring I would have to use. A short spring can be strong enough but would not be very smooth. Instead I will use a spring on the bracket I will be making connect my accelerator pedal rod to the cable. There will be much more room there. I don't know. I'll let that one stew till tomorrow. Also I started fiddling with my $50 welder. It's an Astro PowerMIG 130. I need some new tips. I'm not sure how well it will run flux core but I'm sure I will find out soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Motor is in

2011-06-13T19:18:00.001-07:00

I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on this today. But in the few hours I did have I made some progress. I got my drivers side motor mount shortened and mounted on the frame. And I got the engine in and bolted to all four mounts. I didn't clean the whole frame forward of the cab like I would have liked to. It would have taken me the rest if the week to do. So I painted everything that did get scraped clean. Now for the hard part. Setting up my clutch and throttle linkages to the new motor. Still need to work out an alternator mount and figure out my belt alignment. I need to go to the junkyard and find a fan and a bellhousing inspection cover.

Motor mount

2011-06-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say this way my weld. I opted to take to the muffler shop down the street from my house. He did a really nice job and only charged me $20. I'm sure this kind of thing could add up but as far as this motor swap goes this is the only outside welding that I have needed.

I saw the light

2011-06-11T16:28:00.001-07:00

The light at the end of the tunnel. I had the engine in position today. Only for a few minutes though. Just long enough to bolt it up to my bellhousing crossmember and mark exactly where my front mounts will go. I've still got a bunch of gunk to clean off the front of the frame rails before I will be able to paint them. I think POR15 is going to be the answer here, especially on the front crossmember. It's spent that last many years filled with mud and oil. It's got some rust but not nearly as much as I expected.

Front mounts

2011-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

I got the passenger side mount in. This is the mount that Stovebolt engineering aka Tom Langdon sells. The drivers side mount needs a little less than a quarter inch taken off the height to fit inside the frame rails. Should be a simple cut and re-weld. I thought I might take it down to the exhaust shop down the street and let then throw a bead down on it. They said they would only charge me $20. But I think my little 110 welder might be up to the task. I thought I was going to need to drop the leaf springs down in order to drill the bottom mounting holes. But my drill bit was just long enough to go thru the top hole to drill the bottom hole. I'm using 7/16 grade eight hardware. Now that its all mocked up I will pull the mount and paint it and red loctight the bolts.

Little adjustments

2011-06-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

My frame as some spots that needed a little tweaking. This seams to be the prefect tool for the job.

Tuck!

2011-06-10T10:50:00.001-07:00

My boy is almost two and he is nuts for the truck. He loves to sit in it.

Project O the day

2011-06-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Today I need to find a flywheel that will bolt to my 70 Nova crank, and work with my 57 pickup bellhousing and starter. Seems like this should be easy but I'm have a bit of trouble.

Cross member done.

2011-06-09T00:26:00.001-07:00

Welds are looking better.

2011-06-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

Old engine is gone.

2011-06-06T14:15:00.001-07:00

I sold the 235 that came out of the truck. I probably would have given it away. Working in my one car garage I don't have the space to keep parts that I don't intend on using. I had it hanging from my engine crane so now that it is gone my new 250 is hanging from the crane. I got it situated so the engine hangs very close to level. I am going to have the engine in and out at least twice while I mock up my motor mounts and bellhousing mounts. I'm pretty excited about getting this thing on the road again. I need to take some vacation this month or I stop accruing new vacation time. I think I'll be making some progress on the truck. My stated goal is to get the drivetrain done by the end of the year. I may be able to go thru the suspension and disc brake conversion too at this rate.

Another bump in the road.

2011-06-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

Some days everything just comes together and I make a ton if progress. That was yesterday. Today however after I spent all of next weeks truck budget on parts and then realized that the flywheel on my motor is for and automatic transmission. Also I noticed that my alternator is not lining up to my crank pulley. I've got a water pump pulley in the mail that I found on ebay. I'll probably wait for that to show up before I start messing with belt alignment. I'm going to call it a day for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll bolt the bellhousing up so I can finish my crossmember mounts.

Getting there.

2011-06-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a welder but I am really happy with how these came out. All I have done it cut three, three inch long, strips of two inch steel and welded them into a c-chanel. They fit on the crossmember very snugly which will make the easier to get in the right position. Today I will drill the mounting holes and mount them to the bellhousing. Then I can slip it on to the crossmember and get it exactly centered and mark where I am going to cut. I need an access hole to reach the mounting bolts. If I keep going at this pace my engine will be in by the end of the weekend. After that I'll just need to work out the exhaust.

Crossmember Modification

2011-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is what the original crossmember looks like. There are flat spots on either side fo the transmission that the bellhousing mounts to. The newer style bellhousing mounts are at a 45(or so) degree andgle.

This is approximately what the crossmember looks like in a cutaway. It's not boxed, its a C-Chanel with a little flare on the bottom.

So the plan will be to find or make a C-Chanel that will slip over the top of the original crossmember. I will cut it along both sides and bend it to the angle I need. Then I will weld this bracket to the top of the original cross member. When I get home tonight the paint will be dry on my new bellhousing so I can stick it in there and take some measurements to see if I will need to cut away any of the original crossmember to get the transmission low enough. In any case I will be cutting access holes to be able to insert the bolts into the bottom of my new bracket(below).

Engine is out

2011-05-29T17:39:00.001-07:00

Well it took me the better part of the day. But I got grill and fenders off and the engine out. There is layers of oil and dust an inch thick in some places. I like this part of the job though. Taking a nasty pile of gunk and cleaning it down to raw metal, painting it and making it look new again. I need to do quite a bit of cleaning before I can even mock up my new motor mounts. I was thinking I could get this done in two weeks. But now that I have all this apart there are a few more things I would like to get done before putting it back together. I want to patch the holes in the fire wall and a half dozen other little things. And when it is all back together I'm hoping to do a new wiring harness.

So it begins

2011-05-29T09:36:00.001-07:00

Front bumper is off. Now I am daring fluids while I wrestle with the grill and fenders.

Almost ready

2011-05-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

This motor is pretty much ready to go in. It looks really nice on the stand. I painted the oil pan tonight so tomorrow I can put it on. In the second and third pictures you can see the pushrod covers very well on the side of the engine. This is where these engines get their Stovebolt nickname. I'm not too familiar with wood burning stoves of the thirties and forties but back then people though that these side covers looks very similar to the wood burning stoves. I was really surprised today as I tool the cap off of my distributor. The 1970 Nova that this engine came out of came with a regular old points system. But at some time someone has installed a Plantronix electric controller. I'll admit I haven't read a lot about the Plantronix conversion because I I always though if I was going to use a high energy distributor then I would just swap to the newer style instead of modifying the original distributor. But now since I got one for free basically I'll go ahead and run it. So no more adjusting the points. Only the timing. Tomorrow after I put the oil pan on this bad boy I can start pulling the grill and radiator off the pickup. Theres a whole list of things to do before the motor comes out though. I'd like to have the old motor out this weekend. It's a three day weekend so I think I can get it done.

Oil pan

2011-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

One of the most satisfying parts of restoring and old truck it when you finally get to paint stuff. It takes a lot f work to get it ready to be painted but when it comes time to pull the trigger thing start looking good very quickly. This is the before and after pictures of my oil pan. This engine and oil pan might be 18 years newer than my truck but it's still 41 years old. And in the last 41 years I can see that it has been blue, orange, and black(painted not just oil). I decided to paint it orange. I like to stay on top of my oil leaks and orange makes them easier to see.

Pant chosen.

2011-05-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

I've been thru a lot of paint colors but settled on this one. It's a factory color from 53. My truck will look very similar to this one because I have the same wheels and hubcaps. Biggest difference will be my big "Smash Hit Bumper" and my big side mirrors. I'm still on the fence about the side mirrors. I like the original style like in this picture.

The shop.

2011-05-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

Lots more room in here when there is not a truck in the way.

2011-05-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

Getting Dirty

2011-05-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

OK now it's time. I picked up this motor a few months ago. It's a 250 cubic inch chevy 6cyl out of a 1970 Nova. I tore it all down in the stand and I don't see anything scary. I am not pulling the head I am just going to clean this thing up and drop it in. I really need a truck right now and as it sits I don't trust it to make it to Home depot and back. So, new balancer, timing set, new water pump, new thermostat, new seals, new clutch and flywheel, and the starter and carb off of my 235 and she will be ready to drop in. I need to go buy a new harmonic balancer puller before I can say I am done with the tear down. That will be tomorrow. This engine uses motor mounts on the side so I ordered some custom-ish mounts for the truck. They will need some modification on the passenger side but I will not really know how much till I get my old tired 235 out of the way. Feels good to be getting dirty in the garage again. The last two months I've been landscaping my yard and haven't spent any time in the garage. I've got enough work laid out in front of me that I am sure to get my fill. I am planning on taking three or four days off of work in June or July to get this motor in and the truck rewired. After that and a new set of shoes she will be on the road. I will be able to finish the rest if the mechanical and most of the body while it's roadworthy. I am going to try and post every day I work so I can have some notes for when I am finished. Seems a long way off when I consider the body work too. It will be interesting to look back

Less one destration.

2010-11-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

Shortly after I "started" on this old truck I bought a Jeep. I spend a lot of time and money on that Jeep. I learned a lot of things I would not have liked to learn on this old truck. So after over a year of hiatus I am back to the old Chevy. The next few months will be spend saving for some of the larger items I need for the truck. Like a complete new drive train. But now that I have all this free time, I can start sanding on this old truck.

Jeeping in Johnson Valley

2009-03-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

http://s570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/ssnow84/?action=view&current=2009-02-22091308-1.flv
I just wanted to poast up a video of what I have been working on for the last 2 1/2 months. It hass needed lots of stuff so far.

Holidays

2009-01-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

Ok the holidays were a little busy but I can see the light. I sold my toyota pickup yesterday and I will drive up to Twentynine Palms to buy a Jeep. It will be my daily driver like the toyota pickup was so I'll spend some time going thru it before I get back to the chevy. I'm looking forward to doing some Jeep trails.

Got to love the weekend

2008-12-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up and started working on the truck. I picked up breakfast on the way to the the parts store. I finished the brakes and replaced one of the front wheel bearings. I changed the spark plugs. I ran the engine and got it up to temperature. Then I changed the engine oil and coolant again. The oil that was 3 days and 2 miles old came out BLACK. I drove it around the block. Daydree insisted that she be able to ride with me on the maiden voyage. Tomorrow I will pull it out of the garage (UNDER ITS OWN POWER YAH!) and wash it. That way I wont get filthy ever time I touch it. Still there is a lot to do. My computer has been broken for a two weeks now. I got the part to fix it on Tuesday but have been to preoccupied to fix it though. I worked right thru lunch today. I am extremely happy that the truck is driving now. Tomorrow Ill take it for a short run.

New start for an old Engine

2008-12-03T21:34:00.001-08:00

Tonight I put fuel in the tank. I refilled the oil and coolant. And I started the engine. It hesitated till it got ahold of the fresh fuel. Then started right up. I was so excited I wanted to drive it around the block. But I need to finish the front brakes. Tomorrow I will take the drums to work so I can machine them. Then I'll repack the wheel bearings. THEN I can drive it around the block. I'll wait till this weekend for the maiden voyage so it will be in the daylight.

So Much Progress, So little Time

2008-12-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

I got a lot done after work today. I put the front end up on jack stands so I can hopefully finish the brakes. I am trying to be patient and let the penetrating oil do its job. I am sure that sooner or later my neighbors will get tired of me beating on my brake drums trying to get them off. I made sure to work on the brakes first so I could get thru the noisy part before it got late. I had to let my rear drums soak for three days before they came off for me. I expect the fronts will be the same or worse. Good news is with the rear wheel cylinders rebuild and the master cylinder rebuilt, I am getting good brake pedal pressure. I will still need to rebuild the front wheel cylinders just in case. However I would like to change the front brakes to discs sooner or later. At this point I am just focused on making the truck move under its own power and stop. I haven't even started on the "under its own power" part yet.

The first step towards getting the engine running is to drain the OLD fuel from the tank. Draining the tank was actually very easy. There was a valve on the bottom of the tank that i just opened up and let her go. The most difficult part of this operation is what to do with the ten gallons of worthless fuel. My first thought was Waste Management. I looked up there hazardous waste drop off location and game them a call. Unfortunately they only accept motor oil and coolant. Even worse they did not know where I should go do dispose of this fuel. Luckily for me I talked to the shop Foreman at work today and he gave me permission to dump it in our waste oils tank.

Another thing I did today was to install The rest of the dash. All that was needed was to put in the glove box, the radio blank out plate and the

ash-trey/ speaker cover. Basically all the shinny stuff east of the speedo'. If feels a litter closer to done with this stuff in. I think I will wait till I rewire the truck to even try to put a radio in. I have seen some nice ones in truck catalogs that are brand new but look just like the factory radios that came new in this truck. That is definitely what I will be after when it comes time.

The very last thing that I did tonight was to drain the oil. I think this is a little past its three month or 2000 mile limit. No worries about finding an oil filter because there is none. Tomorrow when I empty my oil catch and gas cans I can put new fuel in and change the coolant. Then I will hook up the new battery I bought and check the spark plugs.

Then I can cross my Fingers and give this guy a turn.

Put the turkey sandwich down and get back to work.

2008-11-29T22:07:00.001-08:00

OK I'm back on track. I found the right brake shoes for the truck today and put them on. Thanks to Thomas for telling me that the rear-end is off a 55 Chevy. I can tell you it is a lot easier to put together with the right parts. I hope tomorrow I can do the front brakes. Or at least put them together and turn the drums at work. There has been a lot going on around here lately. Now that I have time to work on the truck it feel normal again. Tomorrow morning the dog and I will go for a hike around lake Dixon, then get back to the truck.

rear brakes done.

2008-10-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

OK, it seams like I'm slowing down a bit this week. I did make time to redo the brakes in the rear with the proper lube. We got a 9 month old Boxer-Pitbull puppy last week so he's been hogging all my attention. I want to replace one more thing in the rear before it is all done. I am going to replace the brake line flex hose. For now though, the rear-end is still in the air waiting for me.

Brakes still only nearly done

2008-10-15T15:40:00.001-07:00

I was going to report today that last night I completed the rear brakes... However, I realized today I need to lube the outside cups on my wheel cylinders. Of course I had everything apart last night and could have done it then but did not. So instead of starting on the front brakes today I am redoing the work I did yesterday. That's ok though, I just want it done right. I will be picking up some brake spring tools today. I have a tool for the big ones but the small ones still kicked my but last night.

Side note

2008-10-13T23:02:00.001-07:00

And this is a DIFFERENT 1000 acre wild fire burning only six days later. These were taken from my back yard. Our whole house smells like a campfire.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Side note

2008-10-13T22:59:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of the 1000 acre wildfire that scared us on Tuesday last week.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

No need to repack wheel bearings.

2008-10-13T22:43:00.000-07:00

One of the more useful things the Internet has to offer is Yahoo Groups. There are a few Groups that are dedicated to the repair and restoration of old Chevy trucks. And there are a few really knowledgeable guys there. I learned from them that there is no need to repack the wheel bearings because they are lubricated by the 90 weight gear oil that you put in the rear end. Lucky me one less thing to do. I guess I can stop dilly dallying and put my rear brakes on. Thanks to Tom for calling me today and letting my know that my rear end is a 55. Luckily most of the parts I have ordered so far would have worked on all 1/2 ton pickups from 52-71.

Brakes nearly done

2008-10-12T18:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday i was able to buy new brake drums for there rear brakes. So now I have everything that I need to get some real work done on the brakes. When I am done with these few things I will have rebuilt or replaced every moving part in the brake system. After that is done I will feel much better about trying to start the truck for the first time. I can't wait to hear that thing roar to life for the first time in a LONG time.

Sucsess

2008-10-09T16:13:00.001-07:00

I know that at some point in this trucks lifetime the entire drive train was replaced with that of a 1962 1/2 ton pickup. One thing that I am not sure of is if the rear brakes are from a 53 or 62. I believe the rear brakes are from a 62. I was surprised to learn that the rear brakes on a 62 match the front brakes on a 53. I can only ponder that this is either serendipity or someone along the lines was extremely smart. I don't know if my grandfather was the one to swap the drive train or if it was a previous owner. Luckily most parts I have had to order so far are parts that would work for either year of truck. I was able to rebuild the drivers rear wheel cylinder yesterday. I am hesitant to dismantle the passenger side rear brakes just invade I need to look at them to see how the springs go on. I was told today that the springs and adjusters from a 1969 Chevy pickup will work on my truck. The 69 adjuster is a self adjusting mechanism so that would be nice. And it is all inside the drum so no one would be able to tell that it wasn't stock. Sounds good to me but I think I will do a bit more homework before I buy a set of 69 adjusters.

Sucsess

2008-10-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

I was finaly able to remove the rear drums. I think I just wasn't hitting them hard enough. I can see now that they binding on the axel caps. Unfortunately one of the drums was too damaged to re-use.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

More History

2008-10-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail from my grandma today. I was really excited to learn that my grandfather bought the truck in August 1973. She also said that he paid $800 dollars for it. This truck reminds me of him a lot. Some times I just go sit in the truck in the garage. It smells like him. I am sure it is just the smell of fuel and oil and that will probably never change. At least I hope it doesn't.

Time to look at the rear brakes

2008-10-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

I spent some time this weekend bleeding the brakes. I ordered parts to rebuild the wheel cylinders and they will be here Tuesday. I thought I would pull the rear drums off and take a look even though I don't have my parts yet. I think I spent an hour trying to get the drums off. I pounded and pounded on them with a hammer. I am sure my neighbors like me now. I will try again tomorrow after work.

Master cylinder is in.

2008-09-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

My parts came in the mail today. The first thing I did when I got home was unpack the parts and get them right on the truck. The master cylinder did not fail but I figured if i had to pull it off the truck to get the cap off I might as well rebuild it. I already had it disassembled and honed. So it only took me about and hour and a half to reassemble with new parts and get it back on the truck. I was feeling pretty good so I thought I would start bleeding the brakes. I found that the bleeder valves were still really tight. Fearing I might break them I oiled them up and I will let them soak till tomorrow. At least I will have something to look forward to while I am at work. My birthday is next week and my family is asking me what kind of tools I need. I think that a lot of people are happy I am putting some work into the truck. And I am happy to be working on it. It is so pleasurable to be able to stop when ever I want. You know they say you can withstand 10 times more pain when you know you can stop at any time. The best part about it is there is no stress. Its actually a stress reliever.

2008-09-24T19:49:00.001-07:00

Well I finally made a little progress. I was able to pull the master cylinder out. Hopefully tomorrow at work I can use a vice to get the fill cap off. Tonight I am going to order a new cap and rebuild kit. It is going to be really nice to be able to go to work and use some equipment. I think one of my favorite things to use will be the parts washer. As soon as I gut this guy it will get cleaned up.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

2008-09-22T09:30:00.001-07:00

How do you know when a shock is bad?

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

2008-09-20T17:48:00.001-07:00

Sadly this is a counterproductive day. Trying to remove the fill cap on the mastercylinder I broke the cap. So if I can still get it off I can look for a replacement cap. If I can't I can look for a new mastercylinder. Sigh..

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

2008-09-20T16:18:00.001-07:00

Today was going to be a big work day for the truck. I've been waithig to bleed my breaks till today. I'm having trouble getting the cap off of the top of my master cylinder. To hadesent come off in a LONG time. So I'm letting it sit with some luiquid wrench. I gave my bleader valves a shot while I was at it. Well see what happens tonight.

More history

2008-09-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

I learned today that my Grandpa bought the truck in or around 1975. So when my mother was in 3rd grade. This truck has been in my family for about 33 years. I think that's pretty impressive considering the median age of a car truck/SUV in the united states is 7.1 years.

"Stovebolt" defined ish...

2008-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Stovebolt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Stovebolt refers to a variety of inline-6 cylinder engines used in General Motors vehicles from the 1930s to early 1960s.

Stovebolt is also used to refer specifically to the Advance-Design series trucks with the 216 and 235 engines. These trucks were produced from mid 1947 to early 1955. In old Chevrolet truck restoration circles, these are referred to as 1947 second series trucks to 1955 first series trucks. The reason being that in 1947 they had the previous body style still being made, and in 1955 they had the newer body style coming out.

The reason the General Motors inline-6 cylinder engines were referred to as a Stovebolt was due to the engine's 1/4"x20 slotted-head bolts inside the engine. These bolts looked like the slotted-head bolts that were used on metal constructed wood burning stoves, hence the slang term or nickname of Stovebolt for the General Motors Inline Six cylinder engine.

2008-09-19T15:26:00.001-07:00

At least I can open the doors... most of the way

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

2008-09-19T10:19:00.001-07:00

This looks cool. There is a skylight in my one-car garage. You can see I have a visor sitting on the roof. Maybe soon I can mount it.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

2008-09-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

Last night I got the rear end on jack-stands. I am learning quickly that I do not have as many standard sockets and wrenches a I thought I did. I was told the trick to keeping a project moving is to always stop when you are still having fun. In this small garage I think I will be spending as much time cleaning and organising as I do working.

2008-09-19T09:41:00.001-07:00

Not a lot of room in this garage.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

In the beginning there was DUST.

2008-09-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

For me, this project begins in a storage unit in Yuma Az. September 12, 2008 my father and I picked up a car hauler at Uhaul in the wee hours of the morning. A 1953 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup has sat in repose for a decade. Now a new start for a truck that has been a part of my family for longer then I know of. I know my grandfather owned this truck when my mother was in high-school. Then about fourteen years ago my grandfather, who is my mothers father, sold the truck to my father. And early on this September morning in 2008 my father gave it to me. I am extremely privileged to be able to inherit this truck. Some of my best childhood memories happened in or near it. I remember when I was a kid driving into the desert with grandpa to look for rocks for his rock collection. When we came to visit if we could wake up as early as Grandpa he would take us to coffee in the truck. Now its my turn to enjoy and preserve. Soon I hope to make new memories with my budding family. The first of which will be memories of me in our one car garage reconditioning and maintaining the truck. I wish I knew more of this old trucks history. So for my friends and family, and everyone else who identifies with this old truck, I will do my best to document its history and progress here.