Get ready, King Of Trucks is coming...

hey - is that '61 seat a direct bolt in?

 

No whoosh sound when you take the gas cap off. Also, it did it with two different brand new condensors. So I have to think that's not the problem. But thanks for the tips.

I've got a new fuel filter before the fuel pump. I don't want to start hacking the hard line after the pump until I get the two carb set up on. As soon as I get this running deal worked out, I'm going to lower it. I can't wait. Nothing makes as big of a visual improvement as lowering. Anything and everything looks better lowered.

That is a cool truck. Thanks for the pic. I've been going back and forth about shaving the door handles. That one looks good, but I still don't know.

Knowing my luck, probably not, lol. I'll let you know later today.

 

Well, it's never easy. I got the old seat out. No big deal there. But the fuel sending unit has clutch head screws. Guess what kind of screwdriver I don't have. Nobody local sells them or even knows what they are. I tried Northern, HF, Sears, the vato zones, nobody. I can get a set from the catalog places, but I'll have to wait 3 or 4 days for them to get here. So until then...

 

been through that one... checked everywhere and couldn't wait for the set i ordered... i ended up grinding an old screwdriver to fit... will work pretty well if the screws aren't too seized- but i ended up drilling a few... you also may them in the headlight area on the fenders and the cowl vent grille...

 

I tried the flat head screw driver and it just started ruining the screw so I left it alone. I found two of the four clutch head sizes at my local Big Lots (of all places) in a cheap ratcheting screwdriver/bits set for $6. So I'll be back on it tomorrow.

I'll pull the sending unit out and check the filter sock. I'll also drain, remove, and flush the gas tank just to be sure and to remove any questions there. I'll also replace the little rubber elbow between the two hard lines to remove that possibility. I'm also going to blow out the hard lines. Once I get that done, I'll check the out put at the fuel pump and see what that says. Then I can install the new seat. Hopefully that stuff will take care of it. But if not, I'll rebuild the carb. That'll have to fix it, there's nothing else fuel related to fix/replace, lol.

 

Here's what I found so far...

1. The gas tank is spotless inside and looks brand new.
2. The filter sock on the sending unit is clean and clear and flows like it should. The brass strip is broken however. I'll need a new sending unit for the gas gauge to work. It'll be tomorrow before I can get one.
3. The hard line coming off the tank is clean and clear.
4. The rubber flex hose between the tank hard line and the fuel pump hard line is a little soft and flexy, but it has been replaced at some point. This may or may not be part of the problem. I am replacing this to be certain.


As usual with any of my stuff, this was not without drama and static that turned a one hour job into half a day. I had the proper clutch head bit, but still managed to strip a couple of screw heads on the sending unit due to them being a little boogered up to start with. I had to hacksaw a slot to finally be able to get them out with a flat blade screw driver. I'll pick up a new sending unit tomorrow and get the gas tank buttoned up. I'm going now to pick up a carb kit. I'm betting this will be the real root of the problem (what else could it be, lol). But I wouldn't exactly say I've done all this other stuff for nothing. I now know exactly what I'm working with.

 

I picked up the new sending unit today but didn't get it in. My caddy steering wheel came today from a fellow hamber. It looks better than the pictures show. It's super nice in person. A couple of minor cracks, no big deal, and super nice chrome. There's a slight fit issue. I thought all GM steering wheels were the same from the '40s to the '80s. Apparantly the caddy steering wheels have a larger diameter spline in the column, so it's not a bolt on affair.

It can be modified to fit. This was unexpected though. I'm thinking of selling or swapping it for something else. I like the caddy wheel a lot, but in person it sticks out a little further than I thought and modding it or the column for the difference in spline size will take some work. Certainly not undoable, but not easy either (at least for me, lol).

I hope to have the sending unit in and the carb rebuilt in next day or two.

 

Yeah, the unknowns can be a killer.
- Joe

 

Your Dad had a BadAss pick-up!
For the fuel problem, did you check your lines? I had the same problem with my Cadillac after I put her on the road. I tried "everything" with no luck. It was after that I discovered that there was some dirt in the fuel line which acted as a valve, restricting the fuel delivery, causing my car to stall. If I blew air from the carb side, it sounded like the line was clear (bubbling sound in the tank.). But from the tank side, it was restricted. When the fuel pump pulled the gas, it plugged up the line enough to stall. It idled fine, drove a bit, then "cough! sputter!"
A new fuel line fixed that.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I plan on poking through and blowing out the hard line between the rubber elbow and the fuel pump. Then I'll take apart the fuel pump and check that. Then poke through and blow out the hard line from the fuel pump to the carb. Then rebuild the carb.

The hard line coming off the tank is clean and clear and the gas tank is spotless. There's now a new sending unit and filter along with a new rubber elbow between the hard line coming off the tank and the hard line going to the fuel pump. Just a matter of eliminating questions step by step from the tank to the carb. Thanks for the tip.

 

Today, I pulled the hard line from the rubber elbow to the fuel pump. It was clean and clear. I also pulled the hard line from the fuel pump to the carb. It was clean and clear. I poked them out with a poker, sprayed them out with carb cleaner, and blew them out with compressed air. So now all fuel lines from the tank to the carb are for sure clean and clear. I got the power and ground hooked up to the new sending unit and confirmed the gas gauge now works. So I've got that going for me.

I hope to be able to pull the fuel pump tomorrow to check it out along with rebuilding the carb. Should be good to go after that as long as the fuel pump checks out. If it doesn't, I'm going to try and get a good used one from my guy at Dixie Truckworks. I've had bad luck with parts house fuel pumps for 235's. On my '53 Bel Air, it took three from Napa to get a good one. I'd much rather take my chances with a decent factory used piece, probably be much cheaper too. He sure did me right with a good generator for $20 when I broke that terminal stud.

 

Did you think of trying an electric fuel pump? They're rather cheap and easy to install. With that, you'll certainly eliminate vapor-lock. My friend has one in his '51 Hudson and he's happy with it.

 

Yeah, I have considered it. I'd rather stay with OEM stuff if I can. With electric fuel pumps come pressure regulators and then a gauge. Factory stuff works well enough. I'd just like to keep it less complicated if possible. Not saying I won't end up going that route, just rather not. Thanks for the tip though.

 

I'm a big fan of "good - used"

 

I pulled the fuel pump and it was good to go. I think I figured out my fuel problem without rebuilding the carb yet. I think the choke was being pulled on by the engine's vacuum. See, the choke cable was frozen and not attached. So I got the cable freed up with a bunch of PB Blaster and got it attached. Now it's opening and closing properly and not able to open or close on it's own. I didn't really get a chance to drive it because it started getting dark on me.

I'll get it going tomorrow and see if I still have the carb issue. If it's still acting up, I'll go ahead and rebuild the carb. The carb is now the only unknown in the entire fuel system. I really think the choke cable will fix it though.

Also, the '60-'66 bench seat I got turned out to be too wide. It's just not going to work. So I took the car bench out and ended up just having to put it back in after the other wouldn't fit. I'm going to look at a proper '55-'59 bench seat from craigslist tomorrow that needs recovered. Hopefully, it'll be nice enough and I can get rid of the crappy one that's in there now.

So, as usual, I fixed one thing and something else I got won't work. Par for the course, lol.

 

I just pulled my bench seat to have it recovered. In it's place there is an S10 seat in there right now. It had to be elevated about 2" to fit. Way more comfortable than the stockie... but about 1.5" or 2" too narrow on each side.

If you can't find a stock seat, I can get you the stock measurements so you can go digging in the bone yards.

- Joe

 

I fixed the choke, but still have the stumble. I'm rebuilding the carb today. That's the last link in the chain so I hope this is going to fix it.

Thanks for the tip. I really want to use something that "looks" period correct. I just don't want any headrests or plastic or I'd use a newer seat. The '59 seat I went to look at yesterday was junk.

 

There are a couple of shots of that S10 seat in my Picasa Album... No headrests, vinyl sides, no plastic cladding. It also tilts forward.
http://picasaweb.google.com/poutous/1959ChevroletApache12Ton

If that trashed seat had a good frame, you should have grabbed it. A good upholsterer can build a seat as long as you supply the frame.

If you completely strikeout, an old hot rodder was telling me that he narrowed a seat once. Take that 61 seat, strip it down to bare springs. cut 2" or 3" from the center, weld it back up and kinda fold the center springs together. Buy a new biscuit and the padding for the back and then have it covered (in TJ).

- Joe

- Joe

 

Good to know about the S10 seat not looking too new. Thanks. The '59 seat I looked at was totally trashed. The frame was rusted, the springs were shot, just trashed. I'm keeping my eyes open for a decent seat.

 

Hey man. Truck looks awesome and I know how you feel about one thing leading to another. MY '55 got taken off the road before Christmas for a simple lowering job. (New dropped axle, spring bushings, tie rods, dropped spring hangers for the rear) should have been a 6-8 hour job. been Almost 4 weeks and still not done. Pray that when you go to do it all your grease fittings have been maintained and that all the bushings were greased. Mine weren't and have been a hassle.

But you'll hash out the running issues. Hang in there dude, these trucks rule and yours looks really solid!

 

Thanks for the encouragement! I started out needing a simple rewire. That was November. It just snowballed, one little pesky thing after another. Nothing major, mind you. Just small problems hard to diagnose. Fix one only to discover it wasn't the only one. Fix that, and so on.

But now I've think I've got it licked. I rebuilt the carb today. Found a couple of small problems that were the likely cause of the stumble. The power piston and pump plunger were very sticky. The carb kit didn't have the correct pump plunger so I had to reuse the old one. The leather wasn't too bad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the carb dip cleaned the hole it goes in and it won't stick when there's gas in it. It moves really freely after I put it back together. I also found a centipede and a small wasp of some kind in the bowl, lol. They couldn't have helped anything.

It got dark and raining as I finished putting the carb back together. So start up and tuning will have to wait until tomorrow. Wish me luck, lol.

 

Had some stuff to do today so I got off to a late start. But I got the carb back on and everything hooked up. The very last step was to attach the vacuum advance hard line to the carb. And as my luck usually goes, it broke in one of the bends. I didn't have any spare tubing to bend up a new one, so I had to make a trip to the parts place. I got a little piece of rubber vacuum line to bridge the gap and trimmed both ragged ends of the hard lines with the tubing cutter. And as usual, it got too late (and dark and raining) to start it up and get it properly tuned. So again, until tomorrow...

By the way, the rubber line is temporary. I'll have to redo the vacuum advance hard line and fuel hard line from the fuel pump to the carb when I install the two pot setup. Normally, when something like breaking a hard line happens, I'd make all new ones. Because when one goes, the others aren't far behind. But I didn't want to have to do that today just to redo it again in a couple of weeks.

Two steps forward, one step back. But there's some good news too. I sold the caddy steering wheel and got a new one. A fellow hamber sent me a vintage Superior flaked wheel. It's gold, but not a solid gold. It's got some green in it, it's super cool. I'll put a pic up soon. I need a horn button for it, I'll get a chrome bullet. Also, the replacement split exhaust manifold should ship out on Monday. I'm excited to get that going and start working on an exhaust. Hell, I'd be excited just to drive it again. Hopefully, tomorrow.

 

Well, I finally did it!. The carb rebuild is what it really needed. The power piston and pump plunger (accelerator pump) were sticking badly from crap and corrosion. I had to reuse the pump plunger, the one in the kit was different and wouldn't work. The leather was still in good shape, so I think it'll be fine.

There are still a couple of very minor issues to address for it to be perfect. I've got a small leak at the hard line fitting coming out of the fuel pump. Also, I've got the timing set to factory specs, but it acts as if it wants just a little more advance. Otherwise it runs better than it ever did when I first got it. I'll be redoing the hard lines (both fuel and vacuum advance) when I install the two pot intake and carbs and split exhaust very soon. I'm just waiting for the split exhaust to get here.

I also got my new steering wheel installed. I've got a couple of minor issues to take care of before that's perfect too. I need a horn button, that's easy enough. And I need to modify the factory cup a little so I can bolt it to the back of the new Grant hub to make it look neat and finished. I'll post some pics in a couple of days when I get that done.

While I'm waiting on the split exhaust to arrive (and after I take care of the timing and the steering wheel), I need to finish tucking and neaten up my new harness under the dash. I left some things loose and hanging like the turn signal harness and horn wire until I could make sure the signals worked all the time and until I could hook up the horn. I'll also be installing my radio and speakers. The dash has already been cut, so it'll go there for now. Eventually, I want to fix that and mount the radio in the glove box.

I've attached a picture of the new steering wheel. Since I've got that, I'm going to go with Roth Ghetto Gold for the dash. It matches pretty close. The white and ghetto gold should look awesome, I can't wait! So much to do still...

 

I got my wheel on and my wiring all tucked away nice and neat. I am really happy at how the wheel ended up. I was able to use the factory trim cup. I had to open it up a little and drill a couple of holes to mount it to the Grant hub. It was worth the effort, it looks factory (well, once it's all the same color it will). The transition from wheel to column is smooth and flows well, like it's supposed to be there. I'll post some pics tomorrow of how I did it, but here's a couple for now that show the results.

 

Oops, forgot the pics.

 

I took King Of Trucks out on it's first full on road test today since rebuilding the carb. I put it through a series of grueling tests driving around town and on the highway for around an hour. It did fine and runs better than ever. I'm so glad that part is over (I hope).

I've also been working on getting the stereo installed. I have it all wired up and the head unit in the dash. Like I said earlier, I'll eventually patch the cut up dash and move the head unit to the glove box. But I've just got to have some tunes in there until then.

I still have to work out mounting the speakers but bobkatrods here on the hamb gave me some excellent inspiration. I'm going to do much the same as he did but add two 6 1/2"ers behind the seat in addition to the two 6x9s. Eventually, I'll also add some kick panels with holes for speakers like LMC sells with some quality 4 1/2"ers. I've already got speaker wires wired up and ready for the 6 1/2s and the 4 1/2s so that when I get them, all I'll have to do is plug them in (I've already got the 6x9s). Both the panel behind the seat and the kick panels will be covered with tuck & roll to match the future bench seat upholstery.

I'm attaching a pic of bobkatrods' speaker mounting and I want to say thanks to him for sharing his pics.

 

a common newer seat the ford truck guys use in the mid 80s gm fullsize truck seat. still pretty basic looking and easy to find. i'd bet theres a dozen of them in the charlotte pull-a-part right now. if someone could throw you the measurements of a stock seat up you could just go in with that info and a measuring tape and pick and choose. i wouldn't get hung up on the covering being right as you'd probably want to have it recovered anyhow. i need to slide over that way and find something for the basis for my 60 ford. been to busy chasing false leads on 57-60 fords in junkyards here only to get there and they are always 61-66s. i need a few parts for this one. but i need to run over to p-a-p soon and grab a rear to go under it and see what shape the 2 jag xj6's they have are in(front suspension donor). i think bench seats are like $50 or less. the local guy that did my last bench tuck-n-roll was $250. his work looked better than several other local quotes i got of MUCH more. the first shop i stopped at quoted $600 and when i looked at stuff he had done i honestly think anyone could have done as nice a job....ken...

 

oh and i'll also add in a little stereo advise since i worked in that field for a while, including working for a major car audio company for 3 years. don't bother with both 6 1/2s AND 6x9s. they both have very similar frequency response ranges and really your not gonna see benefit from running BOTH. i would say take the money you were gonna spend on both sets and buy a NICE set of 6x9s and call it done or get the kick panels and run 4.5s in the kicks and a set of 6x9s behind the seat. adding more speakers from behind isn't going to do anything for imaging. if you want to expand the range you could build an enclosure for behind the seat with a single 8 or 10" sub and either a pair of 6 1/2s or 6x9s. when i worked for HiFonics my car was one of the factory cars and won many sound quality contest with 5 speakers in the whole car. 1 10" sub in an enclosure in the trunk, 8" mid bass in the bottom of the doors, and high quality tweeters in the tops of the doors.

buying fewer quality components will get you a nicer system than buying more but possibly lower quality components and you'll probably spend the same or maybe even less money. the last stuff i bought i was building a "suitcase system" in a vintage suitcase for my vw's. i happened up on Best Buy having a sale on some higher end Kenwood 6x9s for real decent money. i had been planing on using Infinity or MB Quart but honestly these kenwoods were very close to the infinity's i was looking at and were 2/3 the price...ken....

 

Thanks for the advice. So instead of the 6 1/2s, I'll do an 8" sub and small amp. I already have some killer 6x9s that sound awesome and a Pioneer Premier head unit. I don't need giant bass, but I do like to feel it and hear it.



And I think it's been discussed that '88 and up full size chevy trucks have a seat frame that doesn't look new and is the right width. They can sit a little high though, some remove around 4" out of the height of the mounts. Stock width is around 48".

 

i hear ya i was stoked when i got the kenwoods cheap as i had just scored a high line kenwood cd play with ipod control feature on ebay for $50 and it was even under 2 year warranty with Best Buy. i went and priced it after getting it and the same one with 2 year coverage was almost $250 haha. another fun trick is running a small amp and speakers and running an ipod straight to the amp. no headunit to mount and you figure you can get an ipod for the same or less than a decent headunit. i like my kenwood because it will actually charge the ipod just like it was on a charging dock. i got my ipod off ebay to cheap because it needed a battery. well since i have constant power running to it the bad battery isn't even an issue. i literally have about $200 in the whole set up...ken...