Welp... I had a boo boo putting the gauge panel back in. Apparently there is a too tight on these bolts. would have helped if I'd known the bolts were simply bonded to the trim and I could have taken it easy. Live and learn. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Got the boo boo fixed and reinstalled the dash trim and gauges sans speedo. Had to light them up in the car to see how they look together and though the pics still look a little off. They are very close in person and any difference isn't noticable. We press on..... To lights Removed taillights Parking lights And headlights Found some more sketchy wiring bare wires that were falling apart in my hand. Yikes I should have done this wiring years ago. Taillights buckets went in for a bath of vinegar and water, but it's kinda old and seems like it's out if rust munching juice so tomorrow I'm going to get some more citric acid and try that for a couple days. Then paint inside silver, reinstall, and Bob's your uncle. Front end is all good. Did new parking lights a couple years ago and they're still good. Headlights are also pretty decent except for a stuck bolt in a headlight ring. This decent weather and warm enough to work in an unheated garage in late December is kinda nice. TX ain't so bad.... For winter at least. Spring and summer TBD -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
@Tman will be quick to point out that white works better than silver. and yeesh I can’t believe how bad that wiring looks and it still worked!
No shit dude ... It's so bad This is the rear harness that runs above the rear wheel through the frame. Kinda like the silver on the gauges but I'll probably take that advice and use white for the taillights. Just need to grab some white paint. Suppose it matters if it's gloss or flat? My mind thinks gloss would be better. But it also though silver would be better at reflecting. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I want to say flat? He did a test a billion years ago trying different paints to see which worked best. I’ll see if I can find what he came up with if he doesn’t comment before that
Ok in his original thread @Tman doesn’t mention gloss. I can see the paint is rattle can enamel and that is has a “spray paint” level of gloss to it. So I’m going to say they are gloss white. I’ll edit in the link here in a minute, seems maybe while my “while I’m at it” spirals out of control on my car that maybe I’ll pull mine and paint them as well https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-refurbishing-swap-meet-tailights.18275/
And make sure to read the whole thread. Digger Daves test backs up that the whit is brightest. Can not wait to start posting more fun tech like this. The end of the endless remodel is near. I have a good post about shrinking a stock 50s wheel into a smaller diameter that I am antsy to finish up.
Gloss White is way to go. I've done it and bug difference pretty sure hot rod mag did a test on it like 10 or so years ago with fancy scientific equipment that confirmed it too.
Adam, was curious what you used to remount the bolt to the stainless trim piece? I need to do the same thing. Thanks, Wayne
I used a 2 part epoxy made by jb weld and let it cute for a day and a half. Nothing fancy but it seems to have worked Tried electrical solder. As a psudo silver solder but it didn't work. It was an experiment but since I don't have a torch between a cigarette lighter and an oxy acetylene I couldn't get the solder to melt and didn't want to screw it up with too much heat. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks. Just saw this but actually bought gloss and already painted the so glad I guessed right lol. Now to go read the thread you guys posted cause it sounds interesting. Part of the tattoo visit was a little horse trade for a couple 37 truck gauges for Tim's og 46 speedometer the faces are different so maybe I'll just run it if it works.... Mighy just use the bezel since it looks better than mine. Also found another speedo on eBay so between the 3 I should be able to make 1 decent one. Merry Christmas Y'all (still getting used to my new lingo) -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Well back from Iowa. The gauge I horse traded @Tim for is a merc I think and doesn't match the rest of the dash. It's a 100MPH with no trip odometer. Other similar ones I've seen have a trip and go to 110. So not exactly sure what it is yet. The trim ring was a bit crusty but an acid bath cleaned that up pretty well. While I had it apart I took the time to free up the mechanism and paint the inside (gloss white). Just needs a piece of glass. I don't have any before pictures but it was pretty crusty. Maybe Tim has a picture of it. Luckily I still have the correct gauge from eBay on the way. So once that gets here's I'll be able to finish up the dash wiring. Everything is installed and working except the speedo and radio which I left out for now to give me some room to work. Everything but the gauge is done now. Lights work (with 1 exception I'll come back to). Flipped the ignition switch and she fired right up. That was nice. I didn't have to redo any if my work, didn't have to chase problems to make it run. For my first ever full wiring install I'm calling that a giant win. Did have a couple small issues. #1 The brake lights wouldn't work..... But figured out that the rebel wire harness has those on ign switched power. So non issue once I figured that out. #2 The parking lights would come on at the first switch position but go off at the second position when the headlights came on.... Figured out that is how the original style switch is wired. Parking lights on with headlights wasn't mandated until the 80's apparently. I was born in 86 so go easy on me for not knowing that haha. #3 the gauge lights also turn off when the headlights come on. This one is an issue I need to fix. My plan without actually looking at anything is to move the gauge power wire at the switch to the same terminal that the tailights are on. That way the gauges follow what the tails are doing instead of the parking lights. That's the plan unless one of you who is smarter than me chimes in and tells me that won't work. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Chevy trucks are wired like that. The dash and taillights on the same fuse. I was told it was so if the taillights go out the driver would see the dash lights not working. I think is wired like that because that’s the best way to have the dash lights come on with the parking lights.
Your gauge looks worse now lol. Just swapped the clock trim ring for the nicer one from your speedo. Perfect fit. Mine had been poorly painted white by a previous owner. When I stripped the paint off the clock was rust red and the chrome was all but gone. Much mo betta now. So I'm thinking the speedo I broke might not have been factory. But a replacement unit. Most of the ones I've seen are made by Stewart warner. Including yours Tim. The one I broke looks different on the back side and is made by Waltham Watch. The weird thing is it's dated May 29 1947. It's the right vintage for the car but it's different than others I've seen. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Well, Adam. I just reread this thread again, forgetting I'd read it previously. Now, we gotta get Tim to tattoo his 46 on his arm so you two can be black sedan bros. I'm wondering: After living in Iowa and now Texas, are you still a Cornhusker supporter? I mean, down deep are you a true bug eater?
@Rocky im out of room on my arms but I’ll give it some thought lol funny story about Adam the bug eater. I pull up to the shop to get ready for his appointment and I see this bitchin new red corvette and laugh to myself “wouldn’t that be something if that’s what he’s driving?!” Where are the plates from? Iowa... with a corn husker plate frame! I look over and this mini van driving fool has “liberated” his brothers vette and left him with 4 girls and a mini van!
Lol yep drove to Des Moines. Then needed to drive to KC to see Timne next day but didn't want to leave my wife without a car. So I HAD to take dad's Vette lol. Shucks. Down and back that evening and it snowed the next day. @Rocky I'll always be a bug eater. Grew up that way. I was excited that TX allows team license plates for out of state teams. I have husker texas plates on my daily. lol I have a problem. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Wiring is done. Radio is the only thing I didn't mess with. Well that and the generator which I'm going to rebuild shortly. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Well I lied when I said wiring was done. Tonight I took the generator apart. Put new brushes and springs in Wanted to take the field coils out but I don't know how. I assume you pull these plugs out. But they're too small for a 3/8 drive too big for 1/4. so what the trick? Just shave a square bar to the right dimension and wala or is there another way to do it? For now I soaked them in wd40 so it might be slightly easier later. Also replaced the front bearing. Old one seemed tight when I took it out. Wasnt much play but the balls were noisy if I shook it. And a little boise in the bench means a lot of noise and friction on the car. It got a new bearing. Did have another thing I thought was odd. There was this nut on the pulley side. Only it was barely on there, like a single thread or less. And had 2 little spots that looked like bad tack welds I presume to keep from backing off. In reality the welds weren't doing much as it came off easily without even needing to use a vise to hold the armature. I was also able to knock the tacks off the threads after the but was off to clean it up. It's all back on now, but the nut still isn't in very far and honestly seems pretty worthless. Got me wondering if it's even supposed to be there. The pulley itself is threaded and the belt rotation seems to me like it would want to tighten it if anything. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There was another thread about a similar issue, guys started showing pics of 5/16th drives. Here ya go: https://www.jbtools.com/sunex-tools...yJJdBo2Q2wa6qEA8vyAjyL0mZpU2nmqxoC49wQAvD_BwE Notice the country of origin, may want to pick up a few at at time for the price
Thanks for this. It's my first time trying to I figured there was something but I hadn't even begun to search for a solution. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Field coils arrived today but without the 5/16 drive tool I didn't even attempt to change them out. (A very rare instance of patience on my part) Instead I set to work swapping to rubber fuel lines and taking off the hard line I made when I did the engine and never really liked how it turned out. So like everything I do this one has been a process. Bought a 3 port finned fuel block off eBay. If your considering think twice the quality isn't that great. The 3 carb ports are very close to being threaded too big. And the end port for the feed line was missing threads all together like someone stripped them out to the point they were completely gone and returned it. So I contact the sellers. And surprisingly they send another no questions asked. The new one showed up same store with the carb ports being almost too big the end was threaded but very not centered and those threaded were too big. Original block Replacement block wasn't much better I decided to use the first one after all and tapped the end 1 size up to 3/8 npt. That was an ordeal because I don't have a tapered reamer that npt is supposed to be drilled with. Instead I took my time and plenty of cutting fluid and used the tap itself. Basically that just meant instead of just the threads cutting in, I was enlarging the hole with the tap as well. Oh well the tap was brand new, cutting soft aluminum, and I only had the one to do. More importantly it worked. After that I had to find an open spot large enough to mount it on the firewall. From there in it was pretty uneventful. The correct fittings at the carb from stromberg but they fit holleys too. And some hose. Didn't have ebough small hose clamps but otherwise it's done. Time for a break until the generator tool shows up. Be honest and tell me what you think of the fuel lines I'm not quite sold on it yet. Can always go back to what it was. -Adam Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Man that fuel block is a piece of crap! But you got it to work so that’s good. They do make rubber fuel line that is resistant to ethanol fuel so that might be worth thinking about. Looks good! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
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